Hello Everyone,

Hope you all are doing well. Yesterday I went to the World Book fair, Pragati Maidan and bought some books. Every time I went to Bookfair, one question which always meanders in my mind is “Is this book cheaper here or online?” So this time, I thought I will compare the price on both the platforms. Here is the list of books which I bought with both the prices.

1. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: I bought this book from Niyogi Publications, got it for Rs. 200 from there. But I could not find the same book online, so looked for another hardcover book on Amazon, which was worth was Rs. 319.
2. Gupp and Gossip by Ganesh Saili: Bookfair price- Rs. 200, Amazon Price- Rs. 345.
3. Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a long and happy life by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia: Bookfair price- Rs. 399, Amazon price- Rs. 349.
4. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Gosh: Bookfair price- Rs. 399, Amazon price- Rs. 330.
5. The Blessed Girl by Angela Makholwa: Bookfair price- Rs. 299, Amazon Price- Rs. 261.
6. Go set a watchman by Harper Lee: Bookfair price- Rs. 250, Amazon price- Rs. 399.
7. Me before you by Jojos Moyes: Bookfair price- Rs. 200, Amazon price- Rs. 249.
8. The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi: Bookfair price- Rs. 200, Amazon Price- Rs. 219.
9. The Little Christmas Kitchen by Jenny Oliver: I bought this and the next two books for Rs. 100, so I am considering the bookfair price for this one as Rs. 33 while the Amazon price is Rs. 130.
10. Eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert- Book fair price- Rs. 33, Amazon price- Rs. 240.
11. By my side by Sue Reid- Book fair price- Rs. 33, Amazon price- Rs. 99.

Now, if we sum up the total, the amount I spent on my books is Rs. 2247, and if I would have bought these online I would have to pay Rs. 2940. This means that I saved a total of Rs. 693, which I think is quite good, but some of you may say, “Oh, common Komal, this is not a big deal.” But hey, I could have bought 2 more books with this money.

Let me tell you a few more things before you go and start buying books. Always set a budget and try to keep it in cash. If you give yourself the liberty of paying from Debit/Credit Card, you will still see some money in your wallet and you would be tricked to think that you haven’t spent so much but in reality, you would have. My budget this year was Rs. 2000, and I got over it with Rs. 247. (Ooops!)

Try to buy more books from small shops and not so famous publication houses. I know Penguin, Bloomsbury and other big publishing houses look so attractive (even I can’t resist myself from buying one or two books from there) but remember that they will not give too much of discount. As you can see the three books from my list Sea of Poppies, Ikigai and The Blessed girl were from Penguin and Bloomsbury respectively. And these are the books which cost me little more than the online price.

Moreover, I have noticed that Amazon India gives more discount during the Bookfair. As soon as the Bookfair closes the discount given on the books will be lesser than this.

I understand that it is very comfortable to order books online, but for me going to the book fairs will always be fun-filled. Being surrounded by so many books, getting time to explore the books, sometimes reading 1 or 2 paragraphs or poems always amuses me. In fact, it is the best time to explore Hindi books, and if you know any other language, and you are looking forward to reading some books in that language then book fair is the place to go. I always ask the seller about Hindi books, and they are generous enough to help me out in choosing books. Sometimes you get to meet authors and know about the idea behind the books. So looking at all these perks, I would suggest you go ahead and visit the Bookfair. The World Bookfair is much grander and beautiful than the Delhi book fair.

With this, we have come to the end of this post, I hope this post helped you. Have you read my last post, in which I am talking about how you can make 2020 better? If not, you can give it a read here. I will see in you with the next post, till then keep celebrating life!

With love,

Komal

Tangled Tourista

Tangled Tourista is an online diary, which is about travel, food and books. Here you will read about book reviews and suggestions, tested travelling tips and about new cafes and restaurants around and their reviews.