Why Are Used Book Stores So Expensive In Chiang Mai?

[hellodolly]

HelloDolly, can I ask you when you last visited Raintree? And did you actually go in all the rooms? ALL of the rooms have plenty of books in them. You must have been a long time ago! I know that they have some boxes (books for FREE no less) in one of the rooms, opposite the coffee section. You say you have checked out a "book or two" but the quality isn't there. I strongly disagree with that. The 3 books I checked out today are in mint condition. And I didn't have to pay ANYTHING FOR THEM! It also seems odd that for someone who has admitted he uses ereaders and not bookstores so much, that you're spending an inordinate amount of time here on a topic you admitted you knew and know nothing about. Your Kindle not working today?

You asked me when was the last time I was in Rain Tree. Not going to tell you but I will give you a hint I am in there every week. They have a box of free books on the floor next to the door between the two rooms. Every once in a while being clumsy I hit it.

I did not say all the books were in bad condition but many of them are. The condition of a book is not what drives me. The contents is what I seek a book out for. Yes there are many books in there in very good condition also in just good condition. One I took out I had to hold the pages in or the book would have fallen apart. You obviously did not look in the storage room there are several boxes in there.

I would like to own an e reader but I don't as you well know by reading my posts where I buy books for 99 baht at the bookshelf and put them on my to read pile. I also mentioned that I do go to other book stores looking for books to complete a set. I have a wide interest in books and it is not always the author or the genre that draws me to them. Just some thing about them that intrigues me.

For instance I am currently reading the biography of Buffalo Bill by Zane Gray as related to him by Buffalo Bill's sister. I had just finished up on the biography of Steve Jobs and my next book will be the third book in a three book set of historical fiction about Genghis Khan by Conn Iggulden, I have read the biography of Genghis Khan. I read Louis L'amour Science fiction Steven Hawkins. In short a wide variety many mysteries such as Douglas Preston and he some times

writes book's with Lincoln Child also I read Clive Cussler. I read Science Fiction and as you all ready know westerns. In fact I am not a book snob It does not have to be from a famous author or a really popular one. As I said the condition matters not to me if I want to read it I will.

The short and the long of it is I am no stranger to book stores but I do not presume to judge them. In my opinion yes some of the prices are high some low. Makes no difference to me if I want it bad I will buy it if not that bad I will wait it will loose it's popularity and the price will then go down. Take for instance the price of your Nobel prize winner. I bet when he got the Nobel prize it cost more than ten baht.

Just to let you know a little secret that will make your heart flutter. In Canada I bought them at Garage sales and Flea markets for on the average 30 baht.

Stick to Rain Tree In my opinion you will love it there free is a big draw to you.

Are there two HelloDolly's? One writes things like this: "For a real traveler get a kindle. You can take up to 3,600 books with you depending on the model. As a real travler would be able to tell You there are not bookshops for English speaking people in many of the smaller cities." The other one, in this post, denies he owns an ereader. The one HelloDolly says he's not an expert on book stores, this one has a completely different take. One HelloDolly is uniformly polite, the other can be tetchy.

To the HelloDolly in this post, I applaud your choice of books; it's not my cup of tea, but variety makes the world go round. I also once enjoyed reading the Zane Grey stories (one title that seems to come to mind is Riders of the Purple Sage) which are surprisingly well written and are good escapist fare. I hadn't heard of the Buffalo Bill biography but it likely would be very interesting. I've also enjoyed reading Owen Wister's books, especially The Virginian.

But why not say when you've last been to Raintree? I say this because I do suspect it has changed a lot since you last went (and yes, I know about the boxes (not just one) of books that users can take for free. They also have a very good guide to living in Chiang Mai (suggested contribution of 50 baht) and they sold a couple last time I was there. It is in its 21st edition, by the way. Today. I also looked at hundreds of their books and found NONE to be in the damaged condition that you allude to, although it is possible that out of the 5,000 or so books they have, that could be the case. It also happens (more frequently in my opinion) in used book stores that need to turn a profit.

William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize winner I spoke of, has been dead for a long time. 50 years, in fact. The way it works is that when someone wins a major literary prize, the price of their books goes up (and tends to stay up). That's why the publisher often adds, "written by Nobel Prize winner..." to the cover. You're talking about buying "bargain" books in Chiang Mai for 100 baht; I used the example of buying a Faulkner book in good condition for the equivalent of B 10 in Penang. Which is the better bargain? In fact, in my opinion, buying a used book for 100 baht which is what you tell us you do and which you think is a good bargain (which is about $3.30) is almost never a bargain for the buyer unless it is a truly exceptional book by an exceptional author. I think you could pick up a handful of Zane Grey's for $3.30 in the USA, Canada, or the UK. Even here in Thailand, a new book by that author at stores like Asia Books or Kinokuniya is not going to cost much more than the 100 baht you're paying for a used one. And you can probably find copies of Zane Grey at Chatuchak market for 10-20 baht each. After bargaining, that is, and that is another major point no one is talking about here. I've found you cannot bargain at the used book stores in Chiang Mai (I admit to having only gone to 5 of them but they are the 5 major ones) whereas you are almost expected to in Bangkok, Penang, Pattaya etc.

Good luck, and good reading to you. And thanks to the moderator for removing some of the Mad Dog posts!

Well actually I have been in there twice this week. I do not own a kindle because I have not found the justification to get one. If you have read my posts you will notice I have several times said books to putt on my to be read pile.

When I do travel I take some books with me because I do not travel that much and the only place I have ever had a problem finding them was in Bali. As I said in North America I can get therm for 30 baht at the garage sales and flea markets.

One of these days I will get a kindle but it will not be the cheap one. It will be the large one. Have to look at the new one out. I believe the screen is less than 9 inches in size

I measured a paper back and the print was over 6 inches so that means unless you make the print smaller you can not get as much on a kindle page as a real paper back. The large one is nine and three eights inches that gives you over twice the viewing space and allows you to make the font bigger and still get over one page on it. Unlike you I value convenience. Also my eye sight.

When My stack of to be read books is down I will probably take a good look at the Kindles on offer at that time. Unless I see another interesting book in the meantime.

As for bitchy well I am irritated by newbies who form negative opinions especially when they turn out to be Cheap Charlies. I know you claim to be here for years . Why all of a sudden a crusade to try and discredit honest business men. I hear how every thing but books is cheaper here well you can always go live in a mountain village and get your lodging and food even cheaper.

Yes I have been is several book stores more than once but that does not make me an expert. As I said if Rain tree has 5,000 books UG has 30,000 at Rain tree you can stand on the ground and read all the titles. In fact several of the cabinets you have to bend over to read them as they are only three shelves high.

Like I said Falkner is not in demand so they will take what they can get to get it off there shelves. I am sure many of the book stores here have the same kind of books they just send them to be recycled. UG would know more about that than me he unlike me he is a expert.

[Ulysses G.]

The truth is that if you go through the bargain book bins in Chiang Mai, you can get just as good deals as the OP found in Penang, Malaysia without traveling two days to get there. I see them all the time when customers bring them in to sell and I usually can tell exactly where they came from.

The difference is that in Chiang Mai, in general, the bookstores have much better selections, they are much cleaner and much better organized. That is the nature of used bookstores, if you just look for something cheap, you can find it, but if you want something more specific, you might get lucky or you might have to pay more for it. Anyone who frequents used book stores should know this.

There are Thai-run establishments in CM with nothing but cheap titles - because the owners have no idea of what they are selling - but, most people do not want to have to pick through a bunch of dusty crap titles for one decent book that often turns out to have missing pages or a broken spine. I know where all these places are and hardly ever bother to visit them, because the chances of finding something that I want is so small. Even when there were no decent used books stores in Chiang Mai, I thought that they were too much work for very little result and I would be surprised if many other people felt otherwise, There are two across the street from the DK Bookstore if anyone wants to check them out.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[uptheos]

We are so lucky to have great bookshops in Chiang Mai, especially the amazing selection that Gecko has!!

[TommoPhysicist]

If you must read paper books, many hotel lobbies and coffee shops have shelves with free books to take or exchange.

I never used Gecko books, used to buy novels from the shop just round the corner from John's Place.

I thought they were overpriced too, which I why I purchased my first e-book reader.

E-book distribution and availability has come a long way since those days.

[uptheos]

If you must read paper books, many hotel lobbies and coffee shops have shelves with free books to take or exchange.

I never used Gecko books, used to buy novels from the shop just round the corner from John's Place.

I thought they were overpriced too, which I why I purchased my first e-book reader.

E-book distribution and availability has come a long way since those days.

I always buy my books at Gecko if I can, I think they are the best book shop in Chiang Mai, but that's my opinion.

Futhermore, I would suggest that anyone visiting Chiang Mai and likes bookstores, heads for Thapae gate and check out the great selection that Gecko has. Also there are a couple of other bookstores in that area.

I suppose I'd better add that I have absolutely no interest in Gecko Books, other than being a totally satisfied customer ever since it first opened.

Edited October 6, 2012 by uptheos

[CMX]

Just to add a few flies to our soup -

There are 'free' books from Amazon (and a flood of others that are coming soon from everyone else) that we can download in a moment (wi-fi, that is) that are usually written by novice authors. Quality is generally lousy from all points of view, but some writers are so promising that their subsequent books enter the pay-for market, not unusually in print (paper!!!). Note that the early efforts are legal, moral (Amazon's promoting them and they don't have to crack the publishers' shells), and FRee!!!! Moreover, one can sometimes discover those authors who are better and sold, later, at the high price, printed too, and then trace back up to some originals and get them for frEE or nearly so. This for flexible readers.

But also, in the U.S., those who subscribe to fast delivery of items ($80/yr) purchased from Amazon are allowed in that country to download a book each month without additional fees. Selections are limited, of course, but include some titles that get good reviews. Why, one could read a Harry Potter book without cost every month of the year, if there were 12 of them. ~ I mention this simply to illustrate that we are discussing a quickly moving aspect of our lives, which in five years will have made our thoughts (excepting those of us collecting paper books) completely outdated (as will be fairly soon our collections, barring 1st editions or signed copies - artifacts of historical interest). Knowledge and art, after all, are almost as fleeting as technology, or life.

Ulysses points out correctly, in my view, that if you're shopping, for fun, for a great find, that your search will be musty. Prices depend in part on our geographic location too (did you ever price a book from a seller on the Seine?). Of course there are better alternatives in gargantuan BKK than our town; was anything ever more obvious?

Edited October 6, 2012 by CMX

[Ricardo]

Call me old-fashioned (I am, at times) but a list of e-books on a web-site cannot compare, with the fun of browsing through the shelves of a second-hand book-store and serendipitously finding a new author or indeed a new title by an old favourite !

I don't expect to find a free-library, in the farang sense, here in Thailand, although there are indeed a few. But I'm quite happy to lose 100-150 Baht per-book, on a purchase/resale to a second-hand bookstore, and supplement this with buying discounted/new-books via Amazon, whenever I'm popping back to the UK for a few weeks.

However it would be nice to be offered more than 50-60 Baht for the almost-new (one careful reader only !) book, when I come to offer it to the local bookstore, if their business-model might run to 100B then that would be good !

[TheVicar]

HelloDolly, can I ask you when you last visited Raintree? And did you actually go in all the rooms? ALL of the rooms have plenty of books in them. You must have been a long time ago! I know that they have some boxes (books for FREE no less) in one of the rooms, opposite the coffee section. You say you have checked out a "book or two" but the quality isn't there. I strongly disagree with that. The 3 books I checked out today are in mint condition. And I didn't have to pay ANYTHING FOR THEM! It also seems odd that for someone who has admitted he uses ereaders and not bookstores so much, that you're spending an inordinate amount of time here on a topic you admitted you knew and know nothing about. Your Kindle not working today?

You asked me when was the last time I was in Rain Tree. Not going to tell you but I will give you a hint I am in there every week. They have a box of free books on the floor next to the door between the two rooms. Every once in a while being clumsy I hit it.

I did not say all the books were in bad condition but many of them are. The condition of a book is not what drives me. The contents is what I seek a book out for. Yes there are many books in there in very good condition also in just good condition. One I took out I had to hold the pages in or the book would have fallen apart. You obviously did not look in the storage room there are several boxes in there.

I would like to own an e reader but I don't as you well know by reading my posts where I buy books for 99 baht at the bookshelf and put them on my to read pile. I also mentioned that I do go to other book stores looking for books to complete a set. I have a wide interest in books and it is not always the author or the genre that draws me to them. Just some thing about them that intrigues me.

For instance I am currently reading the biography of Buffalo Bill by Zane Gray as related to him by Buffalo Bill's sister. I had just finished up on the biography of Steve Jobs and my next book will be the third book in a three book set of historical fiction about Genghis Khan by Conn Iggulden, I have read the biography of Genghis Khan. I read Louis L'amour Science fiction Steven Hawkins. In short a wide variety many mysteries such as Douglas Preston and he some times

writes book's with Lincoln Child also I read Clive Cussler. I read Science Fiction and as you all ready know westerns. In fact I am not a book snob It does not have to be from a famous author or a really popular one. As I said the condition matters not to me if I want to read it I will.

The short and the long of it is I am no stranger to book stores but I do not presume to judge them. In my opinion yes some of the prices are high some low. Makes no difference to me if I want it bad I will buy it if not that bad I will wait it will loose it's popularity and the price will then go down. Take for instance the price of your Nobel prize winner. I bet when he got the Nobel prize it cost more than ten baht.

Just to let you know a little secret that will make your heart flutter. In Canada I bought them at Garage sales and Flea markets for on the average 30 baht.

Stick to Rain Tree In my opinion you will love it there free is a big draw to you.

Are there two HelloDolly's? One writes things like this: "For a real traveler get a kindle. You can take up to 3,600 books with you depending on the model. As a real travler would be able to tell You there are not bookshops for English speaking people in many of the smaller cities." The other one, in this post, denies he owns an ereader. The one HelloDolly says he's not an expert on book stores, this one has a completely different take. One HelloDolly is uniformly polite, the other can be tetchy.

To the HelloDolly in this post, I applaud your choice of books; it's not my cup of tea, but variety makes the world go round. I also once enjoyed reading the Zane Grey stories (one title that seems to come to mind is Riders of the Purple Sage) which are surprisingly well written and are good escapist fare. I hadn't heard of the Buffalo Bill biography but it likely would be very interesting. I've also enjoyed reading Owen Wister's books, especially The Virginian.

But why not say when you've last been to Raintree? I say this because I do suspect it has changed a lot since you last went (and yes, I know about the boxes (not just one) of books that users can take for free. They also have a very good guide to living in Chiang Mai (suggested contribution of 50 baht) and they sold a couple last time I was there. It is in its 21st edition, by the way. Today. I also looked at hundreds of their books and found NONE to be in the damaged condition that you allude to, although it is possible that out of the 5,000 or so books they have, that could be the case. It also happens (more frequently in my opinion) in used book stores that need to turn a profit.

William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize winner I spoke of, has been dead for a long time. 50 years, in fact. The way it works is that when someone wins a major literary prize, the price of their books goes up (and tends to stay up). That's why the publisher often adds, "written by Nobel Prize winner..." to the cover. You're talking about buying "bargain" books in Chiang Mai for 100 baht; I used the example of buying a Faulkner book in good condition for the equivalent of B 10 in Penang. Which is the better bargain? In fact, in my opinion, buying a used book for 100 baht which is what you tell us you do and which you think is a good bargain (which is about $3.30) is almost never a bargain for the buyer unless it is a truly exceptional book by an exceptional author. I think you could pick up a handful of Zane Grey's for $3.30 in the USA, Canada, or the UK. Even here in Thailand, a new book by that author at stores like Asia Books or Kinokuniya is not going to cost much more than the 100 baht you're paying for a used one. And you can probably find copies of Zane Grey at Chatuchak market for 10-20 baht each. After bargaining, that is, and that is another major point no one is talking about here. I've found you cannot bargain at the used book stores in Chiang Mai (I admit to having only gone to 5 of them but they are the 5 major ones) whereas you are almost expected to in Bangkok, Penang, Pattaya etc.

Good luck, and good reading to you. And thanks to the moderator for removing some of the Mad Dog posts!

Well actually I have been in there twice this week. I do not own a kindle because I have not found the justification to get one. If you have read my posts you will notice I have several times said books to putt on my to be read pile.

When I do travel I take some books with me because I do not travel that much and the only place I have ever had a problem finding them was in Bali. As I said in North America I can get therm for 30 baht at the garage sales and flea markets.

One of these days I will get a kindle but it will not be the cheap one. It will be the large one. Have to look at the new one out. I believe the screen is less than 9 inches in size

I measured a paper back and the print was over 6 inches so that means unless you make the print smaller you can not get as much on a kindle page as a real paper back. The large one is nine and three eights inches that gives you over twice the viewing space and allows you to make the font bigger and still get over one page on it. Unlike you I value convenience. Also my eye sight.

When My stack of to be read books is down I will probably take a good look at the Kindles on offer at that time. Unless I see another interesting book in the meantime.

As for bitchy well I am irritated by newbies who form negative opinions especially when they turn out to be Cheap Charlies. I know you claim to be here for years . Why all of a sudden a crusade to try and discredit honest business men. I hear how every thing but books is cheaper here well you can always go live in a mountain village and get your lodging and food even cheaper.

Yes I have been is several book stores more than once but that does not make me an expert. As I said if Rain tree has 5,000 books UG has 30,000 at Rain tree you can stand on the ground and read all the titles. In fact several of the cabinets you have to bend over to read them as they are only three shelves high.

Like I said Falkner is not in demand so they will take what they can get to get it off there shelves. I am sure many of the book stores here have the same kind of books they just send them to be recycled. UG would know more about that than me he unlike me he is a expert.

So HelloDolly you accuse me of being a "Cheap Charlie" but don't seem to have the money for a Kindle (sells for under $100 as I understand)? You really are a Jeckyll and Hyde!

I'm sorry, but you're lying about Raintree because your physical description (cabinets you have to bend over to read) are simply nonsense. It's good to see you dropped the similar idiocy about their books being tattered once called on that. That too is really false. It's obvious you never have been or were there a long, long time ago and when called out, are now fabricating, or are in bed (maybe not in a literal sense) with some of those used book store operators you so enjoy wasting your money on. By the way, if you are paying 30 baht for used books (and at garage sales no less) in North America, you're paying way, way too much. You can get them for far less (and from Amazon for pennies).

Faulkner not in demand? Please, that too is stupid as was your priceless claim that once people get a Nobel Prize, their book prices decline!

I would guess, by the way, that it is you who are the newbie to Asia; I've been here on a permanent basis for 20 years. I not only claim it, it's the factual truth. And people moving to new areas often offer fresh insights which you are clearly lacking. Most sensible people (but not you) realize that.

Edited October 6, 2012 by TheVicar

[TheVicar]

Just to add a few flies to our soup -

There are 'free' books from Amazon (and a flood of others that are coming soon from everyone else) that we can download in a moment (wi-fi, that is) that are usually written by novice authors. Quality is generally lousy from all points of view, but some writers are so promising that their subsequent books enter the pay-for market, not unusually in print (paper!!!). Note that the early efforts are legal, moral (Amazon's promoting them and they don't have to crack the publishers' shells), and FRee!!!! Moreover, one can sometimes discover those authors who are better and sold, later, at the high price, printed too, and then trace back up to some originals and get them for frEE or nearly so. This for flexible readers.

But also, in the U.S., those who subscribe to fast delivery of items ($80/yr) purchased from Amazon are allowed in that country to download a book each month without additional fees. Selections are limited, of course, but include some titles that get good reviews. Why, one could read a Harry Potter book without cost every month of the year, if there were 12 of them. ~ I mention this simply to illustrate that we are discussing a quickly moving aspect of our lives, which in five years will have made our thoughts (excepting those of us collecting paper books) completely outdated (as will be fairly soon our collections, barring 1st editions or signed copies - artifacts of historical interest). Knowledge and art, after all, are almost as fleeting as technology, or life.

Ulysses points out correctly, in my view, that if you're shopping, for fun, for a great find, that your search will be musty. Prices depend in part on our geographic location too (did you ever price a book from a seller on the Seine?). Of course there are better alternatives in gargantuan BKK than our town; was anything ever more obvious?

UG pointing out that a search in a used bookstore "will be musty". Hardly! Read what he wrote; he's estatic about how clean the used book stores are in CM. Just the opposite of your writing!

[Tywais]

This topic is going in circles now and too argumentative to be of any more use.

//Closed//