What Are You Doing Now?

[Chrissie777]

That's interesting, KEVP! I never considered that the USA knew what a loft was! I genuinely thought it was a 'British thing'! Well, you learn something new every day!

There was a time in the 1970's/1980's when many US movies filmed in New York City took place in a Manhattan loft (a huge room with a high ceiling which functioned as a living/sleeping/cooking area).

[IceMaiden]

If that's a parsnip it's a very creepy, smooth-looking parsnip

My thoughts exactly, it looks like some sort of rare albino carrot

[number 6]

Just been looking through a box from my attic & found this little book pictured below, dated 1988. A bit of a bonus, as I never knew I had it!

[Lucky Star]

Bit like finding a tenner down the back of the sofa.

[Katharine]

A nice reward for your efforts.

I've got one of those diaries somewhere, not sure where - definitely not in an attic or loft though.

[Katharine]

I've just been looking on E-bay at what is available in the Enid Blyton line. I can't believe the prices some people are asking for books. On the basis of one seller's prices, if I sold my collection of childhood Dean books, I'd be rolling in money! Do people really get conned into spending four figure sums for books which can usually be picked up from charity shops for a couple of pounds?

I notice that some of the rarer books have been on there for months and haven't sold, so even they must be a bit over priced, or maybe us collectors are a stingy lot.

[Rob Houghton]

Going by what I sell on eBay, people are often reluctant to spend over £10 for a book, and I sometimes feel I'm overcharging - but then again, as you say, by some standards my books are very cheap!

I have that Famous Five diary - had it for years, from a charity shop. I've even seen those being offered for about £20 on eBay!

[number 6]

Do people really get conned into spending four figure sums for books which can usually be picked up from charity shops for a couple of pounds

I think that some people would rather pay through the nose on the Internet, than go trawling around second-hand bookshops, etc. It's too much trouble for some to actually go into the outside World to shop around for a bargain! It's easier to do it all on line. Maybe I'm being rather mean, but I do hear of people doing more or less everything via their computers. I even know a few folk who wouldn't be seen dead in a charity shop! Their loss, I feel.

[number 6]

Bit like finding a tenner down the back of the sofa.

It certainly is! Think I might look down the back of my sofa..just in case there is a tenner there!

[Rob Houghton]

I think that some people would rather pay through the nose on the Internet, than go trawling around second-hand bookshops, etc. It's too much trouble for some to actually go into the outside World to shop around for a bargain! It's easier to do it all on line. Maybe I'm being rather mean, but I do hear of people doing more or less everything via their computers. I even know a few folk who wouldn't be seen dead in a charity shop! Their loss, I feel.

I agree to a certain extent, although for years I did go to many secondhand bookshops and the EB Day and always looked in charity shops. These days most charity shops that have early dust-wrapper editions are charging as much as the internet, or else only sell paperback versions (even the Oxfam Bookshop - which is nowhere near as good as it was five or six years ago). Because I have so many of the 'ordinary' EB books I've resorted to shopping more and more online, as I'm more likely to find the books I want - especially dust-wrapper versions in good condition.

In the end it is indeed convenience - maybe even laziness - but then I have been shopping for Enid Blyton books since 2000. In a way, after spending money to travel to bookshops that are worth travelling to, and still often spending a lot for a book (all my Adventure books were bought for £18 each back in around 2002) I find that online sellers are often cheaper in the long run.

[number 6]

Yes, I can see where you're coming from, Rob. I totally understand your way of thinking & logic. Maybe I was being a bit too critical of people using the net to shop. However, my comment was just an observation in general & wasn't aimed at folk who are true collectors, like yourself, but those that just can't be bothered to leave the house & rely too much on their laptops! Believe me, I know a few!

[Rob Houghton]

I do agree - especially when it comes to shopping for food online - why would you let other people choose the food you end up with?! Also ordering takeaway food online (or even by phone) - lazy in the extreme - and ordering birthday cards online instead of going out to buy one. All things I've never done online and aren't about to!

[Carlotta King]

Do people really get conned into spending four figure sums for books which can usually be picked up from charity shops for a couple of pounds?

I guess if they're not an expert like everyone here, they wouldn't really know how much was a good price. (Although four figures is a bit drastic!)

I have absolutely no clue whatsoever how much is a good price for a Blyton book; if I was looking to buy, say, a nice copy of an Adventure book with a nice cover and Tresilian illustrations, I would have no idea whether £2 or £42 was the right price to pay. I would easily get conned.

I wouldn't get conned into spending four figures, I would think that anyone would realise that that's ridiculous, but if we're talking lower figures (from £2 to £50) then I haven't got the foggiest so I can easily understand how people would pay double figures if they didn't know much about prices.

I think we all tend to forget that not everyone is such an expert as we are here, and that what seems obvious and second nature to us isn't obvious at all to other people.

[Fiona1986]

I hardly think treating yourself to a takeaway that you've ordered from home is the height of laziness (unless you're doing it seven nights a week to avoid shopping and cooking). I've never done an online Tesco shop but I know of people who have - and it's not out of laziness. It's about an inability to buy enough heavy tinned and bottled items because they only have one pair of arms to carry it all home. Why make almost daily trips (and pay the bus fares there and back) when you can do one online order? If that's all laziness then I hope you never order from Amazon when you could trawl every shop on the high street looking for something (and enjoy the pleasure of paying more for it!) or pay for your bills online when you could go down to the bank to do it.

[Rob Houghton]

Gosh!! Sorry!!

As I've stated - I shop online a LOT! I just wouldn't necessarily do my food shop online, as I have a car and could currently carry home as much shopping as I liked. I also prefer to go to a takeaway myself - but if you prefer to order online, I'm not against it...just think it looks about as 'lazy' as Number 6 suggested shopping online for books is 'lazy'

I was making a sweeping generalisation - and of course, some people have a real need to do food shopping online. I was just stating that at the moment I would rather choose my own food and dislike the idea of shop assistants choosing fruit and veg. I like to buy things with as long a use by date as possible.

I shop a lot on Amazon - I couldn't really buy what I buy on Amazon elsewhere anyway - I buy a lot of Region 1 DVD's of old Hollywood musicals and they aren't available on the high street or even in the UK!

I think the point I'm making is that Amazon and eBay offer a wide range of things we can't always buy on the high street...but bananas and apples can be bought in most corner shops.