In the Aulden Dayes, when I got into PG Wodehouse and Georgette Heyer, tracking down their books second-hand was A Great Quest. They were usually available new, but it was cheaper this way (I wasn't at my present addiction-enabling job). I usually waited until I was on vacation in Vancouver--I had a map of all the second hand bookstores, and I would set out for the day hunting down my books. Once I came to work for a bookstore, I found the last few by special order/full price.
But I have fond memories of those super trips. I wouldn't trade the internet for them, but there's something to say for non-instant-gratification. (Saves money for one thing.)
With the dollar on par, I decided to finally order the Jane Langton mystery novels I don't have yet. Yes, even though I own more books than I can read this decade and the next.
But I still had to quest for them, so the experience wasn't completely lost. There are several second-hand book outlets online, and I searched and searched for the best deal. And the deals are only to be found in the shipping expenses, because (and here's the secret to online ordering) most commonly available old books are sold for under $2 (and if it's a really crappy book no one wants except me, like the biography of Conrad Hilton, it's one penny.) Langton's are all available for $1.
* Indigo and Amazon sellers often have a lower selling price, but will charge you the full shipping price ($6-7) for each book, even if they're from the same seller. (At least, last time I made the experiment.)
* I found that alibris does the same for Canadians, and their minimum prices were over $1. Betterworldbooks supports a cause, which is nice, but that means the books are at least $3. Look, I'll send my charity to Canadian charities where I get a tax discount; and buy my books where it's cheapest. Sorry.
* Abebooks is the best site, because not all sellers use the same shipping--there are .50 to $1 differences. (You'd think the Canadian sellers would be cheaper, but they were, interestingly, more expensive.) They also let you sort the books by total price, meaning shipping included. And finally, as they stockpile stuff in your basket, they group it by seller. So you can choose a bunch of books, and then see if any of the sellers offer a cheaper price for the added books--Eg. $6 for the first book, $3 for each thereafter. And then choose the best deal, and delete the rest.
It was all Very Exciting. I ordered from 4 different sellers, to get the absolute best price for each book. Meh heh heh. So I'm happy. I feel like I spent a couple hours in a dusty book shop, searching for Langton's books. Meh heh hehhhh.
* And you have now been informed of the best place to shop for second-hand online books. ;-) Though alibris does have some very nice deals right now for 99 cents. And Americans can get better shipping deals from same-sellers.
