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Bargains

Inkheart

Inkheart

New Member
I love trawling second-hand shops for the odd gem. When I was a kid the rush from finding that Famous Five book missing from my collection was unbeatable. ("err....just give us 10p for it")!

Just yesterday in visiting 3 shops in my local town, I picked up:

"My Sister's Keeper" by Judi Piccoult (4euro!)

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (2euro!)

"Amsterdam" and "Enduring Love" by Ian McEwan (50 cents each!) :eek:

All in great nick! :D

Tell us about your bargains....... What? Where? When? How much?
 
I recently purchased a first print of Ursula Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness in V/Fine conditon for $850.00, I have seen it for as much as $1600 in such condition and generally around $1200-$1400
 
I just got My Sister's Keeper, Holy Fools and The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters all in hardcover for $5 each at my book store. They are "hurt books" but all I can find are a couple tiny scratches on the outside of the pages.
 
My best buys have been at church fêtes and school fairs, when you can get an entire box or bag of books for around $5. I am in my element then!! I pick up a bit of everything just in case I might like it - such an endorphin rush!!

Just recently I scoured the city for a copy of 'The Flanders Panel' by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and found one in a second hand book store! I was totally stoked to pay only $11 for it. Normally I consider this a bit steep for a second hand book, but I've been really looking forward to this one!
 
I just picked up at least 10-15 paperbacks for $0.25 each and a hardcover or two for $1 each, all of which were in at least decent condition or better.
 
I do a lot of charity shop book shopping. Some of my best deals lately have included Trainspotting for £0.69, The Virgin Suicides for £0.79 and The Lovely Bones for £1.25. Haven't had time to go on a spree in a while, usually being able to buy 6 or 7 books this way at a time. :D
 
At a thrift store in Arizona I got two boxes of Reader's Digest condensed books for two for a nickel! I only paid like a dollar fifty. It was so exciting.
 
I once visited my own personal mecca, a small town comprised almost entirely of second-hand bookshops - its called Haye-on-Wye, and is in Wales if anyone is interested.

For a single day I was in heaven - I even found a copy of Hardy Boys No.13 (which was only ever printed in the first edition, not in any of the later runs). :)

Phil
 
phil_t said:
I once visited my own personal mecca, a small town comprised almost entirely of second-hand bookshops - its called Haye-on-Wye, and is in Wales if anyone is interested.

For a single day I was in heaven - I even found a copy of Hardy Boys No.13 (which was only ever printed in the first edition, not in any of the later runs). :)

Phil
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wow, my mate is in college in wales and she was telling me about this town comprised virtually of second-hand bookstores. I thought she was pulling my leg. Sorry June! :eek:
 
I suppose my best bargain is an illustrated first edition of Abarat by Clive Barker for £1 from a discount shop. It's printed on glossy paper and weighs a ton. Hopefully I'll get to read it some day soon. :rolleyes:
 
Inkheart said:
wow, my mate is in college in wales and she was telling me about this town comprised virtually of second-hand bookstores. I thought she was pulling my leg. Sorry June! :eek:
Click to expand...

Oh no no, it is very real!! :) Literally every second shop is a bookshop, it is a wonderful place! :D I often wondered whether there was some cohesive plan to have all these second-hand bookshops there, or if they suddenly just sprung up over night.

Phil
 
Most of my book bargains have been the books the library is selling. I still haven't figured out why these books get sold. Sometimes it's obvious (like The Seeing Stone is slightly watermarked and someone had scribbled on the cover page of Harry Potter and the Philospher's stone) but I've found books in good shape - and good books too!
My conclusion is that they discard the ones when the character has a funny expression on their face on the cover.

So I have lots of books I got for 20 cents. Red Hugh has to be the one in the best condition - it honestly looks new!
 
Most libraries base it on how often a book gets taken out, and whether it is worth their while to keep it taking up precious shelf space - having said that I have got a few weird ones from the library at one time or another that shouldnt have been on sale I'm sure :)

Phil
 
I got The Hackers Ethic the other day for 2$US and one time I ordered Neil Gaiman's American Gods on Amazon and got sent a first edition, signed copy. :)
 
I got "Guns Germs & Steel" and "Lusitania" at a garage sale, mint condition, for $1 each.

Best bargain was from a freecycle program where someone gave away a handful of books. I got 5 books, including "A Beautiful Mind", in great condition for the best price ever - free!
 
I think the best bargain I have had recently was at a local annual 24-hour book sale where I picked up an $80 and $160 book for the combined total of $1.50 I was pleased to find the more expensive of the two, as I had loaned my copy out some two years earlier on a short term loan to a colleague, who subsequently left the company shortly afterward.

The books? One was on Reliability Centred Maintenance, the other was Bela Liptak's Instrument Engineers Handbook.
 
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