Sharmila Das explores the business of second hand book retailing, and smells more than old paper— the scent of money!
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Vinutha Ma llya, Senior Editor, Mapin, says India is ranked as the sixth largest publishing industry in the world. The country publishes 90, 000 books annually, and boasts more than 19,000 publishing houses.
Factors that boost book sales
• Growing literacy rates
• Burgeoning demand for good reads among the young and the middle class
• The rapid growth of online book retailing
• Organised retail boom, with many large-scale chain stores coming in.
The Market for Second Hand Books
Every Sunday, the pavements of Delhi’s Daryaganj come alive with an irresistible buffet of books. It’s a treasury that stretches a mile, offering you the chance to browse and buy anything from classical gems to beach reads, comics, reference books and educational material. Like the books, the buyers are diverse too: don’t be surprised if you see a five-star chef, a tourist and a college fresher bent over the same giant mound, hunting for that something special which will make their trip here worthwhile.
Farid Anwar, owner of Fair Book Store in Daryaganj has been selling books on Daryaganj pavements for the last 20 years. He says he does an average business of anywhere between `5,000 to 10, 000 on any given Sunday. He adds that the market can be surprisingly volatile: there are times when he has made a whopping `10,000 in one hour flat!.
The sales patterns here are pretty set: in summers, the sweltering heat means fewer customers, but come autumn, and the volumes begin to rise. And with a change in school and college semesters, the sale of textbooks whooshes up dramatically. In fact, students are perhaps the biggest consumers of used course material, considering it means heavy savings for them, and often, access to books and notes that might not be available in regular stores.
The vendors source their books from junk dealers, who in turn buy them from your doorstep. Some books are scanned and copied, too.
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Location, location, location
The success of second hand book retailing is hugely dependent on the location. This is best illustrated with a recent example. Chandigarh used to have a footpath book market in front of the Punjab University’s entrance gate. Business was always brisk. Then a new municipal law forced them to make a move. Ever since, sales have dipped drastically, since people are reluctant to drive down too long a distance
Sniffing profits in second-hand books, Roli Books, a Delhi based publisher, has recently launched Half Price Book Stores in South Delhi.
Located strategically on the floor between the parking lot and the ground, the book store stops you in your tracks and invites you in, offering you a wide range of books on almost every conceivable subject at amazingly pocket-friendly prices.
Anjali Bakaya, Head-Retail of Roli Books says, “Because we are in such a prestigious and prime location of Delhi, we see huge footfalls every day. Within this market, the demand for books on discount, especially popular fiction, self help and children’s titles is huge. The discerning Indian customer is always on the look-out for a good bargain, and this extends to the books market as well. Since our launch, we have received a lot of news coverage because this is the first bookstore in India that’s offering discounts ranging from 20 per cent to 70 per cent all year round.”
The store has bigger plans. “In the coming months, we’re planning to organize a lot of events in collaboration with the mall, including children’s book-reading sessions, activity workshops, cooking demos by renowned chefs, exhibitions and events with celebrated authors,” says Bakaya. “Our aim is to make Half Price a destination bookstore that caters to book lovers across age groups, by engaging them in events and offering a wide range of titles.”
Online Stores for Second-hand Books
Secondhandbooksindia.com: owner Sharad Churamani has tied up with various libraries in the US and UK, from where he sources old books. He offers between 40 to 80 per cent discount on his collection.
BuySellOldBooks.com is a platform where you can exchange, sell and lend books. This web service bills itself as 100 per cent free, allowing the buyer and seller to make contact, exchange books, and who knows, even strike lifelong friendships!
Friendsofbooks.com: A husband-wife venture, this one showcases a true love of books, visible in their growing collection and their exciting book-exchange events.
The next 50 years
Second hand books constitute a major portion of the book retail market. The size of the Indian book retail industry is pegged at `3,000 crore of which organised book retail constitutes only 7 per cent. The industry is expected to grow by approximately 15 per cent a year.
Anwar, the Daryaganj second hand book seller has always been in comfort zone when it comes to earning from his collection. “In my 20 years of selling books, I have only seen a rise in demand. So, it is safe to say that the future promises more growth.”
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Success Mantras
Anwar says experience is a key factor in earning well. That’s because time teaches you how to source and sell books, letting you learn the finer nuances of the second hand book business (and there are many!). That is not to say new entrants cannot make it big. The pavement at Daryaganj always has room for more, cops permitting. The veterans occupy fixed slots, but are willing to yield a couple of inches to make space for newbies.
For the organised part of the business like Half Price Bookstore, the success mantra is keeping the price low. Bakaya says, “Since its an all year round discount bookstore, I think the most crucial aspect is that we’re competing on price and therefore are obliged to pass on the best discounts and deals to the customer. Everyone is looking for a good bargain and what we hope to offer is the lowest prices on all our titles as compared to other stores.”
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