The Big Bad Wolf Online Book Sale Philippines (BBW) will open its virtual doors from June 30 to July 7 and offer 60,000 book titles at discounted prices. 

“Whenever we do physical sales, we have logistics and location constraints in terms of the number of books we can bring,” said BBW co-founder Jacqueline Ng at the event’s June 17 launch. “For online, we opened up our whole inventory.”  

The website’s stability has been beefed up, added BBW co-founder Andrew Yap, as the book sale expects thousands of customers to log in at the same time. “Even up until our sixth year, we were still struggling with website traffic,” he said. “The system’s more stable now.” 

After creating accounts on the BBW website, users will be able to browse for books by genre or search by keywords, title, author, or International Standard Book Number (ISBN). Among the promotions in the eight-day sale are a P10 book deal for a minimum purchase of P1,800; a 5% discount for a minimum purchase of P1,200; a 10% discount for a minimum purchase of P5,000; and free shipping anywhere in the Philippines for a minimum purchase of P2,900. 

Delivery takes 1824 days, and the shipping fee depends on the volume and weight of the purchase, as well as the buyer’s delivery address. 

“If you’re in Manila and you buy five books around three kilograms, that will cost P145,” she said. “If you’re in Mindanao and buy same order, the cost will be P290. What we charge are local courier charges. It’s as if you were buying from local sellers.” 

Online payments will be accepted through Dragonpay, eGHL, GCash, GrabPay, BDO, and BPI.  Cash on delivery (COD) isn’t available as a payment option. “Unfortunately, since we ship from Malaysia, COD is not an option for us,” Ms. Ng said.  

A social media contest, “The Grand Wolfie Contest,” will also be held online, with the complete mechanics to be posted on BBW’s official Facebook page. Prizes include an Apple iPhone 12 and an Apple MacBook Air. 

Big Bad Wolf Books has also partnered with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to increase awareness around copyright laws and the need to safeguard authors and content creators. 

“In the future, once the pandemic dissipates and the world re-opens its borders, we certainly look forward to hosting more physical book sales in the Philippines,” said Ms. Ng. — Patricia B. Mirasol