I finally gave up on buying from library sales

Used to hit the library sale every first Saturday in Portland like clockwork. But after three times in a row where I found perfect books that were literally missing the last 20 pages, I can't trust them anymore. Does anyone else just stick to thrift stores now where you can at least flip through the whole thing before buying?

2 comments

2 Comments

mia_anderson5d ago

Hold on a sec, library sales are different from library bookstores. The sales are usually just once or twice a year and they don't let you return books, but most library bookstores are open all the time and have a swap policy. I've had way better luck at the big bookstores that do a 30 day return window on used books.

nancyd855d ago

But isn't that return policy just built into the price you pay upfront? Those big bookstore chains have way higher overhead than a library sale run by volunteers, so you're probably paying more for the privilege of being able to bring something back. Seems like you're trading a good deal for the safety net of a return policy, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of bargain hunting in the first place.