Pustak is a newly launched books portal that claims to have largest online book store in India – 12 Million Titles, 20 Million Book and most importantly, their claim to difference is the collection of rare books and free shipping.
We guarantee you that you are sure to find that book you have always been looking for, but have not bought it from an international website, thanks to the immense amount of shipping and handling fees that you would have to pay. Pustak brings you these books to your doorstep at no extra cost.which means that our shipping and handling is FREE to anywhere in India.
Started by ex-Amazon member, Pustak is entering a market which, I believe is not yet full y exploited and is quite open to new formats.
Do give Pustak a spin and share your comments
Not so impressive. flipkart.com has almost all the books which I have searched for till now and at cheaper prices too and they offer special discounts round the year and free delivery too.
Checked out this site, was pretty cool for books that were not available on flipkart. I’ve been trying to get my hands on this particular book for a while now (Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia). Searched for the book on both flipkart as well as pustak. There was a large difference in price, but flipkart didn’t have the book. So i went ahead and ordered it on pustak just now…
flipkart is cheaper for books that are available in india, but pustak seems to stock a lot of books that i haven’t been able to find in any bookstore in india! good job, guys! keep it up.
Hi Ashish,
Can you help me get in touch with these guys? Emails sent to the address provided on the website bounce back.
Thank you,
Leonard
I checked the site out and the prices seem like USD prices converted into INR.
I guess that is why its called a startup
Is it just me or are all the listing images being leeched off Amazon.com’s online catalog image server.
Is that a violation of Amazon bookstore’s TOS?
Ex-employee or not, thats pretty serious.
Vimal: It’s legal alright. Under any circumstances, I must say “Leeching” is a pretty strong word to use.
Arun, Parinita, Navneet: Thanks for your comments. Try this out on the site: hit the space bar in the search box and click on search. Check out the number of books in the database.
A general note: If you don’t find a book in India or if you need to import it, Pustak.co.in is the place for you to look. And of course, we’re constantly working on improving. We just started up.
Cheers,
Rahul
Ops Manager, Pustak.co.in
It would be great to see Indian editions making place into the website. Then you will really have a place to find all the books you need. But as Landmark or Crosswords don’t have official APIs and reseller program like Amazon, its going to be a challenge.
Rahul: The term ‘leeching’ is technically correct.
You’re right, it seems Amazon doesn’t seem to mind that sort of thing; passively encouraging it apparenty. Just a geek-mind at play.
Hey,
I have ordered through Pustak, and this flipkart sounded new to me, just checked the prices of books that you normally don’t find out here, because the demand for them are quite low.
And very interestingly Pustak is almost offering at half the price of flipkart. (Ex : Disney War)
But at the same time there are other general books that flipkart seems to be better priced at, I guess one needs to do the balancing act of hunting around for a good bargain.
This start-up effort is truly commendable. Will eagerly await for better pricing and more features on the site.
And just forgot to add in – how original can someone get with a vignette, be it off anyone’s repository how does it matter, if it’s legal and your getting a good bargain for it !
Woah! I don’t mean to be negative but can’t resist commenting on this..
Comic sans in the logo, no no no!
Please guys, just change the font :p
They could do with some spellchecker and some grammar.
Under About Us:
“several multinational companies and is a pioneers(??) in the IT industry”
“most of his time with his family and the reamining(??) time on the Web (but what else!). ”
The Company The present Pustak is a start-up company with Seven employee :Case issues
I am not trying to mock, but just giving you my opinion. First look is very important. The importance of content & UI is just as important (if not more) as the technology.
cheers & good luck
Not good… Flipkart is hundread times better. First look of website only kills the mood to buy.
I have just checked out quite a bit, and I realized they specialize in most not available books. The usual Indian editions are not available with Pustak.
Comparing Flipkart with Pustak, any day flipart is better aesthetically.
Price wise, I feel Indiaplaza is the cheapest for online buys for books. The only issue I have faced with them is that, at times they do not have some titles which they claim they will ‘ship in 3 working days’
the price of the books listed is very high, I could hire a cab + buy books at local stores myself for the rates quoted, also the shipping time is 4-6 weeks, not very impressive…
“The site will market and sell, books. It will also produce Web products and Web applications that will increase market share, promote name recognition, and maximize efficiency”
first one sounds fine..i don’t know what does the second sentence mean?
1. I can’t see prices of books till I add them to the cart; to me that’s a definite put-downer.
2. I do not have information about the book like paperback/ hardcover upfront.
3. The prices seem quite high. I was researching the “horrible histories” collection and the prices are almost 3 times what is available in the market.
4. I am missing the community element (reviews/ forums) but I guess that will happen over time.
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It’s been a while since this article was published. We have made a few changes to our website. Please do check out Pustak.co.in now. You’ll find a better looking website with the same awesome functionality.
Please remember that Pustak is the best source for imported books. We offer a database of 12 million titles and provide free international shipping from the US into India.
Also, if you are looking for a book that is available easily, locally, I would urge you to pick it up from a local bookstore. I do the same. Otherwise, browse around Pustak and I guarantee that you will be impressed with the collection and the service.
you are provideing such a very good books