Plain, Simple Place to Buy Inexpensive Books
Written: Nov 05 '04 (Updated Oct 24 '06)
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Book stores are among the most- visited on- line web services with millions of customers logging on each and every day to search for some interesting reading material. The first company that comes to mind when we think about on- line book sellers is Amazon.com, but there are plenty of others as well. One of these is Booksamillion.com, an on- line book resource that sells thousands and thousands of titles.
What Does This Service Offer?:
Booksamillion.com is accessed mostly by people looking for books, but there are other things for sale here, too. Here’s a sample of what you can purchase in this web site:
Books- The most popular item sold in this site, Booksamillion.com has a database that includes a very large number of books- enough to satisfy most any customer.
Gift Certificates- These can be purchased in any desired increment, from $1 to $1,000, and the certificates can be either e-mailed or delivered through regular mail. The certificates you purchase through the web site can only be used in the site- you cannot redeem them at a store. You also cannot use your member discount on the purchase of a gift certificate.
Magazines- Purchase your favorite periodical here, often at a discount from the publisher’s base price.
Calendars- A selection of desktop and wall calendars can be purchased here, with many unique and fun choices.
Besides these main categories of merchandise, booksamillion.com also offers some books for sale in audio format. It does not, however, offer other forms of media for purchase, like music CD’s, videos, or DVD’s.
Payment Methods/Shipping Charges:
Booksamillion.com accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards for payment. This web service will also accept checks and money orders for payment, but you must call your order in to use these methods and your order will not be shipped until the payment has been received.
Shipping charges vary based on the desired speed of delivery, the number of books purchased, and the dollar amount of your total purchase. If you want your order shipped the next day, it will cost you $10.99 plus $2.99 per item. If you want your order shipped second day air, it will cost you $6.99 plus $1.99 per item. Standard ground, which takes three to seven business days, costs $2.99 plus 99 cents per item. And the best deal of all is the four to nine day shipping, which is free as long as your order costs $25 or more (all of these amounts are subject to change at any time).
Sales tax isn’t a concern unless you live in the state where this company ships its items from, and that state is Alabama. If you live here, you can expect to have at least eight percent tax added to your order. For residents of other states, it is up to you to cover this tax when tax time rolls around.
Customer Service:
Questions about previous orders can be directed to the customer support line, 800-201-3550. You can also call your order in by using the same toll- free line. The web site also has an area where you can e-mail your questions and wait for a response.
Final Thoughts:
On- line book stores are among my most commonly- visited sites. I read a lot of books each year, so it’s only natural that I would turn to book web services on a frequent basis. It was, in fact, a book store where I made my first ever on- line purchase and book stores are one of my favorite places to browse and pass away the time on- line, even when there is nothing I’m really looking for and nothing I plan to buy.
That being said, Booksamillion.com is not one of my favorite on- line book stores. I have been shopping at this book retailer for many years and I have been visiting the physical store locations for an even greater amount of time. I have always liked the physical store locations, not just for the competitive prices and large selection of bargain bin books, but also for the immense size of many of the stores. They are often much larger and contain more books than the competition, like Barnes and Noble. However, the on- line site doesn’t have the massive selection one would expect. You can find most of the books and magazines you like in this site, but if there is a less popular title you’re looking for, then there is a good chance Booksamillion.com will not offer it for sale.
Finding books in this site is simple. You can search by title, author, ISBN, subject, or keyword. You can also browse subjects or best- sellers and then narrow down your search by price range or by year of publication. These functions get the job done, but they are not quite as useful as those found in other book web sites. Product information is scarce, too. Many books, including newer titles, contain a very brief description- often twenty words or less. This isn’t nearly adequate to let a potential customer know enough to make an informed purchase. It’s fine if you already know what you want. But if you’re browsing for something to buy, you won’t find very much information here to persuade you to the point of making a purchase.
You don’t need to have an account set up first to browse through the site; shop titles; and add to your shopping cart. But when it comes time to complete your purchase, you have to setup an account. This web site uses your e-mail address as your user id and setting up an account is as simple as entering this address and then making up a password. Once this simple step is completed, you will be asked for your credit card number, mailing address, and other basic pieces of data.
Most people are familiar with Books-a-Million’s physical location stores. There are more than 200 of them across the United States. If you have a Millionaire’s club card purchased from a Books-a-Million store, you can use this card for an additional discount when you shop on- line. All you need to do is enter the club card number before you complete your on- line order. You can purchase this membership at a store or on- line. It adds an additional 10 percent discount to your order. The cost to join this club is $10 per year, so you should only join if you feel confident that you will buy at least $100 worth of merchandise from the on- line store or a physical location store in the next year.
Booksamillion.com has a pretty good return policy. Items can be returned for a full refund (base cost will be refunded, but not your shipping charges) as long as you respond within 30 days after the order receipt. This gives buyers a good amount of time to decide if they want their merchandise or not. However, keep in mind that you cannot return your unwanted merchandise to a store location. You have to return it through the mail.
One of the many great appeals of on- line book stores is the feedback you get from other readers. Unfortunately, Booksamillion.com lays another egg in this area. Among other things, you cannot compose on- line reviews. You can rate a book from one to five stars, and the site keeps track of the average rating. But you cannot leave any comments on the book or magazine and since you don’t have to be logged into your personal account to rate, it is possible for someone to logon to this web site and rate the same book multiple times. Thus, you can’t take the ratings here very seriously. Other web sites, like Amazon.com, require that you logon to your personal account before you can rate, which better ensures that overzealous individuals don’t try to skew the average rating for a book by rating it over and over again.
Now, let’s talk about the bottom- line factor that most people use when they are deciding where to make a purchase: the price. I have been bashing this web site for most of this review, but when it comes to price, Booksamillion.com does offer better deals than the competition. Comparing the prices found here on current bestsellers to Amazon.com, for example, I find that most every one of the titles is less expensive at booksamillion.com- an average of $1.50 to $3.00 less per book. Both sites offer the same free shipping on orders over $25, so they are equal in this department. But if the bottom- line is what matters most to you, then Booksamillion.com is the place to shop. In addition to these lower prices on everyday books, there is also a bargain book department that offers some deep discounts on popular titles. Again, comparing these bargain bin prices to Amazon.com yields a difference of several dollars per book, in favor of booksamillion.com.
It’s really too bad that Booksamillion.com doesn’t spice up its site with a broader selection of books and magazine and an expanded offering that includes more types of merchandise, like music CD’s and movie videos/DVD’s. More product information would also be an improvement over the simplicity of the present site. On the other hand, adding these additional services could also result in an increase in prices, so maybe we are better off with the site the way it is?
Overall, I’m going to give Booksamillion.com a marginal recommendation, due to its low prices and its quick shipment of orders (I always use the free shipping method, and my items usually arrive at the lower end of the promised 5 to 9 day time period). I still prefer Amazon.com as an overall place to shop for books, thanks to its personalization, consumer reviews, and better product information. But booksamillion.com is still a good place to shop if money is your main concern. The selection isn’t as good here and the site doesn’t offer much in the way of fun and entertainment for web surfers, but it does offer low prices. And that, by itself, makes booksamillion.com worth a look if you like to shop on- line for books.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews of Book- Related Web Sites:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Mystery Guild
Zooba
Doubleday Book Club
Amazon Marketplace
Half.com
History Book Club
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Books
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