[Darth-Apple]

Yeah that's true, and it's pretty expensive to pay shipping if you actually want your books shipped in a reasonable period of time.

[Agandl]

It is true that on the face of it books are not cheep but it is all comparative. When I started out on my 1st career, 40yrs ago or so each text book cost my about 1/2 a months salary (I earned about £30/month and text books were £12 - £25) Now I am starting out on a new career and find that by giving up a daily newspaper I am able to afford about 1 text book a month just from that.

There are also libraries where you can access books 'for free' and get good information on the internet - plenty of peer reviewed stuff free or at a very reasonable price.

I read plenty of fiction too and by combining new and second hand I always have access to more than I need at a reasonable price.

One also has to consider that the authors need to earn a living so best sellers will always be available at a good price where as books prepared for a niche market will inevitably cost more just to cover cost let alone something over for the writers and researchers.

So no, on balance, I would not say books are over priced.

[3DWaffle1]

Books are massively overprice. It is not even fair to student making minimum wage or student loans. Ultimately, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

[Gmdykfuiygh66476]

That couldn't be anymore true. Which is a big part of the reason why I'm socially progressive

[Acko]

Yeah, in a capitalist society, it is extremely hard to get higher social class-wise.

[Agandl]

Used books usually are priced pretty well. Borders is nice, but I feel like they could have a better selection for those prices.

If I'm just picking up a book out of interest and want something good to read, a used book store is a great place to stop though. You can get some incredible deals for a great price at those places.

And now we are left with garage sales and used bookstores.

Neither of them will really help you find a specific book you need either. Textbooks, etc... are hard to come by in used stores.

At least there is amazon.

But on Amazon you have to pay shipping and handling.

We don't generally pay anything for shipping and handling books from Amazon in UK unless you want express delivery (Provided they are Amazon and not an associated company)