Thursday, December 29, 2011

Books--Purging and Pricing

Hi, Everyone! I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I've been spending the time doing various chores (the kind you keep putting off), playing too many Facebook games, and writing (never as much as I feel I should be doing).

One of the chores I did was to reorganize my bookshelves. I don't place a book on the shelf until I've read it. I also tend to wait until I have several books to shelve. I did this yesterday. As part of the process, I reviewed my paperback collection and decided to get rid of some I knew I wouldn't want to reread. I don't have more space for bookshelves in my office, so sometimes it's necessary to get rid of books, especially since I was almost out of room. Now I have about three-fourths of a small shelf free. I also went through Alex's old books and got rid of the ones he'd outgrown. (It was a little sad getting rid of all the Sandra Boynton (sp?) books, but I did save my favorite one.) When Eugene came home, he was inspired to sort through his collection and choose a few to sell. All told, we wound up with about four small boxes of books.

Anyone care to guess how much we got for them at Half Price Books? Do you hold on to your books or pass them on when you're done with them?

7 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

I rarely reread fiction so I donate most of my books to women's shelters. (At least it's a tax deduction.)

What does Half Price pay for books? I've never brought anything to them.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

That's a good idea, Maria.

When I first starting reselling books at Half Price back in the '90s, I could get a dollar per paperback. These days I'd be lucky to get a quarter.

Still waiting for a guess.

Cindy said...

I've given away most of the children's books that my kids have outgrown. There is a resale store that donates money to abused women and children. That's where I usually donate books and things.

On rare occasions, I will try and sell a non-fiction book if I have the time.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I have mostly ebooks now so there's really not an opportunity to give them away.

Deborah Walker said...

Oooh good for you. I am such a hoarder. I do reread, though. I guess my collection is approaching 10 thousand volumes. A lot of it is in the attic.

Connie Keller said...

I cull our book shelves all the time and take them to McKays (used bookstore). We have ten bookcases at the house--my husband has a wall full at his office. Too many books.

But now I'm buying a lot more Kindle books--saves on shelf space and I can carry a whole library in my purse.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Deborah, wow, you have me beat! I'm not sure exactly how many books we have left in the house, but I doubt it's more than a thousand.

Since no one guessed, we got $20.00 for our four boxes of books. I wonder what will happen when more people switch to e-books; will used paper books lose even more value, or might they someday become collector's items?

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