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Post by Clipper on Dec 13, 2012 11:54:43 GMT -5
local.msn.com/events/the-last-of-the-indie-bookstores?%3E1=24000The only one of those listed that I have had the pleasure of visiting is the Strand Book Store in the East Village in NYC. You could spend days in that place, browsing and reading. I hope hard cover books never completely disappear from the shelves and that book stores never completely disappear from our cities. I was at my favorite book store just yesterday. Mr K's in Johnson City, Tn. They have two floors of new and used books in all price ranges. I read strictly hard covered edition novels by known authors such as James Patterson, John Grisham, and others, as well as biographies and other titles that I hear about from friends. All of the books are in excellent, like new, condition, and all have their dust jackets intact. I went in yesterday while Kathy shopped at the Johnson City Mall, and spent about an hour and a half browsing and buying books. I took 7 books in to trade, and purchased 5 more. My grand total at checkout was $1.64. Those books will give me about 3-4 weeks of night time entertainment and when I take them back to trade them, I will get at least $5 back in trade-in value. You can't rent a movie for that little cost. I sincerely don't know how they make a profit, unless it is on sheer volume coupled with "new" book sales. I DO see people purchasing 15 and 20 books at a time quite frequently when I shop there. When I was younger I used to spend hours browsing and shopping in the fishing and hunting departments. Now I occupy my time in the woodworking tool departments, and book stores. 
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Post by dave on Dec 13, 2012 23:11:05 GMT -5
For all the gun stores around here, I haven't been in one since I moved. It was always something I enjoyed with with a friend and fellow shooter. The only shooter I've met down here is more an armorer than a hobbyist, probably an undisclosed survivalist. Not someone you'd enjoy hanging out with, unless you're planning an insurrection.  And I haven't found any really great bookstores yet, either. Too easy to order on line and much, much cheaper. If I could find a bookstore like the one you describe, I'd certainly visit it often. I certainly don't mind used and always buy used books on Amazon if it's available in the title I want. |
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Post by Clipper on Dec 14, 2012 13:20:54 GMT -5
In my paranoia I don't order anything on line and don't use a credit card on line. Old fashioned and I am sure there are secure ways to deal with such things, but I simply have not gotten into that sort of shopping.
I have not yet been able to get that book "As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me" anywhere else, so if I want to read it I guess I will have to order it on Amazon. My neighbor orders stuff for me on Ebay and I pay her, so I imagine that she will order the book when I am ready to buy it.
Can you use that "Pay Pal" thing to order from Amazon? I understand that Pay Pal is a secure way to pay for on line purchases.
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Post by dave on Dec 14, 2012 17:04:08 GMT -5
I don't think Amazon takes paypal. When I buy on line and can use Paypal, I always do, even though I'm leery of them from an incident that happened once with an item an item I sold on ebay.
It's probably worth explaining:
When you use eBay's convenient shipping routine to buy your USPS or UPS label to ship the item, eBay sends an automated email to the buyer. When you cancel the purchase of the shipping label, they also send an email to the buyer. Early in my ebay selling career, I couldn't get a shipping label to print, so I simply cancelled the purchase from UPS and started another one. The buyer must have been sitting in front of his PC. When he got the cancellation notice he had just paypal'd me for the item. He thought I was scammer and he immediately launched an email to ebay filing a complaint. An eBay computer immediately took the money out of my checking account another eBay computer had just put in and generated a notice of a complaint to me. At this point I wondered if the BUYER was scammer. When we had all corresponded by email at the end of the day and realized what happened, the ebay rep told me to send the item and when the buyer received it, he would paypal me again. I said that was the opposite of the way it was supposed to work, I had done nothing wrong, neither he nor I knew the buyer and I would not ship the item until I got the money back in my account. eBay balked at this, but the buyer agreed to it. What bothered me was ebay/Paypal's ability to simply take money out of my checking account. No problems since.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 14, 2012 17:15:23 GMT -5
I guess I am most comfortable muddling along as I do now. I don't want in any way to connect any home computer activity to my bank accounts, period. My bank has suggested on several occasions that it is just so much easier to bank on line and that my balance information and all my account activity would be available at the click of a mouse. That is PRECISELY why I DON'T want to bank on line, LOL.  Hell, my email and face book accounts got hacked and I got locked out of them by a hacker in Indonesia a year or so ago. If they can hack my email, I have no doubt that they could access my other information and activity posted anywhere on my PC if they tried hard enough. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2012 13:38:10 GMT -5
I always wondered if it was safe to use a cell phone to call my bank when I check my balance and transaction. Is account numbers etc., stored on a cell phone. And can it be hacked
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2012 13:50:55 GMT -5
There was a nice used book store near the Stanley Theatre. I closed several years ago. Now there are none
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Post by Clipper on Dec 15, 2012 14:30:12 GMT -5
Even with a lack of used book stores Alan, I am sure that there are plenty of books available at thrift shops, estate sales and garage sales.
Kathy likes to check out Goodwill, and yard sales for bargains. I immediately head for any used books that I can find. Goodwill sells their hard covers for $1 and paperbacks for 50 cents.
I recently bought two full boxes of assorted books at a garage sale for $10. I simply told the lady that I would give her $10 for all the books she had laid out on a table for 50 cents apiece. I found a few that I saved for my own reading pleasure, and donated about 60-70 assorted paperbacks to the nursing home where my dad used to reside. Those folks were good to my dad, so I still stop there occasionally and bring donuts, cookies, or a Little Ceasar's pizza or two to the staff on the wing where my father was cared for.
I have also bought used paperbacks by the bag or box full when the opportunity arose, and donated them to our local county jail for inmates to read. We have a neighbor that is a corrections officer at the local county pokey.
I seldom buy a "new" book Alan. There is always a readily available supply of good used books to read from assorted sources.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 15, 2012 14:34:51 GMT -5
Does anyone remember Grant's Book Store on Genessee Street? My mom and dad used to give me gift certificates for there when I was a kid. Learning to read before I even entered school has made me a lifelong avid reader, and even as a kid I loved browsing through book stores and the library on rainy or snowy days when I could not be outside.
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Post by dave on Dec 15, 2012 22:32:47 GMT -5
There are zillions (I guess I can't say "literally zillions) of used books on Amazon ... some for a penny. I never order new when I can get a used book. Yes, you have to pay shipping ... $3.99.
I just bought Mrs. Dave a book she wanted for a total of $4.00. $3.99 plus a penny for the book. I would have had to spend gas getting to my local book store and paid somewhere between 15 and 22 dollars new. More often such a book will be 4 or 5 dollars plus shipping.
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Post by Clipper on Jan 28, 2013 20:44:45 GMT -5
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