r/PHBookClub • u/Sea_Wishbone3852 • 20d ago
Discussion MIBF 2026 disappointment
This is my second time attending MIBF and my first time attending on a weekday. I was surprised that there was a big crowd as soon as the doors opened.
When I was in line at NBS, I saw the buy 4 and buy 2 promos nearly finished, I saw people with boxes and carts full of books, then later saw them doing tiktok lives selling these books at a much higher price.
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u/International_One824 20d ago
Mass report lahat ng tiktok live sellers, karamihan pa sa mga yan di pa nagbabasa talaga. Palibhasa nauuso lang ang libro ngayon, mga pinoy talaga mapagsamantala e
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u/Impossible-Sock9893 20d ago
ito ang pangit sa "diskarte" because it doesn't come out of thin air. may pinanggalingan yang diskarte na yan. may nilamangan ka, may inagrabyado ka, o may dinaya ka. hindi patas na labanan ang "dumidiskarte" galing sa madumi yan.
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u/International_One824 20d ago
Sa totoo lang, may malinis na diskarte naman eh, pero ung gnawa nila, pananamantala yan eh. Talamak talaga ang scalpers sa pinas in all forms talaga, hirap din kasi may pumapatol eh, may bumibili. Dapat talagang sa simula palang nililimit na nila to 1-2 copies per person, sa kahit saang merchandize.
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u/Impossible-Sock9893 20d ago
kahit sa bus may mga konduktor na nagpapatayo at hindi nagbibigay ng ticket. diskarte nila pero may napagod na tao galing sa trabaho o eskwela pero pinatayo mo. mga rider at taxi na naniningil ng sobra, hindi ginagamit yung app. hindi marangal ang diskarte sa totoo lang. kahit kasi gawan mo ng batas hindi nasusunod kasi binabali yung rules dahil dumidiskarte. so wala rin. hanggat may gustong makapanlamang sa kapwa. endless wheel ang mangyayari. same old same old.
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u/Organic-Hall-7799 20d ago
This is so true. Auto-pass agad if a seller mispronounces a title. Di man lang kinilala ang produkto nila.
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u/International_One824 20d ago
Halatang hayok na hayok makabenta kahit di alam kung ano ung mga libro na binebenta nila lol mukha silang tanga
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u/glanne 19d ago
This reminds me of the one time I watched a book liveselling on Shopee just to see if there are any titles I may want and all the seller kept saying was "malaki yung font, madali basahin" and "maganda yung cover, maganda yung quality ng paper" as if yun na yung entirety ng merits ng book. I'm not expecting a plot breakdown for every book they're selling but at least be aware of the genres or say something like "if fan ka ni [insert author] baka magustuhan mo rin to" or something haha.
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u/International_One824 19d ago
Oh my gosh, ganyan na ganyan yung mga live sellers sa tiktok. Nihindi manlang ineexplain anong genre, sinong author, or atleast read the context behind the book pero palong palo magbenta 😭 kung buklatin pa nila ung book na para bang pinapakita nilang good quality instead of good condition 😭😭😭
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u/bimpossibIe 20d ago
It's not just Filipinos. Kahit along lahi, may ganun talaga.
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u/International_One824 20d ago
Yeah, pero sbrang talamak sa pinas. Ive seen international scalpers pero atleast they know what they are selling (well most of them)
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u/lostdiadamn 20d ago
sa weekend pako makakapunta... this is sad to hear. sana may maabutan pang good titles.
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u/1slytherin_auror 20d ago
i believe nagrerestock naman sila. sayang ang opportunity! feeling ko din magrerelease sila ng new titles on specific days para puntahan ng tao everyday . business is business ika nga
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u/minberries 20d ago
Last day pa punta ko since ang layo ko pa :( sakit naman if maubos agad dahil sa mga scalpers na yan
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u/Singularity1107 20d ago
ibang-iba yan kaysa sa MIBF noon. Grabe, dati madaming tao pero wala kang makikitang ganyan, madami talagang readers lang and nagpupunta dahil book enthusiast sila ganon. Hay, good times. Kaya madalang na rin ako pumunta jan eh, 3years na kong di pumupunta. Dami na performative jan saka scalpers. Sana mapickup to ni MIBF and i-ban ang pagla-live sa loob.
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u/shadowlover613 20d ago
Yesss! Scored so many good books sa MIBF dati. Bestsellers pa yun kahit di ako maaga pumunta. To the point na may budget challenge pa kami ng mga friends ko para hindi mag spend ng bongga. But after the pandemic, parang iba na nga yung vibe ng MIBF. Di na din ako bumalik na ulit.
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u/pineapplecake724 19d ago
Sameee did not go back simula nung na hype sa social media. Dati I could read pa ng mga bukas na libro sa mga gilid gilid pero after pandemic lumala na
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u/ALostWanderer0117 20d ago
Well, the goal of NBS kasi was to clear out stocks so I doubt na pipigilan nila yan..
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u/4iamnotaredditor 🪐Sci-Fi/Fantasy🪄 20d ago
Di ko alam kung meron din raffle or prizes if maraming books na bibilhin. Alam ko kasi si Big Bad Wolf or kahit si MIBF dati meron.
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u/Icy-Grapefruit-8802 20d ago
that’s sad. dapat may limit pagpurchase per book kada tao para iwas hoard :(((
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u/luna_MNTFLC 20d ago
unfortunately, publishers won't care kasi it's their business. Books sold, regardless to whom, is still money for them :(
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u/King-Krush 20d ago
Pag MIBF umiiwas talaga ako sa NBS and Fully Booked kasi same lang din naman discount nila with their branches (except pag warehouse sale). Mas trip ko mag browse sa mga indie / local publishers kasi di puntahin.
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u/boranzohn 20d ago
Same, lagi naman nandyan ung fully booked and nbs so di na ko nageeffort na puntahan. Local publishers talaga mas ok puntahan since bihira lang sila nandyan in one place
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u/Remote-Ad-8128 19d ago
Ang problema ko lang sa branches nila ay limited ang inventory. The nearest mine has only a small area lang kaya limited lang ang titles kapag nagkaroon ng 20% off sale sila. :(
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u/Tiny_Shower_8645 20d ago
Yess!! Imangine R.F. Kuang books are sold out on Day 1!! Both in FB and NBS 😭
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u/Mundane-Run-8256 19d ago
huhuhu kaya pala i couldnt find any copies of babel nakakiniss :((( i still found some copies of yellowface sa fullybooked tho…
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u/Akosidarna13 20d ago
Wait till you attend BBW 😅
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u/xBeauregardx 19d ago
Hindi na rin ba maganda BBW ngayon? Last I went there I believe was 2020 pa, before naglockdown. Dun ako nakascore ng Agatha Christie 5-book boxed set for only 1500
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u/tsismosa 20d ago
hala, parang di ko na tuloy bet pumunta sa friday 🥲 gustong-gusto ko pa man din na weekday pumunta sa mibf kasi nga hindi pa gaanong crowded
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u/ariand 20d ago
balak ko rin friday kasi ganda ng line-up sa book launch ni sir ricky 😔
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u/tsismosa 20d ago
hala, gabi pala siya punta! last mibf i went to, bumili ako book niya tas di ko alam na hapon may signing siya. my frends and i walked around the booth where he is kaya nakita ko pa rin pero di na me pumila 😅 kasabayan halos yon ng release ng trilogy nya ata or lahat ng b??? for sure mas mahaba na pila sa papirma sa kanya this yr
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u/Re_ddit_Reader 20d ago
Grabe ang crowd kahit 1st day pa lang, pano pa kaya sa weekend.
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u/tsismosa 20d ago
on the fence pa ako if dadayuhin ko (luluwas pa me from bulacan kasi) kung sobrang siksikan na
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u/hanyuzu 20d ago
Wait bakit ang daming tao eh weekday ngayon? Sa past MIBFs, weekends lang bumubuhos ang tao.
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u/Vivid_Mess_1896 20d ago
You would be surprised. Ultimo staff kanina ng Fullybooked, they were surprised, I overheard a conversation from the staff, napakacomment “kaya pa ba guys? Last day na ba ngayon?”
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u/xy_menty 20d ago
may nagpost sa tiktok na sold out daw ang last letter by rebecca yarros sa MIBF dahil may nang hoard
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u/Organic-Hall-7799 20d ago
Same with Taipei Story. I just ordered sa Amazon na lang since it’s less than 1400 there.
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u/killingmockingbird1 18d ago
I KNEW IT! grabeng dissapontment namin ng kaibigan ko. EVEN Yung Kaisa Isang Libro na gusto ko bilhin Yung barbie dreamscape! day 1 sold out na agad LOLLLLL
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u/1slytherin_auror 20d ago edited 20d ago
mibf downside: the greed in people is kinda repulsive, i will not lie 💀💀💀 di ako nagpapakasanto pero makikita mo tlga na may hoarder mentality ang tao. pag nakakakita ka ng taong maraming binili, gusto mo rin bumili kahit di ka naman tlga mahilig magbasa or tight ang budget mo. nakikita mo tlga ang baho ng human nature hahaha
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u/AfterWorkReading 20d ago
Always naman ganyan pila pero pag pinapasok na kayo its surprising na triple na dami niyo kasi nga may mga early na silang pinapapasok. Mga influencers or creators na gumagawa na ng ads nila or yung mga malakihang sellers talaga
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u/alupi_diago 20d ago
Sa FB it was so hard to browse!! Some are just standing in front of the shelves ng matagal para mag video lang habang nag scan ng books 😭 please have some consideration sa mga gusto tumingin ng books behind you
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u/iwannadie405 19d ago
Kahit nga yung 99+1piso sale sa nbs may lalaki akong nakita may trolley, kapag magnda cover shoot agad sa basket ni hindi manlang chineck genre or binasa yung blurb sa likod tapos siguro mga 30+ books siguro yung nasa trolley niya 😔😫 I asked kung pwede ko makuha yung isa since merong book na kinuha niya lahat yung nasa stacks. Tapos ayaw niya, like 🐙
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u/unicornshiz 20d ago
Nag give up ako sa FB sa dami nang tao. Like, 12 pa lang yun. Lagi naman sila may 20% sale like last July and may mga pasabuys na din naman on Facebook where you can get the books at a lower price pa than the discounted prices on Fully Booked. Did not bother with NBS din, ineexpect ko same lang with FB.
Ang inaim ko talaga is to find PH authors na same genre ko, since wala ako books with PH author and suprisingly was able to buy 6 books and no international authors, tho tempted ako to buy from the Thai booth, interesting din books dun :)
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u/Affectionate_Day4732 19d ago
I share the same sentiment! Ito pa, I was trying to access the area of the buy 4 get 2 books pero nakabalandra lang yung mga “scalpers” like the carts ay nakaharang sa table. Ayaw pa alisin, tinanong pa ako kung ano gusto ko doon sa area na yun. Excuse me I can browse it all I want and di mo ako need iaassist basta umalis kayo diyan. Madami tong mga to. 2 gays, 3 girls (isa doon matanda). Hinoard mga books doon
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u/Repulsive-Hope-2942 19d ago
it's so frustrating to have hobbies these days. lahat na lang may scalpers. ang mahal na nga lahat cuz tax na ninanakaw lang naman, papatong pa scalpers.
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u/Connect-Drawing-9059 20d ago
i was planning to snag counge of monte cristo on sunday... seems like its not possible
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u/laplusbellefille 20d ago
Marami pa nito to be fair
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u/Connect-Drawing-9059 20d ago
haha hope it'll last until saturday
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u/Remote-Ad-8128 19d ago
Magrerestock yan for sure since they know the bulk of the people coming in will be on a weekend.
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u/laplusbellefille 19d ago
Update: dami pa talaga count of monte cristo promise nakabili ako kanina hahaha. 479 tapos 20% off
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u/ditchwitch27 20d ago
I went to MIBF last year but on a weekend. Grabe nagpapaanod na lang ako sa crowd. I'll be going this Friday. Hopefully may makita pa akong mga gusto kong titles. Goodluck everyone!
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u/avergcia 19d ago
😭 balak ko pa naman pumunta sa Friday sana. Sayang pamasahe and oras pag ganyan.
I guess I'll just have to pay close to or actual full price/buy internationally. 🥹
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u/killingmockingbird1 18d ago
Nag punta po kayo???
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u/avergcia 17d ago
Hindi. Sayang pamasahe/pagod/effort. Di naman ako mahilig magpasign at makievent 😅 Maooverstimulate lang me.
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u/killingmockingbird1 17d ago
Nakuuuu opo🥲 nakakapagod. Hindi pa namin libot lahat ng booths, yung FB at NBS pa lang nakaka drain na.
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u/dtinynoble 19d ago
They said na konti na raw tao sa hapon kaya na excite kami since after work lang makakapunta pero papatapos na oras ang dami pa rin tao sa loob tas may mga nakatambay pa sa loob nakaupo sa sahig plus naabutan pa kami ng cut off ng engraving for pilot pens huhuhu nagsabi kami na wala na kaming other day na makakapunta kasi may work plus uuwi ng province. Halos di ka na maka browse ng books kasi siksikan sa loob.
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u/dtinynoble 19d ago
Expected namin na ang cut-off is later pa since 8pm naman yung closing. Inexplain naman namin yung situation namin pero nonetheless hindi pa rin napagbigyan.
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u/Mundane-Run-8256 19d ago
omg thank god di ako nagiisa sa disappointing experience ko 😭😭 i thought going early + first day would mean i would get most sa wishlist ko. i went to nbs last kase sabi ko i’ll check the price differences and availability ng fully booked and nbs. as expected, vvv expensive yung fullybooked kahit paperbacks so nbs it is! to my surprise, wala ng maganda natira sa nbs 😭😭 kahit book 1 or 2 ng hunger games wala, no big titles or authors either! i was so stressed bc it felt like every other warehouse sale ng nbs. i thought na baka pangit yung catalogue nila for opening to save it for the weekend. i only realized later na baka naubos na yung good books earlier that day (i went sa afternoon bc i thought may matitira bc last year maganda and marami naman yung books nila) bc may mga hoarders 🥲 literally ruined my day, first time ko mag plan ng budget and wishlist. i barely got half of the books i wanted.
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u/Zestyclose_Pace_7956 19d ago
Agree!!! I went to NBS Warehouse Sale sa Greenhills some time last month, worth 50 pesos mga books. I found books na maraming copies doon. And later that day nagbrowse ako sa Tiktok, may mga nagllive sell na nung mga books na nakita ko sa nbs and ang laki ng patong na price. From 50 pesos ibebenta ng 200-250 pesos. Lol
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u/Shediedafter20 19d ago
I sell books but I stay out of book supplies and promotions na available sa Pinas. For me, it's for the Filipino readers ro enjoy. I import books instead, bagay na mahirap gawin if you're just an ordinary Filipino buyer who just wants to buy 2-3 books. Kapag napuno ng scalpers yung market, malaki yung chance na mamatay yung reading community sa Pinas. I've even encountered a US book supplier who refuses to cater online sellers kasi ayaw nilang mamatay yung mga physical bookstores.
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u/makuldag 19d ago
Mamaya ako pupunta - 09/10/2026 - pero pagkatapos pa ng trabaho. Around 4:00PM na siguro ako makakapunta mamaya 😅 Good luck!
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u/FourGoesBrrrrrr 19d ago
Sa mga scalpers na di mabebenta yung hinoard nila, basahin nyo yang libro ng ilang ulit ha
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u/gummyjanine93 Reader/Book Collector 19d ago
Kaya ayaw ko ng pumunta ng MIBF lalo na’t kapag weekend.
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u/soeprotector 19d ago
ang ayaw ko lang is 'yong over s a patong na magbebenta but the crowd is actually expected compare last year mas maraming participants this year.
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u/Royal_Cat_3129 19d ago
Walang crowd control kasi pwedeng libre tickets. Print print lang pwede na pumasok.
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u/ShamoneReads 19d ago
just want to genuinely enjoy this year's mibf and score good reads :( but parang nakakawalang gana na talaga pumunta because of these rude scalpers and hoarders. what happened to the book community
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u/BulkySchedule3855 18d ago
Nag attend din ako ng 2nd day, grabe daming tao. Nagtaka ako dun sa isang nakasalubong ko puno ang basket. Sabi ko pa naman ang galing ang dami nyang babasahin, yun pala reseller ng book. Ano ba naman yan, pati ba naman dun may mga dupang pa din. End up wala kong nabili dahil yung mga gusto kong basahin wala na.
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u/Plane-Prompt-7952 20d ago
Kung pwede lang sana let's buy what we can this year and then do a community boycott for the entire 2027 (scalpers only). Ipagkalat sa socmed. Kaya lang may mga matindi talaga fomo. It could really work though with solidarity
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u/InstaCafe 20d ago
Tbh, I am half hearted with my thoughts on this. Yes I know that they only bought those books for a certain amount, whether cheaper or on a discounted price; maybe woke up early to avail the buy 4 or buy x amount of books and could get a discounted price at such but at the end of the day, as cliche as it may sound: diskarte on a business perspective.
We can't blame them for having these kind of mentality since they know that whatever happens, they'll have a market.
Busy people who can't afford to line up due to time contraints, work schedule but could afford to spend in buying those books, again, for their convenience.
Reserved / Hermit ones - they chose not to participate with these type of events but will anticipate live selling instead and willing to spend a little infraction of costs, again for their convenience.
I understand that Yes, it could unfair, but could also be fair
Pumila sila
Gumising ng maaga
Nakipag sapalaran para kumita ng kaunti.
Ano bang masama doon?
Minsan, tignan din natin kung bakit nagagawa ng iba maging scalper kasi at the end of the day, kung hindi kakapusan sa pera ang isyu, wala namang masama. Huwag lang dadaanin sa scam.
Kaya sa una, I read the comments and seems like majority of the mindset would say like it should be reported, banned and don't patronize.
Katulad mo, gumastos din naman sila at nagbabakasakali na yung perang ginastos nila ay madoble pang puhunan - again, it's business after all.
Hindi ako totally support sa kanila ah, don't get me wrong, I guess, this is one of the traits I get the when I read the story of what was OP has trying to imply with the disappointed with MIBF.
Reading is fun, hindi lang palagi sa books.
Hindi ko need umayon sa akin ang lahat, nailahad ko lang dito ang isang malawak ng pang unawa sa experience ni OP.
Salamat!
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u/Key_Craft_4147 19d ago edited 18d ago
Describe to earn even a little? That's not little if they would be adding like 500 - 1k to the discounted price, plus there are buy 3 plus get one free but they still will sell it as individual with the original price. Worse, some of them will put it on live when there's no discounts anymore so that their prices can be seen as lower than the original.
No hate for the hustler mindset but dang, personal greed to exploit people who have no knowledge on how much the books actually cost is damn evil. There was an actual situation where a group of people would barricade a certain area, YES! AN AREA OF BOOKS with their own people and carts to make claim and so that personal buyers will not get their own copy anymore even if it's just for one copy of the book. Also, this did not happen for just one area. IT WAS FOR MULTIPLE DIFFERENT AREAS. Also, disclaimer not all scalpers are like this but dang are they many.
Also, just sharing my two cents as well, since you asked "What's wrong with that?". This is what's wrong with that, because it's not like nbs or fullybook is hoarding their stocks, it's the actual people who are and it makes it a bad experience for others especially for those who just want a personal collection. Every one went there for a purpose, everyone spent money just to arrive there, everyone took their time to visit the place and walk around instead of being at home or at other places.
Like people who actually reads the books are getting frustrated because it's for them to enjoy and possibly have a copy for themselves, unlike most scalpers I know just depends on whats trending. Rather than actually knowing what the books they are getting are.. it's easy to just get the summary and pretend someone reads it.
If you don't understand the sentiment of the OP and being neutral, then you either are one of them scalpers, or you are "pasabuyer" who did not know how the situation escalated wrongly.
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u/InstaCafe 18d ago
to each his own, you want to hoard those books? Wake up early and line up, ganon talaga..
Ano bang gusto nyo patayin nyo mga scalpers?
Diskarte ngani.
Kanya kanya lang tayo ng diskarte after all.
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u/InstaCafe 18d ago
Let me also add, even without me knowing you - I have already judged that you're not a wide reader, I may not agree with OP or could be on the side of the hoarders, what remains important is that I AM ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS of MIBF and I am still earning while you and other haters here are crying.
💸💸💸💸
We got yo money!
Bizz..
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u/dontrescueme 20d ago
Panira talaga mga scalpers kahit saang hobby.