A Chiang Mai Sucess Story

[ThaiPauly]

Just read this in July's Citylife. P18 Column 2

"And of course Gecko Books are now vying with 7/11for properties all over the City." written by someone with a lot of knowledge of Chiang Mai

will the next Bill Heine please take a bow

[qualtrough]

Just read this in July's Citylife. P18 Column 2

"And of course Gecko Books are now vying with 7/11for properties all over the City." written by someone with a lot of knowledge of Chiang Mai

will the next Bill Heine please take a bow

I think you mean Bill Heineke? Bill Heine doesn't have two cents to rub together.

[ThaiPauly]

Just read this in July's Citylife. P18 Column 2

"And of course Gecko Books are now vying with 7/11for properties all over the City." written by someone with a lot of knowledge of Chiang Mai

will the next Bill Heine please take a bow

I think you mean Bill Heineke? Bill Heine doesn't have two cents to rub together.

I stand corrected the Heine used to host a radio show in Oxford

[eek]

Grats to Gecko Books. Glad they are doing well.

I took first trip to Gecko last week. Brilliant to have so many English Lang books around and esp at a good price. Love the fact that the books will be bought back for half price when returned!

Great place!

[lotus eater]

Speaks well for Chiang Mai.

[siam-i-am]

Speaks well for Chiang Mai.

Brilliant!

[WaiWai]

Speaks well for Chiang Mai.

Who duz ?

We're not all inarticulate !

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks all.

There was a book published this week by Paiboon Publishing called How To Establish a Successful Business in Thailand by Philip Wylie and it had a very nice write-up on Gecko Books, so I'm feeling pretty good about the way things are going.

We are opening another fairly large shop on Loi Kroh Road next to the Chiang Mai Saloon in about two weeks and are also building a double-sized annex to the main branch right across the street which will eventually pretty much double our stock for the main store and add a lot of more different and exotic types of books that we couldn't fit on the shelves before.

We have a big load of all kinds of authors and titles coming from overseas next week and have a few more big loads of books arriving just in the next few months - lots of unusual and "quality" titles.

Eventually, I want to move some of the stores in the tourist area out to places with no bookshops like Niemanheiman Road and the like, but I want to make sure there will be enough cusomers to make it worthwhile first.

Edited July 7, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[eek]

Ah UG, didnt know you were the owner.

Grats to you on a successful business , and may it continue to be so.

[Ulysses G.]

Thank you again.

[Cyberstar]

... and he did it, despite being an American ...

[ThaiPauly]

I have to admire the simpicity of how the biz works.

They buy a book marked at say $6 retail price new, they pay say $2 as they buy in bulk sell them for $4 dollars, then buy them back for $2 and the cycle continues till the book falls apart.

Its so simple and everybody is happy

I'd love to know how many coppies of The Damage Done they have sold , or carry in stock.

No wonder UG eats out so much...he is the only bugger that can afford to LOL

PS Good Luck with then ew venture, you did well to get a spot next to the CMS

[endure]

Thanks all.

There was a book published this week by Paiboon Publishing called How To Establish a Successful Business in Thailand by Philip Wylie and it had a very nice write-up on Gecko Books, so I'm feeling pretty good about the way things are going.

We are opening another fairly large shop on Loi Kroh Road next to the Chiang Mai Saloon in about two weeks and are also building a double-sized annex to the main branch right across the street which will eventually pretty much double our stock for the main store and add a lot of more different and exotic types of books that we couldn't fit on the shelves before.

We have a big load of all kinds of authors and titles coming from overseas next week and have a few more big loads of books arriving just in the next few months - lots of unusual and "quality" titles.

Eventually, I want to move some of the stores in the tourist area out to places with no bookshops like Niemanheiman Road and the like, but I want to make sure there will be enough cusomers to make it worthwhile first.

It's about time you got a shop on Huay Kaew. Next door to the Lemontree would be good

[Ulysses G.]

I have to admire the simpicity of how the biz works.

They buy a book marked at say $6 retail price new, they pay say $2 as they buy in bulk sell them for $4 dollars, then buy them back for $2 and the cycle continues till the book falls apart.

Its so simple and everybody is happy

That sounds great, and it what you hope for when you first start, but it doesn't really work that way.

The truth is that most customers are only interested in brand new books that have just been released - which very few people are willing to sell - and super-trendy books that everyone is looking for and that you can never get enough copies of. All day long people pop in and ask me for paperback books that are so new they are still only available in hardback.

If you do have what they want, they buy the book and are so happy that they got it used that they keep them for a year or two until it is a very common book that no one is interested in anymore, and then they want half price back even though that is more than the price you are selling them at by then. You hope that people will buy the most trendy books and sell them back while they are still popular, but very few people do. They usually add them to their collections or travel with them and sell them elsewhere.

Like any business, selling books is a lot of work and it takes lot of thinking to do it right.

I have loved books all of my life and been a prolific reader since first grade, so this is the job for me. I'm willing to put up with the negative aspects of the business, but believe me, it isn't easy and it isn't the perfect job that many people think it is.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[mcgriffith]

Yeah, UG, Huay Kaew Rd. You just might have to stock some manga and Japanese titles, however...

McG

[tigerbeer]

UG, on average, how much cheaper are used books compared to new ones. say new paperbacks at B2S costs 380Baht, how much can they find it at your place? assuming the books are not very popular anymore. just curious.

[tracker]

off topic... but.. thanks for those shops being there! I reside in an area far, far away from any english books retail. Sometimes I have to go on business to CM and when I do, I reserve a couple of hours to stock on books in Gecko.

Bytheway, isn't their any listing online. so that I can order them through the mail?

[Ulysses G.]

UG, on average, how much cheaper are used books compared to new ones. say new paperbacks at B2S costs 380Baht, how much can they find it at your place? assuming the books are not very popular anymore. just curious.

It depends how old and how popular they are and what they look like.

For example, most of my older John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell range from 100-130 now. I have lots of slightly warn copies of these authors for 100 baht.

Authors that are a little harder to get enough of like James Patterson and Michael Connelly are slightly higher - maybe 130-160 for books that are a few years old.

Very popular beach-type books that are pretty new - not more than one year - are usually about 180 to 200 and up to 230 in perfect condition in just the first few months after they are first released. Less popular ones can be much cheaper and women authors tend to be much cheaper than men other than one or two that sell like wildfire!

In a new store these same type of books are usually either 350 or 395 baht.

We have quite a bit of good literature upstairs that was popular a few years ago that we sell for 100 baht in very good condition. There is a sign that says "No Return", but if it is still in good condition we usually buy it back for 1/2 price. These books tend to be about 400-700 new.

The bargain books out front are 20, 40 and 60 baht and can be pretty good beach books, but people grab the best ones quickly.

We also have lots of popular literature and non-fiction that is more expensive than the other books that I have mentioned. It is usually considerably lower than the dollar/pound/euro price on the books, but once in a while, for the trendy ones, you can buy the same book for 100/150 baht more in some bookstores in Thailand. However, some books that I sell for 280 baht were originally 950 baht at a store in Bangkok.

It is impossible for me to know the prices at every single bookshop in Thailand, so I tend to go by the ones that I have seen in new bookstores that I frequent. However, if I find out that a local bookshop that sells new books is selling it too close to my used price, I will usually lower my price.

About buying books online, we are working on that now, but we have so much stock that just putting barcodes on everything is taking ages.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[tigerbeer]

UG, on average, how much cheaper are used books compared to new ones. say new paperbacks at B2S costs 380Baht, how much can they find it at your place? assuming the books are not very popular anymore. just curious.

It depends how old and how popular they are and what they look like.

For example, most of my older John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell range from 100-130 now. I have lots of slightly warn copies of these authors for 100 baht.

Authors that are a little harder to get enough of like James Patterson and Michael Connelly are slightly higher - maybe 130-160 for books that are a few years old.

Very popular beach-type books that are pretty new - not more than one year - are usually about 180 to 200 and up to 230 in perfect condition in just the first few months after they are first released. Less popular ones can be much cheaper and women authors tend to be much cheaper than men other than one or two that sell like wildfire!

In a new store these same type of books are usually either 350 or 395 baht.

We have quite a bit of good literature upstairs that was popular a few years ago that we sell for 100 baht in very good condition. There is a sign that says "No Return", but if it is still in good condition we usually buy it back for 1/2 price. These books tend to be about 400-700 new.

The bargain books out front are 20, 40 and 60 baht and can be pretty good beach books, but people grab the best ones quickly.

We also have lots of popular literature and non-fiction that is more expensive than the other books that I have mentioned. It is usually considerably lower than the dollar/pound/euro price on the books, but once in a while, for the trendy ones, you can buy the same book for 100/150 baht more in some bookstores in Thailand. However, some books that I sell for 280 baht were originally 950 baht at a store in Bangkok.

It is impossible for me to know the prices at every single bookshop in Thailand, so I tend to go by the ones that I have seen in new bookstores that I frequent. However, if I find out that a local bookshop that sells new books is selling it too close to my used price, I will usually lower my price.

About buying books online, we are working on that now, but we have so much stock that just putting barcodes on everything is taking ages.

Thanks UG, shall come check your books up. And perhaps meet you as well

[eek]

A shop on Huay Kaew would be gReaT (hint hint ).

Got some new released books that i had bought at the airport coming Geckos way soon. Nothing like getting a bit of baht back! Will probably spend it buying others though... Hey well, good for me and good for you... so, everyone happy

The online books sounds like a brilliant idea. Im sure it will make a lot of people happy.

[wasabi]

Wow this is a good idea. I'll buy some books from you next time I'm in Thailand. Every little bit counts right?

[Crow Boy]

UG

Congrats on the growth of Gecko Books, looking forward to seeing the new store next to the CM Saloon.

CB

[farangfool]

Any plans to open branches in BKK or Pattaya? The book stores in BKK are not so great (aside from the Ch. university book store). In Pattaya are some, but VERY limited selection and the prices are a bit over the top.

[Ulysses G.]

UG, on average, how much cheaper are used books compared to new ones. say new paperbacks at B2S costs 380Baht, how much can they find it at your place? assuming the books are not very popular anymore. just curious.

About buying books online, we are working on that now, but we have so much stock that just putting barcodes on everything is taking ages.

Thanks UG, shall come check your books up. And perhaps meet you as well

I'd like to meet you.

As far as stores in Bangkok and Pattaya, I have a childhood friend - a real reader - who keeps talking about opening in Bangkok - somewhere with no other used book shops. If he commits himself to it, we would do it together and he would manage the Bangkok store.

All I am waiting for is him to say yes.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[lotus eater]

Speaks well for Chiang Mai.

Brilliant!

Would like to share the joke....obviously hilarious.

Speaks well for Chiang Mai.

Who duz ?

We're not all inarticulate :D !

The fact that Gecko is prospering...duz.

I had not meant to be patronizing; even in countries with high levels of affluence and literacy, 2nd hand book shops are not a boom business.

The online books sounds like a brilliant idea. Im sure it will make a lot of people happy.

Second that.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

I have been bugging UG for years to open a branch on Nimmanhaemin or Huay Kaew area. Any supporters for this? Come on UG, its such a nightmare to park in town! And yes, congratulations, it is so wonderful to see a business building itself from ground up and succeeding so well and with such a good reputation in Chiang Mai.

Gecko for Nim Road!

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks Pim.

After another year, or so, of experimenting with locations in the Thapae Gate/ Night Bazaar area, I intend to move some of the less successful stores out to areas like Nimmanhaemin and see how that works.

Edited July 10, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[JimGant]

UG,

Any thoughts to becoming the 'Used Borders Books' of CM, ie, selling not only books but used CDs, DVDs, and fresh coffee? I guess the pirating taint could be troublesome, although originals (or full proof copies )might work...

Anyway, I'm still grateful to Gecko's for solving my Hornblower craving of a few years back. I found all of the series (well, one edition had to come from a compeititor), most being decade-old yellow versions, but all completely serviceable. They're all on my shelf, along with most everything else C.S. Forester ever wrote (fantastic author, in spite of not being American ), awaiting the day when Alzheimer's sets in so I can read them constantly.

[Loaded]

Before Gecko when I first arrived I used to go to Lost Bookshop near the old BlueSky garden. I used to have the 50 baht farang breakfast next door and then go in. There was a very laid back old hand from the UK who owned the place and I think his business partner was Irish Gerry from Backstreet Books. Anyone know what happened to him?

[BlackArtemis]

I would have agreed to the branch on HK and Nimm when I lived over there, but now that I live within the walls I am quite happy. In fact I sometimes walk from work on my lunch break and pick up some books. But sorry to say UG I keep books, I like to build a library, even if it means a heavy suitcase on return trips! My wife puts me on a limit once in awhile though, so I can't buy all that I want haha, though it seems the fantasy books don't fly off the shelves too fast so they are usually there when I have time to sneak in and grab em

Been going there for 2 years or so and I am thrilled that I don't have to airmail books from R.A Salvatore or Robert Jordan! keep up the good work!

Edited July 14, 2007 by BlackArtemis