buying books

I buy books in majority from second hand and charity shops and also from carboot sales and flea markets. I occasionally buy new when a title interests me a lot and I get too impatient to wait for it to be available second hand.

I sell books on Amazon and on eBay. So, I buy second hand for re-sale and for me. Years ago I used to buy only new books and I paid a fortune for them until I wised up. I live in a wealthy area with a lot of colleges so there are many good sources for used books. I pay $1 sometimes for brand new books that sell for $75 or $85 dollars in the local Borders or Barnes & Noble. It's hard to believe people actually pay that much for new books but I'm glad they do. It keeps me in business and in books.

Most of time I buy used books as well. From the library or second hand stores. They are just as good as the new books. Sometimes when i'm in walmart and see a good book i'll get it. they really aren't to much more. Walmart has paperbacks for around 5 or 6 dollars. I would have to say about 85% of the time I buy used books.

I buy a LOT of books too, and I have to say that I think probably 80% of them are used. I have the good luck of being less than 2 blocks from a most excellent used book store, and only 5 miles from a Barnes & Noble. Also the library here has a book store, and I can put my name on a list to get specific books. Problem is I have more books than I have space for, and I have a hard time parting with them. I tend to read a book several times, so once I've read it, I put it away for a while until I feel like reading it again. But on occassion I do weed out the book collection, and what I do is take them to the used book store, and the owner buys what he wants from me, gives me store credit, and the rest I tell him to keep to give away for free or donate, which he is very good at. He doesn't ever throw a book away. Other times I will take some to work and put a note on them for my coworkers to help themselves if they wish. I just cant ever bring myself to throw a book away, unless it is damaged.

I suspect that I am the reverse. I tend to only but secondhand when the new price is prohibitive or the book is out of print. That said, I find sites like Amazon quite useful for keeping the price down. My biggest problem though is that I buy too many books and am unable to ever get rid of them. Even ones that I don't like.

well..i must agree here..=) things are getting more and more expensive.. hmm..i usually borrow books from the library or from my beloved friends..lol..=)..cuz i think i won't read them twice..so they just will fill my home..but for books that i really really like..i buy them of course..such as P.S. I love you..hoho..=D well of course some ppl have to buy new books..but that shouldn't be a problem i think..cuz i still see many people at bookstores..hoho..nothing to worry about..

i mostly buy new books. i must say about 99% books taht I buy are new books. i just love new books. i buy only what i can afford to. its true prices are going up.

I use to buy most of my books new at zooba.com they are 9.95 which use to include shipping, I don't know if that is still their policy. Then I would read it and then sell it on half.com or eBay and most times I would make 1/2 my money back. That was before baby #2 came along. Now I borrow them from the library. I do this for two reasons, first the expense and second I can give it back when I am done with it. Now cookbooks are a different story. I love buying them. I usually buy them from school fundraisers, so I am not paying full price for them.

At one time I bought just about all of my books from a used book store, but now we have so much mersa, and other things in our area I am afraid to. I love to read, and it is one of the only pleasures I indulge in, so I don't mind spending twenty to thirty dollars a month on books. Some times my sister will have books that I haven't bought yet and I read hers, I also pass on to her and my other friends who like to read. Maybe I am just paranoid about disease, but with 5 children in my home I am very careful now a days.

Well I buy most of my school books used because I save alot of money that way. If it's a regular book that I am interested in reading, I'll probably buy it new.

I never buy my books new. They cost just way too much for me to buy new. I buy my books at second hand book stores where you can trade 3 books for 1 for free. Or if I have none to trade I only pay about $2.00 for one. I also go to a lot of garage sales in the summer to buy my books, and I go to church bazaars also. I like to go to the church sale on the last day of the sale because the ones I go to you get to fill a green garbage bag full for $5.00. I don't check out every book when I buy them there, but after I get home I look at them all, and the ones I am not interested in reading, I just take to the second hand book store and trade them for different ones. I can usually put about 200 books in a green garbage bag so this really works out good for me.

I love reading and I buy books but not so often as I would like because they are expensive. Most of the I buy are second hand, but important is THE BOOK, the pleasure of reading, the story, no metter if the book is new or second hand. In the meen time, when I buy a second hend book I wonder who read this book, what akind of man wase, I try to imagine the person who read it first.

I do a mix, depending on how bad I want said book. I buy used most of the time, because I find a lot of amazing books I'd pass over otherwise. HOWEVER if it's a rare or hard to find book I WILL buy new if I cannot find it used. Also if it's a book I can't wait to read I will buy it new. But with so many amazing books, I find used is the way to go, I find books I'd never be able to afford new. For example: I bought the watershead trilogy, each book used in normal circumstaces pushed 100$ at the time. I got one new from a random sale they had in our uni, but the other two I picked up at a second hand book store for less then 5$ a peice.

There is an almost forgotten world, a wasteland that once was rich and populated... it is a place of knowledge, adventure, and entertainment... it is called the Public Library, where for no cost you can borrow books, CDs, DVDs and VHS movies to enjoy and return, and seek out other adventures. It is sad that almost no one utilizes the libraries anymore...I borrow the movies that I would have to pay Hollywood Video or Blockbuster to "rent" and it is all free, as is a library card! I buy some books at yard sales...generally books that I want to read again and again, and reference books, Chef's Cookbooks, and technical books on motorcycle repair, helicopter technology, and stuff like that. A book should pass from hand to hand...remember that until Herr Gutenberg invented the movable type press...a book was very very expensive and only the church or the king could even afford one.

I buy nearly ALL my books (and since we homeschool that incs curriculum!) used off the internet. Either E-Bay or Amazon, or from private individual sellers mostly. Though albris and abebooks are nice also. Being a single mother every chance I get to save is nice. And since my boys are often kinda rough with things I don't get so uptight if they are getting stuff thats already used and I didn't pay a small fortune for! I have also sold a few things on E-Bay and that helps out too! Hope that answers your question well enough LOL ~Rachel

I like new but they are more expensive now. I buy good used ones and then pass them on usually. If I think it is really good I read it twice.

I buy only band new books.but i check from 3 or 4 shops before buying.The shop which offers a less rate along with 20% discount.I buy those books.

I buy perhaps 50% of my books used and 50% of my books new. I enjoy the five for a dollar romance novels at the used bookstores when I have nothing else to read. I also spend the majority of my money, in new book stores, on to 80% off section. I very rarely purchase books for their full retail value. I read too many books to be spending mass amout of money on them. I could read, perhaps, one to two novels a week. The most recent novel that I read was The Stand, by Stephen King. Actually, I am still reading it but I reently moved so I had ot put it on hold for a little while. It is a very good book so far.

As a student, I rarely buy books. I only buy the ones that I actually need and use in a class. Everything else, I either have photocopied or downloaded. It is a good thing that most of the subject materials given out by the professors are downloadable online. Now, when it comes to recreational books, I tend to just download them. It is easier that way and I need my money for other more important things. But there are other books that I really want to keep with me for future reference. They are usually the ones that I would read over and over again. The books that I think are worth investing over. The only second hand books that I have bought are from the used bookstores like Booksale. They have some hard bound books there that I cannot resist buying. I spend a lot of money on original graphic novels as well. The pretty pictures have me hooked.

Since I travel a lot, I swap most of my books. A lot of places have 1 for 1, 2 for 1 or 1for 1 plus some money deals. I used to love to have a big library, but after a while realized there's not that many books I read a second time. So looks don't matter, and if that's the case, second hand is definitely the way to go.