Bought a few books, some on impulse, from Parthi bookshop and later came to know of first impulse purchase of my "Who am I? I am I ..." book from another Parthi bookshop!
On 22nd Dec. 2018 (yesterday) evening, I went to the sale of Sai Towers books at a place opposite Gen Hospital (in Chaitanya International something which offers lodging to guests) in Puttaparthi. I was interested in buying Shri R. Padmanabhan's Love is My Form, Volume 1 book, at a decent discount.
The listed price on the backside of the book was Rs.2500. I got 30% off and so I paid Rs.1750 for it. It has gorgeous black-and-white photographs of Swami's early years (1926 to 1950) besides what is claimed to be well researched information about those days of Sathya Sai Avatar. I am very happy with this purchase. Some years ago, I think it was being sold at Rs.3000 at Sai Towers. On the Internet when I checked now, amazon.com has a sale page of it at around US Dollar 100, https://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Form-Advent-1926-1950/dp/8186822771, and amazon.in has a sale page of it at around Rs.10,000, https://www.amazon.in/Love-My-Form-Advent-1926-1950/dp/8186822771.
If readers are interested in procuring it, I think this is a good time to buy it. Rs.1750 for the book is really worth it for those interested in what is claimed to be deeply researched information of Swami's youth along with gorgeous black-and-white photographs capturing those days.
On impulse, I bought Mahabharata and Ramayana by Kamala Subramaniam published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The list price is Rs.850 each. 30% off made it Rs.595 each. I was aware that online bookshops may be selling it at a similar discounted price. That got confirmed after I checked on coming back home. https://www.flipkart.com/mahabharatha/p/itme9zadvuzcapgx?pid=9788172764654 offers this Mahabharata book (18th edition instead of 20th edition that I bought) at Rs.515 +60 shipping = Rs.575, and https://www.amazon.in/Ramayana-K-S-Kamala-Subramaniam/dp/8172764324 offers this Ramayana book at Rs.552 inclusive of shipping.
But the point is that seeing these books in the bookshop made me buy it on impulse. So I am happy with these two book purchases even if it was available at a slightly cheaper price on the Net.
Given below are some pics of the books.
[To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]
Later as I passed a bookshop called Sai Srinivasa bookstore or something like that which is owned by the person who supplies me The Hindu newspaper everyday (via his assistants), the person called me. He informed me that the (free) copy that I had provided him (as promotion) of my book, "Who am I? I am I ...", https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07K7M2963, was bought by somebody! He had kept the book on a table right in front of his shop, where he sits. So this customer seems to have gone through it and bought it!
This then seems to be my first impulse sale in a bookshop of my "Who am I? I am I ..." book! I am heartened that somebody browsed through the copy and felt it worthwhile to pay around Rs.300 for the book. Note that the bookshop guy has to pay around Rs.250 (Rs.199 + Rs.49 shipping) to purchase the book from amazon.in (or flipkart or pothi.com). So he will sell it at Rs.250 + his margin which takes it to around Rs.300. The bookshop guy told me that he now plans to buy a few copies of my book from amazon.in to sell in his bookshop! His friend asked me whether the book can be bought via the Amazon app. I said it should be possible. He started the app on his phone. I asked him to search for Ravi S. Iyer and my book got listed as the first result in the Amazon app. As simple as that. So the process of buying my book from amazon.in was so easy to show to these persons, both of whom are Puttaparthi local guys. That's the power of listing a book on a well known online seller like amazon.in.
So my promotion initiative by giving the guy a free copy has worked in this case. Note that I get ZERO royalty from amazon.in or flipkart.com sales of my book, which is a conscious NOT-FOR-PROFIT choice that I have made.
The listed price on the backside of the book was Rs.2500. I got 30% off and so I paid Rs.1750 for it. It has gorgeous black-and-white photographs of Swami's early years (1926 to 1950) besides what is claimed to be well researched information about those days of Sathya Sai Avatar. I am very happy with this purchase. Some years ago, I think it was being sold at Rs.3000 at Sai Towers. On the Internet when I checked now, amazon.com has a sale page of it at around US Dollar 100, https://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Form-Advent-1926-1950/dp/8186822771, and amazon.in has a sale page of it at around Rs.10,000, https://www.amazon.in/Love-My-Form-Advent-1926-1950/dp/8186822771.
If readers are interested in procuring it, I think this is a good time to buy it. Rs.1750 for the book is really worth it for those interested in what is claimed to be deeply researched information of Swami's youth along with gorgeous black-and-white photographs capturing those days.
On impulse, I bought Mahabharata and Ramayana by Kamala Subramaniam published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The list price is Rs.850 each. 30% off made it Rs.595 each. I was aware that online bookshops may be selling it at a similar discounted price. That got confirmed after I checked on coming back home. https://www.flipkart.com/mahabharatha/p/itme9zadvuzcapgx?pid=9788172764654 offers this Mahabharata book (18th edition instead of 20th edition that I bought) at Rs.515 +60 shipping = Rs.575, and https://www.amazon.in/Ramayana-K-S-Kamala-Subramaniam/dp/8172764324 offers this Ramayana book at Rs.552 inclusive of shipping.
But the point is that seeing these books in the bookshop made me buy it on impulse. So I am happy with these two book purchases even if it was available at a slightly cheaper price on the Net.
Given below are some pics of the books.
[To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]
Later as I passed a bookshop called Sai Srinivasa bookstore or something like that which is owned by the person who supplies me The Hindu newspaper everyday (via his assistants), the person called me. He informed me that the (free) copy that I had provided him (as promotion) of my book, "Who am I? I am I ...", https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07K7M2963, was bought by somebody! He had kept the book on a table right in front of his shop, where he sits. So this customer seems to have gone through it and bought it!
This then seems to be my first impulse sale in a bookshop of my "Who am I? I am I ..." book! I am heartened that somebody browsed through the copy and felt it worthwhile to pay around Rs.300 for the book. Note that the bookshop guy has to pay around Rs.250 (Rs.199 + Rs.49 shipping) to purchase the book from amazon.in (or flipkart or pothi.com). So he will sell it at Rs.250 + his margin which takes it to around Rs.300. The bookshop guy told me that he now plans to buy a few copies of my book from amazon.in to sell in his bookshop! His friend asked me whether the book can be bought via the Amazon app. I said it should be possible. He started the app on his phone. I asked him to search for Ravi S. Iyer and my book got listed as the first result in the Amazon app. As simple as that. So the process of buying my book from amazon.in was so easy to show to these persons, both of whom are Puttaparthi local guys. That's the power of listing a book on a well known online seller like amazon.in.
So my promotion initiative by giving the guy a free copy has worked in this case. Note that I get ZERO royalty from amazon.in or flipkart.com sales of my book, which is a conscious NOT-FOR-PROFIT choice that I have made.
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