Surfing the Stacks

Locating a rare or out-of-print book often requires several time-consuming trips or at least phone calls to used-book stores around town.

Browsing through used-book store sites online, however, produced not only the book I was looking for on a recent occasion, but a choice of several copies.

Though the sites lacked the ambience of their sometimes cozy, sometimes musty bricks-and-mortar counterparts, each had multiple copies of the book I wanted--journalist Russell Baker’s out-of-print memoir “The Good Times”--ranging from a $70 signed first edition to a 10-cent hardback.

Unable to flip through the books myself, I had to rely on the booksellers’ comments to determine their condition. That turned out to be no problem. Those described as being “very good” were indeed very good. Even those noted as yellowed or smudged were better than expected.

Buying a used book usually means a significant savings over buying a new copy. In most cases, the copies of “The Good Times” found online sold for less than their original cost. (A slightly worn paperback from Barnes & Noble cost a few cents more.)

But shipping costs often wiped out bargains. The dealer who sold me the book for 10 cents charged $4 for shipping. In fact, shipping costs of $3 to $4 were the norm.

The best-known new-book site, Amazon.com, at https://www.amazon.com, also features inventory from used-book sources. When I submitted a search for the Baker book, the site returned a list of copies and the merchants who sold them. Although Amazon handled the monetary transaction, I received the shipment from the used-book dealer.

Barnes & Noble, at https://www.barnesandnoble.com, did not identify its dealers at point of sale. Although the site lists the dealers for which it handles used books, I was never told from which mine was obtained.

Other online used-book services had little involvement in the purchase transaction. BookFinder.com, at https://www.bookfinder.com, provided a list of copies and sites where they were sold. When I selected the least expensive copy (30 cents), the site took me to https://www.half.com to complete the purchase.

Advanced Book Exchange, at https://www.abe.com, did less. The site sent a New Jersey merchant an e-mail notifying him that I was interested in purchasing the book, but I had to follow up with a confirmation e-mail and send him a check. Since the merchant did not ship the book until he had received my payment, it was the last of the orders to arrive.

Alibris, at https://www.alibris.com, is devoted to finding “hard-to-find” books. Its search engine is one of the more advanced; in addition to author and title searches, it can locate a book by ISBN number, publisher or publication date.

A $6 paperback was the least expensive copy offered on the site and one of the more expensive ones I purchased. However, it was in the best condition of those I received.

The only site that truly disappointed was Powells.com, at https://www.powells.com. Although it indicated it had the book, it did not process my order immediately. I received an e-mail four days later saying the book had sold out.

The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Assn. of America performs online book searches at https://www.abaa.org, although my search there yielded mostly higher-priced collectors’ copies. Its international counterpart, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, checks the collections of bookstores around the world at https://www.ilab-lila.com.

*

Times staff writer Christine Frey covers personal technology.