Dunaway Books — Local services in St. Louis

Much of it can be very pricey for used books. There was a Das Capital box set priced at 85 dollars when it was purchased for 14 dollars originally. Karl is rolling in his grave because of that. However they were cool with giving a discount which I was happy for because I was itching to start talking about commodity fetishization and social value. That would have been annoying.

The previous owner did add his own labor by providing their own annotations which does increase the value of the book based on labor hours to produce and raw materials.

Additional star lost for surplus value. He wasn't paid for that.

Also it's not the price of the book that's necessarily fluctuating. Adjusted for inflation it's still not nearly that much when bought brand new. 14 dollars in 1982 is about 47 today dollars. That is still half the price I paid for this used. This publisher made books cheap for a reason.

I paid almost about 1.5x the amount it would have went from brand new.

The cost comes out of operating a storefront and paying for employees. Not the 'value' of the book.

Another update. I'm actually missing some pages. I'm actually really frustrated with this situation now.

Certainly were not helpful either. The book isn't in good condition at all. 20% is not even the bare minimum.

They were talking about "maybe it was published that way" They can't discount the book a little more. They can't adjust the price appropriately. I'm over paying for a used book that's in poor condition. It's actually shameful that my grievances were ignored. The proof is in the putting. They put the petty in petty bourgeois

It's a material fact that 14 dollars in 1982 is 47 dollars adjusted for inflation and that I paid more for a used book in poor condition. They are unable to handle facts and live in their own little world.

The not so gentleman raised his voice at me in the store saying it was a bunch of bologna after I called them out for charging too much.

Sir I just proved you wrong with math. Why are you so angry? Do you disagree with math? Do you live in a world of alterative facts? Thank you for displaying your wit to me.

At first I meant this review as a joke but now I'm actually infuriated by how they practice business. I wanna support local bookstores but never again with them. My opinion of them completely changed to where they can never redeem themselves.

If I were to return it they would try to sell it for the price that they originally advertised for, making more of a profit that what they got with me originally. Even after they acquired new information about the condition of the book. I do not support that behavior.

It's best they see the irony of the situation otherwise this is really bad for PR. You do not need to be a leftie to know that this isn't appropriate.

What they are doing, frankly, is criminal. It's no respect to people who actually enjoy reading if they see no problem with the outrageous markup for a used book in poor condition with missing pages. Nobody purchases a book expecting to have pages missing. Any other service would issue a full refund no questions asked. Not from Abebooks, thriftbooks, or any other service that sells books. If you were really about this reading thing you wouldn't accept it from yourself, or to have that represented in how you do business. Just business wise it's a terrible thing to be doing to people. But they want us to expect that for them.

Just lower your standards with them. That's what they want.

Shame on them

But hey. Show your work if you think I'm wrong. That's what I did, and you didn't like it. You said it was bologna without telling me why. That's just not an argument. If you can't justify the price while getting defensive, then it means you know you are in the wrong.

There was no reason to raise your voice at me. Not even a single sorry. That's crazy. Although this guy gives the "sorry you feel that way" so that's...

A great little bookstore on the good ol' South Grand Boulevard, seated only a block south of Tower Grove Park. Perfect for spending an hour or two looking for that (one?) perfect title to take home or gift. I have been to multiple poetry readings here and they have all been excellent, so the curation there, too, is finely tuned. Dunaway sells poetry books by local authors and have a decent sized section right up front. There's one publisher called Back of the Class press and they've got a lot of special up and coming writers who are published in those, and they are often the same poets who read during the informal poetry nights. Only criticism about these is that sometimes they go long so a little break would be nice. And sometimes it's hard to hear, so maybe a little karaoke mic or something would be useful too. I haven't sold any books here, but do know that they buy at least on occasion, so it's worth inquiring before you haul your books there. I'm pretty sure you can special order titles here for new books, and I recently special ordered an older cookbook if been wanting which they were able to order in. Not much else to say other than I hope you can stop in to support this local small business. Your dollar will go a lot farther here than it will online or at a...

A sample of the books I have acquired from this fine establishment/community staple. I had 7 grand worth of books intentionally destroyed by an back in 2021. Took a couple years off of getting any books because it just made me sad knowing that it would take years to rebuild what was lost. A close friend who lives in TGS recommended this bookstore, and I am extremely grateful he did. The staff here have great personalities. I usually avoid a lot of spaces because my job takes a lot out of me. This is one of those few places worth going on off days that actually is invigorating and never a negative experience. The decor is tasteful and the setup easy to navigate. Many times, the only noise I will hear during visits is the soft creak of the basement steps from a customer's gait. The second I walk through the door, my blood pressure lowers. Best of all, the reasonable prices have allowed me to actually afford and enjoy re-collecting 📚 as an early career mid-20s person. Very grateful for this business and...