Freemium at The Strand

The Strand runs an amazing and cool business as the iconic “7 miles of
books” used book shop in New York. It has all the charm of the
Parisian bouqinistes and I think it must be a gas burner (fine little
earner).

Out front the boxes of impressive looking volumes are only a buck. But
you have to go inside to pay. At which point the bookish lore of The
Strand name is stuck on lots of reasonably $10-priced totes.

But why not have a look at the shelves for another good deal?

In philosophy, only about 1 in 5 books is used, priced at $5 or so.
But some are collectibles at $30+. And every time there is a new
edition next to it, and a wide range of new books.

So I suspect these guys sell much more new gear than old.

Oh, and to the gullible: they will buy books too. As the sign says
“bought and sold”.

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