Thursday, April 19, 2012

Book prices at one go-thisyathat.com: Website Review

Okay here it is 3.20 pm on my laptop screen and I haven’t written a single word since morning….what am I thinking I have no idea, just that nothing compelled me to write something.
And as I was going through our daily newslist I chanced upon a site called, www.thisyathat.com, quite an Indie name, but then I thought lets go and check this site…no its not an adult site, it’s a book price comparing site.
Nothing can make a book lover happier than a site like this, but I had never heard about this site before.
So basically what’s this site about?
It’s a pretty simple website which limits itself to its core function of- differentiate between.
So one has to simply put the name of the book that they are looking for in the search box and it provides the pricing at which it is available on eight different book selling websites in one go.
The websites where it searches for books are- Uread.com, Simplybooks.in, BuyBooksIndia, indiaplaza, BOOKadda.com, flipkart.com, infibeam.com, CROSSWORD.
For example, the book by Sir Mark Tully, (It is because of him I dreamed of becoming a journalist as a kid), called Non Stop India, is available at a price tag of Rs 291 at Uread.com to Rs 499 at Crossword. The prices are in the increasing order.
So now a book buyer doesn’t have to go and open each and every url of all book selling websites but instead jump on to this site and look for the best and cheapest book deal. At present the site takes author/book name /ISBN for searching results. The web site is pretty simple and does not provide an unending list of books but has merely ten recommendations on its web page. But that does not mean you won’t get a book that you want. If you know the name of the book then you know you will be given the best deal options on the site.
It also gives clarity on whether, a site has a cash on delivery (COD) option or not, as much I searched through the site, SimplyBooks.in and Crossword does not provide the option of COD, which is an Indian buyers most favoured route of purchasing online. Normally people can’t fathom whether the book will be delivered or not.
The website also suggests the delivery time the vendor will take to drop your book to your doorstep, as per my personal experience flipkart.com takes the least time to ensure your book reaches you fast like a next day delivery…whereas others take a minimum two-three days to dispose something which you are eagerly waiting to read.
ThisYaThat is a member of the Venture Initiation Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is also supported by the Weiss Tech House. The website says that they are going to add more stuff on the site and I really hope they don’t get into comparing washing machines and personal items….. I really like it the way it is just that they can get more book titles on the site, trivia on authors and books which will make it too good an experience for a book buyer  Happy Reading!!!!

4 comments:

sanket kambli said...

good idea..but all the sites compared for pricing should have good service.. or else there is no point comparing oranges & apples..i mean i usually use flipkart .. i find it easy to use and reliable.. so I may have paid more for any book.. but at least worth it so far .. good review .. good work.. each post is different .. you keep it interesting..

Anonymous said...

Delighted to know that ThisYaThat sparked your interest. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve, do write to us on contact@thisyathat.com. Happy Reading!

raregenome said...

@sanket: thanks for reading and your coments...i too prefer flipkart but homeshop 18 has got good discounts dese days.

@aneesh: Thanks so much for dropping by,i really hope to see the site prosper :) best of luck :)

Ricky said...

I've to say that websites like ThisYaThat and Junglee have been very useful when I'm buying a book on my desktop.

But if you're in a bookstore wondering how much the book in your hand will cost on Flipkart or Infibeam, you need something more suited for the mobile!

So I went ahead and developed a new app called 'Compare Book Prices' for Android. You can just scan a book's barcode or search and instantly see prices.

Check it out here and rate / reply if you have any suggestions!