Overview
Location/Venue
Phoenix Palladium Mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India – 400013.
Date and Time
3rd – 12th January, 2025 from 11:00 AM To 10:00 PM.
What’s on offer?
“Step into a world of books featuring fiction, non-fiction, children’s stories, classics, coffee table books, and teen fiction—all waiting to be discovered.”
Find out more on their EVENT page.
A quick introduction
Bookchor is one of India’s largest online bookstores, offering a wide variety of books to choose from at affordable rates. They also have a plethora of used/second-hand books which they deliver free of charge PAN India. I have personally ordered from them on multiple occasions, both via their website and their app, and I’ll definitely suggest every bibliophile in India to check them out!
Lock the Box is kinda like a sister brand of Bookchor which specializes in organizing offline book fairs across numerous Indian cities. Apart from that, they also have their own online bookstore as well which offers similar perks to that of Bookchor. And like Bookchor, I have personally attended their various book fairs across Thane/Mumbai, and I just can’t recommend them highly enough!
Here’s what you need to know in brief about the offline book fairs.
Note: The boxes and their respective prices listed above are specifically for the Mumbai event. They may vary depending on the location and date of the book fair.
It’s quite simple (and awesome!), right? Whether you attend any of their offline events or order from their online bookstore to be delivered right to your doorstep, the process remains exactly the same.
So what’s the catch, exactly?
The catch is that you don’t have to pay individually for every book, but rather for the fixed MRP of the particular box that you choose… no matter the amount of books that you stuff into it… just making sure it closes fully! That way, you end up paying significantly less per book (much lower to the actual MRP of each book as well!).
Check out their WEBSITE for more details.
Review
The Box : –
The marketing is totally on point, wouldn’t you say? And although the box might seem a tad bit small in size, it sure can pack around 8-10 books with ease! (Well, or in my case – 12 books!)
So without further ado, here’s all the books that I copped…
Fantasy : –
Science Fiction : –
Game-inspired/Movie-based : –
HOLY… Whoa! That’s a pretty EPIC BOOK HAUL, no?! I literally couldn’t believe my luck! So stoked to have these books up on my shelf. But here’s an even more interesting fact – I only paid a total of ₹1,312 for these 12 books, and not ₹1,599. Yes, you heard that right! HOW? Let me enlighten you.
The “Pluto” box = ₹1,599. The amount discounted for the 6 books I SOLD = ₹287. The final amount I ended up paying for the 12 books = ₹1,312. So that makes 1 book roughly equal to = ₹109.33.
Now that… is what I like to call AN ABSOLUTE BARGAIN!
And yes, you heard that right. You can sell your old books to them and either get straight up cash/online payment via UPI in return, or a discount on your purchase. HOW COOL IS THAT?
Note: The selling price for a book that you want to offload is pre-decided and based upon the ISBN code of that particular book, and may range anywhere from ₹15 to ₹100 per book depending on the genre, title/author, and/or the format/edition.
Why was this event amazing?
- Firstly, of course, for the selection of books on offer from various genres. There were literally tons of books to choose from. No wonder folks were spoilt for choice!
- The quality/condition of books, especially since 80% of books were used/second-hand. And even though they were pre-loved books, the condition of pretty much majority of them was still top notch.
- The staff was very helpful and cooperative. The owner/founder of Bookchor was himself present (and I’ve spotted him numerous times prior as well), although constantly busy. I definitely would’ve loved to maybe chat for a few minutes!
- The venue was just simply stunning! Not only is it one of the biggest and most popular malls in Mumbai (and India), but the open courtyard display of so many books was a beautiful sight. No doubt it was also significantly spacious despite there being a good amount of crowd bustling around. Absolutely loved the location. No doubt I’ll be visiting again!
What could be improved?
Seriously, absolutely nothing! Everything was pretty much perfect in every possible way.
Other info.
- There were also several author meetups during the event period, including the likes of Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Akshat Gupta (best known for The Hidden Hindu trilogy), and many more! Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to any of meetups due to scheduling reasons (gutted!).
- As mentioned before, you can sell your old books at the event and get cash/discount in return for the same. That is definitely a super cool thing! Who knows, maybe someone else might find a new home for your pre-loved books… just like you might have done so yourself! Sharing is caring, after all.
Final thoughts
Need I say anything more other than – if you catch wind of Bookchor: Lock the Box setting up a book fair in your city, make sure you pay a visit without fail! Trust me folks, you won’t regret it whatsoever.
Rating : – 10/10! (AN ABSOLUTE MUST VISIT FOR EACH AND EVERY BIBLIOPHILE IN INDIA!)
