Books throw their weight around, Puneites lap them up

: Thu Jan 17 2013, 04:55 hrs

Ads by Google

Top Stories

Books sold by weight have caught the fancy of Puneites, who are coming in droves at the exhibition-cum sale being held at the Institute of Engineering. Children's books are being sold at Rs 200/kg, while others are up for grabs for only Rs 100/kg!

Books By Weight is a venture started about six months ago by Madhavi S and Ajay Gupta - owners of Butterfly Books, a niche enterprise of children's books. It is not a part of Butterfly Books as it isn't a children's books' venture. It is independent, registered by law and is copyrighted and patented, organisers said. The exhibition has been extended by a week, owing to tremendous response.

This enterprise sells all kinds of books — fiction, science and technology, biographies, health, sports and literature. The books are bought to the UK and the USA from small country-shops, dealers and libraries and shipped by sea to Mumbai, where these books are distributed to this exhibition.

These books are sold purely by weight. Some of these books are new. Several bookstores buy them at wholesale rate and sell them at retail prices. Exhibitions of a similar nature have been held in Mumbai and Pune and there are plans of holding one in Hyderabad soon. The biggest exhibition till date is scheduled from March 6 to 30 2013, at Sundarbai Hall in Churchgate, which will exhibit more than 10,00,000 books, organisers said.

Books by Weight have a very less profit margin. It is a new venture and they are yet to break-even.

Their idea is to make profit by selling books in bulk. Children's books quote a higher price because the cost of manufacture is higher than paperbacks. "I was amazed to find that every city has a different demand for books. While Puneites love books on sports, Mumbaikars prefer books on art and antiques, while people from Bangalore are interested in books on interiors and gardening," said Madhavi S.

... contd.

Page : 1 2 Single Page Format

Ads by Google

ALSO READ

Freeze your wedding memories in 3D video

Hate speech: Pune court asks police to book Owaisi

German Bakery blast in 2010 and JM Road blasts of 2012 had highlighted the lack of enough CCTV cameras in the city

CCTV cameras bought for CYG ‘vanish’

Framing of charges against Pune city MP Suresh Kalmadi in connection with one of the cases related to the CWG has further demoralised Kalmadi supporters in the Congress.

Kalmadi in troubled waters, rivals ready to make a 'splash'

Please read our terms of use before posting comments

TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).