Rashmi Rekha Das
Buying at bookstore chains has become passé. The in-thing today is online buying or transacting through e-commerce sites. And get the desired book delivered at your doorstep.
Traditional buying has undergone a sharp dip in profits with more bookworms buying online. It can be said without exaggeration that vendors selling old books are struggling to thrive in the business.
Undoubtedly, e-books have relegated the stuffy bookstores into an existential predicament. That’s how traditional bookstore owners recount to Orissa Post expressing their helplessness to make both ends meet.
Boarders Group Inc, one of the largest bookstore chains, had to bear the brunt of online shopping. It had to shut down hundreds of stores and lay off nearly 11,000 employees due to its inability to compete with online bookseller Amazon.com.
Same is the case with renowned bookstore chains in India. Even small-time vendors dealing with seconds and old books in make-shift stalls find it tough to survive. Such vendors in the city are finding it hard to sustain in the cut-throat competition.
Orissa Post gets chatty with a few old bookstore owners and readers to ascertain reasons behind fall in sales at bookstores and what makes the readers prefer to buy books online through e-commerce sites to buying books at stores.
Sujit Kumar Sahu, a 32-year-old guy from Cuttack, runs two bookstores. His old book stall in a corner of Badambadi bus stand was doing brisk business till e-commerce sites mushroomed all over world.wide.web. A sharp decline in sales prompted him to abandon old books business.
Sahu later set up an old bookstore close to Master Canteen Square in Bhubaneswar. He encountered difficulties as he didn’t have many takers. Man needs a means to survive and that is why he continues to sell books despite a fall in business.
When asked about his sources, Sujit says he procures books from students on a discount of 30-40% of original price and resells them with a profit margin of 20-30% depending on their demand.
His monthly turnover is anywhere between`80,000 and `90,000 with a profit of `10,000 approximately. He resents the state government’s apathy in rehabilitating them and providing a special vending zone for them.
Dharmananda Pradhan, a salesperson of Niali, who owns the Hariomm old books store, said he entered the business 15 years back after completing B.Com. He found people selling old books were raking in mullah for which he felt desperate to start his own business. Though his business was brisk for a few years, it has nosedived in the past couple of years. Apart from online shopping, he sees other reasons behind the decline in the business.
Earlier, he used to sell books worth `1.5 to `2 lakh and get profits of about `25,000 per month. Now, he earns approximately `10,000 a month as students have taken a fancy to buying books online, thanks to Amazon.com.
Old bookstores usually sell engineering books which are gathering dust as admission to engineering colleges has, of late, dwindled.
“Students generally come and make enquiries about the price of a book. When we tell them the discounted price, they immediately compare the price with the rates on online sites and show us the discount they get on e-commerce sites and leave the shop,’’ said Pradhan.
Despite incurring losses, he says, he is not keen on changing his profession. “I want to be self-employed for which I entered the business. Whatever may be the situation, I will run the business,” Pradhan responds with a smile.
If the state government comes up with a special vending zone for old book vendors, it will benefit them. As the eviction drives against encroachment of government land are under way, many vendors may be driven out of their stalls along roads.
Rabindra Das, who has a bookshop at Unit-I, said stores selling new books often conduct auctions to dispose of old stock. Das gets his books from such auction sale. Hailing from Jagatsinghpur, Das has been running the business since 1984. There were days when he used to earn about `35,000 per month. Now, he has a few customers of old and classic books due to online shopping boom, he added.
Owner of Goodwill Bookstore also echoes similar feelings when asked about reasons for fall in book buyership.
Sangeeta Swain, an engineering student, says it is easier for students to get books online than go out and shop at book stores. While bookstores sell old books and offer 30 to 50 per cent discounts after much haggling, e-commerce sites offer flat 50-60% rebate per book. That apart, students can get books easily delivered at home without going anywhere.
Ruchika Mishra, another student, also nodded in agreement.