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#1: How much? Author: Lisa A., Location: North Yorkshire

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:19 pm

How much should CS books cost? (I *know* they should all be a fiver really). There is such a range of editions, conditions and prices depending on where you find things / how rare they are but I can't seem to work out a pattern. I paid the cheapest price I could find on the internet for Summer Term recently but a bookshop owner told me that I had been had! Has anyone any guidance / advice / rules of thumb about deciding whether or not one has found a bargain?

#2: Author: Caroline58, Location: St Albans

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:23 pm

YOu could go to the Advanced Book Exchange website (www.abebooks.com) and search for specific books. You'll get them froma number of bookshops - you can limit the seach to the UK - and can get an idea of the range of prices for different editions and conditions.

#3: Author: Kathye, Location: Laleham

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:58 pm

The problem with the CS books is that the price does vary so much from book to book to edition to edition and from where you purchase them from.

I have paid less for HB's on ebay than the pb has been and have seen the pb from a dealer for a 10th of the price!!

I have always found that dealers sell HB's for more than ebay and sell pb's for less than ebay.

But then there are those insane people who try and sell them for very inflated prices, the only thing you can really do is shop around a LOT and get an idea for what a book is going for at any present moment.

Also, especially on ebay, the prices drop quite a lot of both the HB and PB when GGBP re-print the book, but a few months later the price increases again.

Hope that helps in some way

#4: Author: aitchemelle, Location: West Sussex

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:45 pm

The prices vary muchly! I have paid WAY too much for some of the rarer PBs and very small amounts for some HBs and its all swings and roundabouts. I have to set myself a realistic limit and stick to it! With ABEBOOKS you are unlikely to get any "bargains" as such and with ebay there are people who's business is to buy up the cheap deals and sell the books on at inflated prices (but I guess everyone has to make a living Twisted Evil

) If you check the "completed items" option on ebay when searching you can see how much a book has gone for before - this is my guide when i am selling TBH!
Razz

#5: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh, Eire

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:06 pm

The completed listings on eBay is a really good guide and that's the one I go by when I'm selling books.

The best opinion I ever read on this was in one of the FOCS journals (I think) when someone wrote that CS are only ever worth what someone is willing to pay for them. And this in itself changes all the time. She gave an example of when she bought a HB of Two Sams on eBay. There were six copies of it for sale; two went for astronomically high prices, three for more mundane amounts and the sixth she snapped up for a fiver.

I suppose you could do up a ticklist like Ally's one, of the rarer titles and go by that (and that is a really good guide too). But you would also have to take into account what GGB are publishing, and when. And yet, at the end of the day, you could have the rarest title in the world, but if nobody is willing to buy it at that particular time, it's worthless to you.

#6: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:24 pm

I agree with Róisín. The price of an EBD book is (a) whatever you are willing to pay combined with (b) whatever the seller thinks they should receive.

#7: Author: Lisa A., Location: North Yorkshire

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:58 pm

Thanks for all the good advice - that makes sense. I understand the tipping point that you get in bookshops: outrageous price vs. really wanting the book. I suppose that's market forces but it makes for an uncomfortable feeling when poised with a purse!

*Hoping that the bargains and chizzes will even themselves out over the years*

#8: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:01 pm

The price on eBay varies widely for a given book. If there's a price war even PB can go for insane prices, and other times you can grab things for a reasonable price. There are a couple of the paperbacks I've never gotten because the prices were just too high.

My guideline for HB is that I will buy them if I can get them for a comparable or lower price than a GGBP edition, otherwise I pass. Of course, the chances for me to find a good deal in a used book store or sale are slim to none (pretty much none at the moment), so eBay is the only option.

#9: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:57 pm

I've been slowly upgrading to HBs and have bought a few from shops as a treat (usually when I've been given some money as a present), otherwise I check ebay every day and keep an eye out for bargains.

One thing that I did a while ago which I find saves a lot of tedious checking, was that I spent most of a day comparing ebay completed listings and ABE books and came up with what was a "fair average" price for each of the ones I was still looking for. I carry a copy of that around with me and have it on the pc too, that way it's easy for me to check the asking/bidding price against it and I can make an informed decision very quickly as to how much I'm prepared to pay.

#10: Author: moonlitsparkle, Location: Yorkshire, England

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:00 am

Prices on somewhere like Abebooks can vary hugely in a short amount of time.
For example, for Christmas my boyfriend bought me a HB 1st edition of In the Oberland with DJ for around £80. Now the cheapest I can find on there of an equivalent condition is £120. In a few months, maybe there'll be one for £60, who knows?

#11: Author: fio, Location: swansea united kingdom

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:58 am

Sometimes it can be worth making a note of the Dealers address and phone number from Abe and contacting them directly, as most of them will also have books that they don't put on the site, and they can be less expensive. I used to be in regular contact with a few of them, and used to get catalogues from them. Unfortunately,my collecting had to be reduced once I had Jonathan.............! Neutral

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