Dear all,

All this talk about the price of American Seashells once again demonstrates
a few truths and disposes a few myths about second hand shell books.
For once, it shows that if you at all can, for goodness sake buy the book
new. It's rarely ever going to be any cheaper. I have heard so many people
say that a book is too expensive and they will buy it cheaper second hand.
You wish! You may just be lucky, but more likely than not you'll end up
paying at least three times more than the original published price. Once a
book is out-of-print, the price usually goes sky-high.
The only thing about a book's price that is fairly certain is the new
price. This is determined by the publisher and although in the shell book
world you will find variations, they are rarely as big as they are for
second hand books.
Second hand books can sell for anything. As a bookseller, I charge what I
can get away with, depending on how badly I want the book to sell. As a
bookbuyer, I have sometimes bought books at premium prices for the simple
reason that I needed the book for research or because someone else was
willing to pay me even more for it. Nothing is certain in the world of
second hand books. If you are willing to hunt, you can find some bargains
at bookstores who have no idea what they're selling. That's the fun of the game

regards

Patty

(who bought her virtually unused copy of  the 2nd edition of American
Seashells two years ago for $20)


Dr. Patty Jansen

Bookshop: http://www.booksofnature.com
Publishing and info site: http://www.capricornica.com

Books of Nature
P.O. Box 345
Lindfield NSW 2070
Australia

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phone/fax: 02 9415 8098 international: +61 2 9415 8098

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