Lusty Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Just been looking around a second hand book shop on Koh Chang and a well used paper back has a price tag of 250bht! These same books can be had in England for 10-20bht in the UK in Charity shops and boot sales. So why are they so bloody expensive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Hi, Beats me. Especially since I am trying to sell a bunch and get quoted prices of 20-60 Baht/book. Nice profit margin in that case. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 ... because "tourists" consider baht play money and not USD, AUD, Euro, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lusty Posted January 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 ... because "tourists" consider baht play money and not USD, AUD, Euro, etc. Why not buy your beach reading material at home and bring it with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 You can get some books cheap, that is if you are willing to shop at some of the Buddhist book stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 I'm just glad to hear that someone IS actually reading books. Too many gentlemen punters here rely solely on Fox News. And view life thru a distorted prism. But this post is about books. Books that people actually read. Nothing is like a good book. Or even a mediocre book. Oh, except number 57 at Angels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 There is a shop on soi postoffice in Pattaya that has used books. I think I payed 100 baht each last summer. Mind you I even found Swedish books and they had quite a few german books. They have English too of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyebee Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 And many bars (in Pattaya at least) have book "swap shops". Bring in a book, and take another for free! There's usually not a lot of choice, but I have found some good books from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Running a used book store is a very good way to loose money. Its pretty much the same as a surplus store: You buy discards, then they sit around for years or even decades until somebody stumbles across something you have, and they buys it. But its been sitting in inventory, occupying expensive shelf space all that time (and particularly expensive space if the shop is located somewhere a foreigner is likely to bump into it.) More simply: Reselling books is an expensive proposition, and they have to charge high prices in order to keep from going broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Fair enough ... but if the prices were not so ridiculously high, they might well sell a lot more. I almost always balk at paying much more for a battered used book than the cover price was for the copy brand new. The way to make money selling used books is to buy at estate sales. When some serious reader snuffs it, like as not his TV addict relatives will unload the whole lot for not much money. Also, don't waste space on a lot of trashy paperback novels. Aim for a specific market. e.g. A neighbour passed on while I was in Penang for a few days. His widow was going to throw out a very respectable library of computer and travel books. I would have jumped at the chance to have them, but another neighbour grabbed them in my absence. The neighbour didn't want to use them as I did ... instead he sold them to Khao Sarn Road shops for about 9,000 baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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