The latest Harry Potter at half the price

It's just been three days since the sixth book in the Harry Potter series has hit bookstores and you can already get your hands on a pirated copy. While the originals have all sold out, even sellers of pirated copies are not far behind. They are selling copies for as much as Rs 800.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, you would have two questions right now - who dies in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and how to possibly lay your hands on a copy, at less than the cover price of Rs 895. Well, read the book to find out about the answer to the first question. And about the second one, if you come down to Mumbai's Haji Ali crossing, you can get a pirated version of the book at half, or even less than half the original price.

The price tag on this book may well say Rs 895 but you can get this for as low as Rs 400.  Two days after the original release, these copies were selling on Mumbai's streets. The kids selling this at the signals buy this from Churchgate for Rs 300 a copy. But beware! The kids may even try selling these for Rs 850 to an unsuspecting buyer. And that's because they can make hay only while the sun shines. A Harry Potter book hits the stands once in two years; and after spending a month in the bestsellers' list, it bows out.

So hats off to these canny and streetsmart businessmen who know how to exploit an opportunity, when they see one. But it's taking money away from JK Rowling, the billionaire author of these books.

A pirated bookseller, Shadab told CNBC-TV18, "Right now, we sell it for Rs 890. Later, it depends on the customer, it could come down to Rs 700 even Rs 600." He also admits that some people are willing to pay Rs 890 for these cheap imitations! But one wonders, that just putting in Rs 5 more would get them an original Harry Potter, so why go in for this one?

Another pirated bookseller, Nadeem explained, "We will lose the market after 3-4 months, right now is a good market. Some months later, you will get this for Rs 75 - Rs 100 because sales will go down.

The book has clocked record sales the world over. Tight security in the pre-release period ensured that not one bootlegged copy made its way to the market. But things have changed after the release. Now, they are sold even as the police make their rounds. If you are planning to buy the next copy, you'll do good to remember that such copies often have pages missing, besides the printing being below par. And that's besides the fact that it's illegal to promote piracy.

Apart from the paperback versions doing the rounds, the book is now circulating in its entire version on the internet as well. People are getting the book in its virtual version emailed to personal inboxes, absolutely free of cost!

For Harry Potter fans who want more trivia and info:
http://www.mugglenet.com/