Overview
Location/Venue – Infiniti Mall, Malad, Mumbai, Maharashtra – 400064
Date and Time – 31st July, 2023 to 6th August, 2023; from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm
What was on offer? – A wide variety of books from various genres (mainly used/second hand; but new ones also on display)
Website – https://lockthebox.in/home.php
Review
“NOT sponsored/promotional.”
‘Lock the Box’. One of the best book-buying experiences I’ve had so far. In my eyes, it’s very much near the top of the list when it comes to buying books in India as a whole.
I’ve ordered from them online twice, and was very much satisfied on both the occasions. And yes, apart from holding book fair events offline throughout the country, they also operate and dispatch nationwide via their website.
So, what’s this “Lock the Box” then, you ask? Here’s the info. present on their website –
The idea is to give all the readers a golden opportunity where you can get all of your favorite reads together at a lesser price. The Lock-The-Box-Sale would have over 1 Million pre-owned books for you and a deal that you have never seen before. Forget about discounts on specific titles, this is even bigger than books-by-Kgs. This is a one-time payment for all the books you can carry in a box.
There is a total of 3 boxes of different prices according to their size of which you can choose any as per the number of books you want. You can collect whichever book you want from our huge collection and put it in the box unless it gets filled. Once the box gets filled and there is no space left for more you can lock the box.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ โ๐ข๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐๐โ ๐๐ผ๐ – It can hold approximately 8-10 books depends upon book size. Make the best use of this box priced at INR 1199 only.
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ โ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐โ ๐๐ผ๐ – Here comes our second box which is comparatively large and can carry approximately 15-17 books also can differ as per book size only at INR 1999. Saturate the box very wisely.
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ โ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฒ๐โ ๐๐ผ๐ – This is our biggest and bulkiest box. Costs INR 2999 and can contain approximately 28-30 books or less/more as per book size. Aren’t you already excited to decorate your dream bookshelf?
Very well summed up in my opinion. And if the bibliophile/bookworm in you is not excited by this, then I don’t know what to say really.
When I first got to know that there was going to be an offline event in Mumbai after a long time, I was super excited and was already looking forward to it.
Books I got my hands on –
- ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R. Tolkien – I’ve had multiple editions of it in the past, but this is the one I wanted.
- Mass Market Paperback; condition – like new!
- ‘The Eye of the World’ by Robert Jordan [#1 of the ‘Wheel of Time’ series’] – So glad I found it. If you don’t already know about this series (thanks to the latest TV show by Amazon Prime that has increased the already high reach), then you should definitely look it up!
- Mass Market Paperback; condition – very good; visible cracks on the spine, but other than that, pretty good.
- ‘Perdido Street Station’ by China Mieville [#1 of the ‘Bas-Lag’ series] – Had heard so much about it, and thus, was on my TBR for quite some time. Was genuinely surprised to find it!
- Paperback; condition – New! Yes, it was absolutely new. No marks, no cracks, not even yellowed pages. An absolute steal!
- ‘Jingo’ by Terry Pratchett [21st ‘Discworld’ novel; 4th ‘City Watch’ novel] – Discworld is just Discworld, innit? Can’t go wrong with this series right here. Glad to have found it to be honest, especially when it matches the MMPB edition of Hogfather that I have on my bookshelf as well.
- Mass Market Paperback; condition – Very good; yellowed pages, and a few cracks and marks here and there.
- ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ by John le Carre (PB; new!) – Have watched the movie, and if you haven’t already done so yourself, I would strongly suggest that you check it out. One of the best spy movies I’ve watched. Hence, was very eager to read the source material for quite some time.
- ‘Murder at the Vicarage’ by Agatha Christie (PB; a very old edition, but hey, old is gold!) – A classic. The first novel featuring Miss Marple and the small, fictional village of St. Mary Mead.
- ‘The Labours of Hercules’ by Agatha Christie (PB; a very old edition… again!) – You just can’t go wrong with Agatha Christie, especially when it comes to Hercule Poirot!
- ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James (MMPB; good) – A classic ghost/horror tale. Had to check it out.
- ‘Night Shift’ by Stephen King (MMPB; good) – A Stephen King short story collection featuring the tale ‘Children of the Corn’.
- ‘The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories’ by Franklin W. Dixon (PB; very good) – I love me some ghost stories… and Hardy Boys too! Had to grab it.
- ‘Truckers’ by Terry Pratchett (MMPB; very good).
- ‘Diggers’ by Terry Pratchett (MMPB; very good).
So, the box I got was the ‘Odysseus’ box, priced at โน1,199. But that’s not actually the price I paid. Here’s how –
Firstly, I got a discount coupon of โน35 by signing in through the website. Secondly, by selling my used books at the venue, I got an additional โน185 off. Hence, I ultimately paid only – โน979 (โน185 + โน35 = โน220 off on MRP). Thus, if you want to get additional discounts/a few bucks off the MRP, then make sure to –
One – sign in (if new, then sign up first) and avail the discount/get the reward coupon, and two – if you have used books that you are willing to sell, then I would suggest you can go for it as well. A small “hack” if you can call it that. You’re welcome! ๐
Basically, to conclude, I got 12 books for โน979; which is approx. โน82 per book! Considering the edition/condition of the majority of the books, I would say that it’s an absolute steal deal!
What was really great about it?
- LOTS of books to choose from! They were not joking when they said that there were lakhs of books on display.
- Wide variety of genres present, which was actually great to see (fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, young adult, romance, crime, children, etc.).
- For me personally, I was hoping to see books from the SFF genre in particular, and boy, I was not disappointed at all! Literally loads of SFF books were available. A big plus in my opinion.
- A whole section was dedicated to the children’s genre as well, with lots of books to choose from.
- The staff were super helpful and friendly. The books were getting restocked regularly too, almost every hour or so.
- The whole process was pretty simple and straightforward – pick up your fav. books; select one of the three boxes; fit all the books into the box until there’s literally no space left; check out. That easy.
- Lastly, since the books were displayed on the ground floor of the mall, space/crowding was not an issue. Again, a big plus in my opinion (but I would still suggest that you go as early as possible to grab your favorite books before everyone else!).
What could be improved?
Honestly, I have no complaints whatsoever. Everything was pretty much spot on!
Other info.
- As mentioned at the start, they not only do various offline book fairs throughout the country, but they also have an online book fair via their website with the USP of “India’s largest online book fair”. There are a wide variety of books on display from various genres like – fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, young adult, romance, crime, children, etc. To top it off, you get a discount of flat โน100 on your first order! And don’t worry, the website will add your selected books to the respective boxes accordingly using the book dimensions. And finally, the delivery/shipping is FREE pan India, plus there is an option of ‘Cash on Delivery’ too!
- For the offline events, once you sign in through the website, there is an option for you to ‘Pre-order’ one of the box/boxes online before actually visiting the event physically. Basically, you’re “securing the box” beforehand so as to speak. And plus, you get a discount if you do so as well!
- Also, as mentioned before, you can sell your used books directly at the venue, which will slash off the final price. Here’s how it works – the staff has an ISBN (10/13-digit no./code present at the back of each book) scanner which determines the value of a particular book when scanned. This is done via their ‘Lock the Box’ app. The value of all the books is then added and deducted from the final price. Of course, the value of each book is less when compared to the actual MRP of that particular book, regardless to say (e.g. – you bought a certain book for โน499, but while selling here, it will show up values ranging from approx. โน20-โน120 depending on the edition/condition etc.).
- No carry bags/any other packaging is present. Hence, I would suggest that you carry your own.
*Pssst* and as mentioned above, don’t forget to check out the small “hack” before you go!
Final thoughts
A resounding YES when thinking about whether to go for it or not. The cherry on top is that not only do they do offline events (which can get a little tiring when waiting for it to be in your city), but that you can now order your favorite books online from the comfort of your homes! And in both those departments, online and offline, ‘Lock the Box’ ticks all the boxes when it comes to ordering/buying books in India. One thing I would add is that while buying books online is a comfortable experience, physically visiting and buying books is a whole another level of adrenaline rush… especially if you’re a massive bibliophile (like me!). And I must say, this very event was successful in doing just that, leaving me very satisfied with the whole book fair experience. I would personally, highly recommend that you give it a try for sure.
Rating: – 10/10! (MUST VISIT!)
