what is the best place to purchase cheap and used books?

I've recently bought a few books off of ebay. I have been looking for some Anne McCaffrey books. I have already read most of what she has in print but The Dragonriders of Pern is a particular favorite and I reread books from that series all the time so I have decided to start my own collection.

Over here, the major bookstores such as Borders, Kinokuniya and others are quite expensive. So I usually get my books from Payless - this is a used/second hand bookstore. However for other books on management and technical materials, I still have to go the major bookstores.

i find that garage sales and thrift stores are a great place to get a good variety of books. garage sales may not give you a great deal of variety, but you will get them pretty cheap, thrift stores are great for variety but somewhat more pricey like $3 for used hard cover books.

I was going to suggest amazon but then saw you already know about that. Usually amazon sells used books and those are cheap. If its not cheap enough though you can always find out if there are any local used book stores. The closest one near me is an hour away. Not worth it to me.

Ever been to Half-Price Books? It's a used book store, and the books aren't in newly printed condition, but they're always in pretty good condition and very cheap. I once got a book there for 16 cents. (It was a really good book too, they just had too many copies of it.) I've also been able to get a hard-cover encyclopedia there for 3 bucks. It was a really good deal. You should see if you can find a Half-Price Books in your area.

Where I live has a Friends of the Library, it is an organization that sells beeks that have been donated and the proceeds go to the local library to buy new books and stuff like that. I have also found some really great ones at garage sales and since it is getting warmer there will be many on the weekends. There is also a chain called Half Price Books that might be near you.