Best place for second hand books (Not Amazon/Ebay!)

indebtindevon

Hi guys, Its September time and i've got a uni reading list as long as my arm..

Alot of my books are quite expensive and as such carry a decent price as second hand books on amazon and ebay.

My question is does anyone know of any other resources or techniques for buying old books? Is there perhaps a central place that librarys sell old stock too?

Somthing that is possibly less well known and therefore cheaper than the usual.

Worth an ask!

Thanks

dandy-candy

I buy books off ABE, charity shops, secondhand/antiquarian bookshops (they're everywhere once you look out for them!), car boot sales and libraries. The libraries only sell in branches but you can ring around first. How about trying Freecycle too?

dandy-candy

Also just thought - have you actually asked at Uni? They might have a notice board!

bluebag

I get quite a lot at my local market stall, he takes them back for resale and gives a rebate of about 30 to 50% of the price you paid, depending on how popular the book is.

The OH invested in a kindle as he reads about 3 books a week, he swears buy it. I am far too accident prone to have one, it would end up in the loo or something.

[Deleted User]

My DD often gets me books from the Oxfam online bookstore She got me Ken Folletts 'World Without End' as I was 64th in line to borrow it from the library for 1.99.Its a lot cheaper than buying them in store even.Most Uni's do get you books if needed,my one in Kent always managed to get me what I needed if they hadn't got it in store ,sometimes I had to wait a week or so but if you don't ask you won't get.

JayJay14

Try Gumtree, they are more local.

I'm trying to ofload a pile of psychology books and Amazon/Ebay isn't cost effective as some of the books will cost about £7-£8 to post.

squeaky

Most universities have a second hand book shop - but be aware... the savvy students hit it as soon as they arrive on campus. So put a search for it high on your "to-do" list

We have a board especially for all things student related which is well worth you browsing, so I'll move your query across for you.

Good luck

If you tell us which uni you are going to there is every chance that someone will be able to tell if they have a second hand book shop and where it is.

melancholly

the first thing is to check you actually need to buy them or indeed buy all of them. the library is increasingly ignored and should usually have reference copies of key texts so that there are always a few copies in there to read. that might be enough for you to make notes rather than spending a fortune. you may also find that not all the texts suit you... you'll prefer some to others and there's no point wasting money until you've had a good look at them.

if you do want to get them, noticeboards in your department are the best starting point. otherwise you could have an agreement with a friend that you each buy one and share them. don't feel obliged to spend vast amounts of money!

jjblondie

Our university holds a book sale at the beginning of every year. Watch out for 'for sale' posters around campus. Failing that, what's to stop you putting up a 'wanted' poster? You may prompt someone to sell you their old books if they hadn't thought of selling them on.

Jessie11

Check out the facebook group for your uni / course, loads of people selling last years books on ours

deselby

Depending on the book, most universities (well, mine at least) has lots of stuff on its online resources. You get an electronic copy of the book that you can download, so if it appears on there, you'd be better off just doing that, in my opinion. Also, this is my third time at uni, and very rarely have I actually had to refer to the book throughout my entire course. You could play a game of chance that it might be in stock in your library come the time you actually need it (which will invariably be assessment hand-in dates). Check with your tutor to make sure.