Exhibitors at the ongoing 20th Delhi Book Fair are offering some wonderful gems at throwaway prices to ensure stock clearance and attract more footfalls.
A brilliant coffee table book "India: Decorations, Interiors, Design" by Henry Wilson is up for sale for Rs.600 while its original price is Rs.2,500.
"It is a bait to attract more customers. When they see an expensive book so reasonably priced, they come inside, explore more and end up buying something or the other," Sachin Gupta, owner of Sumsac International, told IANS.
"I am also aiming at corporates who will buy such books in bulk," Gupta said.
One can also get coffee table books for Rs.100 and Rs.200 in other stalls.
"We buy these books in bulk. Our aim is to clear the inventory, so we sell at discounted price," a representative of Arihant book distributors told IANS.
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Some stalls are offering discounts of up to 30-50 percent while some distributors have books on sale for just Rs.20.
"Where else can you buy a Dan Brown for Rs.20," asked Ankit Sharma, a student.
Parragon books are giving three books for Rs.100, whereas publication houses like Random House and Penguin are offering 30 percent discount.
For distributors, the book fair is an apt place for stock clearances and it is a win-win situation for them as well as buyers.
"We are not incurring losses because we have to stock the books in warehouses that don't come easy in a city like Delhi where there is a space issue," said Gupta.
"We have to make sure parasites don't eat books and take steps to check leakage in the warehouse," he added.
Delhi Book Fair is organised by the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP). It will end Aug 31.