PurkeysPaperbacks

Vintage Paperback Books

San Antonio, Texas On Etsy since 2014

268 Sales | 5 out of 5 stars

Top shop for gifts.

A buyer bought a gift from this shop and gave it a 5-star review!

PurkeysPaperbacks

Vintage Paperback Books

San Antonio, Texas | 268 Sales

5 out of 5 stars

Shop owner

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Announcement    Classic SF, War, JD, GGA, Mystery, Horror, MTI, TVTI, & Fiction paperback books, mostly 1st Eds or other rare or interesting paperbacks published prior to '85

Announcement

Classic SF, War, JD, GGA, Mystery, Horror, MTI, TVTI, & Fiction paperback books, mostly 1st Eds or other rare or interesting paperbacks published prior to '85

Items

Browse by section

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Mystery, Crime, Noir

Horror & Weird Tales

GGA, PinUp, Sexy, Smutty

Westerns & Militaria/War

Bios, Classics & Fiction
Contact shop owner
268 Sales
107 Admirers
 

All Items

Larry Purkey

Contact shop owner

Larry Purkey

Reviews

Average item review
5 out of 5 stars
(75)
See reviews that mention:
quality 5 shipping 18 customer service 15

About PurkeysPaperbacks

Sales 268
On Etsy since 2014
  • Sex sold paperbacks. Still does.
  • Moisture, sun, and insects - the bane of book collections.
  • It's the thrill of the hunt.

A Word on Paperback Collecting...

Paperback book collecting does not have a set pattern. Yes, there are numbered books, first editions, mint conditions and series that dictate market rates, but one can be a paperback collector without having to adhere to a purity standard.
A collection may be as unique as its owner. A collector may be interested in a particular cover artist, whose work may span numerous publishing companies and genres. He or she may also follow a specific author and want both author editions and editions published under pseudonyms. Some collectors focus on minor label publishing companies, while others go for straight run collections of major publishing houses, past and present.
Most collectors that seek completion will sacrifice condition in order to boast having a complete run. This type of collector is always on the lookout to upgrade to better quality versions. These collectors’ downgraded copes are often the basis for many a starting collection for someone new to paperback collecting.
Some collectors of other mediums will enjoy having collectible paperbacks in their trove. A race car enthusiast may appreciate a copy of Carl Henry Rathjen’s Wild Wheels, with its introduction by Stirling Moss. A World War II buff may appreciate the number of books written by veterans in the aftermath of the war as a valuable source of first-hand accounts that may not have ever made it to the Internet.
Some books may be given as sentimental, fun gifts for those loved ones who don’t need another teapot or tie, but enjoy a good conversation piece. A hipster cousin may love a copy of Harlan Ellison’s Rockabilly. A friend that loves classic Hollywood may enjoy having a point of reference with Leonard Maltin’s guide to Hollywood’s great character actors.
No matter what type of paperback a person collects, there is one thing that remains certain: these books are the last of their kind. When a last copy of a book disintegrates from age or damage, there will never be another one printed. Paperbacks are art, history, and sociology all bound into one fragile package.
To own and preserve a paperback book is to preserve one little piece of human history.

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  • Larry Purkey

    Owner

Shop policies

Last updated on March 17, 2016
Paperback books make interesting gifts and excellent additions to other collectors' troves, so please enjoy perusing the selection for gift ideas, or just plain "good reads"!

Books are listed Publisher first, then Author, and title/edition last. This isn't the easiest to search for those looking for a specific author or title, but it is a standard we thought we'd best keep, for the sake of our most intense fellow paperback collectors.

If you are looking for something specific, please use the Etsy Search In This Shop function.

We played around with the Etsy Search In This Shop, and were pleased to see that it picks up on our tags, in addition to titles/authors/genres. (Put in GGA, and you get what you asked for, for example!)

If you don't see it, send us a message. If we have it, we'll evaluate it for posting and let you know when it goes up on Etsy.

Accepted payment methods

Paypal Mastercard Visa American Express Discover Apple Pay Giftcard
Accepts Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits
Returns and exchanges
If it's damaged by the post, work with us to refund your money but take the delivery service to task.

We like to wait 14 days before declaring an item lost in the mail and refunding the purchase because when using media rates it takes a little longer for an undelivered packaged to be returned to us.

If a book is not what you expected, send it back intact and unharmed and we'll refund the sale price, however we will no longer return postage or pay for return postage*.

(*We are sorry we had to add this policy, but too many people have gotten impulsive and made orders at 3 am that they try to cancel at 9 pm the next evening --after we've pulled it out, packed it up, and stood in line at the Post Office to ship it. We're not a big Amazon warehouse and can't drop everything to indulge everyone that gets buyer's remorse.)
Shipping
We based our prices off the Etsy media rates. Media mail can be a little slow, so use the shipping upgrade option if you need something rushed.

We ship with media mail when possible to keep the prices low for the customer, however when we send media mail, it sometimes takes longer to reach our buyers.

We have learned that it is best to wait 14 days before declaring an item lost in the mail and refunding the purchase/postage (see refund policy below). This is especially important for international purchases.