A reader sent in about a trip to City Square Mall yesterday, 18 Oct 2026. They were walking past the atrium and noticed Popular Book Company's Roadshow. It looked like a standard fair until they spotted a basket filled with full series box sets.
Curiosity took over when they saw the price label on one of the boxes was a mere $5. They checked a few others, and every box in that basket was priced the same. Glancing around, our reader saw just one other parent picking out sets from the stash.
The $5 Box Sets
Our reader decided to grab four boxes. Here is what they found:
- Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton's "The Treehouse Collection" (10 books) - Original $180.94, marked at $5.
- Enid Blyton's "The Mystery Series" (15 books) - Original $167.90, marked at $5.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection" (9 books) - Original $133.03, marked at $5.
- "The Greatest Works of George Orwell" (9 books) - Original $80.64, marked at $5.
The Checkout Surprise
Carrying these four sets to the cashier, our reader was ready to pay the $20 stated on the price tags, only to realise there was a promotion sign they had missed earlier. It was a "Big Buffet Mix & Match 4 for $10" offer.
The entire stack of 43 books worth $562.51 cost exactly $10. Adding $0.10 for an extra plastic bag to carry the heavy sets home, the final bill came to $10.10.
