Hi Mech Warrior 6,

Nice to meet you.

A short and simple answer would be as follows:

1. Malaysians are not avid readers of books except for those involving fiction such as romance novels.
2. Malaysians tend not to treasure old 2nd hand books, so some may unfortunately end up in the trash bins.

3. Because of reasons 1&2, there are very limited 2nd hand bookstores which concentrate on either
(a) Volume
These stores focus mainly on rentals of romance, comics and light reading that Malaysians like to read. Their 2nd hand book prices are not cheap because they want the readers to return the books so they can rent it out again. However, the more battered copies will eventually be sold for cheaper prices.

(b) Niche
Other bookstores focus on those books that are out-of-print and rare. These tend to be old British novels that are highly valued and non-fiction books such as those on Asian history, economics and other specialized subjects. Since most of these books are out-of-print, they tend to be of high value since you can't get them anywhere else. Some of these books are selling at prices higher than their original price even though they're like 10-20 years old.

Long story short, your experience overseas is due to a higher % of population that likes reading and treasures old book. This allows the economies of scale to work, so even though these used booksellers are selling them at cheap prices, they make up on it via volume. Most 2nd hand bookstores in Malaysia are barely surviving and the current biz model doesn't allow for cheap books. Of course, I am as sad as you are... And the fact that our National Library is at such a remote location, just makes me even 

I don't think our government imposes tax on books. In fact, to encourage reading, you get tax deductions up to a certain limit on books. Not too sure about buying on-line though.

1. The Big Bad Wolf booksale is out on Dec7 to 23, so go there if you want to just shop around. They have a good selection of excess print books at very good prices for brand new books.
http://www.facebook.com/events/290460934399305/

2. I use the fellow Lowyatnet member to buy books from the US occasionally via bulk shipping. Unfortunately, even with bulk, prices are still quit high. For instance, a US$1 book hardcover will cost about RM50 after sending it over to Malaysia due to shipping costs. I guess, for softcover, it might be cheaper to approx RM20-30, but it's still expensive. Check your PM for details.

Nice to meet a fellow book lover 

1. Aiyoyo... company blocking facebook... 
Ok, here's a website link instead
http://bigbadwolfbooks.com/

2. Don't think custom will charge if below certain value but not too sure....

3. E-book... yah... cheap but I'm an oldfag 
Prefer to hold the book in hand to read... reading using tablet a bit tiring on my eyes. 

I have lots of second hand book for sales. Price from RM 7-10. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi Mech Warrior,
There's a book exchange community here in USJ. They meet every forthnight, quite regularly and very nice folks I've gone a couple of times as my books needed a new home (no space at my rented place). Here's their fb page:

https://www.facebook.com/sjusjbep