Books...

[Crow Boy]

One of the many things I miss from Chiang Mai since I moved back to Oz are the second had bookshops. As an avid reader I regularly bought books from Gecko Books. In my town there is only the one bookstore and that is strictly new books and at full retail price. When I get back to CM I will have to stock up.

CB

Not to deny some books you just have to own and I agree Gecko is a reasonable place to buy them but at least you have free access to a lending library free which if you live in most australian states gives access to all books in any of the state libraries.

Absolutely correct and a service of which I am making extensive use. My local libray is fairly small being in a town of 7000 people but I can request (at a modest fee) any book within the state. The staff do get a bit confused by my requests - military history, Thai Language books, fishing, agriculture, cooking but I think it adds interest to their lives.

CB

[wedders]

So Ug, what's the procedure for selling back books not bought from Gecko... can I drop by anytime and get an offer? 10 books to get rid of, 4 bought from you...

[anonymouse]

So Ug, what's the procedure for selling back books not bought from Gecko... can I drop by anytime and get an offer? 10 books to get rid of, 4 bought from you...

I think Mr UG is on his hols at the moment but I'm pretty sure he will give you a fair price for the books that you didn't buy from him and normally 50% back on his one's depending on the length of time you've had them and what condition they are in.

[uptheos]

So Ug, what's the procedure for selling back books not bought from Gecko... can I drop by anytime and get an offer? 10 books to get rid of, 4 bought from you...

I think Mr UG is on his hols at the moment but I'm pretty sure he will give you a fair price for the books that you didn't buy from him and normally 50% back on his one's depending on the length of time you've had them and what condition they are in.

I agree. UG has always given me a fair price on books that were not bought from him, including some that might not be easy to sell.

[Ulysses G.]

I will be gone for another week, but usually the manager and assistant manager are quite good at buying books - so ask for them - the rest of the staff can be a bit of a crapshoot.

We pay quite well for anything popular that is in good condition.

However, there are 1,000s of books that are so hard to sell or so common that they are worth very little to us or anyone else. I try to buy anything from a customer that we can use somehow, as most people just want to get rid of it, but if it is old, in bad condition or there are too many copies around, I will only buy it very cheaply.

Most other stores seem to reject this type of thing completely and some won't even buy their own books back, but I try to sell them in one of our bargain sections.

Most expats are polite and understanding, but if someone is unhappy with any of our prices, please remember that we are paying what the books are worth to us and you always have the option to say no when buying or selling. Trying to bargain or yelling at the staff is bad karma and it doesn't work and is a waste of everyone's time.

[zippydedodah]

at mentioned in a couple of other threads, don't discount the value of an ereader. I have the Sony ereader, with hundreds of books on it and many more stored on my PC waiting for me to load them up and read.

Even if you buy online, they are cheaper than what you pay in a bookstore here, with better selection. Granted, you don't have the "pleasure" of taking them to a shop near thaepae gate to resell... but i am sure you can find other reasons to venture out...

[uptheos]

at mentioned in a couple of other threads, don't discount the value of an ereader. I have the Sony ereader, with hundreds of books on it and many more stored on my PC waiting for me to load them up and read.

Even if you buy online, they are cheaper than what you pay in a bookstore here, with better selection. Granted, you don't have the "pleasure" of taking them to a shop near thaepae gate to resell... but i am sure you can find other reasons to venture out...

I'm sure the ereader will suit a lot of people and good luck to them. Personally, I wouldn't want hundreds of books stored anywhere waiting for me to read, I couldn't think of anything worse. Apart from some select books, I either give them away to friends once I've read them or trade them in, so for me an ereader has no value. I have a few books in mind that I would like to read and there are certain topics that I keep an eye out for, but mainly I like browsing though bookshelves and see what takes my fancy and often I come across a little gem when I least expect it.

I wouldn't mind a Kate Winslett reader though

[Ulysses G.]

There was an interesting story on CNN about how the textbook industry desperately wants to stop selling real books to students and switch to e-books. The main reason is that textbooks are very expensive, but students can resell the old text books numerous times for more than half the price that they bought them for. E-text books can not be read more than once and then the type vanishes (or something like that).

Most e- books are not going to be cheap in the long run no matter what is being promised to get folks to switch to them.

[Thakkar]

There was an interesting story on CNN about how the textbook industry desperately wants to stop selling real books to students and switch to e-books. The main reason is that textbooks are very expensive, but students can resell the old text books numerous times for more than half the price that they bought them for.

In HK, as there are no collusion laws, textbook prices are very high. But of course, what self-respecting HK tycoon would be happy with obscene profits when you can go for outrageously obscene profits. So in a mostly successful effort to thwart the used textbook market, they'd re-arrange pages and make minor amendments every year, forcing students to buy new textbooks.

I'm not against e-textbooks as long as there's robust and genuine competition, strong anti-collusion laws and robust independent agencies with PTA and teacher representatives to ensure adherence.

[KevinHunt]

oops.

Edited September 10, 2009 by KevinHunt