There's "crazy cheap" on Amazon, and there's "crazy cheap" second hand, but there's likely an order of magnitude between them. Annecdotally here 2nd hand books

There's "crazy cheap" on Amazon, and there's "crazy cheap" second hand, but there's likely an order of magnitude between them. Annecdotally here 2nd hand books cost around $2, for recent stuff, sometimes less than $1 for age or condition. New ones are $10 - $15. So new and 2nd-hand are not really "competing" with each other, price wise. Yes they compete, yes there are many other factors that affect the profitability of 2nd hand stores, but I don't think price-of-new is a major factor (in a decline sense.)