Second-hand bookshops

NScaleNotes · September 15, 2019, 10:40:19 AM

Hello all

I've always loved browsing a good second-hand bookshop but in recent years I've noticed that even if I can find a second-hand bookshop, the quality of the stock, particularly non-fiction doesn't seem to be all that good anymore. I'd always come away with at something in the past. We're always being told fewer people read/collect books anymore so you'd think the amount of stock would be going up as existing collectors pass on and their books come to market.

I'm sure the margins in second-hand bookselling aren't always that great so rising rates has probably finished off many shops but why the decline in the quality/range of stock in the remaining shops?
Is most of it heading online/being sold by the stores online?
Seems logical but if that is so I haven't been able to find it.

Does anyone have any recommendations for stores with particularly good railway selections?
I'm based in the Beds/Herts area so have already trawled the very good selection at David's in Letchworth but that's the only shop I know in the area.

NScaleNotes · September 15, 2019, 10:44:19 AM

On a lighter note and along the same lines as the Ebay madness thread I did chuckle at this listing on World of Books:

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/robert-pritchard/electric-multiple-units-2014-including-multiple-unit-formations-and-light-rail-s/GOR006366430

Bargain...

I prefer book browsing in person but ended up on this website after seeing a recommendation on another forum.

Bealman · September 15, 2019, 10:52:08 AM

Absolute bargain, mate. I'm gonna order two, and I'm a transition modeller!

However, I tend to think online shopping is going to kill the second hand bookshops, unfortunately.

exmouthcraig · September 15, 2019, 10:55:06 AM

I usually nip into any second hand bookshop wherever we are just to have a gander.

On ebay recently I have managed to acquire a good number of very good condition books for not very much money.

Also at TINGS yesterday managed to pick up what appears to be brand new 2007 reprint of a book that retailed at £18.99 and I paid £4 for, I had to ask again because I thought he said £14 which would of been perfectly reasonable.

So plenty of bargains are there, one thing I have found in the last 2 years expanding our library of SR west of Bournemouth the quality of second hand is fantastic. Presumably as we modellers buy them for information and reference theres never any damage other then an occasional sun bleached spine!

javlinfaw7 · September 15, 2019, 11:07:18 AM

Roussaue and Voltaire in Glasgow my local second hand book shop has a large and varied selection of all types of books but it is a nightmare trying to find anything ,the book shelves are full and books are piled two deep and up to four foot high in front of the shelves.Prices are reasonable but you feel that you take your life in your hands if you go rummaging in their stock.

Bealman · September 15, 2019, 11:10:15 AM

Sounds like a scene from a Harry Potter movie!

NScaleNotes · September 15, 2019, 11:14:40 AM

Quote from: javlinfaw7 on September 15, 2019, 11:07:18 AM
Roussaue and Voltaire in Glasgow my local second hand book shop has a large and varied selection of all types of books but it is a nightmare trying to find anything ,the book shelves are full and books are piled two deep and up to four foot high in front of the shelves.Prices are reasonable but you feel that you take your life in your hands if you go rummaging in their stock.

Sounds cool, like a proper second hand bookshop and nothing beats a good treasure hunt

NScaleNotes · September 15, 2019, 11:16:58 AM

Quote from: exmouthcraig on September 15, 2019, 10:55:06 AM
So plenty of bargains are there, one thing I have found in the last 2 years expanding our library of SR west of Bournemouth the quality of second hand is fantastic. Presumably as we modellers buy them for information and reference theres never any damage other then an occasional sun bleached spine!

That's true, I rarely saw a book in bad condition.

daffy · September 15, 2019, 11:19:31 AM

Nice secondhand book selection in Woodhall Spa, Lincs, with three racks of railway related items. Stock additions quite frequent.

I'll be in Woodhall sometime this week so if there is a particular book you are looking for let me know and I'll take a gander. (other birds by appointment only

)

Wrinkly1 · September 15, 2019, 11:26:39 AM

Doesn't help much for people 'down south' but in the countryside, south of Crewe, there's an antique and craft centre called Dagfields, built on what was once a farm. One of the shops is a fantastic 2nd hand bookshop with a really large range of railway books. The shop itself sells everything from 50p modern paperback novels to rare First Editions. 'She-who-must-be-obeyed' and myself get lost there for hours as it comprises 3 shop units of books and a fourth containing out-of-print CDs and vinyls.
As an added bonus Trident Trains has its shop almost opposite, and for a small, independent shop, they stock a really good range of N gauge railway models (and that larger stuff as well!)
I add that I've no financial interest in either place, I'm just an admirer!

martyn · September 15, 2019, 11:40:40 AM

Charity shops can also be a source of second hand bargains, but may be patchy; lots one month, virtually nil the next one (railway books, that is!)

Martyn

port perran · September 15, 2019, 11:49:20 AM

I always pop into a second hand bookshop if there is one around.
Sometimes they come up trumps but more often than not there isn't much railway related stuff and if there is, it's the same old books.
A visit to Hay on Wye of course, is well worthwhile, the second hand bookshop capital of the world.

NScaleNotes · September 15, 2019, 12:34:05 PM

Quote from: daffy on September 15, 2019, 11:19:31 AM
Nice secondhand book selection in Woodhall Spa, Lincs, with three racks of railway related items. Stock additions quite frequent.

I'll be in Woodhall sometime this week so if there is a particular book you are looking for let me know and I'll take a gander. (other birds by appointment only )

Thanks Daffy, nothing in particular, just miss the process of browsing and stumbling across something I didn't know I wanted.

Belly · September 15, 2019, 12:57:44 PM

I wish there were more book stores of the type you gentlemen describe as by their very nature they become intimate and draw you into the collection on the shelves. Sadly, there are not too many near me and worse very little on the shelves in relation to railways. With that in mind, I while away the time browsing the collections featured on abebooks.com.

The biggest issue has always been the quality of the book you're investigating and I've always confined my purchases to those where the condition is described as: "new" or "mint", "as new", "fine", and "very good" or "near fine". I have never been disappointed as a result. The only time I was disappointed was when I purchased a book described as "good" and, frankly, it was the best condition of those on offer.

It remains the best alternative when the ambience of a true book store is denied.

javlinfaw7 · September 15, 2019, 01:54:48 PM

I am lucky as within a 5 minute walk of Roussaue & Voltaire there are 3 more contrasting book shops , Thistle who specialise in sheet music but have good selection of edition and some railway anc transport , Caledonian Books more up market but always a good selection including a large transport section and a specialised Oxfam Book shop who always have a good if sometimes costly selection