Also — secondhand books are generally outdated, undesirable, and/or damaged — do collectors still find diamonds in the rough?
Secondhand stores offer in general "better" products because of the double curation:
- someone found the good interesting enough to buy it in the first place (1st curation)
- the store found it good enough to buy it again from the first owner (2nd curation)
Aren't brick-and-mortar bookshops, generally speaking, as viable as Apatosaurus today?
No, it's even better because of the limited space they have to display the goods they want to sell: while online stores can show their full inventory, brick-and-mortar need to select what's most likely to sell.
This adds yet another level of curation: the store found the good valuable enough to be exposed to buyers, instead of keeping it in the back (3rd curation)
I find great music by randomly buying second-hand CDs from brick-and-mortar secondhand stores, thanks to this triple-curation,
someone found the good interesting enough to buy it in the first place (1st curation)
I wonder how this is offset by someone finding an item not worth enough to keep. But maybe I underestimate the generosity (or need for income) of the typical person visiting secondhand stores to offload their stuff.
Some (many?) book stores do a lot of their intake via estate sales, not just buying from walk-ins. That gets them access to lots of interesting and well-cared-for, if sometimes niche, collections at low prices.
Comments
Secondhand stores offer in general "better" products because of the double curation:
- someone found the good interesting enough to buy it in the first place (1st curation)
- the store found it good enough to buy it again from the first owner (2nd curation)
No, it's even better because of the limited space they have to display the goods they want to sell: while online stores can show their full inventory, brick-and-mortar need to select what's most likely to sell.
This adds yet another level of curation: the store found the good valuable enough to be exposed to buyers, instead of keeping it in the back (3rd curation)
I find great music by randomly buying second-hand CDs from brick-and-mortar secondhand stores, thanks to this triple-curation,
I wonder how this is offset by someone finding an item not worth enough to keep. But maybe I underestimate the generosity (or need for income) of the typical person visiting secondhand stores to offload their stuff.
Some (many?) book stores do a lot of their intake via estate sales, not just buying from walk-ins. That gets them access to lots of interesting and well-cared-for, if sometimes niche, collections at low prices.