Used Ferozsons books, music & hobbies in Islamabad & Rawalpindi
Is a used Ferozsons books, music & hobbie worth buying?
Ferozsons prints in Lahore and keeps its main titles in print, so a used copy is judged against a new one on the shelf rather than against scarcity. The complication is that Feroz-ul-Lughat is not one book: the comprehensive Urdu volume, the smaller student editions and the English-to-Urdu and Urdu-to-English dictionaries all carry much the same name on the spine.
Made or assembled in Pakistan
Spares are widely stocked locally and most technicians in the twin cities have worked on these, so common faults are usually economic to repair.
Ferozsons prints locally and its principal dictionaries stay in print, so a damaged copy competes with a fresh one in any bookshop in either city, and generally only the thick comprehensive volume repays a rebind. Binders in the older book markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad do that work, and it is the only repair a used book has available to it.
Checking a used Ferozsons books, music & hobbie
These are specific to Ferozsons. The general books, music & hobbies checks apply too and are on the books, music & hobbies page.
Read the title page
Feroz-ul-Lughat exists as a comprehensive Urdu volume and as smaller student and pocket editions, and the spine on all of them says much the same thing. The full title and the edition statement are on the title page, and they decide what the book is worth to the buyer.
Check which direction it runs
Ferozsons publishes Urdu-to-Urdu, English-to-Urdu and Urdu-to-English dictionaries under the same family name. Open it at the middle and see whether the headwords run in the Urdu alphabet or the English one, since a buyer almost always wants one specific direction.
Spot a pirated printing
Feroz-ul-Lughat is among the most copied titles in the local book trade. Text that has gone grey or doubled at the edges of the characters, paper that shows through, a soft cover on a title normally issued cased, and a title page with no Ferozsons imprint are the tells.
Tell a rebound copy apart
Thick Ferozsons dictionaries turn up rebound by the binders in the old book markets, in plain cloth or leatherette with the original boards gone. Check whether the case is the publisher's, because a rebind frequently costs the book its title page and with it any way of naming the edition.
Sort reference from school titles
The Ferozsons list runs well past the dictionaries into Urdu literary reprints, children's books and school-market titles. Only the reference and literary side is indifferent to how old the printing is, so establish which kind of book you are holding before judging it by age.
What Ferozsons books, music & hobbies are worth
- The comprehensive Feroz-ul-Lughat holds value better than the student and pocket editions, because the people who go looking for it — translators, Urdu teachers, serious students — need the full scope and will not accept an abridgement.
- Because Ferozsons keeps its dictionaries in print, a used copy is priced against a new one on a shelf a street away, so physical condition carries more weight here than the age of the printing does.
- A copy that cannot be identified from its title page loses value, since the buyer cannot tell which of the several Lughats, or whose printing, is being offered.
- Rebound copies sit below originals, because the rebind usually takes the publisher's case and often the title page with it, and those are what a buyer checks the edition against.
Model lines you will see second-hand
- Feroz-ul-Lughat Urdu Jamé (comprehensive)
- Feroz-ul-Lughat student and pocket editions
- Feroz-ul-Lughat English to Urdu
- Feroz-ul-Lughat Urdu to English
- Urdu literary reprints and children's titles
General books, music & hobbies checks
These apply whatever the badge on the front says — the books, music & hobbies page covers them in full.
Check the edition page
On a textbook or exam preparation set, the edition is most of the value. Read the copyright page for the edition number and printing year, and check whether an online access code or disc that came with the book has already been redeemed, because a used code cannot be passed on.
Open the book flat
Hold it open at the middle and look along the spine. Glued paperbacks crack and start shedding pages in blocks. Fan the pages for loose sections, highlighter running through the whole text, silverfish holes, and the wavy edges that mean the book has been wet at some point.
Smell a stored box
Books kept in a damp store room or under a leaking roof smell musty, and the smell does not leave. Look at the closed page edges for the brown speckling of foxing and for grey-green mould. If one book in a box has it, treat the whole box as a single problem.
Hold discs to the light
Tilt a CD or DVD against a lamp and look for pin-holes or a bronze tinge creeping in from the edge, which means the reflective layer is lifting and the disc is finished. Concentric scratches read worse than radial ones. On cassettes, check the tape is wound evenly and not crinkled.
Count every game piece
Work through a board game or model kit against its piece list and rules sheet before agreeing anything. One missing pawn, die or rules leaflet turns a boxed game into a parts box when the title is out of production. Check the box corners, which is where storage damage shows first.
Run the motors and servos
On remote-control models, drones and motorised telescope mounts, fit a known-good battery and work every control: the motor should spin up without grinding or stalling, servos should answer at once and return to centre, and a mount should track smoothly rather than stepping. Refuse any pack that is swollen or leaking, and check the charger and connectors are present and matching.
Ferozsons books, music & hobbies — questions
Which Ferozsons Feroz-ul-Lughat should I buy second-hand?
How do I tell a genuine Ferozsons printing from a pirated one?
Other books, music & hobbies brands
Selling one instead? We buy used Ferozsons books, music & hobbies for cash.