Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
And since at least some of the pbook lovers I know refuse to lend out books on principle...
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I'm one of those people. I don't lend out *anything* anymore, not even to friends. It's happened too often that I lend out something and get it back partially broken, or I don't get it back at all.
Once burned, twice shy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
@Katsumani and Dusky Roe
I have never done online trading so obviously I know nothing about it 
In Canada it is pretty expensive to shipl a small or large parcel unless I did it wrong.
I am curious as to the actual cost as in a trade one or more books need to be mailed each way. I do agree that books, both paper and ebooks cost a fair amount when bought new, but I still do not see the big advantage of trading used over buying used.
Buying a book for 99 cents plus shipping does cost an additional 99 cents. but the time spent parcelling the book you are trading and shipping it is worth 99 cents or even 1 cent to me. And if the books being traded are rare, surely one would be better of selling them?
And if you are collecting them you aren't going to want to trade them.?
I don't plan to buy any paper books either way in the near future, but I am curious as to the advantage unless it is you really enjoy the process. I totally understand buying used, but I am still at a loss to see a big advantage to trading these days.
Helen |
As said, many people that take part in trading sites don't do so for profit. They do it to get new books. In the Netherlands, shipping a packet under 20 kilograms costs 6.75 euro.
Therefore, you could, let's say, "buy" 30 books from someone, and pay €6.75 shipping. Someone else buys 30 books from you, and he also only pays the shipping costs. Then you will have 30 "new" books to read for only €6.75, and you can store them in place of the 30 you've traded away.
If you don't want to trade, you'll have 30 books for almost nothing, but I've seen some sites in the past that don't allow you to only get books without trading them. You can only get one book for each book you trade yourself, to prevent people from just buying up everything for only the costs of shipment.
edit: As DuskyRose explains below, it's possible to set credits for a book, on some sites. Therefore, I could offer a book, but want 4 credits for it because it's a rare item. If someone accepts it, I'll get 4 credits after they receive the book (and they loose 4 credits, of course), and I can use those to buy two 2-credit books, or 4 1-credit books.