<aside> 🌟 The publisher wrote a statement on the differences between books purchased on their webstore and those from 3rd party retail platforms. The statement is copied below.

</aside>

Before purchasing, please note the following:

  1. The printing of books is the responsibility of individual platforms, and all after-sales services are also their responsibility.
  2. Please look to the existing stock of each platform for reference regarding matters like book quality.
  3. Book pricing differs between platforms, the reason for which stems from the different markups implemented by each platform.
  4. There will be no freebie merchandise when purchasing from platforms outside of Via Lactea’s official website. (This applies to purchases both made during the pre-sale period and of in-stock books.)
  5. Going forward, the only guarantee of complete freebie merchandise will be for purchases made during the pre-sale period on Via Lactea’s official website. Afterwards, even on Via Lactea’s official website, purchases of in-stock books will not guarantee the complete set of freebie merchandise as advertised during the pre-sale period; in-stock books will not include any freebie merchandise after the original stock of freebie merchandise is depleted. [For now, Silent Hearts[in-stock] has freebie.]
  6. All of our other books expect also to eventually go up for sale on these other platforms.

Further notice regarding the freebie merchandise of in-stock books (for all titles, not just English translations):

  1. Going forward, a complete set of freebie merchandise is guaranteed for purchases made during the pre-sale period; when freebies run out during the sale of in-stock books, they will no longer be included in the purchase of the books. It will of course be made clear during the purchase whether or not any freebie merchandise will be included.
  2. The price of in-stock books will be the same as the price of books after the first week of presale. (In-stock books will no longer undergo the 1$ CAD price raise.)
  3. None of this applies to titles that have already become in-stock books; the existing in-stock books will be sold just as they always have been (and will continue to include freebie merchandise along with every purchase).

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*Based on current reviews, in terms of paper & cover quality, Via Lactea edition >> Barnes & Noble > Amazon