How to Find a Rare Book or an Out-of-Stock Book?
People read so little nowadays that print runs are shrinking. It’s becoming more and more common for books to go out of stock despite demand. So what can you do? Where can you buy them without paying a fortune? Here are my tips. I’m not sponsored; all the sites mentioned are ones I use myself.
I know many people just check a few retailer sites and quickly conclude ‘it’s out of stock.’ But even with their massive warehouses, Amazon and Fnac don’t have every book in the world. An out-of-stock notice on those sites doesn’t mean much.
The simplest solution is to check out https://www.chasse-aux-livres.fr/, a book price comparison site that scans well-known platforms and also shows the book’s condition and shipping costs. Most of the time, a quick search on this site will immediately find your book. What’s also great is that they display the original price of the book. Also, sometimes a book is out of stock under one ISBN, but there’s a reissue under another ISBN you might not know about. For example, on this one, the first ISBN shows crazy prices on Amazon, but on Chasse aux Livres, you see all editions, and for this new edition, the lowest price is barely higher than the original price (59 euros). What’s the business model of this site? Every link is affiliated. If you make purchases through these links, you pay the listed price, not a cent more, but the selling site will pay a small commission to Chasse aux Livres. So everyone’s happy. The design is a bit outdated, but what matters is that it works.
Next, you can go directly to the publisher’s website. Small publishers don’t like sharing commissions with big retailers. I buy the book ‘Carrés d’art’ every time it comes out. It goes out of stock very quickly on Amazon and Fnac, but there’s always plenty of stock at the publisher, and people don’t always know that. Recently, I was able to buy ‘Parisian Gentleman’ directly from Eyrolles’ website. This book, out of stock everywhere, magically reappeared on Eyrolles’ site at the end of 2024 only to go out of stock two days later. So don’t hesitate to regularly check publishers’ websites (if they’re not covered by ‘Chasse aux Livres’).
For old books that don’t even have an ISBN, I really like using https://www.livre-rare-book.com/ It gives me the chance to support local bookshops without leaving my home. Each bookseller lists their catalog on the site, and you can search. Sometimes I find the book I’ve been coveting just around the corner without even knowing it. However, since these are booksellers, their prices are fair and truly reflect the rarity and condition of the book. Beware of sellers from Switzerland, because you’ll have to pay astronomical taxes on any package coming from Switzerland.
How does it work? You add a book to your cart and place an order. When the bookseller confirms they have the book, you can then pay for the book plus shipping. But you can also go knock on the bookseller’s door directly since the addresses are clearly listed on the site. When I ordered through this site, I received invitations to the rare book fair in Paris (worth about 20 euros), which is nice (at least that’s what I got; I don’t know if they do it every year).
It’s the same principle, but for modern books: https://www.leslibraires.fr/
Then you always have options like Le Bon Coin or Vinted. On Le Bon Coin, you can set up an alert and receive an email as soon as someone sells your coveted book on the site. On Vinted, there’s no alert feature, so you have to check regularly. Be careful: on Le Bon Coin and Vinted, people often list the ISBN incorrectly, so rely on the title. I found 3 of the 4 volumes (Pléiade edition) of In Search of Lost Time on Le Bon Coin, negotiating a few euros here and there. It cost me less than buying secondhand from Fnac or Gibert. Le Bon Coin is great for finding Pléiade editions because they’re often from private sellers who don’t read them, and the books are in excellent condition. I even found a guy selling slipcases and protective plastic covers for Pléiade books.
And my last source of rare books is auction sites. I have several alerts set up on Interenchères (which I talked about here). The downsides are (1) the condition of the books isn’t well described, (2) if you live far away, you can trust their shipping service, but it costs between 50 and 80 euros per package. If you’re buying a heavy book, good luck! (3) They take commissions between 20% and 30%. So the books I’m interested in cost around 60 euros at auction, and 250 euros on rare book sites. However, once I add all the fees (shipping, commission), the book comes to 128 euros, still cheaper, but you have to factor in all these calculations and cross your fingers that the book is in good condition. Often, the price is below the book’s market value, so you’ll also be competing with other booksellers or collectors.
Well, I hope I’ve given you some useful info. Happy book hunting!
