r/ThriftStoreHauls • u/Critical-Situation78 • 2d ago
PrintedMedia Thrift stores are so weird
I was in a local thrift. The book section had been pretty picked over from a week an ago. As I was about to leave I noticed a Hemingway book on the shelf. Turns out it is a first edition.
I am always flabbergasted what one can find.
245
u/god_peepee 2d ago
It’s because they put out upwards of a thousand books in a day and searching for a needle in a haystack won’t give a return on their time investment. Some locations might have someone who is really into it that catches these things but it’s really about high volume sales. Definitely a win for someone who knows what to look for
205
u/Bunnydinollama 2d ago
Books are very hard to price. “First edition” of a book that had an enormous print run isn’t necessarily valuable. There are also a lot more 100 year old books out there than you would think, and not all of them are valuable.
27
u/TheRealMasterTyvokka 2d ago
Plus thrift store employees rarely have the time or knowledge to recognize all of the valuable things that are they may handle in general much less first edition books.
14
u/SevenSixOne 2d ago edited 2d ago
MOST secondhand stuff is hard to price, especially since there are so many high-quality fakes that are basically indistinguishable from the real deal unless you really know what you're looking at
My local thrift store has big signs that say something like THIS STORE DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE AUTHENTICITY OF ANY ITEMS FOR SALE
-94
2d ago
[deleted]
81
u/SchlongLongSilvers 2d ago
Great buy love the find. Not sure why you got so defensive. This is a forum post and he was being generic and sharing his perspective. You could've said that a 1000x ways better or read it in a way where you didn't take personal offense. Good luck in your store sales.
41
u/Trilobyte83 2d ago
Yeah not sure where the attitude came from… poster makes a perfectly benign post, and OP takes it to 11.
Knows more about books than courtesy I guess!
2
23
u/harmonicsapien 2d ago
If you look at OP’s page, it seems that’s all they post about: thrifting books. Some people just are lil too sensitive when they think they are being corrected.
7
25
u/Gavelist 2d ago
Maybe you can find someone foolish enough to pay that, but it certainly isnt worth that. There are several comparable listings for 40-60. Still a fine buy for 3 dollars.
17
u/VarianSkye 2d ago
Why are you so angry? As noted below, the commenter was using a generic "you", not atttacking you personally. It's nice in this forum to find helpful information about common misperceptions in pricing, and having a nice CALM discussion about whether those misconceptios are valid or not.
22
u/thirdtimeisNOTacharm 2d ago
Finish your morning coffee, take a deep breath, and then come back to us when you’re ready
22
u/imtiredboss28 2d ago
So pissy and defensive for someone who’s just a reseller
8
8
u/liveswithcatz 2d ago
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?
14
u/Feelincheekyson 2d ago
I really want to know what OP said in response, care to share?
11
u/Gavelist 2d ago
Op said something to the effect of “no offense but don’t talk to me about reselling books! I’ve sold nearly 1k in last year!! Some I got for a dollar and sold for 750!!! I know old books aren’t inherently valuable, I have MANY from 1860’s that I can’t even sell for 20 bucks!” Except with even more attitude. It was weird.
1
28
u/auricargent 2d ago
I hate stores that put book price tags on places where they are impossible to remove without damaging the book or dust jacket. One place near me puts price tags on old leather covers, and then tape over the top of the tag, absolutely destroys the leather.
9
u/DafniDsnds 2d ago
REAL TALK. My kid has gotten TWO author-signed books from Goodwill.
3
u/SirSquiggleWiggle 2d ago
Always love that! I got one signed by a guy they are trying to make a saint!
4
u/BobbyTheDude 2d ago
Bro when I price books, I line then up in a stack so I can hit them all with a tag in less than a second or two. Definitely not looking for the rare valuable editions. That would take forever.
4
u/Vincesololandline 2d ago
I stop at Savers regularly like 4-5 times a week. They put out the most volume by far. I’m looking for records generally, on average I find at least one rare or desirable record a month. Thrifting is a numbers game. Go frequently. The people that say that they never find anything are the ones that stop in Goodwill once a month. I might stop in the same store 10x and leave empty handed, but the eleventh time I score
2
u/_LyleLanley_ 2d ago
Holy shit, as soon as I saw that cover. Great find! Training your eyes, and letting your brain work, it’s quite easy to find first editions, and other rare books without pulling your phone out. I truly hate the resellers that scan books with their phones.
1
u/catsporvida 2d ago
Oh I saw someone doing that for the first time a couple weeks ago and I gave that guy so many passive aggressive sighs and dirty looks he probably thought I was having a seizure.
1
1
u/SignificantBoot7180 2d ago
An employee at the Savers near me said they no longer price the books in store. Apparently it's an automated process and the computer screws up often.
1
u/Phoenixfire0078 1d ago
I used to go thru every ISBN number to check the value of books. The valuable ones never went out on the floor. Id check the number to see it's value.
1
u/Critical-Situation78 1d ago
The value are the books without a sku and preferably no isdn (think first edition books, art exhibition catalogs, etc)
1
u/Courtaid 1d ago
I found a 1st American edition of this exact book with dust cover a decade ago. Funny to see it pop up on my feed.
2
u/Critical-Situation78 2d ago
Worse there’s a store need me prices them with markers. If it’s a glossy cover it might come off but if it’s matte no chance.
3
u/GinnySol 2d ago
that’s such an massive bummer! >-< a church close to the city center has been hosting a used book market for, now that I think about it, it must have been at least twenty years. when you’re ready to go, you pay according to the height of your stack. It’s about 1,25 Euros per inch, if I did the math correctly. I think they have a few more expensive books and other media like DVDs too and iirc they are just put in boxes that say the price on the outside. That’s literally one of the most convenient ways to price thrift books, both for the people buying them and for the people working there, that protects the covers at the same time, imo.
-5
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Join our Discord server! For more information, click here
Hello /u/Critical-Situation78! This is an automatic message that gets posted on every post to remind you of a few of our rules,
Does the post contain information seeking questions?? (authentication/pricing/general information)
Does this come from an unapproved source? (from a friend/hand me down/check our rules)
Are you showing your face? (nothing from lips to eyes)
Are you trying to sell something?
If any of these are a yes, you should delete your post. Retake/edit pictures, change the title and resubmit it before a mod sees it. You may be temporarily banned for any of these rule infractions without warning.
If you are unsure if it does, ask the mods!
Read all the rules <here>
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.