Awesome Bookstore!

[FLiPSiDE]

Hey guys, I just want to put in a quick plug for an awesome bookstore I found recently. It's called Aberdeen Bookstore and their website is: http://aberdeenbookstore.com. My wife actually bought me a couple books as gifts this past Christmas from them (before that I'd never heard of them). I checked out their site and really liked it but just this week I found out they actually have a retail location right near Denver, CO (technically it's Sheridan, CO).

From outside you wouldn't even know it was there, so write down the address and look closely at the numbers if you are going to head over. The place totally rocks, I still can't get over how many German WWII books they have. They have all the collector titles as well (fully stocked with the new Flak badge book, Knights Cross book, and the other titles from B&D, they have tons of Fedorowicz titles, Shiffer books, Bender books, shelves full of Waldemar Trojca books - all the newest stuff. Lots of collector books I've never heard of and lots of obscure specialized stuff.

It's basically a collector/WWII history buff's paradise. If you are coming to Denver I would absolutely make a stop at this book store. I can't tell you how lucky I feel as how many book stores do you think there are like this in the US? Probably not too many where you can actually browse like that. I was in there today and picked up the Luftwaffe Previtera title, and the newer Falaise book.

[TJ Suter]

I agree that Aberdeen Books is a great bookstore for history / militaria collectors. I've been a customer for years. His bookstore used to be in Littleton, and you're right about it being very inconspicuous.

[Robert Shoaf]

Aberdeen is a big seller on Ebay, where I have gotten a number of books from them at significant discounts. Good prices, and quick, inexpensive delivery.

Bob Shoaf

[Mil-Archive]

For non local buyers i think their website could do with a search feature. They do seem to have some very nice books. I wish there was a shop like this near where I lived

[juoneen]

Aberdeen is a retail book seller. when a book is say 3 years old he still charges full retail. I think you can do better elsewhere. Fine if you like paying top price all the time,check out the e bay prices he gets. Always top prices , and fine if you like paying retail.

Im sure there are many here that chuckle under their breath when aberdeen is mentioned, and know where to get the same books for as much as 20% off retail elsewhere.

Lets see if anyone knows of any other booksellers that give better prices or discounts all the time. Moneys tight , so every person willing to deal are more appealing to me than non flexible retailers in books as you still have to pay shipping.

New books are a different situation, hard to get a discount on a new published book, but one its been around a year or two, you can sometimes buy them from other collectors for substantially less than buying them otherwise.
We need a book section on e stand with requests, and discounted books for sale by people who really need the money right now who need the money morethan the book, and dont care about taking a little less on a like new book..many used books still appear new , depending on who owned them previously.

[FLiPSiDE]

Aberdeen is a retail book seller. when a book is say 3 years old he still charges full retail. I think you can do better elsewhere. Fine if you like paying top price all the time,check out the e bay prices he gets. Always top prices , and fine if you like paying retail.

The books my wife bought me were via ebay and they were discounted (and pretty new).

Yep I'm sure you can hunt around for cheaper prices (used, etc). However Aberdeenbookstore isn't a billion dollar book enterprise. As far as I can tell from reading his website, it's a single man business. I'm sure he could sell his books cheaper if he decided to close the retail location as well (just stack the books in his garage). However I'll personally pay the full prices to support his business. I'd rather pay a bit more to support a little guy who goes the extra mile than save $10 and give my business to multiple mega companies.

I personally like the idea of being able to actually look at the book before I buy it. I understand that appeal may not exist for non-local people. I can't tell you how many times I've bought books from Amazon or other places and when I received them I realized the example photos were of the only 5 cool pages in the entire book.

I also will buy from JJ Fedorowicz directly when I could prob buy his books used for less. I like to support smaller businesses when they specialize in the subjects I'm interested in.

[pasoleati]

Well, a new book is a new book even if it was published several years ago as the dealer has to pay the same price for the publisher for it. I´ve known Tom (Aberdeen´s owner) some 10 years and frankly, his flexibility when dealing with me has been second to none. He allways uses the shipping methods I specify. His books are allways in top condition, i.e. books with even most minor bumps are reduced in price. He also stocks a large number of as new remainder books at vastly reduced prices.

I occasionally use online "megastores" too, but I have been told by a specialist publisher that specialist books that are heavily discounted by e.g. amazon are factually being sold at zero profit as amazon demands so high wholesale discounts. If it wasn´t for "normal" priced sales, smaller publishers might as well close the door and nail it shut. One small publisher has recently stopped doing hardcover editions for apparently amazon prefers cheap softbounds.

[Mark Stevens]

I check Tom's website weekly for new releases and noticed that he finally has the new german cross book by Dietrich Maerz. This will be my next purchase!

[Robert Shoaf]

As someone who buys a good many books (as my wife is wont to tell me), I have found that one needs to check the many online booksellers if you are interested in a particular book. Many charge full retail, which I am very reluctant to pay, unless the book cannot be found elsewhere, some discount certain titles, and some discount most, like Amazon.
Regarding Aberdeen, many of their books are full retail price, but I have purchased books from them at deep discounts, that were not discounted at Amazon. Needless to say, it all depends on the specific book in question.
For what little my two cents may be worth, I have noticed that one of the largest military-oriented publishers, Schiffer Books, seems to have setltled on pricing their books at $69.95 and up, with a number now at the $100.00 level.
Given Schiffer's apparently total lack of editing, and often cursory text, I, for one, refuse to pay full retail for their books. Thankfully, most are discounted by Amazon.

Bob Shoaf

[pasoleati]

Hmm, perhaps we have not purchased the same Schiffers as far as "cursory text" goes. E.g. Bill Wolf´s 4 bomber monographs have extremely extensive text. Or e.g. Kevin Fish´s recent unit history (over 250 densely printed large format pages of text alone).

As for editing, it is the author´s duty to ensure he has written his text properly. For example, Tom Jentz´s books for Schiffer are basically "typofree".

[Robert Shoaf]

Hmm, perhaps we have not purchased the same Schiffers as far as "cursory text" goes. E.g. Bill Wolf´s 4 bomber monographs have extremely extensive text. Or e.g. Kevin Fish´s recent unit history (over 250 densely printed large format pages of text alone).

As for editing, it is the author´s duty to ensure he has written his text properly. For example, Tom Jentz´s books for Schiffer are basically "typofree".

I stand by my comments, and I remember from the past that you seem to enjoy posting snarky replies. What is the exact pupose of your reply? Or do you just enjoy being a contrarian? Either way, I can do without it.

[stahlhelm47]

I've spoken with and purchased several books from Tom's store, Aberdeen, over the years at signifcant price reductions. I certainly can recommend you checking his store out for the books you want. You may do yourself a favor...
Pete

[John H.]

Aberdeen Bookstore

Hello,

Listen folks, I have been doing business with Tom, the owner of Aberdeen Bookstore for several years now and the one thing I enjoy about Tom and his bookstore is the fact that he always stands behind his sales. This guy will go out of his way to make a customer happy, it's just the way he does business, one customer at a time. I would rather give my business to someone I feel comfortable with and person I can trust not just a website, but a real person I know who will be there year in and year out. I know I can sometimes get books from him with great discounts and some at average / retail costs, but again for me I'd rather give Tom the business than a "megastore" that doesn't give a hoot about their customers! Aberdeen Bookstores is a great place to purchase books!

John H.

[pasoleati]

I stand by my comments, and I remember from the past that you seem to enjoy posting snarky replies. What is the exact pupose of your reply? Or do you just enjoy being a contrarian? Either way, I can do without it.

The purpose of my reply was to show that not all Schiffer books are as you described. I do know that some of their "collector oriented" books have little text and are very expensive. However, there are books that have plenty of text too. I know 3 Schiffer authors. E.g. Bill Wolf told me that he is most happy with Schiffer as they have published his manuscripts without cutting them by half. This has lead e.g. to the most comprehensive technical reference to the B-25 with some 472 pages.

As for editing, I know two authors, one of them must be familiar to Mark Yerger as well, who are extremely pissed off by their publisher´s (not Schiffer) "editing".