Back in 2013, I wrote a post about how I found a “How to Write” book in a second-hand, or thrift, store.
Whilst I did buy the book I couldn’t help but think that I’d stolen someone else’s dream. Someone else had gotten that book with the hopes to become a writer and, for whatever reason, it had ended up in an old shop where I’d bought that dream from them for the paltry price of 99p.
Zip forward two years to 2015 and I find myself on the other end of that dilemma. It’s because I’m selling my old books on Ebay. I’m selling them for a variety of reasons;
- I’ve always wanted to own a bookshop
- I’m going to need some extra cash for my degree in September
- My wife wants me to ‘de-clutter’
The problem I’m having is that with all the similar auctions within Ebay, books tend to sell for the lowest common denominator; the lowest price + the lowest P&P.
What does this mean for me? Well, it means that many of my books are up for sale at around £1 for the book and £2 for postage; a total of £3.
Now, that’s not a lot of money but I can’t get it into my head that people are only buying a ‘book’ when they feel so much more to me. Many of these books I’ve had since my early teens when I first found my thirst, and love, for Fantasy and Sci-Fi. So, it seems that whilst I’m happy to sell them, I feel like I’m selling a bit of myself as well;
- Legend by David Gemmell – memory of reading it on a train during my first ever trip to London; only £3
- Darksun Trilogy – memory of reading them across a week of training courses away from home; only £6
- Cyborg Command Trilogy – part of the great, late Gary Gygax gaming series from the late eighties – memory of reading them a couple of weeks leading up to Christmas 1989 ( I didn’t know that I’d have moved out of my parent’s house by the next one); only £6
- Dragonlance books – too many to pick out individual books, but they kept me awake for many nights throughout the eighties and nineties.; only £3
So, as you can see whilst I felt for the owner of that writing book back in 2013, it’s my turn to pass on some of my dreams and memories.
However, I won’t be too sad if they don’t actually sell 🙂
amuteforamuse 