# How can I buy remaindered books directly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117 "2008-11-10T23:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/1 "2008-11-10T23:10:37Z")
I’m really into buying remaindered books for cheap; they’re brand new but significantly cheaper than paying full retail price. The problem is that I have to wait for them to show up in random, arbitrary batches at one of several local stores, and I never know when new batches will suddenly show up. Is there any way to buy remaindered books directly from the publishers, or somehow more directly than waiting for them to show up in specialty discount stores? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/2 "2008-11-10T23:41:23Z")
I’m interested, too, for different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/3 "2008-11-10T23:59:52Z")
I thought that you’re not supposed to be able to buy those, and their availability was only due to leaks in the system? You know, the wording inside books asking you to report purchases without covers? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/4 "2008-11-11T00:11:20Z")
Nah, remainders keep their jackets. You can get em on Amazon marketplace all the time. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/5 "2008-11-11T00:14:29Z")
My only experience was in buying a $60 reference book off of abebooks for $10, with a black magic marker line down the exterior of the pages. Didn’t interfer with the book. I don’t know if that would help? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/6 "2008-11-11T00:14:47Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I thought that you’re not supposed to be able to buy those, and their availability was only due to leaks in the system? > > You know, the wording inside books asking you to report purchases without covers? I think you’re thinking of [stripped books](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripped_book). As for buying remaindered books directly from the publishers, my guess is that they don’t want to sell them one copy at a time. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/7 "2008-11-11T00:43:11Z")
[Edward R. Hamilton](http://www.edwardrhamilton.com/) sells a bajillion of them. [Daedalus](http://www.daedalusbooks.com/) picks out fewer titles. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/8 "2008-11-11T00:45:40Z")
> [@](#): > > As for buying remaindered books directly from the publishers, my guess is that they don’t want to sell them one copy at a time. Probably true. When the paperback copy comes out, it’s relatively easy to load all the hardcovers into a truck and sell them to a remainder outlet. Keeping them on hand and trying to sell them one copy at a time at the same cost wouldn’t justify the overhead. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/9 "2008-11-11T01:02:13Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [Edward R. Hamilton](http://www.edwardrhamilton.com/) sells a bajillion of them. > > [Daedalus](http://www.daedalusbooks.com/) picks out fewer titles. I’ve been buying from edward r hamilton for many years and long before the Internet. I have found some really interesting things, as well as some really boring things. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/10 "2008-11-11T01:47:40Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [Edward R. Hamilton](http://www.edwardrhamilton.com/) sells a bajillion of them. > > [Daedalus](http://www.daedalusbooks.com/) picks out fewer titles. You beat me to it. I’d also add [www.bookcloseouts.com](http://www.bookcloseouts.com). And Barnes & Noble sells discounted/remaindered books both in their stores and on their website. ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/11 "2008-11-11T03:02:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You beat me to it. > > I’d also add [www.bookcloseouts.com](http://www.bookcloseouts.com). > > And Barnes & Noble sells discounted/remaindered books both in their stores and on their website. Edward R. Hamilton has been around, like, forever, sending out catalogs. I know I’ve gotten them periodically for at least 30 years, and I think closer to 40. And yep, “Barns & Cows” has huge discounted sections in every store of theirs I’ve ever been in. I think that [bookcloseouts.com](http://bookcloseouts.com) is probably the source with the largest selection. They have their own large website, and also list - as practically everybody does these days, even the remaining large “bricks and mortar” booksellers, such as Powell’s - on Amazon. When I’m looking for something specific, I check a bunch of different sites, including [abebooks.com](http://abebooks.com); not all of their member bookstores are cross-listed on Amazon. If you’re looking for something published in the UK, I’d recommend checking both abebooks’s and Amazon’s UK websites. And, of course, I check [eBay.com](http://eBay.com) and [half.com](http://half.com) (part of eBay, and you’ll see links to [half.com](http://half.com) at the bottom of eBay pages for things like books and music). bookcloseouts does sell some paperbacks, but NOT ones that have been stripped (front cover removed). It’s completely illegal everywhere in the U.S. to sell a PB with no front cover. Why? Because the retail booksellers are allowed to strip the front covers off of unsold PBs and send them back for credit from the wholesaler or publisher. They put the rest of each book in the dumpster. It seems a dreadful shame and waste. OTOH, when you think of some of the crap that gets published … of course, that stuff seems to sell better than a lot of far worthier reading. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/12 "2008-11-11T05:07:48Z")
Yup. I like Daedalus. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-buy-remaindered-books-directly/472117/13 "2008-11-11T12:38:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think you’re thinking of [stripped books](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripped_book). Ah, yes. Thank you for the correction.