Firs hand or second hand, which is best ?

Myself, I`m a confirmed second-hand book buyer. What about you ?

Hmmm - not sure I really have a preference. You need to be near a good second hand bookshop to buy in one regularly, and I'm not.....so I tend to buy most things new. However I really do believe that it's the contents that count.......and keep repeating that to myself whenever I am tempted by expensive/beautiful copies of books I already own!
Adding all our books to LT in the last few months has reminded me not only how lovely some of the second-hand ones are, and what a joy it is to own pre-owned books, particularly if they were pre-owned by someone you knew. Which is of course, different to just second-hand, if you see what I mean!

I used to be a huge second-hand book buyer, but once the house filled up and I hit the ~2000 level I started being much more selective. Now I tend to buy books at conventions or stores, usually when the author is present and I can get them signed.

I tend to buy books new only if they are too recently published to be available second-hand, or if their content would otherwise be out of date, or if they're being sold off at a discount. For a classic work of fiction, I'd buy a second-hand copy for the look and feel of an old book, and only splash out on a new paperback if I particularly wanted the introduction and notes.

I struggle to find the books I want new - I've banned myself from online shopping - so it would be even worse if I further restricted myself to secondhand.

Also - AUthor's don't recieve any payments for secondhand works, and publisher's don't either, hence you are less likely to get new books comissioned/re-printed by your favourite authors!

Most of my books are bought second-hand via charity shops, second-hand bookshops and Amazon marketplace. Any I buy new are usually from the 3 for 2 offers regularly run by the big chains or bought with vouchers.

I like the feel and smell of older books. The orange covered Penguin paperbacks appeal particularly (and I note that they have started aping this style with some of their newer publications, so I presume my view is shared by many). But then, some new editions are beautiful, too.

And then, of course, there are the gorgeous Folio Society editions. Very expensive, but if you know there's a book you're going to keep forever and would like a really nice edition, it's worth the investment. I have the Folio Society (green cover) edition of The Lord of the Rings in three volumes and it's beautiful. (So it ought to be, frankly, for £87, but there you are.)

Mostly, though, cost dictates that I buy second-hand since I want and get through so many.

I agree with AllieW - second hand books do have a nice feel and smell.

I also like it when you see a former owner's name written on the front page - it makes me wonder what the former owners are like: how old they are, what they look like etc.

A bit of both. I love having a good rummage in charity shops, and also at the stalls outside the National Film Theatre in London (or BFI Southbank, as we are supposed to learn to call it). Places like Hay-on-Wye are paradise too.

I think a battered copy of something like an old Penguin Classic looks very cool and bohemian, but that might just be me.

No, they actually do.

I'm not fussy either way. I swop a lot with friends, usually from the internet, so that classes as second hand. Even when I meet up with friends we share the cost of 6 books from the 3 for 2 ranges and post them on to each other. So guess I might be saying second hand.

I like both. I love to have a rummage in charity shops but I also love browsing through book shops.