MWUAHAH! i just wanted to post a first comment lol anyways yeah! second hand manga is awesome! ONE IT'S CHEAP! and i like to save money thats all the reason u need!
I'd rather buy something new than something that has already been used by another person, I dunno why though... It just feels like somethings missing or something... And LOL, I wouldn't dare buy second hand bukake-ed figures... But first hand stuff costs a bomb...
I buy used games all the time. When I can find one of those rare gems in the bargain bin, its like christmas.
man I wish they sold second hand manga here too >.< Most of the time, manga companies in the US use new paper instead of recycled paper, so manga goes from like $3 in Asia, to $11 in the US. So whole series can go up to the hundreds...maybe that's why people download it a lot instead of buying it
i like to keep my mangas in good condition so i may resell them if need be. most of the ones i haven't read are still in their plastic wrap. but i really don't mind buying second hand stuff as long as its in good condition. been trying to get my hands on the japanese import of to-love-ru, no luck though. i like the art style as its done by the mangaka of black cat. the story is very ecchi, pantsu shots and groping in every chapter. nice to hear about a store that sells manga for 100 yen each, over here the prices are inflated, new books can go from 8 to 18 CAD (roughly same as USD) each. and used ones are usually around 5 dollars each.
Hard off??? sounds kinda wierd and familiar... If that kind of shop was available in singapore i wouldn't think twice to get my manga fix from there, but, being singapore, of course it doesn't exist... and speaking of which, my country seems to be at a crossroad... older citizens try to extend the working lives of their stuff, while young adults nowadays don't even bat an eyelid at a slightly out-of-date washing machine sitting in the dump...
Beware of sticky pages. Nuff said. We have lots of used book stores here, but I doubt any have manga or anything japanese for that matter. We also have lots of second hand music stores. I don't usually buy second hand, but I have been known to buy used games off ebay if its dirt cheap or somethin I wanna try, but not sure about. That is all.
Don't know about second hand manga, but there are a lot of second hand cars over in the Philippines from Japan. They just get converted to left-hand-drive and run for easily another 5 plus years.
I used to only buy first hand items. However that mentally is changing now, and I've gotten some really good deals for second hand items. But if possible I would still prefer them brand new!!
You know, when videogames are impossible to find as new (including platinum/player's choice/best of, etc.), used ones are not something to bash on... as long as it works well (naturally) and that everything is there (including manuals) it's fine by me. Manga and anime follows the same trend for me. This said I'd inspect closely what is offered, as I don't want to end in regrets... And I'd simply say no to second hand figures... One of your posts on that has left me in despair. And if I were to live in Japan, you'd be sure I'd collect working appliances. No waste... and as long as it works, no complaints here (this would mean more money to buy otaku stuff). ^^
I was reading through a fanslation of To Love Ryu not too long ago and lost my place at some point, may need to pick it back up.
AHAHAH thats funny that you posted Book Off. There's one right by my house and I live in California.
I found a store that sells second hand figures a few days ago, was going to post it however unfortunately my blog site went boom, the service provider tells me it'll be up by the weekend. sure me wish I listened to you when you told me about resellers. T-T btw I loled on hard off, sound kind of dirty to me. ^^
I'd not known Book Off has stores in Japan; that was naive since how else could they supply us Manhattanites. Your photo looks exactly like the Manhattan store and here, also, people stand reading for hours. The shiny new Kinokuniya (includes lovely cafe overlooking Bryant Park) is 1 1/2 blocks west, so almost anything one fancies there can then be got at Book Off. Our Book Off has amazing cheap CDs that are otherwise hard to find. They're my source for Ken Ishii and Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Are there still public libraries in Japan?
k-books & mandrake are also good alternative.. or rather i would say better alternative for second hand/old stuff.. i got quite a few artbook and doujinshi there when i'm there for comiket 73 ..
another reason why i'm jealous. that price you pay there for second hand manga, even new ones is ridiculous. if i want to get my fix on uncensored(in the way of translation rather than depiction), japanese language manga, i'd have to pay about 11-12 EUR each! the german translated ones still/also cost like 6-12 EUR depending on pagecount. if only book off would sell those 2nd hand mangas online to gaijins^^
Man, our local Book Off in Vancouver charges double of that (2.00 CAD). For certain series, we have to pay like 6-7 CAD for (Popular series). Kinda blows.
It's all fine and good until you find that one piece of squished snot on one of the pages...
wow thats alot of mangas on the shelves. [,[
I really like 2nd hand stuff sometimes, cos there's probably a story behind... oh wait I'm not sure if I like "condensed milk stains" on the books if any tho LOL!
chun: I don't think that's condensed milk. :-)
@Apple Otaku: Noticed the quotation marks? For sure it's something else than condensed milk. ^^;
I prefer new over old. The only time I buy second hand goods, is... If I'll be using it as art reference and not preservation purposes.
Secondhand manga is a godsend. In the past I've bought it in Mandarake though. K-Books also has secondhand or deeply discounted ero manga. I wouldn't say "used" because I have suspicions as to what the otaku "use" ero manga for...
I'd buy second hand stuff if I can't afford it, or if I can't find it anywhere else.
I must have bought countless anime artbooks, mangas and dvds from Book Off, many close to brand new quality at less than half the original price. Can't do without it these days. :]
Ah... Toraburu. I love this manga xD the art is inarguably good since it's from the author of Black Cat. :) IMO Black Cat is one of the most awesome shounen mangas up to date.
Most of the time I would prefer getting second hand books. Most of the stores I visited had their second hand books/douijns at high quality but a cheap price. No point getting a first-hand unless it's like a camera lens, tenga or something ^^;
Heeee.. so generally status-conscious Japanese have begun to disregard their status-consciousness. Seems like ever since the bubble burst in 1989, life's been getting increasingly harder there, for most people. Income declining, living cost increasing, resulting in weaker consumer spendings which in turn dwarfing the nation's economic growth.. >_< This isn't good, I hope the Japanese government will be able to address this ASAP.
Many people buy now second hand stuff because the way economies are going people have lesser money to spend on new stuff which is expensive. I for one buy more second hand PS2 games than brand ones, bought the three onimushas for around 20€ all three and other sorts of stuff. If I remember correctly there is also one book off store in New York city, will probably go that store once I get to New York this summer
There is a Book off at paris. Good for magazines (old issue) and music (4 euros for cd) and DVDs, manga for 70% of the original price for the French versions (not very interesting), for the Japanese versions is more interesting.
All my PS2 games are second hand XD
Got some second hand anime DVDs and a few video games (I really hate buying 2nd hand games as it takes money away from the developers for usually little change in price) but all my manga is 1st hand. It just doesn't feel right, reading a 2nd hand manga. Plus, in the UK there aren't many shops which privide that as a 2nd hand product.
i buy 2nd hand books as long as it is still in good quality and there are no missing pages and such ^^;;; besides Mandarake and Book Off, what other stores that buy and sells 2nd hand manga and books? ^^
Second stuff FTW! All my vidjagames are second hand.
Indeed there is a Book Off in New York City, which I often pass by to get my favorite halal food platter. If I remember correctly it's just next to Fifth Avenue and 41st Street. They just had some new competition... The Kinokuniya bookstore that was in Rockefeller Center relocated about half a year ago to 6th Avenue.
thats awsome! all the bookstores near me never have the manga im looking for so i always have to spend and xtra 5 bucks to order them online...do they have an online store or a list of stores somewhere?
I do buy second hand, but only video games... I have a friend though that will buy anything used ( even clothes. uugggg!)
i don't buy 2nd hand figures or manga. i prefer them new. i don't mind 2nd hand games though.
No second hand for figures and manga! But i normally go for those home compliance or car parts like player and including some PC parts that can help me to built a server.
not for games or underwear, but pretty much everything i own is second-hand. who can argue with a pair of South Pole jeans for $2?
Wow Danny, you gotta be pretty balsy to buy used manga with that much fanservice. :P Any "glued" pages so far? :P Anyways, I'd buy several used stuff.. mangas, anime DVDs, comic books (in fact, I already did). Figures I wouldn't.. not only because of what the previous owner might have done, but because it would probably have something wrong with it... dirty, lacking pieces, or something like that. Also, lol on store name: HARD OFF.
Some things can be better when bought second hand, for example guitars need some time to break in and get their sound. A second hand guitar will already be broken in.
There's a Book Off in Costa Mesa as posted earlier and one in Gardena, California. I stop by every so often if there's manga that I want to check out but not pay full price for. I recently picked up High School of the Dead and some volumes of Dorotea for a few bucks each. Much cheaper than paying the $8 or so from buying them new at Kinokuniya.
Arent they doing this too boost their own economy. I mean by buying new products every so often, it drives the economy pretty well. I mean look at their auto industry, every 3 years or so they have to either get a new car or pay a "shaken" fee so that it can be used on the road, and every 2 years after that, it get quite expensive too from what I heard.
Similar to the Japanese people, I really hate buying second hand. Here it is probably too expensive to build a new house whenever you want, but I HAD to get a new car when I got my car last year, and I haaaate other second-hand things...but I have to say, if there was a Book-Off around here (NorCal) I would most definitely go there at least weekly to find rare or out of print books. I buy so many mangas that it couldn't hurt for me to buy some used. Also, I love ToLOVEru...I bought the first couple on separate trips and then the rest of them in one trip hehe.
Just like JoltFiend said, there are actually BookOff stores in Southern California as well so I visit them fairly often and purchase CDs, manga books and art books. There used to be Mandarake in my area 4-5 years ago and that's what got me into whole otaku field -_- What's worse(?) was that my friends worked at Mandarake and would let me inside of the ero doujinshi and ero manga which is something they don't do in Mandarake in Japan(but they have sample pic of inside of the doujinshi). And what's worse is that I bought so much stuffs that employees at Mandarake would just give me a scissor and let me browse thru the stuffs on my own... There was Animate in California as well but the location was bad IMO. It was located in Malibu among many other fashion clothing stores and it seemed really out of the place. What's funny about Animate is though that I went to USA Animate and their opening day and Keanu Reeve from Matrix Trilogy came too!!! That was my first time seeing movie celebrity up close ^^; Anyhow, as for the questions, I buy second hand goods a lot, A LOT. BookOff is my favorite(well, only Japanese manga place I can go here since Mandarake and Animate both closed their branch here) and whenever I go to Japan, I buy tons of used doujinshi and ero manga from various places. My friend did point out that who knows what those stuffs gone thru, but prices are so good that I buy mostly second hand goods. http://www.geocities.com/guiltygearsol/Japanbags.jpg Here is the sample how much stuffs I bought from my recent trip to Japan for Comiket 73. Over 4 bags plus a box full of goodies which is on its way from Japan(I had no more space so had to send some stuffs in box) over 100kg -_- Last time I check, that was about 600 doujinshis, pretty crazy...
I forgot to mention this below but I love To Love Ru too~ I liked the mangaka's last work Black Cat and I really like this whole love comedy approach he is taking. Yami from To Love Ru actually was a regular character from Black Cat series, I think author mentions it on comment section somewhere. And there are more To Love Ru doujinshis coming out and hopefully the next time I go to Japan, more quality To Love Ru doujinshis are out ^^
Nope, I'll admit that I haven't really boughten used stuff. Though when I buy things, I sometimes buy stuff in bulk (which ends up costing less), but generally speaking, I haven't. It's not to say that I don't buy because its cheap, but generally when things are sold to be 2nd hand goods, they are out of date. In that case, If I'm buying something, I'd prefer to keep ahead with the time. I mean, really, what's the point of buying and old computer(aside from possibly being an enthusiast) from 3-4 years back for example , which is about 2 generations behind considering the lifespan of computers now a days. If I bought something that old, I'd probably end up throwing it out soon anyways, and therefore, wouldn't consider this a wise purchase. Sometimes, people just can't wait long enough for their cravings to be satisfied however, but I find it more tasteful when I work hard and save long for something I desire, and even more so when I'm the first send of hands taking it out of the packaging :)
Theres a chain of book stores in my area called Half Price books, which sells used books, along with anime, manga, and games. I bought half of His and Her circumstances from there (considering that's what they had) and even bought some good DVD's on the cheap. Not sure how, but they had several NEW copies of Slayers NEXT and School Rumble 4 (the latter being 4 days earlier than release date), with both being $15. Now for a new copy of the entire second season of Slayers, non bootleg form for only $15, that was too hard to pass up.
Book-Off is AWESOME! We went to a Book-Off in Sanda and I wound up buying 4 Manga and a Returner photo magazine for about ¥550. I was impressed, and the people I stayed with were kind of surprised we have so many second hand stores here in the US where I live. I told them it was very common. When we go back, Book-Off is definitely on our shop-at list. :)
Second hand has become a world wide trend due to ebays success, hasn't it? Here in Germany there are yust a few shops which sell all kind of second hand stuff but something like a chain store doesn't exist. (As far as I know) I haven't bought a second hand thing so far...
I sometimes buy second hand if it's on two conditions, I'm broke, or it's really hard to find. I bought a used Final Fantasy soundtrack sometime back, and whoever owned it before me had apparently used it as a Frisbee, cause every single track would end up skipping...so after that I ended up pretty weary of buying second hand.
Apple Otaku I know it's not real condensed milk ROFLMAO probably the result from waxing the dolphin, like what Danny likes to say :P
The only things that I have bought second-handed are probably textbooks for college, and usually from friends. It's nice because they are way cheaper and they already have notes and annotations all over them, so it makes life a bit easier.
I got a fire-safe, ball bearing, locking file cabinet for $5 at Goodwill. Pretty nice if you ask me.
I used to work in a second hand store. Never had any manga come in though. was a bit rare to even see it about town those days. Got a lot of anime in though. Sadly the stores not about any more. I still buy the odd game second hand.
The store by my house AnimeNuts has a small shelf of second hand manga. While I would buy english manga second hand I wont do so in japanese since the japanese manga are printed in a lower quality paper than the translated english ones.
Book Off is an awesome place... It's a good place to waste three hours reading manga. Other than manga, I buy used video games...
living in vegas for a few years, and now okinawa, ive been in heavens for second hand goods. From guitars to amplifiers, sound/light equipment and my mark levinson sound system. I cant really knock on second hand stuff. As long as i get to test/inspect. Manga Souko is the place for me here on Oki.
well what can i say there's no such thing like that here in CA (not that i know of |if someone does about 1 please let me know!!|) & if i ever finf 1 i promise i'll go to church everyday hehe.... now about buyin used stuff, i only buy DVD's & PS2 Games they're really cheap here 4 example i bought 5 PS2 Gundam games 4 $5 each (sometimes they have sales like "BUY 1 GET 2 FREE") @ a store called GAMESTOP & i buy the DVD's @ a store called AMOEBA i bought the Star Wars collection 4 $50 GOOD PRICE eh?!
I buy second hand stuff all the times. Especially manga. The other day I got the whole karekano manga set for 92$. Thats more than 50% off. All in excellent condition.That book-off store sound awesome.
「ToLoveる」がベースとなったエロゲーが「とらぶるサッキュバス」らしいです。 http://www.marigold.co.jp/marine/succubus/index.html
Normally,I only buy second-hand games, but rare time buy things like mangas or DVDs.
I buy almost all of my games used, and i get all my manga from the library.
The price of manga in Japan isn't high enough for me to look for pre-pwned, unless it's a certain volume or series that's hard to find (unlikely). DVD's on the other hand are damn expensive so sometimes I have to give in and look to Book Off for some anime.
Yes I will buy second hand books (pending fair condition) because of the drastic drop in price here on campus. I purchased my Physics book for $10USD online when the bookstore charged $80USD used, $130 new! outrageous. Lucky for me Barnes and Nobles could get a copy of an out of date manual (AutoCad 2007 for dummies), if I couldn't have I would have went onlint to purchase the book second hand. The only time I consider buying new books is visiting the bookstore or when I need an engineering textbook. I prefer my manga new but I also like prices for used. I will always go after used first pending the book is in good condition and the prices are fair for what I am paying for.
I WORSHIP BOOKOFF. I spent the majority of my exchange year in that store any chance I got *was one of those people who stood and read for hours on end* plus it was chump change to buy an entire series of manga there or really rare books/mags. only time I bought new stuff was if it was something being released right then and there.
BOOK OFF is one of my favourite chains; they're practically everywhere (about 90 branches in Tokyo alone) and they tend to have great deals, especially for Europeans like me. :) However, it's a pity they were taken over by Tsutoya; the old yellow discount card has been discarded and the T-card is their new loyalty program. Can you tell us something about the T-card, Danny? I noticed Family Mart and a host of other chains carrying these cards, and I didn't find them useful just yet.
I frequent Book-off on a monthly basis and usually go there to pick up Magazines and artbooks primarily. Usually Gundam related. Sometimes I'll go for novels, manga, and graphic novels though. One of my first books at Book-off was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card for a single measly dollar. Can't beat that!
Nice. I should put that in my list of stores to visit when I get to Japan. I buy second hand stuff but make sure that they are in good condition. :D
Just discovered my "local" (at least it's close to where I always stay) Book Off in Harajuku has closed. That's a pity, because while Harajuku has e.g. no shortage of hair salons, bookstores are a bit thin on the ground.
