Why this craze of encyclopedia selling going around in Mumbai?

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MAGNeT

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Few days back there was some small fist near my shop where a person came to sell encyclopedia and the other person was crying how did they selling him the same for 2000 whereas his brother bought it for 400 last year.

Than near a railway station i saw few guys running around to sell the piece as gem worth buying.I said sorry.

Than today when i wasn't at home 3 different batches of salesmen at different time came up with similar trick.Same was the case with all my friends.

I dont know what this craze of selling a book in time of internet going around.

I am unable to understand whether they throwing some cheap item for their heavy profit or whether they were trying to gain entry into peoples house.

Can someone put light on this issue.
 
Wow, this will fit in perfectly with "copying west" unlike the other cultural BS everyone claims.

Selling Encyclopedia sets to homes and workplaces was a booming industry in the west (particularly US) a few decades ago. Parents bought it as they didn't want their children to miss out on being knowledgeable and the workplaces bought it to keep it in the book closet to have it on display for clients (makes a good impression).

With Wikipedia around, even Britannica has gone digital-only last year. They can cash-in on the market while it's still hot.
 
MAGNeT said:
Few days back there was some small fist near my shop where a person came to sell encyclopedia and the other person was crying how did they selling him the same for 2000 whereas his brother bought it for 400 last year.

Than near a railway station i saw few guys running around to sell the piece as gem worth buying.I said sorry.

Than today when i wasn't at home 3 different batches of salesmen at different time came up with similar trick.Same was the case with all my friends.

I dont know what this craze of selling a book in time of internet going around.

I am unable to understand whether they throwing some cheap item for their heavy profit or whether they were trying to gain entry into peoples house.

Can someone put light on this issue.
Click to expand...

It has been going on since years at least 10 years in Pune.
All they claim is either mgmt student or promotional event. Some however do look the part.
I wonder hoe they come by the books. Are they pirated copies?
 
In my society, ladies bought for 3K, no bargains, in fact ladies were competing who will give highest price than other. Think it was a part of their fashion statement.
Kept laughing in my mind.
 
I've been watching it from ages. And even Oxford dictionaries are being sold on the lines of encyclopedia. As said above, then normally show themselves as management graduate; god only knows the reality.

PS: I seriously miss the quality of Encarta, britannica was such a shite.
 
Do these guys still retail these encyclopedias? :O

I recall during the late '90s they used to walk around with a heavy bag visiting each and every home. Pirated or otherwise their colorfully illustrated contents were pretty good back then when I used to be a kid.

MAGNeT said:
Than near a railway station i saw few guys running around to sell the piece as gem worth buying.I said sorry.

Than today when i wasn't at home 3 different batches of salesmen at different time came up with similar trick..
Click to expand...

Not to be a dick, but 'then' is the right word to be used in both of the sentences above. There's a difference between 'then' and 'than'.
 
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i've seen those books. Most of them are pirated copies and printed in china. They've even pirating advertising/ photography books on a large scale. This business has been going on from years in mumbai.
 
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If they are from a reputed publishing house and the most recent edition, then an Encyclopedia is always a good investment - printed book/s have their own beauty & value.

FYI - That the world's best selling & most famous & credible - Encl Brittanica just last year decided to stop printing any new editions. For 244 years they regularly came out with new editions each year. I think their last edition was over 32 volumes, each of them having over 1000 pages and all in a large size two. I used to refer to them a lot from my childhood days - school, college or USIS/Brit Council libraries and always dreamt of one day possessing them ..... but never had the money :(

Dunno why - I cannot add the links (button is deactivated)
 
its been going on since i was in college days :| , and one of my friends did do it for extra money on the side ,
was so much hardwork , college then selling books then doing studies, now hes in a pretty good job

thats when these guys come to sell books , i give them chai and stuff to eat and decline with a smile,
 
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Its pure economics, publishing is going out of business, someone has purchased a lot at very cheap prices and hired an army of salesmen to sell it. Salesmen get huge Margins so they work hard, within a few days you will not see them, or you will see a new batch of books.
 
My take on imported books being resold here in India .
Book import is duty free, and I have a feeling this is one way of routing hawala money and blac k rupees ,
Bm goes from india under guise of such imports, $ comes back in guise of some export payment. Viola , your re is converted to $ and tax free amd becomes white .a k a , money laundering.
 
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