Used books still have ‘prices’
KUALA LUMPUR: For employees of the online used bookstore Books and Bobs, opening a box containing used books is like rummaging through a treasure chest that sometimes finds them with “treasures” that have their own value.
“Every time a box arrives, we will open and carefully search the books received because sometimes the books have the author’s autograph and there are also first edition books,” said Books and Bobs owner Rachel Ang.
Even so, Ang said every used book received, whether donated or purchased from the public, has its own value.
“Even books that are too shabby are still valuable, that is, we send them for recycling,” he shared with Bernama recently.
The former chartered accountant and insurance agent decided to turn his love of reading and love of books into his source of income by founding Books and Bobs in July 2016, capitalizing on less than 100 books.
“I was actually unemployed for a few years after leaving the marketing industry. In fact I used to run an online business selling costume jewelry for about a year.
“But my life at that time was too busy causing me to suffer from depression. During that period I sought solace through books before I gradually got involved in selling books through Facebook.
“I started by advertising 50 books from my collection as well as new books to friends and book club members.
“I then expanded the market by joining a group of book lovers via Instagram,” she recounts.
She added that in the first year, she did the activity part -time and only got involved full -time a year later as her business grew.
SENTIMENTAL VALUE OF USED BOOKS
As a person who loves to read, Ang usually gets books from used bookstores to save costs because the price of new books is quite expensive.
“There were times when I had to be frugal to buy books due to limited funds. Due to the high price, I was also reluctant to buy new books as well as works by unknown authors.
“Therefore, the best solution is to buy used books,” she explained.
Ang is also of the view that by selling used books, he is actually sharing the sentimental value of a book to be appreciated by the next reader or owner.
“For that reason, 90 percent of the books in our stock are used books,” she explained, adding that they also sell new books to give consumers a choice.
On the name of her rather unique premise, Ang said the name Books and Bobs was suggested by her husband who took inspiration from a British theater drama titled “Bits and Bobs”.
According to her, bits and bobs is slang in English that means “various types of small objects”.
“Right now we have about 15,000 copies of the book in stock,” she said.
On the price, he said the determination was made based on the grade of the book, namely “new book”, “as if new”, “very good” and “acceptable”.
“I started by selling non-fiction books in English, but now I realize all types of books have their own markets.
“For example, books on martial arts and wellness such as‘ qi qong ’are very popular and often sought after by our regular customers.
“I find that people really appreciate the books I sell and they tell me ‘oh, I’ve been looking for this book for a long time and finally got it. It’s cheap. Thank you!’
“This is what fuels my passion to continue to be involved in this field and I am happy with my job now,” she said.
According to the mother of two daughters, the response was also very encouraging with last year she recorded sales worth RM400,000.
This year, her shop, which is managed with the help of nine employees including a part -time employee, is on track to record sales worth RM600,000.
“I think this is the wisdom of the PKP (Movement Control Order),” she said.
FERTILIZE READING HABITS
Commenting on the reading habit among Malaysians, Ang said the attitude should be nurtured at home by taking the approach of bending bamboo, let alone from bamboo shoots.
“Reading a book not only gives you knowledge based on real facts, but also allows you to re-read the book at any time.
“Besides that, books like novels also give us a happy feeling and others in addition to improving our vocabulary,” said the woman, adding the first book that sparked her interest in reading was titled ‘5 People You Meet in Heaven’.
Even for him, reading digital books or through the Internet cannot provide the same satisfaction as reading physical books.
“I prefer to read physical books because I like the feeling of turning the pages as well as the smell of the book … a very different experience than reading a digital book,” said Ang who spends about two hours every day reading.
OLD BOOK MARKET
Another book lover, Abdul Halim Ismail, 54, also made his favorite a source of income.
However, unlike Ang who sells entirely online, Abdul Halim also opened his book warehouse located at Taman Saujana Puchong near here, to buyers.
At first glance, the premise without the signage does not change like a regular store. Still, stepping into it, eyes will be focused on the arrangement of more than 10,000 copies of a book belonging to a former factory manager with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arkansas.
“I started selling used books of my own collection through the eBay platform in 2004,” he said, adding he had rented the warehouse since 2017 to sell his collections sourced from the public, educational institutions and corporate companies over the past seven years.
“I once worked with a government retiree selling and collecting used books through the ‘Mobile Book Cafe’ van. Then I tried the Facebook platform by creating a page called ‘Used Book Snippets’ and ‘Used Books’ as well as the Shopee ‘ABook’ platform,” he said.
COLLECTOR OF OLD BOOKS
He also utilizes the mudah.my platform to advertise and market his books which are sold at prices as low as RM1 to RM300 per copy.
According to him, most of his customers are fans of old books, including scholarly books and novels in Malay.
Apart from receiving various types of reading materials including school textbooks and references as well as magazines published in previous eras, Abdul Halim also helps customers find the books they want.
“Many of my customers are collectors of old books … If anyone donates such books to my premises, I will contact them (customers),” he explained, adding that most of them love British colonial books in Malaya. history books or works by National Literati such as A. Samad Said and Usman Awang.
Abdul Halim also agreed with Ang that used books have their own charm apart from many people still prefer to read physical books compared to digital books.
He said customers can come in person to the warehouse which is open daily from 8 am to 1 noon in addition to buying online which will be delivered using the delivery service.
source – BERNAMA / Soon Li Wei
