Books too pricey for your budget

For twenty years I've been coveting Dougal Dixon's zoological art volumes After Man and Man After Man. Both are out of print. I'd always look for them in any used bookstore I went to. All the copies I could find on amazon were eye-boingingly expensive. In June, I checked amazon again on a whim and found there are now a bunch of used copies of After Man, so I bought one for about $9! Now I've resolved to keep checking to see if any used copies of Man After Man become available.

Save up. People are amazingly good at finding a way to own a computer, own a cell phone, getting the internet, owning a TV, etc., but a book costs too much. A two hundred dollar book is sixteen dollars and sixty-seven cents per month for a year. That's four dollars and change per week. Most people spend more than this on something to drink every day. Sixty-seven cents per day Fifty-five cents per day will get you that two hundred dollar book in one year.

Books don't cost too much, they simply aren't the priority everything else is, including coffee or soft drinks, or bottled water. or one lunch per week, or you name it.

It's not as simple as "just save up for it". Not everyone spends tons of money on soft drinks and coffee. If I managed to save up $200 for a book, i.e., a treat to myself, I'd probably feel guilty over spending it and would want to throw that money in my savings instead. There's also the fact that one can get a lot more utility out of a cell phone or a computer than they can a book, and thus the money feels more "well-spent". (If we want apples to apples, I can buy a Kindle + lots of ebooks, or other paperback books, for the cost of one $200 book.) So I can totally understand not being able to shell out lots of money for one book.

To answer the OP's question, there's two volumes in a long-running series I own the rest of that strangely went out of print much faster than the others, and are only offered by used sellers for $150-200+. I keep them on my list to watch for any deals because I can't justify paying that for a book that was $10 new and is probably in worse condition (especially when none of that money will ever see the original author and publisher). It's reselling, not ticket scalping.

It's also a matter of what you think is reasonable to pay for something. For $200, I'd expect the book to clean my kitchen counters for me.

lianna williamson said:

It's also a matter of what you think is reasonable to pay for something. For $200, I'd expect the book to clean my kitchen counters for me.

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Me too!

Jamesaritchie said:

Save up. People are amazingly good at finding a way to own a computer, own a cell phone, getting the internet, owning a TV, etc., but a book costs too much.

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Yes, a book can cost too much. Especially when the book in question is competing against other books that can be bought. $200 is too much? Why not buy the $15 book?

Do you have to have the Kindle edition? Paperback copies of The Anthropologists' Cookbook start at $2.97 on Amazon.com, and hardbacks at $19.95.

There are a few genealogy books I want that cost over $100. I'll probably save up for them--family press, small print runs. Not a lot of options there, but I do check eBay from time to time just in case.

There are times when it's also worth trying Amazon.co.uk. Even with international shipping, I've scored some deals on books that sellers over here had priced too high.

I think that everyone who keeps pointing out a book can cost too much need to take into account things such as rarity, and whether the book is a first edition or not. For example, the first American edition of Blackstone's Commentaries on The Laws of England can run up to $20k. And considering the rariety of the books, it isn't too far fetched for them to be priced that high when in almost museum quality condition.

But a modern reprint using modern binding pratices? No, there's no way it is worth that much. Amazon has an awesome set recreated using modern binding techniques, with the 4 volumes packaged together. It's $280. Which is a lot for a set of books, but reasonable for a modern reprint of a 18th century first edition that stays faithful to the originals. Particularly when 12th editions from the early 19th century are generally $1,000 or more.

So book price isn't cut and dry. A single book being $300 is expensive. But if the book is that rare and out of print, as well as being in very good condition, it may well be worth it. If the book is an 18th century first edition and very rare, it is definitly worth more than $300.