How to find the best deals for used books
- What is this site?
- Online book stores
- Book price comparison engines
- My recommendation
My name is John and I'm a book junkie. I love to read books, and as such, I spend about $100 a month on books, usually used books (yes that's true - $100 a month on used books. My wife hates me for that, but hey, I never buy all these expensive lipsticks and perfumes...).
I don't just go to a library and borrow the books, as I usually keep my books for a long time, and read them over and over again (I never sell my used books), so I had to become an expert in books shopping. Many of my friends know that if they are interested in buying used books, I have the answers to all of their questions.
For all of you guys, here's the page you've been waiting for - the art of finding the best deals for used books (I hope it's up to your expectations, feedback is welcome).
I'm going to use this page as a reference point for all those who ask those used books questions (Elaine, this includes you ;-).
Here we go:
The first thing to know, is that there are many, and I mean MANY online book stores. To name a few, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, TextBookx, and many more.
What is the difference between all these dozens of book stores?
Well, the difference in some cases is almost nothing, in other cases it can be huge.
The major and most visible thing is the price: stores sell the same books (either new books or used books) in different prices (and that's good, as we, the consumers, enjoy the benefit of this competition). The price difference can be hundreds of percents, and can be translated into $10, $20 and more (I personally had a case in which I saved more than $55 on a book, buying it online).
Another important factor is the condition of the book, in case it is a used book. Part of the used books are sold in a very poor condition, other used books are sold in quite an excellent condition. Another factor is the time availability of a book. Some book stores present you with an amazingly low book price, but the catch is that the book is not available in the next couple of weeks (the book store actually don't hold an inventory of the book, but wait until many customers will buy a book, and only then order a large amount from the publisher, and that's how they can get you this low price).If you don't mind waiting for the book, you shouldn't care- as you'll save a couple of bucks that way.
Another differentiator is the return policy. Some will NOT let you return the book, or will put heavy constraint on returning the book. Again, this will be reflected in a lower book price- you enjoy the savings, but you lose the option to return a book.
Bottom line- there is a difference between the book stores. You should buy based on your needs.
And here's the interesting part: let's say your planing to buy a couple of used books, are you going to spend 1-2 hours comparing prices again and again at dozens of book stores, in order to save $2 of those used books price?!?
Of course not. Your time worth more than spending it that way.
That's why many book price comparison engines came up.
They do the price comparison for you, free, at no charge. They'll look up the book you have in mind in many book stores, taking in account your cover demands, whether you are looking for new books or used books, your location, etc., and they will present you the page (in a matter of less than 30 seconds) with the results that are best for you, based on what your parameters of a best deal.
What do they get in return for this free service?
If you click on their "buy-the-book" link, and really buy the book and pay for it, they'll get a couple of cents as referral fee (from 1% of the sale and up, usually around 3%-5%, and I think a bit less for used books).
Well, I have no problem they get this money, as they will usually save for me lots and lots of dollars. But there are many book-price-comparison engines out there. Which one is the best?
Oh dear. That's a good question. Here's my observation about the book price comparison engines.
I want my book price comparison engine to be:
- Objective (VERY important for me)
- Comprehensive
- Easy to use
Sounds like it's not a lot to ask, right? Well, it is.
Objective: In many tests (hundreds of tests) I ran, I managed to learn that some engines are not really objective. They will deliberately exclude book stores, which may present a lower price, simply because they get less (or in some cases no) referrals fees from these book stores. I find this VERY problematic.
Comprehensive: This is very simple... the engine needs to cover as much book stores as possible, include online marketplaces (such as those in Amazon.com, eBay.com, Half.com etc). It should include both new and used books and Members prices if available (Barnes&Noble and BooksAMillion have special prices for Members, who pay certain annual fee).
Easy to use: That's a simple one. I hate all these fancy, portal-like, cumbersome, too-many-options, I-never-undrestand-them sites. For heaven's sake, I just want to run a simple book price comparison !
Well, after testing them all, I personally (and it's very important to emphasize personally) favor FetchBook.Info - new & used books comparison (or whatever they call themselves today... ;-). Why? because of all the above reasons. It's definitely objective. I ran many tests, and it came back as the most objective. Very comprehensive. I always get most of the book stores, they show used books as well as new books. They take in account members prices, and they definitely beat everyone else on the "easy-to-use" section (gash, even Sam, my 60 year old uncle had no problem to use them - that's for you Sam ;-).
My second favorite is ISBN.nu. It's also a winner in the Objectivity and Easy-to-use, but its not as comprehensive as FetchBook.Info.
Another good place to buy used books is eBay - sometime you can find there good prices for used books and even for new books.
Again, everybody, what's written here is based on my experience (lots of experience indeed, but it's only my experience...). Any feedback is welcome.
See you all.
John.