Now I know this is only a relatively small thing, but the fact that Mollie’s Used Book Store had very reasonable pricing these last 10 years and I could regularly pick up bargains there, well, that was a considerable part of my meager social life. Imagine my astonishment, my dismay, when I visited yesterday and discovered that books which would previously have been marked up for TWD63 were now retailing for TWD189. And so ended my long and passionate association with Mollie’s. There’s not really anywhere else to satisfy my need for used books here now (Ya books way too expensive, Whose in Shilin too far away). A sad day.
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Good excuse to go digital.
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Bookstores with actual storefronts in Taipei are getting savaged nowadays. Several prominent ones (including Eslite) are closing their main branches; others (including the inimitable 台灣e店—apologies for the missing diacritic) have been chased out of the university district due to increases in rent.
I don’t know about Molly’s situation, but I would encourage you to perhaps chat with the manager at your preferred branch to see what is happening before you cut all ties. They are likely dealing with financial issues too.
Guy
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I do. And have to wait 6 weeks for each book to arrive.
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Or a library, or better yet a digital library!
Of course I use that for my academic work, and I am also a member of the NTU library, but while LibGen has some fiction, it’s not feasible to be reading novels on a screen at the rate I can read them on paper.
You can’t turn the pages as fast? 
Bookdepository.com offers some options though not 2nd hand prices. I always enjoyed the Book-Off’s in Japan but options were getting less already pre-pandemic.
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Weird, I often find Ya books has cheaper stuff.
Mollie has this thing when they open their warehouse every 3 months. That’s when you get the bargains.
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Yeah, turning the page on an ebook is much faster.
Most new releases come out in print and digital at the same time too.
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Lining up for hours for that yielded nada last time.
What I would really like is to just buy a few collections/large lots off people. I did manage to buy a suitcase full of books through Facebook marketplace that way.
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It used to be that the American School and European School fairs were great spots for buying bulk books from expats leaving/doing exchanges. Alas, those activities have been held back due to COVID-19.
I haven’t found great bargains online, to be honest. Sigh.
Seems we agree it is a bit difficult finding reasonably priced 2nd hand books.
Not sure how far out of your way this os but they usually have second hand books for ok prices.
I can send you the address if you’re interested
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The address is literally in the photo.
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Thanks, never seen this place. And I lived in that area for years…
I had loads of books that I just got rid of, ah well.
Start your own used book store if you can go through them quickly enough!
Or sell them to Mollie’s
I noticed that after I posted my reply hahaha