A win-win challenge at Half.com
Written: Sep 03 '06
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My eldest daughter moved back home last weekend to further her education locally. It was not something she had planned on, and was financially strapped.
She enrolled in classes before the move and on her first day back, she picked up her books at the bookstore. She told me she expected the books to cost $600.00 and was happy they came to $300.00.
THE CHALLENGE
After dinner last Monday, she had mentioned the books again to me. It triggered something in my brain to call for a challenge.
I challenged her to a duel on our laptops, who can find the same book for less (Fundamentals of Biochemistry: Life at the Molecular Level, 2nd Edition, by Daniel Voet). Her classes would not start for another 10 days, so we had time. She showed me the receipt from the bookstore, and she had paid $173.00 for the book and it was shrink wrapped with a soft cover book "Take Note", by Daniel Voet.
THE SITE
I had Googled the book and came up with a listing including Half.com, which displayed on the Google page a price of $64.00. Half.com is part of eBay, but you do not bid on the item, and wait for the auction to end, you can buy it now at a discounted price.
Half.com lists brand new, like new, very good and good condition items. It also has a link connecting directly to eBay, if you'd prefer an auction (if you have the time).
Half.com sells books, textbooks, CD's, videos, games and game systems.
When you select your purchase, you are buying from an eBay seller, not a company, so you do need to check the sellers history before buying. Return policies are individual, so that must be checked before purchasing too.
Many of the items come with Media Mail, which is an expedited courier for a few dollars more.
The check out is simple. Although the purchase is through eBay, it is like the standard process, fill in name, address, credit card number, etc. There is also a box for a gift code or promotional code if you have one.
There are links to easily navigate help with a sale gone wrong, i.e., wrong book or no book sent. Feedback is also left, as Half.com is an affiliate of eBay.
OUR SELECTION
She and I surfed the site for not very long, before I came up with the book for $73.00 on Half.com and the soft cover sold for $16.00, both brand new, by two different sellers.
(The $64.00 book was being sold from the U.K. and decided not to take the chance of having it arrive on time, especially with Labor Day weekend.)
We chose the $73.00 textbook and the $16.00 soft cover, I handed her my credit card and for $89.00 plus shipping, she's going to have the same books. That's about $100.00 $aving$.
BOTTOM LINE
Her text book arrived on Friday (4 days from purchase) and we are awaiting the soft cover text. We don't really know if the soft cover is needed.
The morning after purchase, my daughter returned her still shrink wrapped books, to the bookstore, and received her $173.00 plus 8.75% sales tax refund. What a big smile I was welcomed with!
I did win the challenge, but ended up with another $89.00 on my credit card. Oh, well, such is life.
I am delighted with Half.com and very highly recommend this site to anyone looking to save money on textbooks.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? College text books
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Epinions.com ID:
jican
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Member: Irene
Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 157
Trusted by: 78 members
About Me:
Thank you for your support during my trying times this past year.
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