Wizard's tale is a record-breaker
Harry Potter fans snapped up about 4,500 copies of the final book in the series over the weekend - matching sales that took three months to achieve for the previous volume.
Dymocks expected total sales of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to reach a record-breaking 8,000 by the end of the year.
Wang Hsiao-hui, general manager of Dymocks Franchise System, said: 'About 3,000 copies were pre-orders, and over the weekend we've sold about 1,000 copies or so at retail outlets, including the book fair.'
The large number of pre-ordered copies reflects the loyal readership base for the books and shows that Harry's fans like to play safe.
'Usually, Harry Potter fans won't take any risks, and will make pre-orders to avoid the books being out of stock,' Ms Wang said. 'Normally, retail sales after the official launch are made by casual readers of the series.'