Where to Go to Get Used

Where do you go when you want to get hot and sweaty with fellow bookworms? The Friends of the Library Bi-Annual Booksale, of course. Yesterday marked the start of the spring sale, and people were out in droves. As I got to the large, un-airconditioned warehouse, I met Hot and Daniel who were already in line to pay. See, I'd forgotten to set my alarm to meet the 9 a.m. start time, and I didn't roll into Dodge until around 10:30. Talking with Hot and Daniel made me regret not having showered but only for a nanosecond. In this sort of pushy, grasping environment, BO can be your friend and a useful purchasing tool. (Curses! Should have worn patchouli-scented lotion of death!)

I was reminded of the competitive nature of this book-shopping experience as some five-foot-five woman pushed in front of me to look over the bookshelf I was already perusing. Rule of thumb: if you're not willing to muscle in, someone else will be. While we were all really happy to be there, intoxicated by the low, low prices of books, there are no guarantees about what is available, so it behooves one to move quickly. As I hit my book-gathering stride, I mentally patted myself on the back for finding so many interesting books. Then, I looked over at a fellow book-buyer who had a bar-code scanner hooked up to her cell phone. Man, I thought, I am going about this the wrong way.

FOL sells donated books for around $.50 to about $3.00. I've never bought a book for over two dollars. But, if you find a worthwhile and well-conditioned book, you can theoretically resell it to a resale store or on Amazon.com which is why a bar-code scanner and internet access pay off. Dusty Milhauser did this for awhile and said that it's a very competitive industry but that one can make a lot of money doing it. Sometimes, I wish that person were me.

When I was done shopping, I checked my laundry basket and headed for the "15 items or fewer" line. This essentially means that I didn't find anything incredibly useful. Even so, I paid a grand total of $17 for 14 books, and that ain't hay. Now, the only thing left to do is wait it out until Wednesday—$.10 day.