Daryaganj Market Review ?
If you want to buy new books at cheap price, you need to be aware that so many of the latest books here are just counterfeits. So I’m going to show you how to identify those counterfeits. And if you want to buy counterfeit books, you need to know how much you should be paying for them.
In my last two black market, I focused on Mumbai and Delhi’s remedies, and those were risky journeys. So let’s enter the much safer world of counterfeit books. And I’m here at the Daryaganj Sunday book fare. And you can find so much here, including buying books by the kgs.
So you’re not getting ripped off. And you can tell I’m in the right place because I’ve already been sold a fake bottle of Bisleri water called Brisley. Yeah. I’m really at the right black market here.
How to choose a best book?
Now I’ve got a copy of Michelle Obama’s number one selling book. It’s not the kind of book I would read. I’d instead be reading about Indira Gandhi.
Anyway, we will use this book, and we are going around the market and finding some counterfeit copies. We’re going to find out what the best price is we can get for these fake copies.
And then I’ll show you how to, like, compare and make sure you’re buying a real copy if that’s what you want. Okay, so the pricing is pretty transparent now.
It’s based on the thickness of the book. And that Michelle Obama book is pretty thick. So 100 rupees is the best you’re going to get because these guys need to make a little profit as well. And I’m guessing their wholesale is somewhere around maybe 50-60 rupees per book. So the thinner the book, the cheaper it will be. If it’s thick, it’s going to be like 100 to 150 rupees.
And as a foreigner, I don’t think you’re going to get below 150 rupees to 200 rupees for a book here. But bargain hard, and maybe you’ll get it for 100 rupees. There are a number of ways to tell a fake from a real book. And the first one is the print job. And the print job in these counterfeits is so bad.
The covers look like they’ve been photocopied, literally. One of them’s matte, actually, and the other one’s shining. And the print jobs in these books can be so bad that sometimes they’re even missing pages, like, it’s just a blank photocopy page. I had that when I bought Shantaram off the street here in Mumbai.
What are issues about these books?
Be a great place to buy because it was sitting there but. Yeah, the counterfeit copy was missing so many pages. It’s a thick book. So I understand why they screwed up photocopying a bunch of pages in that one. Inside the book, nothing is printed straight. It’s all on an angle. When you get to the photos, photo printing is terrible in the middle of the book. Secondly, check the binding.
Most original books don’t use this kind of thin white glue. They use a thick, almost transparent glue that will keep the book bound together. The adhesive books are so light that they’re just going to fall apart after one read or so. And then thirdly, you have the enormous, colossal price difference. So the counterfeit book was under 2 dollars American, and the original book was around 11 dollars or 14 dollars if you want the hard copy.
Why do People buy books from here?
If you’re buying a book and not from a legitimate retail store here in India, it’s likely a counterfeit if you’re buying it here off the street. And I understand why Indians buy these counterfeit books because, for the price of one book, 700 or 800 rupees, they can buy like ten or more depending on the book’s thickness.
And Indians don’t have 700 or 800 rupees lying around, you know. The average Indian doesn’t have that much to spend on one book. So I get why this is kind of here and why people are buying them. But obviously, the author doesn’t get paid for this kind of book. And if you want to find them, you can find them at Daryaganj Market.
You can find them outside every single metro in India on the street corners. And while you’re at an intersection, a guy will knock on your window and sell you them as well. So they’re everywhere. Long live in India!
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