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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

(disclaimer: bit of a non issue) choosing a book

27 replies

NoIdeaWhatItMeans · 15/09/2021 16:01

I came across a beautifully illustrated hardback book, in an old fashioned style. I checked it wasn't being sold elsewhere for a cheaper price and think I've found the best deal, and it's currently sitting in the basket.

It's intended to be a gift for a close friends, and it's a classic. I'm trying to convince myself that I should get the best version I can find. I know it will last a bit longer in comparison to a paperback without developing lines so it can be given away again as it's likely to only be read a few times at most, and I know my friend wouldn't mind if I get a cheap or expensive vesion, but I still think it'd be a nice thing to get them especially as they don't have very many nice things.

On the other hand, the difference between the one I have chosen and the cheaper versions are £10-15.

Admittedly, I've chosen them two other items and the basket already comes to £50 which e so I want to cut the cost down and not spend too much unnecessarily.

Does it really matter if I get a cheap version or not? It feels stingy

OP posts:
scottishnames · 15/09/2021 18:08

Am all for giving books as gifts - second hand versions of beautiful books perfectly OK and possibly very special indeed - but don't people know that Abe Books is a subsidiary of Amazon?

www.abebooks.co.uk/about/?cm_sp=Ftr--Home--about1

MasterBeth · 15/09/2021 19:24

@GreyhoundG1rl

Second hand books can absolutely be given as gifts. Especially beautifully illustrated/bound ones. Very odd to think once a thing has been lightly used it no longer has any value.
“Handing on” a book you have loved is a lovely gesture, but it could be a tatty paperback - the gift is the experience, not the object.

But if you are giving an “object” as a gift, it’s odd to give a book you’ve already read. It’s not that it has no value, but it’s just… odd.

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