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Book Scam


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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 00:41   #1
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Book Scam

Beware of buying a book from a free lance seller, selling either on the beach or street.

I bought a book (Shantaram) priced 800rs, but managed after a lot of bartering get it for 350rs. I bought this book off a local guy which was carrying an armfull of prestine wrapped assortment of books.

I was very excited as i just finished the book i was reading had been trying to get hold of this particular title.

ALAS, when i opened it i found it was a copy, .....UNREADABLE with many pages missing.

BEWARE of buying a book without opening it first.

Got home and the first thing i did was buy it and boy is it a fantastic book.
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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 00:49   #2
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What can we expect from a pirated version ? Buy it from a reputed shop at the listed price and you can get a guarantee. Otherwise Que sera sera!

Last edited by ebby : Mar 14th, 2008 at 00:50. Reason: punctuation
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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 00:56   #3
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Originally Posted by ebby View Post
What can we expect from a pirated version ? Buy it from a reputed shop at the listed price and you can get a guarantee. Otherwise Que sera sera!
Believe me if i had of been able to find one from a reputed shop i would have done whatever the cost. However as there were none to be found i bought from the next best source, or so i thought
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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 01:03   #4
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What can we expect from a pirated version ? Buy it from a reputed shop at the listed price and you can get a guarantee
I am told you can get Agatha Christie novels on the Mumbaii footpaths that she never wrote. But, seriuosly, the OP's error was not checking out the merchandise, not the source. I have bought informally many times. Once I picked up an eight Rupee wonder and it was a rare edition of an uncommon title by Keynes. Great deals if you know your merchandise..
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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 01:08   #5
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It's best to check out anything and everything before buying. I always advise people to insist that a sari is fully unwrapped and to examine it thoroughly before buying --- but I never heard of book having bits missing before.

Wait --- the Indian edition of Rider Haggard I'm reading at the moment has some pages in the wrong order and was obviously never proof read. But it is readable.
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Old Mar 14th, 2008, 01:14   #6
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I fell for the same thing on the streets of Mumbai - paid full MRP for a pirated copy of Bombay: Maximum City. I was pretty lucky, as only a few pages were garbled or missing. It was mainly my pride that was injured, being a huge book snob and knowing a thing or two about book production, paper stock, etc.

Always examine any book closely if you're buying it informally, and be sure to take a look at the MRP before you hand over the cash. which is the main problem, in this situation, really - you should have known there was something fishy when he offered to sell it to you at twice the listed price.
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