Bookstores can be daunting for readers and non readers alike. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small shop or a large chain bookstore, for some people one shelf can be overwhelming. Here are some things to keep in mind that might make the experience smoother and some you might not have known:
- Most bookstores, including second hand book stores have signs either on the book shelves themselves or hanging around the store that tell you what genre or age appropriate books are in what areas.
- Its not required but its a good idea to have a list or to keep in mind certain books you are looking for because once everything is in front of you the possibilities are endless and you just might forget why you came in the store in the first place. I implement this especially in second hand book stores because the selections are at most times unpredictable and it's easy for us booklovers to get carried away.
- Second hand bookstores may arrange their books in ways that a big chain stores would not. Bigger bookstores keep hardcover and paperbacks of the same books on the same shelf, but second hand bookstores have a bit more freedom. For example at Half Price Books, there are separate areas of the store dedicated to hardcover books and paperbacks. Because of this I often have to remind myself to check both sections. This bit of information is something I didn't know for the longest time and it has really helped me recently especially collecting old science fiction books.
- Don't be afraid to ask for help looking for a book if you don't know what part of the store it might be in. I’ve noticed that book store employees are less likely to come up and ask if a customer needs help then almost anywhere else but its not because they don't want to help you. Most employees are book lovers themselves and know that most of us like to be left alone when we are among bookstacks so we can adequately explore, or internally debating with ourselves about if we really need the whole stack of books we have been juggling for the last thirty minutes. But when you do ask for help on a certain book make sure you at least know title or author, searches can’t be done by book color.
- Bookstores don't just sell books anymore. Many different things can be bought at bookstores, such as: journals, CD’s, vinyl records, gameboards/card games, collectable figures and toys, comic books, coffee, snacks, etc.
- Second hand stores often have a section where they keep their rare or higher priced items. Sometimes these are shelves with locked doors and other times its the wall behind the registers. I highly recommend going and taking a look even on these shelves you can be surprised what you find.
- When going to sell your books to secondhand bookstores keep in mind that you won't get half of what you paid for the books in the first place. You are likely to get more from more relevant and in demand books then for what everyone was going crazy over last year. But sometimes money is money and you will take what you can get and don’t be ashamed of it.
