Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I have to say that I'm pretty convinced by the suggestion that the internet killed--not the second-hand book market, but maybe the brick and mortar second-hand book store. There are plenty of people who still purchase used books, I think. I suspect the used book market is actually still quite robust. The transactions are simply taking place somewhere else.
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Confirmed; if I want to get some books for my GF (who refuses to read on an e-reader, except when going on vacation and taking a book for each day is not an option), I always get them at the Amazon Market in the UK or Germany. Often they cost half or less of new, including shipping, even if in Very Good or Like New state.
I like encyclopedic/reference books that are illustrated (for example, one I bought showcasing 70 world-changing inventions), but they're often very expensive when new. Think around €50 or so. When buying them second hand, I can often get books like that for €20 or less in a very good to like new state.
To buy second hand books, I rarely go into book stores to browse, for the mentioned fact that I can barely read the spines when the books are on the shelves, especially when one or two levels up or down from eye height. So I'll have to take books out from the higher shelves, or crouch along the shelves for the lower situated ones.
As I most of the time already know for what kind of book I'm looking, finding second hand books of that type through Amazon.co.uk or amazon.de is much easier and faster.
Illustrated books, and study/reference books are the only ones I still buy in paper. I don't have any use for books containing just text, since DRM has been broken and I can have the actual book instead of only a license.