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So there I am roaming through Half Price Books this weekend and I come to the used games section and what to my wondering eyes should appear than all the basic 4e D&D books (multiple copies of each) and some of the follow on products. At subsequent stops on my Half Price Books tour, I see more 4e materials in the used games sections. Some of the 4e books looked genuinely used, most looked brand new like they had just come from a warehouse. 4e was released not even a year ago! I never saw the like for 3.0 or 3.5. Make of it what you may.
So there I am roaming through Half Price Books this weekend and I come to the used games section and what to my wondering eyes should appear than all the basic 4e D&D books (multiple copies of each) and some of the follow on products. At subsequent stops on my Half Price Books tour, I see more 4e materials in the used games sections. Some of the 4e books looked genuinely used, most looked brand new like they had just come from a warehouse. 4e was released not even a year ago! I never saw the like for 3.0 or 3.5. Make of it what you may.
where does half price get their books from? are they a used bookstore chain that buys books from local people in the area and resells them at a profit? or do they get them from warehouses who have overstock of books that are not selling, therefore get them at a big discount, and sell then cheap?
__________________ ~Joe
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I first saw 4e books at Half Priced Book store last February. When I went around to them last month though none of them had any 4e books. People are weird about what they sell to Half Priced Book Stores. I found Small Favor (the tenth Dresden Files novel) at half priced books less then a week after it was published.
For the record I did see 3e and 3.5 books hit Half priced books in about the same time. Same with nWod books like Vampire and Mage. I've even found some Savage Worlds, Star Wars Saga, and other RPG lines in that same time period. I go to these stores multiple times a month and have done so for over a decade. It's always been a good source for books for me.
where does half price get their books from? are they a used bookstore chain that buys books from local people in the area and resells them at a profit? or do they get them from warehouses who have overstock of books that are not selling, therefore get them at a big discount, and sell then cheap?
Both, the ones they get in bulk from warehouses though usually have a different price sticker then the ones they buy from local people.
I have seen the 4E Forgotten Realms book at a Used Book Store. So, yeah...
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I first saw 4e books at Half Priced Book store last February. When I went around to them last month though none of them had any 4e books. People are weird about what they sell to Half Priced Book Stores. I found Small Favor (the tenth Dresden Files novel) at half priced books less then a week after it was published.
For the record I did see 3e and 3.5 books hit Half priced books in about the same time. Same with nWod books like Vampire and Mage. I've even found some Savage Worlds, Star Wars Saga, and other RPG lines in that same time period. I go to these stores multiple times a month and have done so for over a decade. It's always been a good source for books for me.
just went to their website. sounds like a cool place. wish we had some in connecticut
__________________ ~Joe
If you like what I said, throw me some XP. I was a goblin sharpshooter for far too long.
It means that D&D has finally failed for good in the market. It will be discontinued before the end of the year. The long out of print Italian RPG Kata Kumbas will be reprinted in 47 languages (including a deluxe edition in Proto-Akkadian) and it will sell millions of copies. You read it here first.
I did the same tour yesterday and saw the same, but I'm pretty sure it's people just junking their collections, even though some of it was still in shrinkwrap. I saw a bunch of late-era 3E material at one of the stores, too.
It may be that 4E just isn't winning the same kind of following here in Minnesota--one of the folks at my FLGS yesterday told me that SWSE is catching up to it for them, at least in terms of in-store games.
Talking to people at the stores it does seem that more people are selling off books and things in general with the down turn in the economy. I'm not saying that's the reason but it is a factor.
It means that D&D has finally failed for good in the market. It will be discontinued before the end of the year. The long out of print Italian RPG Kata Kumbas will be reprinted in 47 languages (including a deluxe edition in Proto-Akkadian) and it will sell millions of copies. You read it here first.
It's also a deep recession now. I'd wager that anyone that buys used items very cheap to resell them cheap, is seeing an increase in both supply and demand.
*oops, missed crothian's post. Oh well, he's got plenty*
__________________ "The best advice I ever got was from an elephant trainer in the jungle outside Bangalore. I was doing a hike through the jungle as a tourist. I saw these large elephants tethered to a small stake. I asked him, 'How can you keep such a large elephant tied to such a small stake?' He said, 'When the elephants are small, they try to pull out the stake, and they fail. When they grow large, they never try to pull out the stake again.' That parable reminds me that we have to go for what we think we're fully capable of, not limit ourselves by what we've been in the past." -Vivek Paul
I think you are on to something. I've never seen FATAL in a Half Priced Book Store
Case rested!
As for 4E, some of the books have been on sale for around half price on e-bay for a while now, so I wouldn't read anything into it's appearence at half-price books. I bought a second print 3.0 Player's Handbook at a used book store within a year of release. As with 3.0, some people will regret the purchase and sell 'em off.
Now, if the 4E books were going for a penny on amazon's marketplace, then we'd be having a different conversation.
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Last edited by DaveMage; 18th May 2009 at 01:28 AM..
Talking to people at the stores it does seem that more people are selling off books and things in general with the down turn in the economy. I'm not saying that's the reason but it is a factor.
A huge factor, times are tough. My upstairs tenent runs a Comic and Card Shop store, and people have been coming in for a while trying to sell collections (90% of which he can't buy as there is no market for what they're selling).
My wife works part time at her uncle's variety store, and in the last two months people have been bringing in old and collectible coins and bills that they've saved to buy necessities with.
So, yeah, I'm not surprised that some fairly new books are being unloaded. If you need to eat or fill your gas tank that takes priority.
NPR had a story about the selling of used goods in terms of CD. Some stores I've seen, like Discgoround, are getting so many sales TO the store that they give less money for what they buy now.
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