I love cheap, new and used books. The book bind is already broken in and has the used feel to it. The smell of a new book is spectacular. But the main thing that I find, in the end, is the cost. Don’t get me wrong, I love buying new books from Barnes N’ Noble or Amazon. But overall, when you find a good deal on a book that you had been vying your eyes on for months. Priceless. Nowadays, finding a good deal on a book is super important to me.
Finding those good deals has been a task I set to endeavor for. Why, you might ask? Simple. More money that I save, the more books I can purchase. My shelves shall not sit empty. On this endeavor, I learned some things the hard way. Like buying a book with no dust jacket or long shipping times.
So I’ve scoured the internet to find the best deals online, new and used alike.
Online Retailers I cover:
Thriftbooks
Book Outlet
Abebooks
I am not sponsored by any of these retailers, so any opinion is my own.
Thriftbooks
If anyone asked me what my favorite place is for purchasing books, it would be Thriftbooks. I am 100% down for that website. Tons and tons of “Like New” or “Good” condition books that are available for a fraction of the cost than you will find anywhere else. Thriftbooks gathers books from all over and sells them to the public. They get used books from libraries that retire books as well. Sometimes I will get Dewey system sticker on it. I feel like I have my own public library at home. During my membership since 2021, I have gotten over 200 books with them. Every once in awhile though, I get a book that is less than stellar but overall not disappointed with the quality of the books that I receive.
Tips:
- Covers are not guaranteed but you can pay attention to what the book cover will be when selecting the condition of the book. Also keep in mind whether the dust jacket for hardcovers is missing if that is an important thing.
- What I also like is that Thriftbooks offers free shipping after spending $15. That is at least 3-4 books to meet that requirement. I find that there is less pressure in purchasing books you don’t want or need.
- A book you want is not in stock? Put it in your account’s wishlist. Thriftbooks (to my detriment because my list is long) will send you emails when that item has become available.
- Sign up for emails! There have been great sales on Thriftbooks since I joined in 2021. Because of all the sales, I can be getting green packages in my mail for days on end. My husband wondered if it would ever end.
- SIGN UP FOR THE REWARDS program! I cannot stress this enough because to me, this is the best rewards program I have come across by far! You get points for every dollar you spend and get a FREE book once you hit a certain amount of points. I wiggle in delight at the mention of “free”. The only caveat is that to get to each consequent level to get the next free book, the amount to spend increases, too. The more money you spend, the higher the level you will be.
Reader: Free $5 book
Bookworm: Free $6 book
Literati: Free $7 book
Sign up for an account, spend $30 and we both get a free book.😍😍😍💖
Book Outlet
This is my second favorite place to shop for books. A lot of these books are brand spankin’ new. If you want a new copy but don’t want to break the bank, this is the place. This Canadian-based company gets these books by going directly to the publishers or retailers and getting discounts by buying in bulk. Then they sell it cheaper as well. These books have slight imperfections that are hardly noticeable. Most of the books I have purchased through Book Outlet have black dots on the bottom of the book pages. No big deal in my world.
Tips:
- Inventory comes and inventory goes. Lot of times, they have plenty of stock of a particular book that I am wanting to purchase. Some books, they only have a few copies left and once it’s gone. It is gone. It will be Out of Stock in my shopping cart and it will be months before I see it back in stock again.
- Sign up for rewards. I do feel it is a little harder to earn points on Book Outlet compared to others but they do give you an opportunity to earn in other ways by following them on Social Media or taking their Loyalty Quiz once a month.
- You get great prices for brand new books. They have great sales and I would recommend receiving their emails as well.
Use this link and save $5 off your first order of $25+😍😍😍💖
AbeBooks
Personally, I haven’t purchased from them yet. But doing a little research on the site, I find that it might be another great way to save money on books.
Tips:
- These are sold by independent book sellers! If you are someone who wants to support local sellers, this is a great online space to do just that.
- You can search sellers by your state or country. If you click on Sellers at the top right header, you can select the country, state or zip code of the sellers that are close to you. Under each seller, they give a review of the genre of books that they like to focus on selling.
- Many of these sellers offer free shipping within the US. Not bad.
Usually, I just log on to each site and bargain hunt for the title I want to purchase. Whichever online retailer you choose to purchase your books, these are all great options.
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