Why Used English Books Are So Expensive In Thailand

[Ulysses G.]

This is a country full of THAI people, who read THAI books and quality English books are very difficult to find compared to in English speaking countries where native English speakers buy and discard large numbers.

Yes, there are a lot of tourists here, but many, many people bring or ship high quality books home and only sell the trash that they want to get rid of.

Most 2nd-hand book shops here get very few decent books from customers - tourists often want to keep the special titles and bring them home and get rid of old John Grisham and Tom Clancy novels and that type of thing - and many customers demand a high price for premium books - when they are willing to sell them at all - which forces the bookshops to charge higher prices for them than they would like.

Most of the better shops import most of their good books from other countries and someone has to fly there - pay for an air ticket - and run around collecting them for a few months - and pay for gasoline, hotels, expensive food and the books themselves - and then pay for them to be shipped here which is quite expensive. On top of that, customs charges are VERY high and one often has to pay for transport inside Thailand to whatever city they are going to as well.

Also rents can be astronomical because book shops need to be in a central location or no one will shop there or sell them the books they need to survive.

Some posters have stated that used books are kept at an artificially high value by shop owners on purpose, but the truth is that the cheaper we can sell them for, the more we can sell.

Books are a luxury item here, but they are worth the price to many of us and unless Thai people start reading in English, it will probably stay that way.

[solo siam]

I don't really believe that is true, people aren't going to suddenly purchase huge amounts of second hand books, because the prices go down by 25% or whatever.

I think that a second hand book in good condition is worth 50% of the new price, whilst selling it or another second hand book cack to the shop should get 25% of the new price.

Which is pretty much what happens I believe.

[steveromagnino]

This is a country full of THAI people, who read THAI books and quality English books are very difficult to find compared to in English speaking countries where native English speakers buy and discard large numbers.

Yes, there are a lot of tourists here, but many, many people bring or ship high quality books home and only sell the trash that they want to get rid of.

Most 2nd-hand book shops here get very few decent books from customers - tourists often want to keep the special titles and bring them home and get rid of old John Grisham and Tom Clancy novels and that type of thing - and many customers demand a high price for premium books - when they are willing to sell them at all - which forces the bookshops to charge higher prices for them than they would like.

Most of the better shops import most of their good books from other countries and someone has to fly there - pay for an air ticket - and run around collecting them for a few months - and pay for gasoline, hotels, expensive food and the books themselves - and then pay for them to be shipped here which is quite expensive. On top of that, customs charges are VERY high and one often has to pay for transport inside Thailand to whatever city they are going to as well.

Also rents can be astronomical because book shops need to be in a central location or no one will shop there or sell them the books they need to survive.

Some posters have stated that used books are kept at an artificially high value by shop owners on purpose, but the truth is that the cheaper we can sell them for, the more we can sell.

Books are a luxury item here, but they are worth the price to many of us and unless Thai people start reading in English, it will probably stay that way.

Actually, any english books widely read here by Thais such as textbooks seem to be very cheap, due to the viable alternative of copying the whole book; downloading it as an e-book; borrowing it or similar.

I just bought a great book, High Performance Sailing from Australia; and it was cheaper to buy it here than in NZ. So...not sure what to add to what you said, er, thanks?!

You can always import I guess or get a friend to bring them across after buying them second hand I guess. Reprints of classics are cheap enough. Not sure what type of books you are talking about, more info dai mai?

[Ulysses G.]

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm explaining the reason that used books are so expensive in Thailand because I own a shop and many people don't understand why books are more expensive here in "cheap" Thailand than at home.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[Acquiesce]

I just bought a great book, High Performance Sailing from Australia;

Sounds like an exhilerating read.

[markuk]

ive had quite a few new english books recently that i have brought at Asia books, the Thai price is lower than the UK cover price.

[bendix]

I've always found the price of new English books here to be pretty reasonable, and certainly cheaper than in the UK, Australia or New Zealand. Until very recently you could buy ANY Oxford Classics paperback, for example, for 250 baht but the publishers seem to have wised up to that and the new price is 450 baht, but that's still considerably cheaper than where I've bought them before.

Also, new novels (hardback) tend to be 20% less than in the west.

Secondhand books? It's the one thing I miss most about the west - browsing through quality secondhand bookshops and I've yet to see a really good one. There are a few in Chiang Mai and they're pretty good, but I thought the prices were pretty reasonable too.

What I really miss are RARE bookshops - first editions etc. If anyone knows any dealers in Thailand specialising in modern first editions, I would love to hear about them.

[Barney_the_Dinosaur]

That was a nice idea about bookshops buying at 25% of ticket price and selling at double that.

In my recent experience (in HK) of selling books which are in mint condition, they'll buy a hardback book, sticker price US$30, for about US$75 cents - then sell it for about $10.

[Richb2004v2]

When I buy from second hand book shops here in Thailand I generally pay from 100 to 200 baht depending on what it is. I recently found a very good second hand book shop in Koh San Road. I bought an unusual book and paid 300 baht. All the books I have bought have been in very good condition. I think these prices are very reasonable. I have no complaints about prices I just wish there were more shops and a bigger selection.

[Macx]

On top of everything OP mentioned, books also deteriorate quickly in tropical climates. I don't mind paying a bit more.

There is a bookstore/cafe/restaurant in CM that I like. Can't remember the name. It's nice to browse, buy and read a book while having a meal too. And good profit for the store. I find that it takes me 4-5 meals/coffee sessions to finish a book, so maybe 1,500bhat worth of beverage/food to read thru a 250bhat book. Love it.

UG, your place has coffee/food/chairs?

[THAILIBAN]

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm explaining the reason that used books are so expensive in Thailand because I own a shop and many people don't understand why books are more expensive here in "cheap" Thailand than at home.

i was about to ask u if u r based in Bangkok, but then I was smart enough to check ur profile first and found out what I actually expected - Chiang Mai !

Do you know if there are such reasonable second-hand book-shops in BKK as well ?

though I am not a native speaker, I do have plenty of english-language travel-guidebooks about all South-east-Asian countries, which I have to replace as soon as the next issue is published.

so far, I did bring them back to my home-country as I have to go there about 2 times a year, and did sell them in ebay. but maybe easier to sell it to a second-hand bookshop here in Thailand....

(oh didnt see richb2004v2's post...... but hummmmm..... I really don't like to go to the nasty Khaosan ghetto ~_~ )

Edited March 12, 2007 by THAILIBAN

[A_Traveller]

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm explaining the reason that used books are so expensive in Thailand because I own a shop and many people don't understand why books are more expensive here in "cheap" Thailand than at home.

i was about to ask u if u r based in Bangkok, but then I was smart enough to check ur profile first and found out what I actually expected - Chiang Mai !

Do you know if there are such reasonable second-hand book-shops in BKK as well ?

though I am not a native speaker, I do have plenty of english-language travel-guidebooks about all South-east-Asian countries, which I have to replace as soon as the next issue is published.

so far, I did bring them back to my home-country as I have to go there about 2 times a year, and did sell them in ebay. but maybe easier to sell it to a second-hand bookshop here in Thailand....

In Bangkok suggest you look at Dasa

Link

http://www.dasabookcafe.com/

[Ulysses G.]

Macx Posted Today, 2007-03-12 11:37:43

There is a bookstore/cafe/restaurant in CM that I like. Can't remember the name. It's nice to browse, buy and read a book while having a meal too. And good profit for the store. I find that it takes me 4-5 meals/coffee sessions to finish a book, so maybe 1,500bhat worth of beverage/food to read thru a 250bhat book. Love it.

UG, your place has coffee/food/chairs?

I think that you are talking about "The Library" which is now closed. A pleasant atmosphere, but not a lot of books. Maybe 1,000 at the most.

We like to use ALL of our room for books. My main store has over 35,000 books and lots more in our other branches and in the stockrooms. We are almost ready to put our entire stock on-line so that if you go to any store you will be able to get a book from any of the stores or from stock. I would guess that will mean that all of our stores will have something like 200,000 tiles available with in a few moments once we are finished.

I am a sponsor of Thai Visa if you want to know the name of my stores.

[Crow Boy]

This is a country full of THAI people, who read THAI books and quality English books are very difficult to find compared to in English speaking countries where native English speakers buy and discard large numbers.

Yes, there are a lot of tourists here, but many, many people bring or ship high quality books home and only sell the trash that they want to get rid of.

Most 2nd-hand book shops here get very few decent books from customers - tourists often want to keep the special titles and bring them home and get rid of old John Grisham and Tom Clancy novels and that type of thing - and many customers demand a high price for premium books - when they are willing to sell them at all - which forces the bookshops to charge higher prices for them than they would like.

Most of the better shops import most of their good books from other countries and someone has to fly there - pay for an air ticket - and run around collecting them for a few months - and pay for gasoline, hotels, expensive food and the books themselves - and then pay for them to be shipped here which is quite expensive. On top of that, customs charges are VERY high and one often has to pay for transport inside Thailand to whatever city they are going to as well.

Also rents can be astronomical because book shops need to be in a central location or no one will shop there or sell them the books they need to survive.

Some posters have stated that used books are kept at an artificially high value by shop owners on purpose, but the truth is that the cheaper we can sell them for, the more we can sell.

Books are a luxury item here, but they are worth the price to many of us and unless Thai people start reading in English, it will probably stay that way.

When I came back here permanently I sold up and shipped a lot of stuff but the two things that I had to part with were 75 x cartons of books . I was going to sell them to a second hand dealer but he would only pay by the kilo? I ended up donating them to the NSW Prisoners Association, they distribute them amongst the various NSW (Australia) correction services. I figured that at least someone would get some benefit from them. When the guys turned up to collect them from my house they couldn't believe that anyone would have that many books.

To quote UG books are a luxury here but to many of use they are worth the expense. However I don't think it is until Thais start reading in English that is the problem it is when Thais start reading. I have a lot to do with educated and intelligent Thais yet for the most part they don't read. In all my time since first coming here to Thailand I can think of only two or three people who have more than twenty books in their house. Books are disposable here as can be seen by checking out the furniture sections of Lotus, Carre Four etc. Found a book shelf in one of them - No. Found a case for ornaments - yes.

I do buy second hand books in CM and have bought a few from UG's shop near Thapae Gate but I am really anal about my books and can't stand them being dogeared, broken spined, or horror WRITTEN in so generally limit myself to new books or ones in very good condition.

I think that a lot of people have an unrealistic view that a US$30 book from Los Angele's (can they read there?) should be about 25cents in Thailand. This is a carry over from eating food - my pad thai costs 30 baht so why should a Steak from Dukes be so expensive at 390 baht. The answer is that they are not comparable.

Many Thai school books are very cheap but where I used to live, the parents used to complain that they had to shell out 30 baht for a text book which was too much. Put into context where the average farm worker got 100baht per day and I could see their argument.

just my 2c worth

[Crow Boy]

I just bought a great book, High Performance Sailing from Australia;

Sounds like an exhilerating read.

It was plain sailing for a while, got a bit rough, but he ploughed through until he got to the downwind side and then fell into a lull

Sailing - a sport for people who can't play golf but need somewhere to dump excess cash

[sarpesius]

Do you know if there are such reasonable second-hand book-shops in BKK as well ?

....

(oh didnt see richb2004v2's post...... but hummmmm..... I really don't like to go to the nasty Khaosan ghetto ~_~ )

One excellent bookstore is near the burger king at one end of khao san road. The owner will not buy intellectual books because he cannot sell them, but he has excellent scholarly works. He had a history of the Byzantine royal family that I am still kicking myself for not buying.

Another good bookstore is right on Khao San road. They have a huge selection of more popular works. I bought Jean Jacques Rousseau's Emile there.

Actually Khao San road is not a ghetto. Only Khao San road itself is over-commercialized and over-crowded. As soon as you get out on the streets around it, they have the best neighborhoods and some of the best food in Thailand. There is no area in bangkok to compare with the old section. When you go onto KS road, you just have to put on your suit of armor and wade through it.

sarpesius

[Phil Conners]

We are almost ready to put our entire stock on-line so that if you go to any store you will be able to get a book from any of the stores or from stock. I would guess that will mean that all of our stores will have something like 200,000 tiles available with in a few moments once we are finished.

I am a sponsor of Thai Visa if you want to know the name of my stores.

That's an ultra-cool idea. I for one would like to know the name of your stores. Seeing you mostly post in Chaing Mai forum I guess that's where you're at - too bad. There are a couple of good 2nd hand bookstores here in Pattaya, the owner apparently import books by the container load from Australia so quite some gems from time to time ... but no online searches so far

Edited March 12, 2007 by Phil Conners

[Ulysses G.]

Do you know if there are such reasonable second-hand book-shops in BKK as well ?

....

(oh didnt see richb2004v2's post...... but hummmmm..... I really don't like to go to the nasty Khaosan ghetto ~_~ )

One excellent bookstore is near the burger king at one end of khao san road. The owner will not buy intellectual books because he cannot sell them, but he has excellent scholarly works. He had a history of the Byzantine royal family that I am still kicking myself for not buying.

That is Amporia Books and it is run by a really nice Thai gentleman who knows English books better than most Farangs. I always visit when in Bangkok!

[steveromagnino]

What I really miss are RARE bookshops - first editions etc. If anyone knows any dealers in Thailand specialising in modern first editions, I would love to hear about them.

There are several in Amarin Plaza, selling what look to be like collectible books. Ground floor I fink, somewhere near the back.

As for the wags regarding sailing, let me tell you the two happiest days of a sailor's life.

1. The day she or he buys the boat

2. The day she or he can finally sell it

I am somewhere in the middle :-) Mind you what I sail would, at least for many, be somewhat of an eye opener as it is not a typical performance sailing boat but more like the drag racing equivalent. Which translates to even more money to throw at it :-)

[polecat]

Yes, there are some decent 2nd hand bookshops in Chiang Mai, although Surawong (?) is also a good place to browse for new titles, esp on the region.

The prices at most of the 2nd hand joints are ridiculous, though. Sorry UG, but I lived in CM for 3 years and felt like the shops were having a laugh. (Not your joint especially, all of them.) I mean, what do you charge for a paperback?

Let's look at the last book I bought, a John Updike collection (''The Complete Henry Bech''). I got it in Kinokuniya (I moved to Bangkok - not for the bookshops!) for 425 baht. Brand new, mint condition. I spent an hour or so wandering around in air-conditioning, sitting down and leafing through several options before choosing. I bet that would cost 300-350 baht in a CM 2nd hand store. Even if it wasn't in great condition. Not what I call a good deal. Save a hundred baht and get someone's boogers on page 132.

But, you know. Prices are generally what the market will bear (or something).

No offence UG - I'm glad you have your stores in CM. Good luck.

[A_Traveller]

What I really miss are RARE bookshops - first editions etc. If anyone knows any dealers in Thailand specialising in modern first editions, I would love to hear about them.

There are several in Amarin Plaza, selling what look to be like collectible books. Ground floor I fink, somewhere near the back.

When I last looked the stock there was almost entirely good empire building 'boy's ripping yarns' and 50's children's books.

I've not found a modern first edition store here either.

Regards

[bendix]

Right . . i'll just open my own then :-)

[girlx]

i have recently put in a little book corner in my boyfriend's bar and was surprised how quickly i sold most of the books. i started selling them at 50 baht each and went up until 250 baht, still no problems selling them. there is no secondhand bookstore otherwise near where i live. my problem is finding a way to re-stock- going back to the west is not an option for me. i just bought one lot on eBay- 46 decent books for about 2000b including shipping. if i sell them at about 200 baht each that's an ok profit, assuming customs doesn't gouge me. a guy in a chiang mai bookstore suggested going to chatuchak to get cheap used books. i have already put up a sign saying "we buy books" too, but so far nothing... any other advice?

[Ulysses G.]

polecat Today, 2007-03-12 12:57:45 Post #20

Let's look at the last book I bought, a John Updike collection (''The Complete Henry Bech''). I got it in Kinokuniya (I moved to Bangkok - not for the bookshops!) for 425 baht. Brand new, mint condition. I spent an hour or so wandering around in air-conditioning, sitting down and leafing through several options before choosing. I bet that would cost 300-350 baht in a CM 2nd hand store.

To be honest, I would have to see the collection to have an idea what it would be worth. I can tell you that I charge something like 100-140 baht for most Updike, although a nice, newly published, trade size book would be more.

REALLY trendy books by Murakami or Irvine Welsh are very expensive, but 100 customers a day ask for them and I only get one every once in a while and customers won't sell them cheaply. Until recently, it was difficult to get Marakami in Chiang Mai and I had to import his books myself.

On the other hand, most of the stuff that I can get easily and cheaply that isn't brand new - Grisham, Connelly, Cornwell, Rendell, Ludlum are now selling for about 100 baht and they are 350 to 400 baht new at Asia Books.

I also have a big section on my second floor with lots of award winners and books that were trendy in the past, but aren't so popular now. They are ALL 100 baht and most are in excellent condition and sell for about 400-450 baht in Asia Books.

I try to sell books that I buy cheaply for as low a price as I can, but the super-trendy ones are too hard to come by. I sell them for whatever the market will bare!

Edited March 12, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[girlx]

hmm but do you have any advice on where to stock up on wholesale books within thailand?

[kash]

It's way too expensive, i.e 180-220THB for a Grisham book, stickerprice; 290THB ... somebody is making enough money to be a TV sponsor it seems, despite the sourcingcosts.

(as to the OP; sound a bit silly though to include airtickets, hotel and pay for someone to source some books for months, when you can easily make a phonecall and order a container ... well well)

[Ulysses G.]

girlx Today, 2007-03-12 13:36:19 Post #25

hmm but do you have any advice on where to stock up on wholesale books within thailand?

I'm the guy who told you to go to Chatuchak!

Edited March 12, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[Ulysses G.]

It's way too expensive, i.e 180-220THB for a Grisham book, stickerprice; 290THB ... somebody is making enough money to be a TV sponsor it seems, despite the sourcingcosts.

(as to the OP; sound a bit silly though to include airtickets, hotel and pay for someone to source some books for months, when you can easily make a phonecall and order a container ... well well)

I said 100 baht for a used Grisham Book and the sticker price is at least 350. I guess that you aren't much of a reader.

If you order a container, you get a container full of complete garbage. Book stores somewhere else send you everything that is impossible for them to sell.

You have to go get books yourself if you don't want junk and it is very expensive. That is the point of this thread.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[kash]

ohh really, well check your prices again, you won't find a single Grisham priced for 100THB in your stores, (for fair condition books your tags says 140-180, and 220+ for new ones.)

Edited March 12, 2007 by kash

[abdulrahman]

I don't know much about the used book trade,have only been a customer up to now,but 6 month ago I did open a used book store,knowing that I would make no money from it,more as a hobby.

My thinking was that since in the city the number of farang residents has doubled,at least,since I came,4 years ago,some of these farangs shared my love of books.

Cannot say I'm disappointed,didn't expect much,but considering the number of Beerbars and the number of customer,my shop,the only one around,situated in a central position,is always very,very quite.

Oh,well,it gives me a reason to go out of the house for some time,and my wife can easily control me,so she's happy,too.