I Went to Big Bad Wolf Book Sale… Was It Worth It?

Have you ever been to BBW?

It stands for Big Bad Wolf, a discounted book fair with franchises spread across several countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and others. The format is pop-up, so the event only lasts for five days in one city before moving on to another.

The books are not secondhand, okay? They are brand new, still sealed, and sold at very affordable prices. It’s basically like a large-scale book sale in collaboration with publishers from various countries.

This time, the event was held in a city near where I live, not too far, about a one-hour trip. It ran from Wednesday, April 29 until Sunday, May 3. At first, I planned to go on Sunday, the last day, but my sister suddenly wanted to join and could only make it on Thursday. Just for your information, this year’s BBW event is open 24 hours. Wow! Usually, it opens at 10 AM and closes at 10 PM. Does that mean we can camp there? So we agreed to meet early Thursday morning, around 8 AM, at the venue.

When I arrived, I was greeted by displays of giveaway prizes such as a car, airplane tickets, shopping vouchers, and various small merchandise like bookmarks, keychains, and tote bags. They also offered free iced coffee or iced chocolate with a minimum purchase of 1 million rupiah, or around $57.

I wasn’t sure whether I would reach that minimum, considering my TBR pile is already huge, but maybe I just have a habit of buying books. You know the “reader” problem, always buying more books before finishing the TBR. Still, I felt like this event was a golden opportunity to buy physical books at cheap prices, regardless of when I would read them.

My Experience

Upon entering, they provided baskets and trolleys for customers to carry their purchases. Many people even brought their own suitcases to haul their books later. And wow, there were so many books. Three halls of the venue were completely filled with books from various genres.

However, about half of the event was dedicated to children’s books and toys. The rest included general fiction, fantasy & sci-fi, crime, thriller & suspense, romance, non-fiction, books from local publishers, and super cheap books priced below 50 thousand rupiah, or around $3. Remember, these are physical books, not digital, so they are really cheap. Finding something that suits your taste might require extra patience, but that’s part of the thrill of discovering a hidden gem.

My sister browsed the general fiction and thriller sections, while I headed straight to the romance section. The selection was huge, with a wide range of prices. On average, the books were discounted between 20–70% off normal bookstore prices. Everything was still in great condition, and even hardcover editions or box sets with up to 70% discounts were available. You just need patience to find what truly interests you.

What’s frustrating about this event is the “jastiper.”

I don’t know if you have this where you live. Jastiper refers to people who offer personal shopping services. For example, if you live in another city and can’t attend the event, these people will go and buy items for you for an additional fee of around 5–10 thousand rupiah, or about $0.5 per book. The books are then shipped via courier, with the shipping cost paid by the buyer.

At first, this service was quite helpful. But over time, it has become disruptive for visitors who actually attend the event. Why? Because they now use a system that makes things difficult for others.

They usually wait for staff to open large boxes of new stock. Then they grab popular and rare books in bulk and keep multiple copies in their baskets until certain titles are completely taken over. But they don’t pay immediately. Instead, they move their baskets to the side, take photos of the books, and send them to their social media groups.

After that, they wait.

If someone in their group wants a book, only then do they pay for it. If not, they leave the books sitting in their baskets all day. Some even cover their baskets with cloth and guard them.

For what? To prevent other visitors from buying those books. Isn’t that annoying?

Even worse, if someone takes a book from their basket, they may demand a service fee. If the person refuses, they can be accused of stealing, even shouted at in public. Meanwhile, those books haven’t even been purchased yet and might never be. It’s honestly chaotic.

There have been many complaints, but they are ignored. BBW doesn’t prohibit jastipers. In fact, they even provide special checkout counters for them. Personally, I wasn’t too bothered. I did peek into some of their baskets and found a few books from my wishlist, but the prices were still higher than I expected. So I wasn’t tempted to “steal” anything. Besides, even without looking at their baskets, my own basket was already overflowing. Hahaha.

Book haul

I picked up a lot of books from romance, general fiction, fantasy, crime, suspense, and some non-fiction. But since I didn’t want to overspend, I had to filter my choices.

1. If a book has been on my wishlist for a long time and is discounted more than 30%, I buy it.

2. If a book is discounted more than 50% from the normal price, I buy it.

3. If a book has strong reviews suggesting it’s worth reading, fun, and good, I buy it. I don’t focus on the rating score, but rather the overall impression from readers.

After a strict selection, I finally bought 17 books:

Total: $73.8
And yes… I did get a free iced chocolate for hitting the minimum spend. A small, sweet consolation for my financially questionable decisions.

Final Thoughts

Is BBW worth it?

Absolutely. It’s chaotic, overwhelming, and slightly dangerous for your wallet… but also kind of magical. Like stepping into a treasure hunt where every shelf might hold your next favorite book.

Just watch out:
1. Come prepared.

2. Set a budget (or at least pretend to).

3. Bring a suitcase… your arms will thank you later. #big bad wolf book sale, bbw book sale haul, bbw book sale review, cheap books haul, book haul under $100, bbw indonesia, discounted books, book shopping vlog, affordable books, bbw experience