Where's the best place to buy used books, hardcovers?

[fadedrose]

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, EBay, etc????

[Lil Missy]

1. Yes. n/t

[uppityperson]

2. William James (shop local! but they also ship)

http://www.abebooks.com/william-james-bookseller-port-townsend-wa/3097777/sf

[Spike89]

3. I've had great success on Amazon

Not only do I always seem to have plenty of choices, the prices are good and so far, the books have been in better shape than I expected every time. I have gotten a few "retired" library books through Amazon and remain amazed at how new the books seemed.

[Mz Pip]

4. I get them on Amazon

depending on the book sometimes the hardcovers are cheaper then the paperback editions. I've bought hardcovers for less than a dollar plus shipping.

[salvorhardin]

5. ABE

http://ABEbooks.com is awesome. If you're interested in getting absolutely the lowest price possible, then you can use http://www.bookfinder.com to search across all the major and minor used booksellers online.

[aquart]

12. My favorite place.

[fadedrose]

16. I looked at Bookfinder and find that I can get

decent hardcovers for between $4 & $5 which includes shipping. That's half of what I expected....

[fadedrose]

22. The best emails I got were from ABE

I'm going to try and work with them. It'll take a while to figure out all ISBN's for 15 books, but I really want them.

Do you know what??? Several weeks ago some brand new books came in that I had on hold at the library. You can only keep these for 2 weeks. I also had a few Doss books on hand to read too. Well, I had to return several books that I'd been waiting ages for - Crais, Connelly, Child, Larssen, some Fforde and several other books without reading them. I used 2 weeks just rereading my old Doss books and the time ran out on the others.

I am so pitifully hooked on these Ute characters.

Thanks for the recommendation...

[fadedrose]

23. I finally placed an order

I ordered 5 books thru Abebooks. It was the only outlet that had all five of the first Charlie Moon Books by James Doss. Only 8 more to go, then 1 more in November when a new one comes out. It took a while to find the ISBN numbers for hardbacks, and that is the fastest way to find the book you want.

I don't know whether I'll be satisfied or not, but the books are coming from 3 different bookstores. Some of them are used library books, but all are hardcovers. I hate new books anyway, they're too hard to keep open and take a while to break in...can't wait till they come.

Thanks for the tip...

Edited - misspelled word

[Angry Dragon]

6. Half-price Books

Alibris.com

[tosh]

13. +1.

I love Alibris!

[DJ13]

7. Amazon, or the local library when they have book sales

[Ozymanithrax]

8. Look for used bookstores in your area.

Those are the best.

[PoliticAverse]

9. Your local library booksales or online via search engines...

like:
http://www.addall.com/
http://www.bookfinder.com/
http://isbn.nu/

[ThatPoetGuy]

10. addall.com will search amazon and dozens of other sites,

reporting the lowest prices, including shipping.

addall.com for in-print books, used.addall.com for rare or out-of-print books.

[Ineeda]

11. Unless you need a specific title,

try Goodwill. The one in my town sells excellent or perfect condition hardcovers for, generally, $4 or $5. If your library has a resale shop, they're a good option, too. Most 'national' thrift stores, (Salvation Army, Animal Rescue League, etc.) have tons of books. Some of them, plus the mom and pop thrift stores, sometimes aren't as fussy about quality though, and their books might be damaged or musty. They're worth checking out anyway. I rarely buy new books. I recently bought 6 paperbacks and 4 hardcovers plus an adorable, handmade bookmark for $32 -- the cost of 2 or three new paperback books in a retail store.

[fadedrose]

15. Need specific

Have been borrowing Doss' books from the library, and sometimes I wish I had a certain Charlie Moon book, so I want to do the whole collection, hardcover. Last night I almost gagged laughing at Shadow Man.

I don't want new ones because they're too hard to keep open. I like old books that behave when you open them...old people, on the other hand, are more trouble than young. :)

Thanks for the suggestions tho.

Will have to try some of the ones others have listed that I never heard of. Will probably have to go to 3 or 4 of them to get all in the series.

[klook]

14. Powell's Books

http://www.powells.com/

Find other independent book stores here:
http://www.biblio.com/bookstores/

[Rabblevox]

19. +1 sorry, I didn't see your post before I talked up Powell's :) nt

[klook]

20. No problem! They deserve all the praise they can get. :-)

[MineralMan]

17. I always start on ebay for specific titles.

Often you can find some inexperienced bookseller there who has your title with a Buy It Now price that's quite a bit lower than the experienced ones. Buy quickly, though, or one of the other booksellers will snatch it up. One caution: Always look at the shipping price.

I've found some great book deals there. Otherwise use bookfinder.com.

[Rabblevox]

18. Actually, the best place is your local, independent bookstore But if you must buy online, may I sugg

http://www.powells.com
Powell's Books in Portland, OR is a local, independent, union bookstore that is routinely rated as the largest and best independent bookstore in the country. They started as brick-and-mortar only, but their online store is huge, easy, and thriving. You will not always find the discounts you will at Amazon or Ebay (but sometimes you will).

You will be doing a mitzvah for independents, unions, and a real local economy instead of a corporate headquarters. As a bonus, the readers comments are orders of magnitude smarter than on most of the big sites. The employees, and their customers, know and love books. :)
(and no, I don't work for them) ;)

[fadedrose]

21. My SS isn't enough for me to help others less fortunate, been there, done that...

First of all, thank you so much for responding.

Once upon a time I was real sort of snooty and felt that people thought I was a cheapskate if I went to the library, so I bought books at local book stores, no Barnes & Noble back then, or Amazon, etc.

But now I'm lucky enough to live in a town that doesn't depend on state or federal funds to operate - our town actually votes, seems like every year, to increase the library budget. We've got an awesome library with awesome people who don't mind helping people with bad knees, etc.

The books I want I've already read once or twice, and I like them so much I want them to come live with me where I can access them any time. Don't want new books, I want old ones, slightly worn, at the cheapest price I could find. All Charlie Moon mysteries.

We got our dog from a rescue center too.

If I could, I'd adopt the author, James D. Doss, and have his writings for breakfast. :)

[fadedrose]

24. Many thanks to all who responded

Some of these places did not have every book that I wanted. Will try them again for the next 5 in the series. Thank you.

[Lex]

25. half.com

is where I've bought used books before . . . very good place to find used books, cd, dvds, etc.

[JitterbugPerfume]

26. I have boughy some really cool used books

at Amazon.com

cheap

[terryg11]

27. garage sales

when you can find one that sells them dirt cheap!!

[jul61252]

28. amazon