5 ms·

If you want to find more secondhand books, check your local colleges and universities. Some have annual book fairs where books are sold at heavy discounts. I fo

If you want to find more secondhand books, check your local colleges and universities. Some have annual book fairs where books are sold at heavy discounts. I found some gems at such a fair when I went a few years ago. You need to go early though, because others will snatch the best titles if you don't. I also went there a few weeks ago to drop a load of my old textbooks, some of which are like new. Hopefully, they make their way into hands that will find a use for them. Anecdotally, I currently have an outstanding book order on Amazon for a title I'm convinced I wouldn't find anywhere in store. The title is 20+ years old and a little niche.

goldcd 4y ago
I don't really think that's what the article was getting at. (although I'm not quite sure what it was trying to do)
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  > I'm convinced I wouldn't find anywhere in store In the “old days“ before Amazon, you would place a custom order at the book store (Not a second-hand book store) and it’d arrive a while later.
  - jonhohle 4y ago
    In my teens I nearly wore out my local library’s copy of the Terminator 2 Illustrated Screenplay. In the late 90s, on a whim, I went into a B&N that had just been added to the mall where I worked and placed an order, even though I knew it had been long out of print and the likelihood of it ever showing up was near zero. Around a year later I got a call that my book was in and I could go pick it up. When I arrived, a pristine, new, old-stock copy was waiting for me as if it were still 1991. I still have that book proudly displayed - both the joy of its contents and its discovery will accompany it for the rest of my life. eBay, Amazon, Shop Goodwill have made this process immensely easier, but I still find joy and thrill in the random second hand store finds.
    - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      Now I want that book :)
  - mattkrause 4y ago
    You still can! I was interested in a book that went for $120 on Amazon; a local shop ordered for me at $80 instead. It took about a week, so maybe a hair longer than Amazon. Oddly, I found the link directly from the publisher.
akudha 4y ago
Curious, what book did you order at Amazon?
reaperducer 4y ago
check your local colleges and universities. Some have annual book fairs where books are sold at heavy discounts. In Chicago, and many other cities, larger library branches have a little room where the books the library doesn't want anymore end up. In the case of Chicago, the Harold Washington Library has a room with a table and stacks of books. You grab what you want and put a suggested donation into the box on the wall. Usually about 25¢ a book. In other cities, I've seen this expanded into entire miniature bookstores. But in those cases, they end up charging second-hand retail prices, which is a shame.
wrycoder 4y ago
Try Abebooks.com, which is also owned by Amazon.
- montefischer 4y ago
  Also biblio.com, which is not.

goldcd 4y ago

I don't really think that's what the article was getting at. (although I'm not quite sure what it was trying to do)

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
> I'm convinced I wouldn't find anywhere in store In the “old days“ before Amazon, you would place a custom order at the book store (Not a second-hand book store) and it’d arrive a while later.
- jonhohle 4y ago
  In my teens I nearly wore out my local library’s copy of the Terminator 2 Illustrated Screenplay. In the late 90s, on a whim, I went into a B&N that had just been added to the mall where I worked and placed an order, even though I knew it had been long out of print and the likelihood of it ever showing up was near zero. Around a year later I got a call that my book was in and I could go pick it up. When I arrived, a pristine, new, old-stock copy was waiting for me as if it were still 1991. I still have that book proudly displayed - both the joy of its contents and its discovery will accompany it for the rest of my life. eBay, Amazon, Shop Goodwill have made this process immensely easier, but I still find joy and thrill in the random second hand store finds.
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    Now I want that book :)
- mattkrause 4y ago
  You still can! I was interested in a book that went for $120 on Amazon; a local shop ordered for me at $80 instead. It took about a week, so maybe a hair longer than Amazon. Oddly, I found the link directly from the publisher.

akudha 4y ago

Curious, what book did you order at Amazon?

reaperducer 4y ago

check your local colleges and universities. Some have annual book fairs where books are sold at heavy discounts. In Chicago, and many other cities, larger library branches have a little room where the books the library doesn't want anymore end up. In the case of Chicago, the Harold Washington Library has a room with a table and stacks of books. You grab what you want and put a suggested donation into the box on the wall. Usually about 25¢ a book. In other cities, I've seen this expanded into entire miniature bookstores. But in those cases, they end up charging second-hand retail prices, which is a shame.

wrycoder 4y ago

Try Abebooks.com, which is also owned by Amazon.

montefischer 4y ago
Also biblio.com, which is not.