Is it morally wrong or a good business model . . . .

[mollykins]

. . . . . to buy books from charity shops at, between 10p and £2 and sell them at a profit at carboot sales and on ebay?

My mum does this, and I think i'd feel bad if i'd had bought a book for less than a pound then sold it for about £40, which has happened several times.

Also she once sold a book for £80, but she may have got that one from the auctions, which she no longer goes to. She used to go to the auctions and buy boxes of books for a few pound each then sell them at a profit but when the auctioneers starting selling more expensive things, she focused on the charity shops more.

[supersuezy24]

"sift the wheat from the chaff"

Hmmmmmmm

[yogasun]

A friend of ours does it all the time and he is very switched on re. books and records.
He does it to supplement his pension. However he said that most charities are 'in the know' and often have experts look through anything that seems remotely collectable, etc. They even have their own eBay sites. He said he rarely picks anything up from charity shops. Your mother must have been very lucky Molly.

[saxy_jag]

A couple of years ago we had an old stock clearout at our central library. Most of the stuff went for pulping, but we had a specialist in to look for anything rare and/or valuable. What they found was sent to Sotheby's for auction and we got several thousand pounds back, which was distributed around the 20 libraries in the service to spend on much-needed new decor - not something we get a great deal of funding for unless there's a health and safety risk.

[hc4361]

I recall a news story some years ago were relatives of the deceased donated his clothes to a charity shop. The charity shop was delighted to find several thousand pounds in various pockets which certainly was not offered back to the donors.
Many charity shops do have experts and sell the more valuable items incognito at auction and on eBay. And so they should.

[joggerjayne]

The things that are morally wrong, are ...

Buying books from Amazon ... or from supermarkets.

You should NEVER buy books from Amazon unless your local bookshop is unable to get it for you.

And you should NEVER buy a book from a supermarket.

Not EVER !!!

>:0(

[joeluke]

I buy books from amazon so obviously I have no morals

Whats the big deal?

[cazzz1975]

amazon is excellent

a lot of charity shops get way too many donations and often there are skips of thrown away clothing, toys, shoes and books outside the back of these places. dont kid yourself that the charity shop is sweet and innocent, they are even marking up donations in a shop style "£9.99"

[cazzz1975]

If I were mollys mom I would be pretty sad that my daughter thought so badly of me.

[joggerjayne]

Joe ... Amazon are a bulk, low cost seller, who will sell books so long as there is a demand.

But most of their money comes from big sales of big titles.

The independants, who will stock more unusual titles, make no money from the occasional blockbuster (like Harry Potter) because they can't compete.

Sooner or later, they will go out of business.

I look for books on Amazon, then print off the details and take it to a bookshop in the town, or to Daunt Books, where they order it for me.

I only go back to Amazon if it's out of print, and the bookshop can't get it.

Waterstone's started out as a funky independant, but they have been forced to go the way of the junk title bulk sellers.

We must fight back !

[boxtops]

Interesting jj. I buy on Amazon because I can get the books I want at a discount rate - OH has just ordered a specialist book which came today, half of what the shop price is, and he got it much quicker than ordering it from a shop, and it came through the door. For most of us it's a matter of convenience to buy on-line. You're in Brighton, you've got cracking bookshops, our best effort is WH Smith and a small Sussex Stationers, no good ordering facilities here!

[joggerjayne]

I buy a lot of books from Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street.

I know you can get bargains from Amazon, but I am really quite anti-Amazon.

I have ordered books from Amazon recently (including 1 today), but they have all been out of print, and the bookshops couldn't get hold of them.

[boxtops]

Cheers JJ - each to their own, I guess, and I don't get to London either so we do what we can... I wish we did have a decent bookshop, the best titles (to return to the theme) are in the charity shops!

[joeluke]

Buy book from local bookshop or get it far cheaper (even including postage costs) from amazon?

Pretty much a no brainer unless you can afford to pay the higher prices

[Prudie]

Thing about amazon is you can sit on the sofa, order it and it's here soon after. No traipsing to town, parking and dealing with the crowds on Saturday (if like me you work Mon-Fri miles from any shops).

[cazzz1975]

I suppose buying from a bookshop is like buying organic, you pay a lot more but it makes you feel better for doing it even though it makes no difference

[AlBags]

Yep ...

I think there is a moral code we all use to a certain degree.
Amazon and supermarket books tend to be accepted by many because of the service they offer .. easy and cheap.

[piggynose]

the last 2 books i bought from amazon cost me a 1p each plus 3.94 p&p.they were both 2nd hand and in good nick

[joggerjayne]

Well, obviously ...

You can't support you local bookshop if you don't have one !!

But I have several, here and up in London.

So ... I try to support them.

And, as a matter of principle, I never ever ever buy a book from a supermarket.

For people who don't have a good bookshop, Amazon are fab ...

... because they have re-opened the reading market.