Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics based on prompts allocated for each Friday of the week. You basically share your opinions and get into the conversation by visiting each other’s posts. You can find the April schedule here.
Today’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is Buying Secondhand Books, which was suggested by yours truly.
Buying secondhand books is something that is a bit of a passion of mine, so it made sense for me to discuss this with the bookish community. Hence this topic suggestion!
Do you buy secondhand books? Why or why not?
Yep! I buy secondhand books! Initially, it was mostly because of financial constraints when I wasn’t earning my own money during my student years, but then it morphed into an adventure. I get such a thrill from visiting a secondhand bookstore and discovering these hidden gems. You never know what books you will come across in each store!
What are the benefits of buying secondhand?
Buying secondhand is a great option if you have financial constraints on how much you can spend on your book buys. There are some amazing deals that you can find in most of these stores and some of the editions you come across are well worth the money.
I find secondhand bookstores to be quite charming as well. These stores tend to have lots of character and trust me, this is an amazing atmosphere for a bookworm to find themselves in! Compared to the consumeristic nature of bookstores in our current age, finding a good ol’ secondhand bookstore with these countless treasures inside is an amazing experience in itself.
What are the cons of secondhand books?
One of the biggest cons is that the authors will not really benefit financially when you shop secondhand. These independent, small business owners will benefit greatly though, so that’s a worthy cause. And in my perspective, if you end up sharing and promoting the book on social media, that’s a contribution to the writer as well!
Since these are usually books that have been preloved and well-used sometimes, it is commonplace to come across quite a few books that are in sad condition. I personally do not like other readers’ scribbles and highlighting on my books (though I love annotating in my own books). It’s quite common to see books with covers falling apart or missing pages, so it’s good practice to thumb through your intended purchases before actually buying them.
When I shop secondhand books online (mostly via Instagram), I used to ask for pictures and short videos of the books from the buyers to ensure I get good copies.
What do you recommend people do to better support secondhand bookstores?
Firstly, go visit them. If it’s in your area and you love their selection, there is no harm in being a regular and supporting their business. Promote them online if you feel like it. I love seeing quaint and local bookstores on other readers’ social media, and if I happen to be in the area I would definitely visit.
Donate your used books to these stores, if you want to. Personally, I am a huge book hoarder, so I hardly ever give away my books. But being someone who shops at these secondhand stores, I understand the huge role that people who donate these books play.
And to top it all off, here are some of the secondhand bookstores I have come across so far:
- Deen The Bookman – Colombo, Sri Lanka
- prelovedbooks_lk – Sri Lanka
- booksforcharitylk – Sri Lanka
- prelovedbooks.lk – Colombo, Sri Lanka
- The Book Market – Sri Lanka
- The Paperback Bookshop – Melbourne VIC, Australia
- Melbourne Book Market – Melbourne VIC, Australia
- City Basement Books – Melbourne VIC, Australia
- Wally’s Book Exchange – Hervey Bay QLD, Australia
Do you usually bookshop secondhand? Share some of your favourite stores in the comments below!
My previous Let’s Talk Bookish posts:
- January 26: Rereading Books
- January 14: Book Buying Bans: My Experience
- January 7: My 2022 Reading & Blogging Goals
- December 31: My 2021 in Books and Blog Posts
- December 10: Illustrations in Books: Yay or Nay?
