What is the best/most comprehensive online used book search?  used.addall.com
is my current favorite, it searches all the following:

Abebooks.com Alibris Antiqbook Biblio Bibliology Biblion
Bibliophile Bibliopoly Booksandcollectibles.com.au Elephantbooks
Half.com ILAB Maremagnum Powell's Books Strand Book Store ZVAB

Is there anything better?  Am I missing anything major?

Hi gren,

Yes, AddAll.com is a good book search website, but it's always best to
search at several sites. None of them search *all* book databases, but
BookFinder.com does a pretty good job searching the following
databases:

A1Books  	     Bookstore  	New
A1TechBooks 	     Bookstore 		New
Abebooks 	     Listings Service 	Used
Abooksearch.com      Listings Service 	Used
alapage.com 	     Bookstore 		New
Alibris 	     Listings Service 	New & Used
Amazon.co.uk 	     Bookstore 		New
Amazon.com 	     Bookstore 		New & Used
Amazon.de 	     Bookstore 		New
Antbo 		     Listings Service 	Used
Antiqbook 	     Listings Service 	Used
Barnes & Noble 	     Bookstore 		New
Biblio.com           Listings Service 	Used
BiblioDirect 	     Listings Service 	Used
Bibliology 	     Listings Service 	Used
Biblion 	     Listings Service 	Used
Bibliopoly 	     Listings Service 	Used
biggerbooks.com      Bookstore 		New & Used
BookAvenue.com 	     Listings Service 	Used
BookBestBuy.com      Bookstore 		New
BookCloseOuts	     Bookstore 		New
Books & Collect.     Listings Service 	Used
Chapitre 	     Bookstore 		New & Used
chapters.indigo	     Bookstore 		New
ChooseBooks 	     Listings Service 	Used
Dymocks 	     Bookstore 		New
ecampus.com 	     Bookstore 		New & Used
ElephantBooks	     Bookstore 		Used
Global Book Mart     Listings Service 	Used
Half Price  	     Bookstore 		New
Half.com 	     Listings Service 	Used
ILAB 		     Listings Service 	Used
Maremagnum 	     Listings Service 	Used
Popula 		     Listings Service 	Used
Powell's Books 	     Bookstore 		New & Used
TextbookX.com 	     Bookstore 		New & Used
The Bookcellar 	     Listings Service 	Used
TomFolio.com 	     Listings Service 	Used
TotalCampus.com      Bookstore 		New
Used Book Central    Listings Service 	Used
http://www.bookfinder.com/about/booksellers/

For some reason, both AddAll and BookFinder don't always show all of
the results. For example, there may be ten copies of a title listed on
Abebooks, but AddAll or BookFinder may only show seven of them. So
although they are both good for using as a guide, it's always best to
also do a search directly at some of the listing services, such as
Abebooks, the ILAB, ChooseBooks and TomFolio. It is particularly
important to search every nook and cranny that you can think of when
you are looking for an out-of-print book - just because a title isn't
on one of the larger sites doesn't mean you won't find it on one of
the smaller ones.

Four websites that aren't searched by AddAll or BookFinder:

Amazon's zShops:
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/search/fixed-search.html/ref=z_h_tn_as/103-5186336-6944652

MySimon:
http://www.mysimon.com/Books/2001-4181_8-0.html?tag=hdr.glnav

My Own Bookshop:
http://www.myownbookshop.com/

iOffer:
http://www.ioffer.com/c/Books-60000

Auctions:

Books By Bid:
http://www.booksbybid.com

Amazon:
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/browse-auctions/68293/ref=a_h_ca_02/002-3426522-2411204

Yahoo:
http://list.auctions.shopping.yahoo.com/

Popula:
http://www.popula.com/

That all said, you should take care to ensure that your internet
shopping is a happy experience. IOBA is a good website to visit for
not only Book Terminology and Description Definitions, but also for
their list of members who must comply with IOBA's Code of Ethics.

Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA):
http://ioba.org/

I hope I've been able to help you find more books. If you have any
questions, please post a clarification request before closing/rating
my answer. Researchers are always alittle bit hesitant to answer a
question with the words "best" and "most" because we all have
different opinions on what is the best and it's hard to know when you
have the most or all of anything. That holds true in the book world as
well and it's a matter of preference on how to go about searching for
a book.

Happy bookhunting,
hummer

I didn't use a Google search - I searched my own bookmarks.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by gren-ga on 19 Feb 2004 16:56 PST

Hi, you have some good new links for me-- but mySimon seems to be new
products only, My Own Bookshop barfs a nice back-end crash message
(presumably it works sometimes?) and Amazon and Yahoo I've heard of. 
Still pretty useful...

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 19 Feb 2004 17:32 PST

Hi gren,

Hm, I tested my links before I posted my answer and My Own Bookshop
definitely worked - I'm sure they'll be back online soon. Here is a
cached version:

://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:WnPjMQD8CyYJ:www.myownbookshop.com/++%22myownbookshop%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

My Simon can be useful sometimes for searching for books with ISBNs. I
included it because I once had the experience of it being the only
place that had a title available of a book I was looking for.

Many people don't know about Amazon's zShop, so I included that. And
often eBay is the only auction people think of, so I added Amazon's
and Yahoo's auction along with the others.  Since you had only
mentioned AddAll in your question, I wasn't sure what other websites
you were aware of. If you go to the BookFinder bookseller list, you'll
have the links to all of those websites.
http://www.bookfinder.com/about/booksellers/ 

Thank you for you clarification - sorry about that link (I'm sure it's
short-term). You sound happy but at the same time alittle disappointed
- was there something else you were hoping for?

Sincerely,
hummer

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 19 Feb 2004 17:48 PST

You know what, gren, I didn't give you the main search link for BookFinder:

http://www.bookfinder.com/

It works likes AddAll, searching all of the websites in the list I
gave you. Tick and untick Special: "Classic Search Display" to see
which one you like better (I mostly use the Classic search but the
other one is useful too).

hummer

---

Request for Answer Clarification by gren-ga on 19 Feb 2004 18:00 PST

No, thanks for the clarification.  I'll be adding some of those to my
regular search regimen--  now where's that meta meta search that does
it all?  :9

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 19 Feb 2004 19:43 PST

Well, Google is pretty mega and as more booksellers develope their own
websites, more books will show up just using a Google search (if you
don't mind sifting through all the affiliate sites who don't actually
have the books). Froogle,
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_advanced_search , is another site to
keep an eye on as booksellers add their inventories to it.

Global Book Town, http://www.globalbooktown.com/ , has links to online
independent booksellers which you may find interesting.

Thank you for your nice notes and rating, I appreciate them. Sincerely, hummer

A full and useful answer.

Here is a wonderful "meta-search" site for both new and used books (as
well as CDs and software):

http://books.thepricesearch.com/

(When entering the title of the book, do NOT use quotation marks. This
seems to confuse it.)

I used to be hooked on AddAll, but ThePriceSearch is a bloomin' wonder.

Hi... thanks, but that one only seems to list newer used books, 1980s
and on. I'm looking for hundred-year-old stuff mostly.  AddAll etc
*are* meta-search engines, what we need is a meta-meta-search engine! 
--gren

A meta-search link (Austrian) including British and American sellers:
http://www.sfb.at/index.php?lang=e

Amazon.co.uk is also very useful when searching for exact titles of
rare and antiquarian books, due to its "unique alliance with the
British Library":
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/browse/press-release-feature/-/515356/2003/202-7244077-5862229

ABE remains my favourite because it provides some options that I like
for refining a search. For example:

Search by Country (I prefer to buy from UK suppliers)

Search by Binding (I prefer Hard Backs)

Search by Edition (I sometimes require a specific edition)

I also like their ordering procedures.

Viva ABE!

Hi Bryan, thanks for the comment. Yes, Abe is good and I use it too (I
too like the "country" option). But, if you are anything like me,
you'll go to great lengths to find a "best buy". Before ordering, just
take a moment to check http://www.bookfinder.com (use the "Classic
Search" for this) and you'll get a pretty good idea what is available
on the other websites.

Cheers,
hummer
p.s. You know there's a UK Abe, right?  http://www.abebooks.co.uk/

Hi, Hummer

Yes, I've had a look at Bookfinder and it certainly looks good.

Many thanks for introducing it.

Bryan

You might check through these sites as well:
http://home.mira.net/~lions/books.htm