Second hand books still in demand in times of e-reading 

​Mumbai : In the age of e-books and reading devices, second hand books are still doing a roaring business on the pavements of bustling Mumbai where open books markets sell works by an array of writers like Homer and Kalidasa. Advent of social media or e-reading devices and apps have failed to dampen the zest of bibliophiles for printed books, including the second hand ones which they can buy at affordable prices.

Interactions with a host of booksellers in the sprawling metropolis, including one of the biggest "open book" sellers at the iconic Fountain, revealed that though digital era mounts tough challenges to their businesses, there is still a great demand for the books on display on the sidewalks.

"Of course, the advent of digital tools like android apps have kept a large chunk of book readers away from us. But we have not given up hope and devise new methods to attract readers or say book lovers," said Rajendra Chandel, treasurer of Mumbai Novel Book Welfare Association, himself a seller at Hutatma Chauk's open book market.

Explaining how they are coping with the challenges from "digital distractions", he said, "Primarily, we sell second hand books which are cheaper by more than 50 per cent." "Apart from that, to maintain long-lasting relationship with buyers, we also give books on rent, which has been very helpful in making the customers, mainly students, return to us," Chandel told PTI.

This largest open book market of the city sells all kinds of titles ranging from fiction, biographies, fashion trends, history, war and wildlife, whose prices range from Rs 10 to Rs 5,000. For instance, an internationally reputed home-learn set comprising 22 books is sold at a price of Rs 5,000-6,000, far below the price of over Rs 50,000 tagged by book stalls.

What often attracts readers to second-hand joints is that they have a wide variety on display, from pulp fiction to hi-tech thrillers and from science to management. Though English titles continue to dominate, many of the sellers have in their stock books in Hindi and other Indian languages, including Sanskrit classics and devotional classics like "Ram Charit Manas".

"I am a casual reader. I often come to second hand book joints with my limited budget because they have a wide variety of choices. There is also room for bargaining when I come across a title I have been seeking for some time. After reading it, I can also sell it back to the same dealer for a reduced price," said a customer, preferring to be anonymous.

"It is interesting to note that most dealers, though coming from less privileged background, acquire domain knowledge of their business in due course. If someone asks for a particular book or author, many of them could easily pick it from the stock or tell the customer they don't have it," he said.

The pavement sellers source books from household trash to avid readers who sell their collections to raise money to buy new arrivals. "Many of the books on display here are sourced from scrap dealers so that we could pass maximum cost benefit to customers," said a book seller. "There are also many who want to empty their cupboard after a while and sell them to us at a discount price," he said.

According to a recent study in the US, it has been found that the Internet has not killed printed books and most people still prefer it to digital reading. Madhavi Gupta of Butterfly Books, an entrepreneur in this field, has come out with a new idea to catalyse the sale of books by launching a unique concept, "Book by Kilo", which, she claims, has proved "a real page-turner".

"Our kids are not growing up with the culture of reading books. They are inculcated to this but hooked of mobile phones and other digital devices. In addition to this, price is also a major concern. Therefore, we started the concept of selling books by their weight, fixing the price per kg at break-even point." "Our idea is to sell good quality books at cheaper prices and books bought by weight are almost fifth to eight times cheaper that the original price of the book," Madhavi added.