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Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

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Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#31

Post by sien »

9283409232 wrote: post #17
stevage wrote: post #5

Interesting. I'm in Australia where I would also say that the number of second hand bookshops has greatly decreased in the last 20 years. New bookshops too for that matter. But I'm curious whether I'd also be wrong. We don't, afaik, have charity run bookshops, though. Lots of op shops, and they all sell books, but not exclusively.

Sounds like the problem with book shops in Australia is just Amazon.

Books in Australia are really expensive. This is because Australian publishers have managed to extract their own big cut from Australian consumers. Part of this is because they publish memoirs from any politician and partly because the printing industry is concentrated in some swinging electorates.

https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/cheaper-books-b...

What Australians often do instead is get ebooks through other means. Libraries are also more attractive for cost reasons.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#32

Post by alabastervlog »

AStonesThrow wrote: post #2

Aren't brick-and-mortar bookshops, generally speaking, as viable as Apatosaurus today? Lately if I really must put hands on dead trees, the shelves of library sales, churches, and ordinary thrift stores are overflowing. Also — secondhand books are generally outdated, undesirable, and/or damaged — do collectors still find diamonds in the rough? No reason to waste real estate on any sort of dedicated seller. Goodness g…

> Also — secondhand books are generally outdated, undesirable, and/or damaged

This is true if you take any book whatsoever that someone wants to give or sell to you.

It is not true of any book store I've ever seen. They reject or recycle the crap.

It's sometimes true of shelves of books in flea markets. Rows of forgotten once-popular authors from the 1910s or whatever, that likely (for those particular copies, anyway) no human will ever read again, you do sometimes see.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#33

Post by alabastervlog »

SpaceManNabs wrote: post #25
csdvrx wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also — secondhand books are generally outdated, undesirable, and/or damaged — do collectors still find diamonds in the rough? Secondhand stores offer in general "better" products because of the double curation: - someone found the good interesting enough to buy it in the first place (1st curation) - the store found it good enough to buy it again from the first owner (2nd curation) > Aren't brick-and-mortar bookshop…

> someone found the good interesting enough to buy it in the first place (1st curation) I wonder how this is offset by someone finding an item not worth enough to keep. But maybe I underestimate the generosity (or need for income) of the typical person visiting secondhand stores to offload their stuff.

Some (many?) book stores do a lot of their intake via estate sales, not just buying from walk-ins. That gets them access to lots of interesting and well-cared-for, if sometimes niche, collections at low prices.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#35

Post by mywittyname »

fidotron wrote: post #3

There's a subtext to this post that may not be obvious to non British people: UK High Streets (Main Streets) have in the last 20 years experienced an incredible explosion of charity shops (thrift stores) including many locations specific to books. Quite why this has occurred is a subject of occasional argument, but I've never heard a definitive theory on it, and it partly overlaps with the general decline motivated b…

> Ten years ago they used to be fantastic for obscure finds because it seemed people had not caught on, but these days they tend to be subpar, which is probably a major edge the non charitable enterprises have exploited.

Not sure about UK, but in the USA, people have discovered that there's profit in mining thrift stores for quality products and reselling them. Usually online, but also in antique malls*. There are a quite a few apps that make it easy to look up something by picture and see what it's worth.

* not sure what Brits would call this - it's like brick and mortar ebay. Merchants rent out cubicles that they fill with random stuff, and customers check out at a common till when they are done.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#36

Post by protocolture »

Just checked, I like to visit "Elizabeths" when I go to sydney, they have a nice cosy store and a great selection.

They apparently have a website, and 2 other stores. I had no idea.

Certainly doesn't appear to be a business in decline.

And considering that being a bookshop in Sydney they compete with some absolute giants I am quite impressed tbh.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#37

Post by asciimov »

charlie-83 wrote: post #20

Interesting analysis. I'm somewhat confused by why anyone would think charity bookshops replacing secondhand bookshops would be a bad thing (if that were to actually be happening as the article suggests there isn't much evidence of this). Surely, to the shopper, they are exactly the same except one helps a charitable cause as a bonus.

“Charity” shops in my area are for profit businesses. Sure someone is getting a small donation, but their board members pull large salaries. Never mind their free inventory and usually underpaid labor.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#38

Post by jrmg »

kayo_20211030 wrote: post #19

What's the fundamental difference? They're stores with old books; someone makes a few cents. I honestly don't understand the question.

It can of course vary considerably by store, and I’ll happily spend time in both but, generally:

Second hand bookshops are curated actively - like, they’ll only stock desirable books. They’re owned and run, usually, by people who love books. The staff tend to be knowledgeable.

Charity book shops are much less curated - to the extent that some just stock whatever is donated (which, of course, is largely made up of books people don’t want), so they tend to have a large collection of random books of not as high quality. They’re run by volunteers - which generally means enthusiastic staff, but it does not mean knowledge about books.

Re: Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

#40

Post by jrmg »

voxadam wrote: post #7
AStonesThrow wrote: post #2

Aren't brick-and-mortar bookshops, generally speaking, as viable as Apatosaurus today? Lately if I really must put hands on dead trees, the shelves of library sales, churches, and ordinary thrift stores are overflowing. Also — secondhand books are generally outdated, undesirable, and/or damaged — do collectors still find diamonds in the rough? No reason to waste real estate on any sort of dedicated seller. Goodness g…

Powell's here in Portland seems to be doing pretty well with 68,000 square feet (6,300 square metres) sales floor space and millions of customers a year. https://powells.com

It’s a bit of a unicorn. It is of course a great book store - but it’s also a tourist destination. People travel to Portland just to see Powells. And it’s worth it!
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