Shanghai's first self-service bookstore says more than one third of its discount books have been stolen during its first three months of operation. But it is still planning to continue the business model.

Shanghai's first self-service bookstore says over one third of its discount books have been stolen during its first three months of operation. But it is still planning to continue the business model.

At least 100 people stop by this self-service bookshelf every day inside the Popular Bookmall on Fuzhou Road. The shelf's name is Honesty. It was installed nearly three months ago. If people want to buy a used book, they just need to pay 30 percent of the original price, and put the money into the locked change box. There is no store assistant or surveillance camera around.

The shelf normally holds 500 books on every theme. A bookstore assistant fills it everyday. But not all buyers have been honest about making payments.

"We've sold nearly 3,000 books. We should have got 14,000 yuan, but now just over 7,000. But that's already good. We expected to get 30 percent of the sum," said Yuan Peng, manager of Popular Bookmall.

Yuan says his store so far has no plan to install more surveillance cameras or enhance security, because the store believes the situation will improve. He also says the self-service project aims to boost book sales in the long term, not immediately.

The store has plans to put more such bookshelves at five other Popular Bookmall stores in Pudong, Xuhui, Yangpu, and suburban Songjiang districts over the next few years.

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