Bargain books on the Middle Ages and all related subjects

Information pages
Frequently Asked Questions
about the unused bargains page

Remainders, overstocks, bargain reprints, etc.

Return to the unused bargains page | Return to the shop returns page

This page looks at some of the questions that get asked about unused bargains. You can use the links at the top of this page if you need any other information.

What  are remainders?

When publishers print a book, they have to guess how many copies they can sell. Many titles will remain on booksellers' shelves for only few months before they stop attracting sales at the full cover price. Once initial costs have been covered publishers often decide to cut their losses and sell off any remaining stocks at a reduced price - often less than half the original cover price. This process is called "remaindering", and once these remaindered stocks have been sold off, the book is usually no longer available in print. Irate buyers who don't see the book reviewed until a couple of years later may create enough demand to have the book reprinted, but that's another story.

What are overstocks?

A publisher may over-estimate on their original print order, but decide that a book is worth keeping in print. In this case, they might decide to sell off a quantity of their existing stock at a reduced price, which helps by reducing the amount of warehouse space they have to pay for. After this the title will still be available from them, though often at a higher price.

What are bargain reprints?

These are titles specifically published to be sold by bargain-price booksellers. They will usually carry a higher cover price somewhere, but this is nominal, to make the "bargain" price look more realistic. These are usually popular titles for which a high demand is expected, often titles which have previously sold successfully at a higher price, and which the original publisher has decided not to continue with.

What kind of quantities are available?

This varies. A popular title might have hundreds of copies spread between dozens of booksellers, so that the reduced price will be correspondingly less. Many titles - especially academic books - will only be available in small quantities, and these will be relatively more highly priced. In either case, they will only continue to be available until stocks are sold.

When a title is listed on medievalbookshop's unused bargains page, this usually indicates that there is more than one copy in stock: once these are sold, new stocks will only be bought in if the title is still available and if they it seems likely to attract sufficient demand. When there is only one copy left, this will usually be transferred to the attic.

What's the difference between "unused bargain" and "very good (unused)"?

The books on the unused bargains page have been specifically bought as new books at bargain prices, and there is usually more than one copy of each title available.

The highest grading used in the main section of the medievalbookshop site is usually "very good condition", and a book will only be stated to be unused if this is known for certain: the actual condition will vary - some are single copies such as unwanted review books, and might have only some minor flaws; in other cases, a book might show some noticeable shop or warehouse damage, but still be unused.

What is on the 'shop returns' page?

These are usually single items that have been returned to the original seller for some reason, so they mostly have an inked stamp mark somewhere (for example, on the title page or inside the back cover) to indicate that they have been discarded.

Heavily damaged or badly misprinted books are usually thrown away by the publisher, so that quite often the items which make it this page can look nearly as good as new, and they can therefore be a good source of unused books at bargain prices. Any significant damage is noted in the individual book's description: usually it will be unobtrusive, such as minor soiling from extended shelf-storage, or some form of minor denting or crumpling from having been dropped.

In some cases the "damage" is practically non-existent, as for example when unwanted items are returned to a seller; in such cases they are often treated as unsaleable and returned to the publisher.

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