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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Old guidebooks - keep or bin?

15 replies

Sallybegood · 08/12/2023 20:13

Currently on the declutter. AIBU and wasteful to think that e.g. a 20 year old Rough Guide to London or Paris will be too out of date to be useful (in my opinion), and take it to the charity shop? How long do you keep them? And do you even buy them any more, now that so much info is online?

YABU - London is a historic city and lots of the info will still be useful, you can supplement with the internet for a more up to date guide to what’s happening now

YANBU - so much has changed in that time particularly with the pandemic, and you have the internet/google maps, so get rid of the old guidebooks

OP posts:
CaptainMyCaptain · 08/12/2023 20:17

I went to another country (the place of my birth when my Dad was working with the RAF) with my parents' guide book from 1955. The people there were fascinated with it and one tour guide photocopied the whole thing. Keep it!

crackfoxy · 08/12/2023 20:19

CaptainMyCaptain · 08/12/2023 20:17

I went to another country (the place of my birth when my Dad was working with the RAF) with my parents' guide book from 1955. The people there were fascinated with it and one tour guide photocopied the whole thing. Keep it!

Love this Captain!

Riva5784 · 08/12/2023 20:21

If they are too out of date to be useful, just recycle them. Don't bother taking to a charity shop, they won't sell if they are that old. My rule of thumb is to ask, is it something people would pay money for? The point of charity shops is to make money for the charity.

ChickenGotLegs · 08/12/2023 20:22

I work in a charity bookshop and any travel guides older than 2 years get recycled, they are too out of date unfortunately. 😕

StarlightLady · 08/12/2023 20:32

Recent “old”, no use at all unless it’s sprcific specialist. For example The Acropolis or The Coliseum, then maybe not.

user628468523532453 · 08/12/2023 20:34

Recycling bin.

RestingCatsArseFace · 08/12/2023 20:47

Check Ebay, some people collect such things, depending on age and condition. Athough having suggested that, it is difficult to find anything on there these days, they seem to have removed all functioning search terms for everything. Old bookshops used to sell them too, collectors stuff.

AnnaMagnani · 08/12/2023 20:48

Even the charity shop is not going to want a 20 yr old guide book.

Bin it.

LiamNeesonIsADerryGirl · 08/12/2023 20:50

You could check if your local reference library would have a use for them?

Original poster
Sallybegood · 08/12/2023 21:28

ChickenGotLegs · 08/12/2023 20:22

I work in a charity bookshop and any travel guides older than 2 years get recycled, they are too out of date unfortunately. 😕

Wow seriously? Two years? I think that’s a bit OTT tbh. Ten years then yeah, fair enough.

OP posts:
Pifful · 08/12/2023 21:30

20 years not old enough to be interesting so bin.
If they were 70 years or more then might be novelty value

5foot5 · 08/12/2023 21:38

Couple of years ago we had a big book cull and got rid of several hundred books.

Anyway, I used a couple of apps (mainly webuybooks but also ziffit) to sell some of them. There were a few old guide books and absolutely nobody wanted any of them. In the end I didn't even send them to the charity shops I just recycled them.

Somewhat to my surprise the same applied to old recipe books, even "celebrity" ones.

SwordToFlamethrower · 08/12/2023 23:04

Put it on free Facebook marketplace

10HailMarys · 08/12/2023 23:57

They're not old enough to collectible and they're not new enough to be useful. Recycle them.

CoatOfArms · 14/12/2023 17:30

If it's too out of date to be useful, why do you think a charity shop would want it?

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