Paulo coelho wrote the “The Alchemist” in 1988 . This famous book can be purchased from www.amazon.com at about 11$ and a second hand book will cost you around 2$. But can you get it for a cheaper price ? And hey I am not talking about those filthy pirated books ( which unfortunately I have read many ).

The answer is -

Of course you can . Read along.

Last Sunday I purchased an almost new, “The Alchemist”, original Indian edition costing around Rs212 (nearly 4$ ) for just Rs.30 ( nearly 75 cents). Surprised ??? Well , Welcome to Moore market – Chennai.

Moore Market is basically a sort of mall, only difference being that the products sold here are mostly second hand or previously owned stuff - mostly books. Does that mean that you will get only those torn, dull, old, edge-eaten-by-dog books here ? I would say , it purely depends on your shrewdness . Sometimes books which were not sold from bookshops directly come here and this market has close to 100 shops which sells new books, old books , (and yes !! pirated books) and even text books. Moore market also has some shops which sells old magazines. So the next time when you miss your 1991 National Geographic edition in which the cover page had your photo, well, you will know exactly where you might get another copy.

Also there are some shops in this market which sells old coins, antiques like gramophone, cameras etc. Even though I am not pretty much sure about the authenticity and price bargain, but still it’s worth a try if you are a collector of these things. The market is open on Sundays also. And beware of pickpockets and try to avoid late night roaming. Though the market is close to the railway station, this place can get very creepy after dawn and is a perfect place to get mugged.

My suggestion and strategy for bargaining –

Good condition used Novels – Rs40-Rs70 max

Technical / Engineering/ Medical Text books – 20-30% reduction can be expected.

Pirated books – Not more than Rs60-Rs80 and expect small prints and missing pages. (Surprisingly the pirated books are a measure of how famous a book/author is. I saw pirated copies of A Prisoner of Birth selling for Rs60 and its hardly months since the book was officially launched )

And, If you are not good at bargaining and if you are not specifically looking for a title, then, just out-side the market there are street hawkers with piles of book. Any book is Rs30-50 which will be marked. So dig the pile and who knows what treasure awaits you … You might actually get a hard bound Harry Potter for less than a dollar.

Check out Moore market map here.

Moore market