JEDDAH: With families finding it hard to cope with skyrocketing prices, the sale of used schoolbooks has become a new business in Saudi Arabia. It is not unusual now to find posters and billboards in supermarkets and malls announcing the availability of used schoolbooks for sale. How profitable this business is yet to be discovered.

Speaking to Arab News, some buyers attributed the phenomenon to the rising prices of textbooks, especially in private and international schools.

Prices of textbooks for the first and second grades at primary level have gone up to more than SR2,000 in some private schools.

The advertisements for the sale of used schoolbooks are now competing with those for used cars and furniture. These advertisements tend to draw the attention of parents by asking them to grab “this big opportunity” or to “save some extra money.”

Those who advertise that they have textbooks for sale put their names and mobile phone numbers so that interested buyers may contact them. The books are not on sale in shops; the sellers have them in their homes or elsewhere and so whenever customers call, the seller tells them about his whereabouts.

“This new business has cropped up because of the rising cost of textbooks in private and international schools,” said Mohsen Awad, a computer expert, who has a daughter in school.

He said the reason behind this phenomenon maybe the desire of parents with children in private or international schools to gain some money by selling their children’s old books.

Bassam Al-Surani, who advertised that he had books for sale, said his sons’ old books were piling up at home and so by selling them, he would not only dispose of unnecessary books but would also make some money that might help them buy new books.

“The first day I placed the advertisement in a supermarket I received many telephone calls from parents wishing to buy the used books,” he said. The ads usually specify the name of the school, the subjects of the books and the school year.

Mohammed Al-Harbi, a supervisor in a mega mall, said such ads were new and were indicative of a flourishing business.

Ahmed Al-Wattar, the father of a girl in a private school, said the only problem is that these books are sold collectively, not individually. “I cannot buy one book. I have to buy either the whole lot or leave them,” he said, adding that he would keep searching the ads until he found a seller who will sell him the book that he wants.

Muataz Ahmed, an Egyptian teacher in an international school, said schools do not object to the students buying old books as long as they are in good condition.

He said the books for primary classes may sometimes contain exercises that have been answered and that this might pose a problem for children.