Second hand English book sale

Books and Literature

Second hand English book sale

chocccie 01/06/2007, 13:49

My books appear to have been breeding behind my back and a cull is becoming essential ..... I way thinking I'd have a book sale on my property ..... what would you expect to pay for good condition second hand books? Both hardback and paperback.

Thanks folks

Re: Second hand English book sale

Anton Redman 01/06/2007, 16:46

Assuming near immaculate condition, once read per person with clean hands and stored in dry conditions 60% of new cover price if the buyer collects. There would need to be a good list of authors I liked and say half a dozen titles I wanted to make the journey worth while.

Mail order for recent books might go a bit higher.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Catalpa 01/06/2007, 22:31
Many books are available from the amazons and play.coms of this world at 30% - 50% discount from the cover price. Play.com delivers post free to France. So if I were buying second-hand books, I'd expect them to be at least half the cover price of the book, maybe a bit more - 60% off, for eg.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Chrissie 02/06/2007, 11:06

Our local English bookshop (yes, folks, come to the Tarn!) sells normal-sized secondhand paperbacks for 6 euros - 8 euros, depending on date, topic, condition. Larger ones can be 12 euros.

(Anyone else remember when you bought a book for a train journey for 2s/6d? Blink [blink] )

Chrissie (81)

Re: Second hand English book sale

TreizeVents 04/06/2007, 22:05
Our local travelling English bookstall seels used paperbacks in good condition for 5 euros or sometimes more. We have a monthly book sale where punters turn up with their read once or twice books and sell them for one euro each. Although at that event prices might start climbing as greedy people try to make money, which was not the point of the event. You could enjoy yourself and start a wee club where everyone comes once a month and seels their books by renting a table, and you use the money to pay the bar or cafe for the space. What a good deed. By the way, should you wish the advice of another person, I would never pay 50% of the cover price for a used book. You can get really good deals on the web, for nearly new books. Used books are not worth much. More an excellent social occasion. You could rent a stall in the local market for a couple of weeks and have a realy good time selling them.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Paysages de France 05/06/2007, 7:58
Book shops, unlike record/cd stores, (which have virtually disappeared) survive in France because of a law passed by Jack Lang in 1983 which forbids supermarkets selling them for under their cover price.
Every French town has its own fully stocked, 'serious' bookshop and a lot of newsagents stock a fairly wide variety of titles.
If you are interested in French literature: purchasing books from a registered outlet as oppposed to 'on internet' will ensure the continued existence of your local bookstore.
Incidentally, another result of positive French legislation is to be seen in the amazing variety of newspapers and periodicals stocked in French newsagents which are obliged, by law, to stock all the titles published and distributed - a very far cry from the cheap and tatty, typical British newsagents outlet.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Catalpa 05/06/2007, 8:17
I see far more "grubby" (in several senses of the word Ick! [+o(]

) newsagents in France than I ever do in England. I'd also take issue with "Every French town has its own fully stocked, 'serious' bookshop..." Our reasonably large local town certainly does have several bookshops. Stock is frequently old, scuffed, sometimes bleached by being in the shop window and not particularly extensive. The assistants aren't well-informed either judging by the number of shrugs I received when I was trying to source good (even if expensive) books on flora and fauna found in France. I eventually found what I wanted on Amazon.fr.

I subscribe to several French magazines and newspapers because it's cheaper but also because I could never be sure that the local newsagent would consistently stock them.

Of course, I'm generalising based on my experience... but then, so were you.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Paysages de France 05/06/2007, 9:53
In Montauban and Toulouse and all the surrounding towns the newsagents are very clean and well stocked and most of them sell books and BD's too. Unlike their British counterparts, they have only a very small selection of sweets on sale - some of them have none at all. The staff are generally very well informed, pleasant and helpful.
The South West of France is a region where people take their time and relations are more convivial, which explains the above no doubt.

Re: Second hand English book sale

Catalpa 05/06/2007, 11:24
Fascinating. The rosy tint in the spectacles obviously intensifies as one moves south.

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