What image comes to your mind when you think of a second-hand book? A yellow, dog-eared pile of papers, with maybe a few pages gone missing. You are wrong. Flawless looking second-hand books are reigning the city book market of late. Abdul Latheef, the owner of Blossom Books, the major remainder buyers and suppliers of second-hand editions in the city says, “The second-hand book industry is flourishing in the city. Out of the total books, around one-fourth is second-hand." This obviously has resulted in fewer people opting for new books, or going to libraries in the city. "People who in the past either relied on new books or were the members of libraries are now opting for second-hand books. The reason is clearly because new books are relatively expensive. Also, not many people necessarily have time to borrow books from libraries and then finish reading it in a stipulated time. Second hand books are cheaper, and you own them forever, without any hassles of returning them to anyone,” says Latheef.The second-hand books one sees in the market are mostly imported from the remainder stocks of USA and UK containers.Latheef describes the functioning of the second-hand book market. This is of course not to be confused with pirated books. He says, “Most books have a maximum shelf life of three months at stores. After that the shopkeeper returns them back to the company. The company sometimes gives the books to other book stores. When this process is repeated a few times, the stock is no longer as fresh as it was, and then the company has no choice but to sell them to the 'remainder buyers and suppliers'.”In terms of the number of books sold, children's fiction tops the list. The second-hand edition of books like 'Pikachu's Vacation', 'Captain Underpants and 'The Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants', 'The Very Hungry Caterpillars' - all sold for half of its original price are enthusiastically purchased by parents for their children. Motivational or self-help books are attracting readers, especially youngsters who go in for books like 'Who Moved My Cheese?' 'The Power of Positive Thinking' , 'Awaken the Giant Within' 'The Millionaire Mind' . Most of these books that originally cost more than ` 400 are available for a mere 150 to 200 rupees in second-hand."Motivational books have more readership because people these days prefer to gain something from reading. Many feel that reading self-help books helps them think better," says Shyam, a shop keeper.Also much in demand is the pulp fiction section in the second-hand market. Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer and 'Mills and Boon' - easy and entertaining to read - are picked up briskly. “In fact people who read serious books are becoming lesser.There are desi English language books like 'I Too Had a Love Story', 'Anything For You Ma'am'. The second-hand edition of such books are in great demand,” says Latheef.Preetha Nair, an avid fan of classics, is surprised at the variety and price that the second-hand market provides. The general belief is that book lovers do not like to buy classics second hand, but Preetha is happy to buy novels of Jane Austen, Rabindranath Tagore, and Somerset Maugham from the Blossom Book Fair near Kalyan Silks. "I was amazed at the sheer number of books available. Generally, I would hesitate to buy classics in second-hand, but most books are practically new. No one has used the book. Also, I was quite thrilled to find so many different editions of the same novel. Many of them are valued hand-bound editions from abroad."But the price is the biggest reason why she constantly keeps going back to buy from Blossom. "A novel that costs ` 450 or 500 is available for ` 130 or so. That makes a huge difference and really encourages the reader in you," she says.Latheef is of the view that youngsters these days are amply aware of the trends of the day. They are often seen surfing the rating of books and determining whether they should buy it or not, he says. V V Madhu, senior sales manager of Penguin Books India in Kochi, is not convinced that the second-hand market is big enough to affect them. He agrees that piracy is a problem, but does not believe that the second-hand market matters that much."A parallel segment of readers who are price conscious have always been there," he says. But fact remains that takers for second hand are only growing in the city.
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