Overview
Product/Book – Six of Crows (Paperback) by Leigh Bardugo [#1 of the ‘Six of Crows’ duology]
Price – ₹179/- (Selling Price) + ₹25/- (Delivery Charges) = ₹204/- [I got the book for ₹191/- though, courtesy of a discount code displayed on the website]
Website – https://www.secondhandbooksindia.com/
Review
“NOT sponsored/promotional.”
Second hand books India (under the company name of Sohum Worldwide) is an Indian online book store based in Noida, consisting of used/second-hand books of genres like fiction (mainly fantasy), comics, self-help, etc.
I am really happy that I could find this amazing website to be honest. It’s nothing too fancy or eye-catching, but is a rather simple, straight-forward website. Nonetheless, it offers some really great books at an absolute steal deal, that’s for sure!
I happened to stumble upon it while searching for R.A. Salvatore books at a cheaper price in India, since the popular e-commerce websites like Amazon offer it at a much higher price. And guess what… I found it here! I was certainly a bit weary of purchasing from them at the start no doubt, but went ahead to give it a try… and it was a great decision! I got ‘Sojourn’ by R.A. Salvatore [#3 of the ‘Dark Elf Trilogy’, featuring the legendary Drizzt Do’urden], and although I didn’t have the previous two books of the trilogy at the time, I had no doubt in my mind to go for it considering that it was available at a very low price of ₹134/-… that too at a very good quality!
And so once again, while searching for the book that is the topic of discussion here, I happened to find it at their website, that too at a very good condition, and at a very low price too. And I just couldn’t say no! (especially with the massive popularity of the action/heist story surrounding the book, also then enhanced by the TV adaptation by Netflix in ‘Shadow and Bone’ featuring the ‘Crows’ themselves).
Delivery info.
- Ordered – 29/03/2023.
- Delivered – 04/04/2023.
- From – Noida, UP.
- To – Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- Delivered by/delivery partner – India Post.
- ₹25/- extra charges/fees for packaging/delivery.
- E-mail notifications present, including order details, dispatch details, etc. But there were no SMS or WhatsApp notifications present at all (no complaints though).
- Overall, a pretty good delivery service altogether.
Packaging info.
- Only one layer of packaging was present, that too of lots of tape wrapped around the book… and that’s all. No other layer.
- Product arrived in a pretty good condition though; as shown and described on the website as ‘like new/almost new.’
- No bookmarks/any other stuff along with the book (not a negative at all).
- Overall, definitely disappointed with the packaging. There was no damage to the product, however, the package was torn at one of the edges.
What was good?
- Delivery was pretty good. No complaints here whatsoever.
- The website also displays the actual front cover image of the books, which makes it even easier for the customers to purchase, especially when it comes to a specific cover/edition required, plus the quality of the book in general when it’s used/second-hand (well done!).
- There was a minor delay in the shipping (by a day) due to holidays, but the email regarding the same was present, and it was shipped on the very next day as well, so good job on that!
What could be improved?
- The packaging was disappointing, and needs improvement for sure in my opinion.
- Apart from the front cover images, a few more images could be added like that of the back cover, spine, etc.
Other info.
- The website displays a ‘star rating’ for each book, depicting the condition of the books. A higher rating directly depicting that the displayed book is of a better quality and vice versa. There’s a chart depicting the same on the website as well (a great addition really).
- The payment mode is a little different than usual. You have to first add the required amount of money to the ‘cash basket’ on the website through whichever payment mode you prefer. Once the money is added, only then can you make the final purchase, with the money being then deducted directly from the ‘cash basket’ (nothing negative here, just that you can’t directly make the payment, and have to go through one extra step).
Rating: – 9/10 (A gem not to be missed!)
