That time I swapped a signed copy of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' for a beat-up cookbook

I brought this pristine Gaiman hardcover to the swap meet at the Maplewood library last Saturday, and ended up trading it to a guy who told me it was his grandma's favorite and he wanted to make her banana bread recipe, but then his girlfriend messaged me later saying he just sells rare books on eBay... has anyone else gotten burned by a swap that felt too good to be true?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.robin6d ago

That Gaiman book usually goes for 50 bucks easy online, that's rough.

torres.grant5d ago

Fifty bucks is wild for a paperback, especially when you think about how many copies they probably printed. I've seen that same edition at thrift stores for like five dollars a couple years back, before the show really blew up and everyone started hunting for it. The whole book market is just weird like that, you never know what's going to randomly spike in value and what's going to sit on a shelf forever. Makes me wonder how many people actually end up paying full price for those inflated listings versus just waiting for a reprint or a cheaper copy.