Ravenswood Used Books

Sorry, we don't do Dog Days here. Every day is Cat Day, chez nous. But the rest of the world seems to be dogged by economic woes, so we must leave an appropriate comment. 

Milk is now around five or six  bucks a gallon, isn't it? The soy milk we drink is between six and eight dollars, depending on where it's purchased ( Target is still under three for a half gallon of the organic stuff  ), and  baby spinach ( now untainted  and non poisonous ) is over six dollars in one of those pound size plastic boxes at Jewel. Beer, which was one fifty a six pack at the bar during our first adventures in the adult world, is now over six at the supermarket.

Much of this price inflation is a consequence of ever higher transportation costs, which brings us to the main topic under consideration in this post: the price of used books at this store.

The average book here has always been around six dollars, and this remains unchanged, despite a recent rent hike ( and what a hike it was! ) and our own increased transportation costs, as follows: 

Two weeks ago the entire gearing system on the store bike fell apart a few miles out on the lake front bike path, and the trip home was made by bus, the bike hanging off the front of a number 147. Repairs cost around seventy dollars. 

A week later, while on the same path a few miles south and  inaccessible to the 147 bus, the rear tire exploded, necessitating a two mile walk up to the Addison Street  bike shop -in- the- park where a tire (used ) and tube (new) cost twenty dollars, installed. 

However, since the company car has been parked at home pretty much every day since May, the cost of bike repairs must be balanced  against the price of unused gasoline and unwritten expired meter tickets. 

Using this ratio or paradigm or paradox, which always beat a parajacks, shipping costs have actually come down since last winter, when  oil was still way under a hundred per barrel. You the customer are the primary beneficiary of this unexpected windfall (and, no, T. Boone Pickens had nothing to do with it, wind- wise ).  Used books at our store remain a bargain, especially since the quality keeps improving and the inventory keeps expanding. Please take advantage at your earliest convenience. Economic opportunism isn't a bad thing when practiced locally, without deception, and to obvious mutual benefit. And we play really cool music here, too.