Here’s the link to the booknerd here the more on used books — which I believe were the two posts cited.

Thanks for the info. I find them too complicated for general use anyway, and being in the UK doesn’t help matters. They’re only for emergencies where the postage works out – i.e. books that are commonly available 2nd hand in the US, but difficult to find in any form in the UK. Abe turned up trumps when tracking down early Loretta Chase.

Kristin: What I don't get is how a ‘used book' seller could have a used book ready for sale the DAY of a new book's release.

Speaking as a bookseller, the two main sources are: review copies traded in by local reviewers (these are often sent out well in advance of the release date, so that the review can be published around the release date); copies received damaged from the publisher being sold at a reduced price (rather than hassle with the damaged-returns process).

Francois: ABE Books also includes new books these days – they eliminated their “used only” rule several years ago.

Its a bit of a pain, but I tend to go through each book I want to buy, checking the price difference. But sometimes, even despite the price difference I’ll buy new. Agnes and the Hitman is a bit of a dilemma. I’ve requested the local library buy it because I never buy hardbacks (they take up too much space and are unnecessary), but will they buy it? And will my willpower hold out?

Kristin: What I don't get is how a ‘used book' seller could have a used book ready for sale the DAY of a new book's release.

I thought this was usually because the publisher decided to remainder books-i.e. sell whatever's left to stores for 1/2 price. I don't know why they would remainder books before the release date. Perhaps it made sense back before online sales created pricing competition between “new� and “new used�.

I’ve often figured — especially in the case of much anticipated books by big authors — that in the case of individual sellers, they acquire the book on the day it’s released, read it immediately, and then, like the next day, send it out as used. Often, I find that these sellers are not stores but individual Amazon Marketplace or eBay sellers. Also, since so many books seem to be released some places ahead of their actual street date, that books are acquired early and then sold as used on the actual release date.

As far as used books go. Love em, where else can I get out of print books?

Also, I have actually found new authors to read through used books and ended up buying their new hardcovers so I think it all evens itself out in the end. Despite the publishers greed.

Me too. I love the idea of ebooks, but in practice I miss paper. Partly because ebooks look so similar. When I read a printed book, I get attached to the quirks of that edition–the cover, heft, color of the paper, font, whether it opens flat.

I always read Jane’s posts about ebooks, hoping to catch the bug, but it hasn’t gelled yet. I’d be more motivated if I had to pay postage… or if e-publishers carried more out-of-paper-print books (I’ve only seen a little of this so far). Used book stores are hit-or-miss for catching up on an author’s backlist. Ebooks would be perfect for it.

Of course, I’ve rarely bought used…ever. UBS and antique stores give me the creeps. I can’t stand the vibes I get off a lot of used books, so I generally avoid them.

I know, I’m weird…

I can’t afford it.

My book budget is small and my reading appetite is huge.

Also, books are very expensive here (New Zealand) and a standard mmp works out costing about US$17. If I buy from Amazon and have books shipped here, it’s nearly the same once the outrageous cost of postage goes on.

I buy new whenever I can as I do like the idea of supporting the author, but it just isn’t always possible.

So while I appreciate the various ethical reasons offered for purchasing, the bottom line is being able to afford it.

I am starting to buy ebooks, and I think they work out well for authors as then I only have to pay the same price as any US consumer and I get the book immediately. However, I haven’t got over the need for a real, paper book yet. (And, if a book is tucked away on my computer I tend to forget I have it, whereas if it’s glaring at me from the shelf, I’m more likely to see it and remember to read it.)

Just a ramble really, but trying to offer a pov from those of us who don’t live in a “big” country.

I thought this was usually because the publisher decided to remainder books–i.e. sell whatever’s left to stores for 1/2 price. I don’t know why they would remainder books before the release date. Perhaps it made sense back before online sales created pricing competition between “new” and “new used”.

why would Amazon want other new book sellers to compete with them?

Amazon does such a huge volume of business that it’s more important to be *the* source for cheap books, than to maximize profit per book. Amazon makes half the money on used books that it does on new, but selling cheap books brings customers back over and over, so overall Amazon gets more business.

I think Amazon should at least hold off on allowing used books to be sold for a certain amount of time after release.

That’s an interesting idea–though it might do more for first-week, bestseller-list sales figures than for overall sales through the book’s lifetime or for midlist sales. I imagine it would play out like this–what do you think?
• The 2% who only buy used would wait.
• Casual fans would dribble in to Amazon gradually over time; latecomers would see both new and used.
• Some casual fans, and eager fans who buy the first week, would buy new-new instead of new-used.

Susan/DC: Best selling authors are usually also fair game for the library or UBS, since I figure my share of Stephen King's sales is far smaller than my share of Tracy Grant's.

I like that. Having decided to buy, you’re figuring out where your purchasing dollar speaks the loudest.

I do shell out for authors I particularly like, but there are maybe four of them total.

These facts might change as I get more disposable income.

Expecting readers only to buy new is a bit unrealistic in our current economic climate.

(Also, the environmentalist in me wonders where all that paper is coming from to make all those books . . . and how much of a waste it would be if every used book sat around un-resold forever.)

Yeah, it’s not very imaginative, once you know!

I've been browsing through the Rfp “Tip of the bookbergâ€? list realizing how many books I get from the library primarily because the ebooks are not available – I'm now up to 170′th place for “The Yiddish Policemen's Unionâ€?.

You’d snicker if you saw the rest of the “berg”. It’s large. And that’s books in my Amazon wishlist or my library queue, not books on the “someday” list or impulse buys. On the upside, at least my bookberg is more virtual than physical. If I had that many unread books waiting on my desk (floor, garage, spilling onto the sidewalk), I’d cry in frustration.

I use the library like Netflix–I request a bunch of books I’m curious about, and see what arrives. I’m #155 in line for a recent movie… but #3 for “Yiddish Policemen” and several others. I foresee a reading crunch if they all arrive at once. It’s a good problem to have.

As others have said, I use the library and sometimes used book stores to try new authors. The more books I read, the more favorite authors I find, and the more new releases I hear about. I don’t like hardcover, but I’ll buy a new hardcover by a favorite author because I’m too eager to wait.

And why would Amazon want other new book sellers to compete with them? I don’t understand that at all.

Authors I love (which are very few in number) will get automatic Amazon buys from me. Authors I want to explore I will either borrow from a friend or get from the library. Every now and then I might buy one used. And, if I like the author, I will go crazy to find their back list or any new books out. Meaning: sale!

However, I live very far from any big, chain bookseller, so I am not tempted to walk up and down the aisles of B&N and buy, buy, buy. So, there is not some conscious effort on my part to avoid the full prices at B&N or Borders and go down the street to some hole-in-the-wall used book store to HOPE they have the book I want or wait for it to be delivered from some seller though Amazon.

Best gift for a reader? Very large gift cards to Borders or B&N. I mean like $100 or $200. Those $20 ones only get you 1 1/2 books nowadays. If I got a gift card, I would go NUTS in the store, No problems there.

If offline used sales were “generally” unrecorded, used book sellers’ taxes would be audited like crazy! I’m sure it’s an issue; it’s just the scale of it that I question.

That said, I’m sure some offline used book stores fall through the cracks, and one study of indie bookstores found that for those stores, 80% of used book sales were in-store. I’d guess the large difference is due more to surveying different types of stores (e.g. Book Rack paperback trading stores, which are very locally-driven, versus Powell’s) than to a massive black market in used books.

I do think the NY Times articles’ numbers are strong–those studies directly compared in-store and online sales for used book stores that sell through Amazon, Abebooks, and Alibris. Those on/offline comparisons are becoming easier every year, as more used bookstores put their whole inventory online. And the in-store sales figures are pretty easy to validate through business taxes and economic surveying.

One article I didn’t cite was from Publishers Weekly in April ’07. PW described studies on Abebooks and Alibris, and interviewed a couple of large publishers. They give a mixed forecast–some used book stores doing well online but others not; some new bookstores doing well by selling used; one publisher not concerned but another anxious.

Seriously, most readers will buy new. I will, always.

It’s only when the book is out of print that I’ll go used.

In 2005 the Book Industry Study Group published a study on the used book market. The complete study is expensive; here’s a summary from the American Booksellers Association.

Among independent book stores that sell both new and used, sales were pretty evenly split between in/out of print:

• 48% of used books sold were titles that were still in print. 52% were out of print.

• The number of nonstudents who only buy used books was just 2%.

• 57% of all used book sales were paperbacks. 43% were hardcovers.

The BISG study used sales data and surveys from “over 500 booksellers and 2,000 consumers and students”, including ABA, Abebooks, Alibris, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Biblio, Book Hunter Press, Bowker, eBay, Monument Information Resources, and Powell’s.