Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The demise of the second-hand bookshop

thecritic.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 157 posts

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#101

Post by Balgair »

biophysboy wrote: post #23

One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…

When I was traveling, I'd love me some second-hand bookstores. They were perfect for a few hours to kill. Each one was like a tattoo on a town, unique yet familiar.

Large cities, small hamlets, the used bookstore in each were all the same stacks of yellowing books haphazarded. The smell, oh the smell, exactly the same musky deep scent. The pacing feet or strolling dogs outside the door drop away, leaving an alike meander and comforting scootch past stacks.

But the books, the little things in the windows, the person behind the counter, the dog or cat, the hippie and the retiree, the fliers and aged comic strips, each of those things was utterly unique to the place. Those little bit of character just sing out the place they are in. The stacks of surf boards on Bondi Beach, the brownies in Newhaven, the beer glasses in Denver, it's those little things that made those used bookstores an absolute joy to wander into for an hour and slow down.

I'll miss them, I think we all will.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#102

Post by chewzerita »

elliekelly wrote: post #8

The Original Book Barn in Connecticut (I think they’ve since opened many “satellite” locations) is one of my favorite places in the world. Carefully curated for quality but just messy enough to make it fun to hunt around for treasure.

Yes! We love the Book Barn! Looking up from my desk now I see at least four books from there. They are great for getting rid of your old books too, just make sure to get the store credit so you can fill that empty place on your shelf back up :). They recently (last year I think) moved the computer related books from the back of the downtown store to the back of the first floor of the store next to East Coast Taco (I think it's called Chapter Three). (Final note: when you go there, East Coast Taco is a must if you are into that kind of food)

EDIT: also the cats are friendly

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#103

Post by GnarfGnarf »

This phenomenon is pre-Internet. There were many great used bookstores in New York in the 70' and 80's. I went back twenty years later and most had disappeared. I think it's a function of a certain kind of person that wants to be independent, doing something they love. Those mavericks are gone.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#104

Post by Polylactic_acid »

smoe wrote: post #36
mistrial9 wrote: post #21

Used bookstores are a lot like gardens -- they must be tended daily and grown in 100 ways, year after year. The city I grew up in was legendary for used bookstores, and they sit all but empty now, decades later. The 'modern' people chiming in about how to "search faster" are missing an aspect of the experience that is literal and measureable, as well as partially undefineable simply because the portion of the mind an…

For me, the most magical thing about the small local bookstores is the people working there. Just getting into one, chatting with people genuinely and deeply passionate about what it is that they are selling. Having a coffee, talking about a book I read, what aspects I liked, philosophizing about the topic in general and getting recommendations what to read next based on that has beaten at least 10x any 'modern' and…

This aspect still exits in some areas. Local bike stores are still running and have the same community feel. They are perhaps only around today because people who ride bikes a lot tend to not be the people who want to drive 20km to the nearest mega store.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#105

Post by WalterBright »

beowulfey wrote: post #75
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

Getting a book like that is possible, but for me a huge chunk of the value of my collection is the journey to getting it. Finding it randomly in a tiny bookshop while on a trip is way more memorable than buying it on amazon. It’s the same with buying records for me. Sure I could buy most of the long out of print records I’d want to own... but the search is most of the fun.

Amazon has indeed made collecting music and books rather pointless.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#106

Post by SECProto »

derbOac wrote: post #82
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think part of OPs point is that you think you can get a copy of any book. I don't mean to sound snarky at all; it's just that you know what you see online now, which is not all that is offline. You don't miss what you don't know. My experience is of numerous out of print books that might have had small publishers in small editions. Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways…

> Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways.

Absolutely! I had a paperback copy of Dune when I was younger, that disappeared after being loaned to someone. It was printed on very fine grained paper (think bible paper), maybe ~2cm thick, despite being 700+ pages long, and the fine grain of the paper made the text very crisp. Modern paperback copies are 4.9cm thick, and the text isn't as crisp. The only way I'll ever find a replacement for the higher quality paperback copy is to find an old one at a used bookstore sometime. This doesn't make it valuable in a monetary sense, but it still matters to me.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#107

Post by danilocesar »

umvi wrote: post #53
pfdietz wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that time will eventually grind down even the memory of every last thing you have ever known or loved, right?

Not necessarily... this rests on the assumption that God does not exist. And not everyone believes that assumption is true.

How a discussion about "second-hand bookstores are closing" become a "god doesn't exist" discussion?!? I love HN comments :))

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#108

Post by dehrmann »

In the late-90's, early 2000's, my high school weekend job was doing computer work for a local bookstore starting to sell online. On the tech side, it was interesting to see online marketplaces taking off, how ordinary people use computers, the sorry state of single-purpose software meant for a small group of paying customers. I also got to learn a lot about books, which ones are more likely to be valuable, which ones have no values (I have no problems throwing books away), and where to find books online.

Now the book business... The best used book marketplace at the time was Abebooks. There's been some consolidation, and they got bought by--who else--Amazon, but I ordered something from them recently, and as far as I could tell, it wasn't just Amazon sellers. Amazon and Ebay looked like huge markets to tap, we we never had much luck on either. Ebay, especially around 2000, was more auction-oriented, and those work great for mid-price, in-demand products. For books, to hit the price range for making a good listing make sense, it would have to be rare, but how many people are in the market for a first edition of "The Jungle." The smaller marketplaces made more sense because that's where the buyers were. It was a hard business, even then. The bookstore closed its storefront and moved everything into a second home because the rent/mortgage was cheaper. The other thing that became clear is that "rare" books weren't as rare as people thought once they started surfacing online, so prices dropped. I have no idea how Amazon sellers selling copies of old, but popular books for $2 can turn a profit. The only reason the owner ran this store was she had a passion for books.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#109

Post by throwaway0a5e »

Ebay, Amazon and all the other online retail platforms are the second hand book shop of the world and their reach is amazing. I'm sitting in front of reams of obscure service literature I wouldn't be able to access if the used book sellers weren't all online now. I'm not gonna shed any tears over the stores and their shelves being replaced with storage lockers and online product listings.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#110

Post by billjings »

bjo590 wrote: post #37
billjings wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Ultimately all physical retails spaces have the same common problem -- why should someone go into your store when they can get the same products online. ...I personally think there are two answer, one is to move the core retail business online, and the other is to create experiences people will keep coming back for." This is a great observation. I think that every business looking at option 1 would run away in terro…

> This is a great observation. I think that every business looking at option 1 would run away in terror, as that would mean competing directly with Amazon. I don't think pivoting online is a suicidal move for many business, but it takes a different type of mindset to make it work. I'd like to highlight heatonist.com as an example of someone doing it right. It's a NYC based hot sauce boutique with a web presence. They…

What makes it work? I see the web content, but driving web content to Amazon would make the site pointless. It seems like Amazon's prices are higher, though. Is it direct sales?
Post reply on HN