buying books by the truckload - great deals at unbelievable prices.
Written: May 24 '04
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| Full Review |
There are several great reviews on this site already which describe the shopping and ordering process in great detail. I won't regurgitate all of that - I will just talk about my own experience.
The past few years I have browsed bookstores online and offline - and I always leave feeling very discouraged. I love to read, I want to build a collection of books for myself and my kids. But at the prices these days, I can't really afford to read anything but library books. Even used bookstores and ebay have outrageous prices when you consider the shipping. Thankfully, this site has made buying books affordable again, and I can't say enough good things about it.
I found this site through a parenting website about a year ago. I have spent many hours browsing through the piles of books they have, at unbelieveably cheap prices. I have often filled my shopping cart to the brim and then was so overwhelmed by the good deal I was getting, I didn't check out. I thought there has to be a catch... I thought the shipping must be horrendous, considering I often had 30-50 books in my cart, I was too chicken to click check-out and burst the bubble.
But after my daughter's birthday a couple weeks ago, I recieved an email from the site (their email notifications are welcome, they only come when there is TRULY a great sale going on - though every day prices are a steal at this site) - anyway, they had a children's book sale on. So I decided to spend my daughter's birthday money and get as many books as I could for about $60. The worst part of the experience was trying to keep my total under $60 - there were just so many good deals! So I made a rule that I wouldn't buy any books for over $3. It wasn't hard since most books were 50% off the 'regular' price of 50-90% off. It was hard to FIND a book over $3 anyway. Several hours later I was finally satisfied with my selections, and I checked out.
The process was very easy - the 'shopping cart' makes it easy to select, deselect and add to quantities so you can see your new totals. The one thing that is not clear is the shipping - which is what kept me from checking out on my previous visits - I expected the shipping would be pretty steep when buying 30+ books, and I budgeted for it. But I was pleasantly surprised that my total order of 30 books, many hardcover, came to a total of $5.85, and the handling charge was $1.00.
This is an EXCELLENT value considering the actual cost of shipping (on the box) was $9.16!!
The books have some VERY minor flaws, most are in perfect shape. Some have a line through the UPC codes on the back. Others have small dents or creases - the only reason I'd notice is I am usually pretty fussy about things like that, but this time I cannot be bothered considering I was paying $1.99 for a book that would be $24.99 in any other bookstore. If you want books that are in absolutely perfect shape - then feel free to pay the full price. To me the value of a book is not decreased by a line through the UPC code or across the page edges. To someone else, it might be. Out of the 30 books I ordered, less than half are marked or creased in any way - I believe some of the creases might be from shipping, some of these books were softcover.
These books were shipped and arrived WITHIN A WEEK - much sooner than the 2-3 weeks listed on the website. Everything was in order, a full itemized invoice was included along with 2 bookmarks - $5 coupons for the next time I shop. Remember I paid less than $3 US for each book - and more than half of them are listed at more than $20 on the book jacket.
Shopping at bookcloseouts is not for people who don't have time for bargain-hunting. The searches are more difficult than on amazon or indigo - searching for a particular author or title works well IF they have something in stock -but its much like an outlet store, you may not find exactly what you want, but you will find piles of good deals. the categories are kind of strange, so its time consuming to go through each one - but that's often the only way to find what you really want. I'd miss a lot of great books if I just did searches.
One tip for shopping at this site - check the 'number available' list and if its only a handful, don't wait too long to buy. Once those books are gone, they are unlikely to be back in stock again. I had 2 books in my shopping cart which were sold out when I actually checked out a few days later.
I hope this review helps some people, I have been telling everyone I know who likes to read, including my friends who are teachers and librarians. With the limited household and school budgets, this site can give a whole lot of book for the buck.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? books
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Epinions.com ID:
cherrybeary
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Location: Manitoba, Canada
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Married with two baby girls. Currently an at-home mom, formerly a high school teacher.
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