Success In South Africa Doesn't Amount To Much

In the office we're discussing the new Harry Potter book and how it's doing in terms of sales figures.

M: "In the UK you have to sell 50 00 copies of a book in a week to make it to the top of the charts. In SA it's 1000."
J: "With gold and platinum records here you only have to sell 25 000 for a gold record..."
Me: "...I think platinum is about 50 000... "
P: "...and only Steve [*] gets that here."
J: "That's probably equivalent to the stainless steel version in the UK."
P: "No, it's probably sturdy cardboard."