My daughters wanted a series of books. There are 12 in the series. I was told I could skip purchase book two as it is a combination of two other books my youngest daughter already owns.
Each book retails for $20. Thus this expense could have cost me $220!! No way was I going to pay that much out of pocket.
I figured if I could at least pay half of retail I would be doing good. I started purchasing earlier this fall. Two initial purchases came from buying used on eBay. One book was $12.40 with shipping and another was $11.13.
I mentioned that I sold some things back to a used book store and was able to use a $13+ credit towards a new book they had listed at the $20 retail price. I paid $7.70 out of pocket for that one.
The deals get better because I found three ex-library versions on eBay from one seller for $21.40. Average about $7 each.
And I made two separate purchase on eBay using Amazon gift cards I earned from Swagbucks over the last couple months. The book prices offered on Amazon varied from $13.59 to $17.36. One purchase was completely covered by gift cards and the other cost me $2.30 out of pocket.
In the end new books that could have cost me $220 new plus tax, were just $54.93 out of pocket. An average of $4.99 a book. A savings of 75%!
No worries that my girls will be offended by used books. They are fans of the library and know that book costs add up. And the used ones that did arrive are in very good shape! The three ex library books do have tags and tape on the side but again in very good shape! They will be very pleased, and hopefully surprised that I found all of the ones requested.
I do sort of wish I started earning the Swagbucks a little earlier so I could have reduced the out of pocket cost, but it is what it is! Still a great deal.
The Cost of Books
November 30th, 2017 at 03:04 pm
November 30th, 2017 at 06:43 pm 1512067406
December 1st, 2017 at 01:39 am 1512092393
December 1st, 2017 at 01:50 am 1512093031
December 1st, 2017 at 04:26 am 1512102363
We are avid readers here, major users of the library. Care to share the series and offer an opinion on whether or not you liked it too? I'm currently reading Tunnels with oldest son and that is the first of a series. I'm also working way through Louise Penney's Inspector Gamache series.
December 1st, 2017 at 11:44 am 1512128667