Dog-earned not just shabby, time-worn but also marketable... By Frederick Noronha
Panjim (Goa) : You may think it's shabby and time-worn, but Goa-based Leonard J Fernandes actually believes that old books are fashionable, treasured and just need a caring owner. So, with his wife Queenie, they've gone about setting up what they say is India's first online used-book store. "We started just two months back, and went online in mid-July. But we're already doing well. We've got some 260 registered users, and sales have started to come in," the South Goa-based Fernandes told this correspondent. There are a few other second-hand book sites in India, says Fernandes, but his dogearsetc.com is the only one based on a peer-to-peer model. "In other second-hand bookshops, the site maintains the inventory. Here, we allow registered users to trade with each other," he explains. How does the model work? DogearsEtc.com encourages individuals to sell their old books by listing them online. Users first register, and then list their books online, for free. Buyers pay the site, after which the sellers are directed to post the book. Sellers quote the price for their book and the site charges successful transactins an eight per cent facilitation fee. If users cannot find the book they are looking for, there is an option available that allows them to request for a particular book, again for free. When that book becomes available, users are notified automatically via email. Besides books, audio-visuals such as LPs (the long-playing records of old), CDs and DVDs can also be listed, says Fernandes. Books in all languages and of any nature, including periodicals, comics and text-books, can be listed. Says he: "The plan is to take it further and make many more features available. Users, for instance, can already engage in discussions via a discussion board that has been provided." Another feature expected soon is "The Graduate Club", a forum which targets students, so that they can post abstracts of their projects or theses. "This, we believe, will give their work the necessary exposure, unlike instances in which such papers often collect dust and (often, commercially viable) projects are hardly commercialized," says Fernandes. What's the business model? "I see it making money because of many reasons. Firstly, books we read as kids have totally disappeared. Parents have the nostalgic feeling, and are concerned that those books are not there anymore," explains Fernandes. He sees this venture getting a market from "all over India". Says he, "We've had people from Patankot and Shillong. In the new age economy when people displaced from homeland, one often wants to read books in their own languages. Besides, inspite of the disposable income growing, books have indeed become expensive." This venture is run by Queenie Rodrigues Fernandes, a Masters in Economics from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune and Leonard J Fernandes, an MBA from The Ohio State University. Says Leonard: "We were in the UK and US respectively till last August when we decided to head back to India and start an enterprise of our own. After our marriage last December, we worked on the website and other aspects of the business till we went online (in mid-2006)." "Our website provides a way both to source books inexpensively as well as find books currently unavailable or out of print," says Fernandes. He thinks it could click with students wanting to earn pocket-money or find cheaper books. Fernandes did engineering in Goa's Farmagudi College, and then went in for an MBA at Ohio. And the word catches on. Says Boni Dias, a book lover from Goa: "The other day I met a young couple who helped me source out some books we were looking for. He and his wife started an online book trading store. Let's give this young married couple all the help we can." "Others have used this model abroad," says he. "Our next idea to get amateur artists to put paintings up for sale. If you've not made it to the gallery as yet, this could be a stepping-stone." Contacts in Goa: Dogears Etc. [a venture of Dogears Print Media Pvt. Ltd.] Plot No. 16, Housing Board Colony, Margao GOA 403601 Tel: (0832)2751509 Cell:9850398530 _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
