Second Hand Book Store

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
21
Well it's pretty on-topic so I guess I can mention my own business........

We at www.english-book-service.com are just on the German/Swiss border - around 40 minutes from Zürich. We offer a huge number of new english books on our web site - but apart from that we have a shop here in Waldshut-TIENGEN where we sell and exchange mainly English language (but also german) books. We have a standard price for English second-hand books on our shelves of EUR 2,50 each.

Alternatively you can bring books in (any book as long as condition is good or better) and swap on a 2-for-1 basis for anything in our second-hand section. We are currently trying to build up our stocks of second-hand english books and book donations are also very gladly received (we pay postage of course).

Be very happy to see any fellow forum members on an excursion across the border !

Cheers

Ritchi

22
I agree completely. We've found some really great things there.

There's a BücherBrocky in Zurich, too. Just down the street from the Zurich location, there's another huge used book store. I'm not sure of the name of it, but if you are facing the Zurich BücherBrocky, walk left over the bridge and towards the next tram stop. About midway between tram stops, on the left hand side, there is another used book store. It is set back from the road by a garden center. I've found some very interesting things there.

Alternatively, I'm getting rid of three Migros bags of books, take a look for my post about it from over the weekend

23
BookMooch is a great site! Thanks for the tip, I have signed up already

24
Another (English) site that is very possibly the biggest secondhand bookshop in Europe is http://www.bookbarn.co.uk/ . The guy that runs this is a personal friend of mine and he has 2 or 3 warehouses with about 5 million secondhand books, hardback and paperback. If you're leaving the UK it's worth taking any stuff you don't want to him, depending on what it is you'll get cash for them. They'll also send you any vbooks you want at very reasonable rates and the huge selection usually means you'll find what you want.

RS

25
Ok, I am going to give this another plug, because I signed up a few days ago and already have three books sent to me. Basically, you can already receive a book free if you list a mere 10 of your books in the swap catalogue as pointed out above. In my example, I am sending a book to the US, which costs me 10 CHF, and I get three books in Switzerland for free, because a book in your country costs you only one point, whereas you earn three points if sending outside of Switzerland. But it would be nice if more people sign up since there are not yet many members in Switzerland.

To give an example, here is how your list would look (this one is mine)

http://www.bookmooch.com/m/bio/ahdijk

or complete list:

http://www.bookmooch.com/m/inventory/ahdijk

26
as an avid Book Moocher I must agree with Muse7. I tried to plug this site a while back- and apathy prevailed !!

I have been using it for some months now, and not only is it kinda addictive, but worthwhile. I get nearly 2 for 1 at the moment (sent about 6, receiving about 12), although obviously that can't go on forever. But the more of us in Switzerland, the easier it is to swap books locally :> so join up and make the swiss contingent big !!

27
Ashley, what is your bookmooch user name?

28
Hey there.

I know you're looking for cheap english books in Zurich, but here's a great tip, just in case you happen to be in the area. I was walking through Bern one day and I came upon a cool little used bookstore. Problem is, I can't exactly remember the name of the place. Maybe somebody else can help us out. Regardless, it's on the same stretch as the Rathaus (I think that translates into City Hall), on the same side of the street. And I think it's either the Löwen or the Bären bookstore.

Here's the thing that really got my attention, though. I might never have noticed the store in the first place if it weren't for the sign in the window that said "All English books, Chf1.-". So I went in and got ten books for ten Francs. Good deal. The guy working there told me that they've always got books coming in, so the selection's not bad.

Happy reading!

29
Heya

Well feel comforted in the fact that Orell Füssli has the same prices and sometimes cheaper prices than books in Australia!! I was shocked when I was there in January to find out that I had to pay AUD20 for a normal sized paperback!! Gone up in 1 year!! Used to be about AUD15-17 per book.....

Enjoy

kt

30
Is that Bern shop west or east of the rathaus, and is it in a cellar or on the normal level?

31
- a little bit west, on the street level, I think you mean Bucher Eule or the one next door to it. Opposite the Rathaus there is also a book shop, an antiquariat, with no English books.

For general buying and selling of items in Switzerland, join groups.yahoo.com/group/SwissSwapandShop . It has 700 members.

Typically posters just mail the list of their books.

You can also “set books free” for others to pick up and read, see www.bookcrossing.com .

See www.librarything.com - a great place to list your books. All you have to enter is the author or title, then identify the book, and you get a picture of the cover, links to Amazon, and all bibliographic details.

Places to find English second hand books in Berne

with my guesses as to how many they carry

Aare-Buchantiquariat / Ali-baba's Bücherhöhle / Bücher-Brockenhaus Bern, Rathausgasse 34, 3011 Bern – about 200 in English

BärnerBrockiPlus - Pappelweg 24 3013 Bern - about 3000 books, perhaps 200 in English

Blaues Kreuz, Freiburgstr., about 3000 books, 200 in English

Bookshop Monbijoustr. 14? – address ...

Emmaus Brocante, Bahnstrasse 44, 3008 Bern - about 3000 books, about 200 in English

Heilsarmee Brocki, Bümplizstrasse 35, 3027 Bern - about 2000 books in German, roughly sorted, many for children, but only about 100 in English and 100 in French

HIOB International Grossbrockenstube, Wangenstrasse 57, 3018 Bern - about 4000 books, well sorted, about 300 in English

HIOB International Brockenstube, Pappelweg 10, 3013 Bern - about 2000 books, about 100 in English

Red Cross, Werkstrasse 18, 3084 Wabern/BE, about 1000 books, 100 in English

The most popular source is the regular book sale of St Ursula’s Church, Jubileumsspatz, where you can also drink a cuppa tea, have lunch, or purchase British food. The next sales are March 1, May 31, August 30, and November 28-29 at the Christmas Bazaar. Bring what you can in advance (paperbacks only, in good condition) and buy your next supply.

Y ou can exchange books at the English-Speaking Club, www.englishclub.ch ,

they have about 400 which go in and out.

For information on events in Berne, see expat.meetup.com/174

Graham

32
Hello,

I have a stack of old books that I need to get rid of as I'm moving. Mostly travel books from the 1960s and 2000s. Also coffee table books from the 60s and a couple of cookery books. Please PM me if you would like these.