I want to buy more music and books, but most book/music store prices are too high for it to be affordable to buy several records or books at a time. So please suggest stores in the lower mainland, and the typical price they charge. I’m into mostly mainstream stuff, so I wouldn’t really be interested in indie stores.
Thanks.
For books, Book Warehouse is your friend. Everything’s at least 20% off the cover price, and if you’ve got the time and patience to dig through the remainder bins you can often make some great finds for $5 or less. The main drawback is that they mostly just carry new releases and remainders or damaged books, so the selection can be unpredictable.
And I generally buy my cds at A&B Sound (new releases $13-14, older stuff as low as $10).
Hope that helps.
Oh, and head on over to MPSIMS Aslan. rjk’s trying to organize a Vancouver Dopefest, but no one’s responding, so I figured I’d do my bit to spread the word.
I shall check that out, thanks.
half.com is great (wherever you live) and so are the Used sales on Amazon. They’re backed by Amazon’s guarantee so it’s safer than eBay, I feel, which is also another place to check out. But on Amazon it’s not an auction, and the prices are sometimes amazingly low for a beat-up paperback well worth reading, or a previously played cd.
I always liked Tanglewood books (although they moved some locations last year). For cheap CDs, The place on Granville just south of Robson is good. Charlie’s or something like that.
I second the suggestion of Book Warehouse as a good place to look for cheap books. Tanglewood is also very good for used books.
For music, the A&B and Virgin are good for cheap CD’s, especially new releases and old classics. On the other hand, shopping there also contributes to the overall Wallmart-ization of the world. For local and indie music I suggest you support local and indie stores such as Red Cat Records and/or Zulu Records
I know you said Lower Mainland, Aslan, but if you do find yourself escaping the vortex of the Scarlet Woman of BC, and make it over to the Island:
Books:
Munro’s Books on Government Street: http://www.munrobooks.com/
excellent staff, amazing selection: and the bargain stacks are some of the best for picking up offbeat cool stuff: really good hard and softcover books (nonfic included) for under $8!)
Poor Richards Books: more expensive, but in a cool old heritage house, run by a cool couple: and they’re going out of business, so everything is 40% off, so now worth checking out… http://www.poorrichardsbooks.com/
Music:
http://www.lylesplace.com/ I used to work there in the dim, dark past, as a used LP cleaner and pricer…good for used CDs and LPs and stuff.
When I’m on a strict budget (like now, for instance) VPL is my friend. Browse for what you want at home, place a reserve, get an automated phone call in a few days after the friendly folks have moved it to the branch that’s closest to your doorstep. Books, CD’s, videos, all free.
Of course, if you want to keep 'em, I’d have to second Book Warehouse – especially their “bargain” section. I blush to think of how many great hardcovers I’ve fished out of there in the $3 to $6 range, and sometimes they have “poor math skills” deals that are irresistable–Eg:[ul][li]Get 5% off any three books in this section.[]Get 10% off any four books in this section.[]Get 25% off any five books in this section.[/ul]Since that section often has tiny little gift books for $1, you can often pick up four of those plus the book you actually want for substantially less than you’d pay for the (already marked down) book on its own. Nothing like grabbing a book with a cover-price of $39.99, plus a bunch of other stuff, for less than a sawbuck. Whee![/li]
Of course, then you have to go spend three times as much at several independents to chase away the guilt, if you’re anything like me.
There’s a store on Granville Street downtown, between the end of the bridge and Davie street, called something like ABC Comics (I’m really guessing at the name there, but it is definitely something about comics). I always thought they sold, well, comics, but one day I went in there and discovered that they also sell used books. There selection of novels is really good, and it is more organized than a lot of used book stores, so you can find stuff.
There’s also a good used book store on Commercial Drive, but I can’t remember where abouts. Crap.
As much as I hate to promote them, A&B does have good prices on their cds. Charlie’s, up on Granville, used to have decent prices as well but the last time I went in there they seemed to have raised them a bit. They also seemed to price their cds blindly so if you knew your labels, you knew it was cheaper to get them brand-new.
I also used to frequent the pawn shops along Hastings. Oh, and is Stealtown/Crosstown still on Pender on the same block as A&B Seymour? He used to have good stuff.
As for books, as said above, Book Warehouse is always a good bet. There’s also Pulp Fiction near Main and Broadway and a whole slew of used book stores around Richards/Pender streets.
Thou art correct. They used to have a really cool mural outside, but they moved across the street.