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

Do charity bookshops drive out other second-hand bookshops?

wormwoodiana.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 87 posts

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

#51

Post by AstroJetson »

bombcar wrote: post #48
dingaling wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK, charity shops got savvy to this and now do their own 'mining'. Valuable items go to HQ to list on eBay for a lucrative price, the remaining dross goes onto the shop shelves. There are some exceptions to this such as specialist charity bookshops which keep the stock locally, but do make sure to price match with the going rate online. Few diamonds to be found in the rough nowadays.

US, too, though the US has tons of smaller “independent” (read tied to a single local food bank, etc) thrift stores that can still have finds. But the era of LEGO at Goodwill is over; all that stuff goes to the auction sites.

I bought Lego on Tuesday at the Goodwill on Philadelphia Pike in Wilmington. So you just need to look on a regular cycle.

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

#52

Post by Suppafly »

benoau wrote: post #50

Anecdotal but I haven't seen a 2nd-hand bookshop in years however those little "tiny libraries" where people just donate their books are in abundance. What I've seen other used-item shops are doing these days is checking online what things are worth and selling them for very slightly less and it seems like this has to be a death-knell for secondhand stores in general. And I know they have to do this, everything donat…

We have two second hand bookstores in my area. One of them has changed hands a couple of times over the years, so I don't think they make a ton of money, although they are in a large, albeit older, retail space so they must do ok. The other keeps expanding in adjacent spaces, but seems to make a lot of their money selling book adjacent stuff (socks, bookmarks, pins, candles) instead of actual books. In fact the owner regularly stocks several of those free libraries around town and always has free books outside of her store.

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

#54

Post by Suppafly »

jdietrich wrote: post #18
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…

It's a symptom of the decline of high street retail and high long-term vacancy rates for many retail properties. For commercial landlords, a charity shop paying little or no rent is usually better than no tenant at all - the property is less likely to be smashed up by vandals, burned down by arsonists or occupied by squatters if it's occupied. The landlord would be liable for business rates after three months of vaca…

>It's a symptom of the decline of high street retail and high long-term vacancy rates for many retail properties.

Do you guys not have pawn shops, smoke shops, and check cashing shops over there?

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

#55

Post by jccalhoun »

asciimov wrote: post #39

In my area, charity shops have terrible selections tons of fad diet books from the 80s and 90s and religious related texts.

For years I joked that it was a law that every Goodwill store had to have a copy of a Twilight or Hunger Games book on the shelves at all times. Every time I go to one I check and nearly every time they still do all these years later.

Or one of the Left Behind books.

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

#56

Post by TulliusCicero »

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…

> but the more curious impact is they completely alter the character of an area.

Could anyone elaborate on this?

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

#57

Post by samarthr1 »

Suppafly wrote: post #54
jdietrich wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a symptom of the decline of high street retail and high long-term vacancy rates for many retail properties. For commercial landlords, a charity shop paying little or no rent is usually better than no tenant at all - the property is less likely to be smashed up by vandals, burned down by arsonists or occupied by squatters if it's occupied. The landlord would be liable for business rates after three months of vaca…

>It's a symptom of the decline of high street retail and high long-term vacancy rates for many retail properties. Do you guys not have pawn shops, smoke shops, and check cashing shops over there?

Wait, why do you need a shop to cash a cheque? Isnt that one of the last few things you go to a bank for?

Also, how do you cash a cheque without validating signature (from whichever bank)?

Here in India atleast, cheques are cashed only at banks, and often are a/c payee only (no cash disbursed, only account transfer). They get truncated at the bank (basically scanned), and cleared overnight as a part of the CTS (a NPCI product).

However DDs (Demand Drafts) are your equivalent of cashiers cheques, and can be redeemed at par instantly, anywhere (or paid into an account).

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

#58

Post by encrypted_bird »

jccalhoun wrote: post #55
asciimov wrote: post #39

In my area, charity shops have terrible selections tons of fad diet books from the 80s and 90s and religious related texts.

For years I joked that it was a law that every Goodwill store had to have a copy of a Twilight or Hunger Games book on the shelves at all times. Every time I go to one I check and nearly every time they still do all these years later. Or one of the Left Behind books.

Hey, the Hunger Games are actually really good. I derided it for years until one time I was in the hospital for a few weeks, I got immensely bored and decided to try it out. I was hooked.

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

#59

Post by bombcar »

AstroJetson wrote: post #51
bombcar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US, too, though the US has tons of smaller “independent” (read tied to a single local food bank, etc) thrift stores that can still have finds. But the era of LEGO at Goodwill is over; all that stuff goes to the auction sites.

I bought Lego on Tuesday at the Goodwill on Philadelphia Pike in Wilmington. So you just need to look on a regular cycle.

Genuine non-Duplo, non-Megablocks real honest LEGO? Wow.

I've not seen it except by accident (wedged in something) in over a decade, the Goodwills I know all send it to the central area to be auctioned: https://shopgoodwill.com/

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

#60

Post by bawolff »

encrypted_bird wrote: post #58
jccalhoun wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For years I joked that it was a law that every Goodwill store had to have a copy of a Twilight or Hunger Games book on the shelves at all times. Every time I go to one I check and nearly every time they still do all these years later. Or one of the Left Behind books.

Hey, the Hunger Games are actually really good. I derided it for years until one time I was in the hospital for a few weeks, I got immensely bored and decided to try it out. I was hooked .

The main issue is that pretty much everyone who wants to read it has already.
Post reply on HN