Nov 29 2012, 12:59 AM
QUOTE(Mech Warrior 6 @ Nov 22 2012, 10:06 AM)
While browsing through flea market and forum for sale threads, i noticed our 2nd hand books are quite pricey. Granted usually they are in 9/10 condition..but the price is most often RM20 or RM25 vs a new book of RM30~RM40.
Where as when i was in overseas from Aussie/Nz to England, i noticed they sell 2nd hand books at usually $1 ~ $4 depending on condition. And mind you, new books sold are priced as ours here. Only the currency that's different...except for England. Like in Aussie/NZ, new book costs AUD/NZD$ 32.90.
So am wondering, why cant malaysians sell their 2nd hand books at similar range? RM5 each?
I brought back more than a dozen books from each countries everytime i went backpacking. And nearly half of them i sold them off in Flea Market for RM2~5. Some are pretty new without those crease backbone or dog-ears. So yea, they were snapped up pretty fast....
Apart from why, have you guys come across any other ppl selling 2nd book that cheap? with the book in good or readable condition?
Hi Mech Warrior 6,Where as when i was in overseas from Aussie/Nz to England, i noticed they sell 2nd hand books at usually $1 ~ $4 depending on condition. And mind you, new books sold are priced as ours here. Only the currency that's different...except for England. Like in Aussie/NZ, new book costs AUD/NZD$ 32.90.
So am wondering, why cant malaysians sell their 2nd hand books at similar range? RM5 each?
I brought back more than a dozen books from each countries everytime i went backpacking. And nearly half of them i sold them off in Flea Market for RM2~5. Some are pretty new without those crease backbone or dog-ears. So yea, they were snapped up pretty fast....
Apart from why, have you guys come across any other ppl selling 2nd book that cheap? with the book in good or readable condition?
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
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