My Book Buying Methods

Some rules:

As a general rule, the older the book, the better, especially as concerns books in science and education including any textbook imaginable. Books from before 1950 are generally drastically undervalued, especially if they are in bad physical shape. I don't mind taping mine together before reading...

1. Always check for a used copy first - buy new only when necessary

2. Searching online, arrange search results starting with lowest price at the top

3. When you need something specific, you have to pay (which is why you should pinch every other penny). Objectivist material commands top dollar for a reason (no pun intended).

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mrcropper
• book
• buying
• tips
• methods

[randyhelzerman]

My advice about buying books: Buy as many books as you like, and spend as much as you want to for them. BUT---IF YOU BUY A BOOK, ALWAYS READ IT BEFORE BUYING ANOTHER ONE!!! If you don't do this all that will happen is that you will eventually have a whole roomful of books, and you'll feel like a loser because you know you should have read them but didnt....

[MrCropper]

"-IF YOU BUY A BOOK, ALWAYS READ IT BEFORE BUYING ANOTHER ONE!!! "

You clearly do NOT speak from experience. My favorite pastime is buying books that I have no plan to read. I consequently have hundreds and hundreds of books I've never read. But...

When I want to research the Knights Templar, or Alexander the Great, or recessions in U.S. history, I have 5 or 10 books within reach.

Saying "read one before buying another" is an excuse to not buy books. What are libraries for?!?

: P

[incrediblemulk42]

My brother and I went to B&N recently because he wanted to find some good history books. It was a disaster because just about every book we looked at had explicit socialist tripe in its description. For the ones that didn't have that we weren't at all confident of its quality.

So yeah, I definitely wouldn't buy new unless it is recommended by someone else or you've researched it a bit.

[TheDystopiaInside]

Always buy USED.

BOOKFINDER I generally go there first, always search with an ISBN. Most books are $.01 + $4~ shipping, check condition.

GOODWILL -- their hardbacks are generally $2.50, paperbacks $1.50, be prepared to dig.

LIBRARIES, always a great place, they will sell books for $.10 - $1.00 just to move them out, have found a ton that way.

A dumpster-diving friend of mine has given me a lot of books for FREE, and I've gone with him. Be aware, it's different from going to B&N!

[AlexanderCrest]

lol this guy thinks hes so posh

[UrbyKris]

Why doesn't this guy get more subscribers?

[Delioozy]

you pronounced gyro wrong. you surely love the greeks. go read some more objectivist trash.

[koenichfuerst]

Yeah, Abebooks rocks. You can sometimes find Objectivist material from the Ayn Rand bookstore on ebay. It helps to subscribe to the corresponding RSS feed, so you get notified automatically and don't have to check manually.

[orangeman4242]

That Greek food you mentioned is pronounced "year-oh".

And yes, the Greeks mastered food as well. What they make is truly delicious qua delicious.

[luridlemur]

I would also recommend using AbeBooks, but sometimes it is worthwhile to, after locating a particular book, go to the seller's own website. Sometimes they offer cheaper prices - say a dollar less than you would have to pay on AbeBooks. Obviously depends on the seller (I use thriftbooks a lot), but it's worth checking.

[WarVideo]

I have a ton of books and implanning on readin them all, im very carefulwne i buy books.

[nero8289]

I go to abebooks all the time. I also like thriftbooks.

[CaptainGhoul]

A man after my own heart...