c/book-haul-gallery

10

hugog43•1d ago

Half-price hardcovers at a library sale, but the real find was in the discard bin

Last Saturday I hit the Friends of the Library sale in Portland and grabbed 11 books for $17 total. Most were beat-up paperbacks, but they had a whole cart of discards marked free. I pulled out a 1962 first edition of The Moviegoer with a library card pocket still glued inside. Someone had underlined passages in pencil and left tiny notes in the margins, like their own private book club. That copy means more to me than any of the shiny new ones I paid for. Does anyone else prefer the marked-up library castoffs over clean copies? I want to know who else digs through the free bins.

6

karenf40•2d ago

Hardcover snob finally caved for a paperback at Half Price Books

I've always insisted on hardcovers for my shelf, but last Tuesday in Dallas I grabbed a beat-up paperback of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness for $4 and actually read it on the bus home. The cracked spine and dog-eared pages made it feel like a shared secret, not a display piece, and I finished it in two sittings. Anyone else find that the worn copies hit different than the shiny new ones?

17

lisa820•3d ago

Beware the 'gently used' anime box sets on eBay, got burned for $85

I ordered a complete series set that was listed as 'gently used' with photos showing perfect spines. When it arrived, half the discs were scratched to hell and two had actual cracks in the center hub. The seller wouldn't take it back after I filed a claim, said it was my fault for not asking more questions. Cost me $85 plus shipping to learn that lesson. Anyone else get fooled by those glossy photos that hide the real damage?

17

patricia_rodriguez•3d ago

Estate sale in St. Louis had a whole box of vintage sci-fi paperbacks for $12

I stopped by an estate sale last Saturday in St. Louis and this little old lady had a cardboard box under a table labeled 'old books, make an offer.' I dug through and there were maybe 30 Asimov and Clarke paperbacks from the 70s, some with covers falling off but all readable. I paid $12 for the lot, and now I'm wondering if anyone else has luck scoring whole collections at estate sales or if that was just a one-time miracle?

19

alice445•3d ago

Rant: Bought a signed first edition at a flea market, turns out it was a library discard

Honestly, I paid $18 for a beat-up thriller with a signature I thought was real, but the inside stamp said 'Nashville Public Library - withdrawn' and the author's autograph was printed on the dust jacket. Ngl, I was mad for a day, but then I realized the scribbles in the margins from some rando reader made it more interesting than any clean copy I own. Has anyone else picked up a 'rare' find that turned out to be someone's leftover, and did you keep it or dump it?

21

evan_anderson•4d ago

Hit 500 books in my collection today, never saw that number coming

I was rearranging my shelves this morning and decided to actually count everything for once. 500 exactly, which is wild because I started buying used books maybe 4 years ago with just a box from a garage sale in Tulsa. Most of them are 2-3 dollar finds from thrift stores and library sales, so the whole thing cost less than a new gaming console. It got me wondering if other people track their totals or if thats just a me thing. Do you count your hauls or just let the piles grow until they take over a room?

9

rodriguez.cora•4d ago

The library discard pile gave me a 1967 first edition I almost ignored

I stopped by the free cart at my local branch last Tuesday and nearly walked past this beat-up copy of The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald. The cover was stained and the spine was cracked, but I flipped it open and saw the original $4.95 price stamp inside. Turns out it's a first edition from 1967, worth maybe $75 on a good day. I mean, I usually grab thrillers to read on lunch breaks, not to resell, but this one's going on my shelf. Has anyone else found something unexpectedly rare in a free bin?

27

ivan_schmidt•5d ago

Do we judge a haul by condition or story? The $1 library discard had me torn

I grabbed a beat-up 1974 sci-fi novel with a torn spine at a library sale in Columbus for a buck, but the pristine first edition next to it cost $120 and barely got a glance from anyone. Is there real value in the worn copy's history, or are we just fooling ourselves to feel better about cheap finds? Which side do you lean on when the shelf is full and the wallet's tight?

18

robinwalker•5d ago

PSA: Thrift store hardcovers can hide a nasty surprise behind the dust jacket

Last week I grabbed a 1970s sci-fi novel from a Goodwill in Portland for $2 because the cover art was killer. Got it home, took off the dust jacket to check the binding, and found the whole front board covered in what looked like black mold spots. It smelled fine but the cloth was stained and kind of tacky. I wiped it with a dry cloth and it smeared, so that was definitely active growth. Apparently moisture gets trapped behind the plastic cover they put on library discards and it breeds quietly for years. Now I check the boards on every hardcover before I even pay for it. Has anyone else found mold hiding under a dust jacket from a used bookstore or thrift store?

16

ryan_kim63•5d ago

When my library sale find had a surprise inside

I grabbed a 3 dollar hardcover at the Des Moines library sale last Saturday and found a handwritten note from 1978 tucked in the flap with someone's book club notes. It turned out to be a personal letter about the author's signing event, and I have no idea if I should keep it with the book or send it back to the library. Has anyone else found something like this in a used book and what did you do with it?

6

stellam89•6d ago

My $60 book press bracket snapped mid-glue and I almost lost a whole project

Last Tuesday I was pressing a 400 page novel I'd just repaired, and the metal bracket on my cheap book press gave out with a loud crack. The whole stack of signatures slid sideways, and I had to scramble to keep the spine from shifting before the glue set. I ended up clamping it with two heavy cutting boards and a stack of my cookbooks for about 6 hours overnight. It held, but the edge of the cover came out slightly uneven, which bugs me every time I look at it. I'm thinking about trying a wooden press with a screw mechanism instead, but I don't want to drop another $150 unless it's really worth it. Has anyone else had a press fail on them and found a decent budget replacement that actually stays put?

20

grant_gibson•8d ago

The $3 library discard that made me rethink my whole shelf

Picked up a beaten-up copy of a 1970s nature guide at the library sale in Portland for 3 bucks, mostly as a joke because the cover was falling off. Then my neighbor, an old biology teacher, saw it on my porch and said 'you know, that edition has the good illustrations, not the watered-down ones' and sat there for an hour flipping through it with me. It hit different because I usually chase new hardcovers and fancy editions, but this ragged thing had more personality than half my collection. Now I'm wondering if I've been overlooking the ugly, worn-out stuff at garage sales this whole time. Anyone else find that beat-up copies sometimes beat the pretty ones?

19

paige_harris•8d ago

Why does nobody talk about buying duplicate copies on purpose

I grabbed a second copy of my favorite field guide at a garage sale in Denver for $3, not because I lost the first one, but so I can loan it out without worrying about getting it back. It protects my original and lets me share the hobby without holding my breath. Anyone else keep backup copies of books they actually care about, or am I the odd one?

5

james_ross•11d ago

Thrift store price stickers vs library discards, no contest for me

I compared grabbing used books with stickers still on from Savers to the library sale bin downtown, and the library ones win because they don't smear glue all over the cover, plus I got 14 books for 8 bucks total, anyone else hate peeling those sticker layers off?

15

grant130•13d ago

Half Price Books clearance sticker chaos made me give up on used stores

Last Saturday I hit the HPB on Broadway and the clearance section was a disaster. Everything had three different color stickers stacked on top of each other, so I grabbed a $40 hardcover that rang up $28 because the old markdown was hidden underneath. The cashier said they don't honor the visible sticker if it's not the top one. I've been using that store for 8 years but now I just stick to library sales where the price is written in pencil. Has anyone else gotten burned by their sticker system or am I just unlucky with the staff they've got?

24

richard_ramirez•14d ago

Had to pick between a $4 paperback and a $28 hardcover, went cheap

At a used book sale in Portland last Saturday, I found two copies of the same history book, one was beat to hell with coffee stains and the other looked fresh off the press. I grabbed the $4 one and figured I'd just deal with the smudges, but turns out about 15 pages are actually unreadable from water damage. Do you folks usually cough up more money for a clean copy, or is a few ruined chapters just part of the thrift game?

16

colemiller•19d ago

PSA: that bargain lot of 20 sci-fi novels from Facebook Marketplace

I snagged a box of 20 paperbacks for $10 from a guy in Austin, figured I'd save a ton on reading for the summer. Took me 4 hours over two days to scrub out old coffee stains, erase pencil marks, and peel off sticky labels from some thrift store that was clearly a hoarder situation. Has anyone else wasted a whole weekend cleaning up 'like new' used books that were anything but?

25

christopher67•19d ago

My book pile collapsed at the library sale last week

I was at the annual library sale in Austin and stacked about 20 books too high. The whole tower went down like dominoes and an old lady gave me the stink eye. Does anyone else get carried away when they see a dollar price tag?

17

jamieburns•19d ago

Warning: Don't grab books from a damp basement sale without checking for mold first

I hit up a church basement sale last Saturday in Albany and grabbed a stack of old sci-fi paperbacks for like 3 bucks total. Got home and started flipping through one and saw this weird speckling on the edges. Turns out it was mold spores that had been dormant. By day three I had this coughing fit every time I sat near my reading chair. I had to throw out the whole batch and spend 45 minutes wiping down my shelves with vinegar water. The worst part is I didn't even notice any musty smell at the sale because they had those plug-in air fresheners blasting. Now I check every book for water stains or that powdery look on the cover before I even put it in my bag. Anyone else get burned by hidden mold in a bargain bin?

20

rivershah•20d ago

Nearly got cleaned out at a library book sale this weekend

Went to the Friends of the Library sale at the downtown branch on Saturday and some guy was just grabbing whole stacks of vintage sci-fi paperbacks right from under me. I saw him snatch a first print Dune and a signed Ursula K. Le Guin and just walk off like it was nothing. Now I always bring a box and show up 45 minutes early to get first dibs. Anyone else had close calls at these sales?

7

oliviabennett•23d ago

Found out my local library's digital checkout is 5x more popular than physical books

I was poking around on the library website in Portland last week and stumbled on their annual report. Turns out they did 1.2 million ebook and audiobook checkouts last year compared to only 240,000 physical books. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I'm guilty of just downloading stuff from bed myself. Has anyone else noticed their library sharing stats like this?

3

charles_kim•23d ago

That $3 Yard Sale book ended up being worth $60 on eBay

I picked up a random paperback from a church rummage sale in Akron for three bucks just because the cover looked cool. Turns out it's a signed first edition of a semi-obscure sci-fi novel from the 70s that collectors actually want. Has anyone else scored something unexpectedly valuable from a junk pile?

25

hall.quinn•24d ago

Had to pick between a $5 paperback and a $30 hardcover of the same book at the flea market in Portland last weekend

I was at the big flea market on Foster Road and found two copies of the same history book about logging in the Pacific Northwest. One was a beat up paperback for 5 bucks, the other was a near mint hardcover for 30. I stood there for like 10 minutes turning them over. The paperback had some coffee stains and a torn page, but the hardcover looked like it was never even opened. I went with the hardcover because I figure I'll keep it longer and it's a topic I actually care about. Got it home and found a handwritten note from 1987 tucked inside about someone's first day at a mill. That alone made the extra 25 bucks worth it. Has anyone else found anything cool hidden in a used book?

3

grant130•26d ago

Thrift store score from last weekend - 3 hardcovers for $2 total

Picked up a like-new copy of 'Project Hail Mary' and two old Stephen Kings at the Goodwill in Salem. Was expecting to find nothing but old textbooks but the bins had a fresh drop. Anyone else have luck at random thrift drops?

25

the_john•26d ago

Thrift store trick for finding first editions without paying collector prices

I started checking the copyright page of every hardcover under $3 at my local Goodwill in Portland. Turns out a ton of them are first printings from the 70s and 80s that people just donated. I picked up a first edition of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot for $2.50 last month. Anyone else have luck with a specific thrift chain or location for older editions?