Book Specials at Daedalus
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Jul 15 '02)
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My first introduction to Daedalus Books was when a friend showed me their catalog. The books listed on it were not only interesting but the prices were amazing. She had been using them for a while. Together we ordered, if I remember right, a total of 15 books from them. This was about six years ago.
I want to inculcate the habit of reading in my son and am always on the look out for quality books. Buying books however can get quite expensive. I try to look into library sales, garage sales and the like too but the books are mostly old and worn out. Then I remembered the daedalus guys. I decided to look them up again. Trying to find them was a trying job, especially since I was not very certain of the company name either. Guess I could have called my friend again, but she is three time zones away, and since I consider the internet my friend too, I spun the world wide web and was successful in tracking the elusive Daedalus Books down.
What they Sell:
Of course they sell books…
The store sells remainder books. These are books which were left over because of over-projection as far as future sales went. Daedalus claim that they “selectively choose books which are of lasting value” from the remainder books offered by the publishers. Their inventory includes mostly hardcover new books from well known publishers at nothing short of bargain prices. A lot of the books are up to 1/4th or more the original price.
… but they also sell music
They also have a selection of music, mostly classical, jazz or world genre music. Though I have never bought any music from them, as it is not my style of music, but I can see that the prices are still very attractive and would be hard to beat.
The layout:
The site has a very clean, uncluttered appearance. A simple layout with prominent links to book and music specials, the site is very intuitive. It is almost like visiting and browsing for books in a book store. Some afternoons, I have spent hours, reading the brief description that accompanies every book, along with the cover, the author’s name, the ISBN, list price, sale price and a Daedalus Item Code. Then at the end there are buttons to either add to the shopping cart or view your cart.
To narrow down your book listings, you can also select by the category of interest, which can include african studies, audiobooks, classical_orchestral, crafts_home improvement, essays, judaica, renaissance studies, video_travel and many more.
There is also a “Quick Find” search box, which you can use to search with any key word.
Terms of Service:
You can order by fax, phone, mail, e-mail or the web.
They accept visa, mastercard, American Express, and discovery credit cards and the card is not charged unless the order is shipped.
The standard shipping $4.95 for any number of items to an address, and the order is promised to be delivered within two weeks.
They will ship internationally for $15.00 for up to 10 items and a dollar extra for each additional item. Rush delivery is available to US addresses for phone orders only for $14.95.
All returns within 30 days are welcomed, minus the shipping, unless of course something is wrong with the item you received.
Customer service can be reached by e-mail, or by phone on weekdays 9AM-5PM EST.
My Experience:
My recent experience, like all my dealings with them, was extremely pleasant and came with a surprise. I added items to my shopping cart, went to check out, but was presented with a survey. Since I am quite pleased them, I was not too annoyed. I proceeded to fill out the short survey… and surprise!…at the completion I was informed that my order would be further discounted by 10% since I filled out the survey.
I was promptly informed by e-mail that my order has been received and would be filled and shipped ASAP. A day later I was informed that my package was now on its way.
The two weeks to delivery were not yet up, but being impatient by nature, I called the customer service ten days later and was assured that I should be receiving the order any day. As promised, the order arrived the next day.
I have never had any problem with this store. They seem to be honest folks who take pleasure and pride in bringing quality product at great prices to the consumer. The customer service is very polite and helpful and I have been able to reach a real live person after a couple of rings each time that I have called them. I have not contacted them by e-mail, and not had any reason to return items either.
You can also register to receive their catalog by mail which though interesting to go through, does not and well, cannot have a complete listing of all what they carry, since they receive "new products every day".
They are a great place to start your search when looking for a particular book, but more than that they are a great place to browse and spend some time with books, order what takes your fancy and save some cash in the bargain.
So do not forget to create a “favorite” link to http://www.daedalus-books.com.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
arjita
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Member: Arjita Sharma
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 31 members
About Me:
Nations have no permanent friends or enemies, but only permanent interests - Benjamin Disraeli
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