Sunday 7 October 2007

The book fair

This is a post for the future, as the book fair has already happened on Saturday.
Every beginning of term the Students' Union (SU) organizes a not-for-profit used text book sale in the end of week 1. It surely is a great place to get the books that you need for a very good price.
Below some observations that I made:

  • Arrive early. I arrived at 9:50, and this was good. I was one of the first 50 people to have their pick. The fair opened at 10:00 and by 10:20 the best offers were gone. By 10:30 there were thousands of people queueing.
  • Cheapest books are on top. You will find different tables with piles of the most popular books. In those cases, the ones on the top are the cheapest, so it is easy and quick to grab what you need. If you want a book in a good condition, grab a bit lower in the pile.
  • Take cash with you. Only cash accepted.
  • Make a list of what you need and prioritize. You won't have much time to decide.
  • Be prepared to get an older edition. I got two books, both of them are not the newest edition, but one before. But, for 5 and 3 pounds each instead of 45 or 50, it was really a no brainer.
  • Be prepared to spend more than the bargains described above. If you get a book which costs 45 pounds for 25, it is still a win-win situation for you and the seller.
  • Take a strong bag with you.
  • I hear that we are going to have something similar this week at WBS.
  • Ah, yes, very important: take good company with you.
Well, that's it for now. Let me grab my new (usede) Accounting book and do some work.

0 comments:

Post a Comment