u/V3lar1s

So I'm looking for some adivse on where I'm able to buy special editions of the books I really want second hand. I'm from Germany, and the main platform to get special editions from seems to be ebay, as I can't access Mercari. Vinted seems to be an option, too, though I never bought something there, I haven't found one of the books I'm looking for on it yet.

The problem is that everyone who sells at a somewhat decent price seems to only sell at mercari. I'm happy to pay more than cost for the books I really want to read and keep, but there are far less offer on ebay and most of them are just cut-throat.

For example right now I'm looking for This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, the April suscription book from Owlcrate. I wasn't fast enough on the Owlcrate waitlist, but if you look online right after release, there should be a few offers. There are indeed several offers on Mercari right now between 90-120 dollars. I consider 90 somewhat fair, and I'd still pay the higher end of this. There a two on ebay, the cheaper one of them at 155 bucks. I have to add VAT, duties and international shipping to this. I'd love to have this books, but over 200 dollars for a single book? I had the same dilemma for the last book I really wanted and ended up paying far to much for it since it was the only one missing in a series and it kept annoying me.

How do you all do it? Do you just wait and hope you find a decent offer at some point? Should I just hope for another special edition of the book (I think there might be one more, but it's likely another subscription and I don't have any atm)? Why is it all on Mercari anyway, is it in some way better for the seller?

And to the not US-based people here: Any advice on where and how you buy second hand? Have you used a forward service? I don't think that will be cheaper though.