What About Ebay?

[Patrick]

Another great topic! I personally have looked on E-Bay for books but have never purchased there. I have usually had pretty good luck finding what I might be looking for at Amazon affiliates or Alibris.

I am glad to hear that you have had a good experience there. Have you gotten preety good deals on what you've purchased on E-bay?

[Stephanie]

I haven't bought books off Ebay but I have sold some and you can usually find almost anything on there...it is a great place to find books. And they usually go pretty cheap too.

[Laura]

I generally avoid Ebay because I find the competition over books too aggravating! Plus, I just don't trust the sellers and the descriptions they post as much as those on Barnes & Noble's used books page. . . Call me old-fashioned, but face-to-face transactions are still my favorite.

That's not to say I haven't purchased books from ebay, though. My favorite is an enormous facsimile edition of Samuel Johnson's dictionary. I got into quite the bidding war, but it's all mine now, and it makes a fantastic night stand (just kidding)!

[[deleted user]]

Go to www.half.com, which I believe is a branch of Ebay. But you don't bid, you just purchase.

[Christy]

I've purchased hundreds of books from eBay. I might be looking to fill in the gaps by a particular author or authors. So I search for a specific name, then I check out their shipping rates...because I don't have a lot of disposable income to waste on high shipping and handling charges. Then I browse their listings for other books I might like. I've found quite a few favourite sellers this way. I often just buy once from them in a large lot, but I do go back and check their stock from time to time. I place them on my favourite sellers list to make doing so easier.

[Katie]

I haven't done so in a while, but I used eBay a while back to get some books and I recall having good luck and getting a pretty good deal. I was actually able to get a lot of books by one of my favorite authors, Amanda Quick, to complete my collection (at the time!) I wasn't crazy worried about the quality of the books (which was actually really pretty good!) as much as that the person had the ones I needed to complete my collection & I got a good deal!

I tend to be more of a splurge buyer though which gets me in trouble at the actual bookstore or a book sale (and would probably make me broke & kill me if I had time for eBay these days!) Plus my OCD has made me incredibly picky about the condition of books I buy to complete a series or a collection...now-a-days, I really think I have to see it in my hands before I add it to my bookshelf, so eBay has kind of fallen by the wayside. I mean, my idea of "Excellent condition" is probably not the same as a lot of other peoples, and those pictures are never good enough!

Just my two cents...