If you would rather have a classic in your hands instead of an eBook AND you'd like to pay the lowest absolute price, then you can't beat a Library Book Sale. Library Book sales do not guarantee that your choice of classic will be for sale (it is completely random and sometimes chaotic), but in the event that it is, it will be extremely cheap. Usually book prices are anywhere from $0.50 for a paperback and $1 for a hardcover to updwards of $1 per paperback and $3-5 per hardcover. However the majority are the former instead of the latter.
Book sales are held on an annual or even semi-annual basis where most books come from donations and or ex-library books. They range from very small basement rooms to entire floors of a big library or even an outside pavilion. They are also usually pretty crowded no matter where you go.
For most library sales there is usually a "bag" day and it is usually on the last day of the library sale. This is usually (but not always) a Sunday. Bag days are great because for $1-5 the library will offer you to give you a bag and let you fill it with as many books as it can hold. Usually you can buy as many bags as you wish - not just one.
My wife and I spent an entire summer going to many of these book sales and that is the major way that we built up our personal library. While the majority of books are worn and beaten down, there are a fair amount of near mint books or pristine editions of books to be had. Also, if there was a major press run you have a great chance of finding a good copy of something. Examples would be nearly any John Grisham book, lots of Tom Clancy, and Dan Brown. On the classics side you can find copies of Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations at nearly every sale.
Some of my best finds at book sales were hardcover Barnes & Noble Classics with black dustjackets that I mentioned in my first blog post back in March. There are usually plenty of Signet Classics and older editions of Penguin Classics at most book sales in the Illinois region. It may differ depending upon where you are from.
A great website to find book sales in your area is BookSaleFinder.com. Included below are both the general link asking you for a state as well as the Illinois and Wisconsin specific links.
http://www.booksalefinder.com/
http://booksalefinder.com/IL.html
http://www.booksalefinder.com/WI.html
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Library Book Sales
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1 comments:
Some similar sites are www.booksalelist.com and www.booksalemanager.com Both are relatively new but seem to have some neat features.
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