Over the Seas...

As a collector, I tend to look for the lowest price. With hypermodern
firsts, you *do* stand a decent chance of finding a copy of a title you want
in a thrift or at a garage sale, but another pattern is emerging for me that
seems to work very well.

Overseas.

I am told that a sales truism is that "Americans don't like to buy outside
of the USA". Several manufacturers in Vancouver that I know have US mail
boxes to facilitate replies to an American address. "We would lose sales if
we used our Canadian address", they tell me.

So, of recent, I have hunted for first in the UK, South Africa, Australia
and New Zealand. All have arrived, in promised shape and condition, and for
one quarter or less of the asking price for the same book, in the
same/similar condition from either American or Canadian sellers.

One writer I enjoy is Robert B. Parker. His first books are pricey, as one
might expect in today's marketplace. "The Godwulf Manuscript", his first,
normally heads up from $100. Mine came in from the UK at one third that
price, and mail costs were only fractionally above normal freight from the
USA. Another early Parker arrived from Australia for one-quarter the
American price. These are first American editions, not UK or Australian
ones.

Now, Parker is never complete - he keeps writing two or three books a year
and, as he says, all first draft with no outline, no revisions. I expect
that my collection will be complete-to-date in a few months and if I have to
pay through the nose for one or two, at least I know the rest came in at a
reduced cost.

Willow