Secrets of shopping at used bookstores
When you find yourself in a used bookstore, you want to take all the books with you. You should not do so. Books bought on emotion, without need, most often remain unread. To look for a specific edition or a specific author in a used bookstore is like trying to pick a needle out of a haystack. When you first visit, be sure to look around: understand how the shop is set up and how it is arranged books – in sections or, perhaps, by author. Then it is worth talking to the seller and find out how best to search. Perhaps he has a catalog, or he knows the location of books. Remember that each bookstore has its own rules.
Always look at books by authors whose names don’t tell you anything. A book written by one writer may be a narrative about the life of another famous person, or just a rare, interesting publication. Another option: a found author may be an unexpected discovery for you!
Buy the book you like right away! Bookselling is always a lottery; there is bound to be someone more nimble. In order not to bite your elbows, be sure to take away the treasure you found at once. Or put the book away from the seller and discuss the possibility of redemption.
Don’t be lazy, crouch down. At eye level in bookstores are the most staple items. For the most part, these are books from the school curriculum, which you are unlikely to need. But if you sit down and dig on the lower shelves, you can find a lot of rare and curious things. Often there are small benches in bookstores for this purpose. Do not hesitate, sit on one and carefully scour the lower shelves.
What books are definitely worth buying?
These are drawing books, because in regular stores they are three times more expensive; beautifully illustrated art albums; first editions of popular authors – they are priceless; books with an autograph of the author – the same category; books that are not reprinted; publications in the original language; good poetry collections, which are now difficult to get, and they cost expensive; large collections of children’s tales, children’s books; biographies, diaries, memoirs of famous personalities. Also in second-hand booksellers often sell old postcards, collections of artist’s reproductions, antique photographs, posters, and newspapers.