Don’t Trust, Verify : An Open Letter from Books Mandala to Our Valued Readers.

Dear Readers,

Since our inception in 1991, our mission has always been to connect people with the books they'll love. We go to great lengths to ensure you find what you’re looking for from us. Now, after more than 30 years of operations, we face a dire situation and feel the need to share it with you.

The book trade has faced numerous challenges over the years, including digitization and the rise of social media. Rising global inflation, increased publishing costs, and other factors continue to drive book prices up worldwide, affecting both readers and booksellers. This has led to a historic decline in the number of bookstores, reflecting significant shifts in our society.

The lack of proper regulation in Nepal has led to total chaos in the book market. Unauthorized sellers have flooded the market with counterfeit books—fake copies that look like originals but are of low quality, with poor binding, bad paper, flimsy covers, errors, varying sizes, missing pages, and sometimes entirely different content. These counterfeit books are sold to unsuspecting customers, undermining the hard work of legitimate publishers.

Fraudsters create these books by simply downloading and printing them, so they cost much less than real books. Genuine books are more expensive because they cover quality production, author royalties, marketing, distribution, and more, ensuring high quality and supporting the creators and publishers. Counterfeit books are sold at a fraction of the MRP or original price, often with very high discounts, making them seem like a great deal. However, their pricing should not be compared to the MRP of real books at all because they lack the quality and value of authentic publications.

These sellers have infiltrated the book market, consistently deceiving customers. They lure buyers with tempting discounts, but in reality, they compromise the reading experience and rob authors of their rightful earnings. What appears to be a bargain is actually a scam, leaving you cheated and stuck with a subpar product.

The book trade has hit a new low due to the rise of counterfeit books. This has caused unaware readers to question the integrity of authentic sellers who sell books at MRP, often comparing them to counterfeit books sold by dishonest vendors. Book prices (MRP) are set by the publishers, not by individual sellers. We understand that not everyone may know how book pricing works or that not all books are made the same.

We have been aware of this issue and have informed customers who asked about it. Initially, we believed it would be a temporary problem that the concerned authorities would address. However, it has become too widespread, and no action has been taken so we have decided that enough is enough. We are committed to actively raising our voice against these practices and will use our platform to increase awareness about this issue.

To our dear customers and readers: We encourage you to exercise your right to question the authenticity of the books you buy.

Examine and compare the products you are spending your hard-earned money on. Visit us at booksmandala.com or other authorized sellers for books that are sourced directly from publishers. The differences between authentic and counterfeit books will be clear.

ONE SIMPLE REQUEST: DON'T TRUST, VERIFY!

With gratitude,

Books Mandala Team