This phenomenon is hardly exclusive to new releases.

Again I have not seen it. I am sure in certain niches used book prices have gone up as almost all second hand items have with resellers and the internet. But I have been buying used books for decades and they are as cheap as ever. so what phenomenon are you experiencing?

	▲	throwaway27448 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I'm saying that even public domain books are pricier yet lower quality for the price than ever. As others have pointed out, the mass market paperback has vanished from non-used bookstores. I suspect I misunderstood you and by "new releases" you are referring to non-used books. Yes, the entire point is that they are too expensive to justify purchasing.