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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Books on the Cheap

I love books. Any reader genuinely loves books. We collect them until we are literally doing a Scrooge McDuck swimming through solids, only we are doing it through paper as opposed to coins. We become adept at dealing with paper cuts obviously. However, with the current economy, continuing to buy books at full price (especially when you are constantly in want) has become a bit difficult. So…how do you keep feeding your bibliophilia? Go cheap.

[CHEAP] Half.com, a subsidiary of eBay I found while in college. It is a great place to get textbooks for far less than whatever the bookstore is selling it for. In fact, Half.com is more than half the reason I even managed to get the texts I needed to read for some of my classes. I was the epitome of the broke college student. Through Half.com, you can buy the book for less than full price, but you also have to pay for postage. Make sure to factor that in when you are choosing which books to buy. Also, buying several pieces from the same seller at one time can save you on shipping.

[CHEAPER] Paperback Swap. A friend of mine introduced me to Paperback Swap over a year ago and while I do not use it often (I hate letting go of books), it is a good way to get books for nothing beyond the cost of shipping. The basic thought behind Paperback Swap is there are people out there who want what you have, so why not swap it around? Taking the Swap Meet high tech. Fun fact, they also have a sister sites DVD Swap and CD Swap.

[CHEAPEST] Your Local Library. Most people do not think about the idea of the local library selling books; however, unless my library system is a complete anomaly, they do sell books. You have the least control over what there is available, but it is still a great way to get books. I found a French textbook for $0.30 once. The other good point of this: you are helping to support your library. With the way funding is going, libraries are taking hits left and right. If you want them to stick around, you have to put some money into them.

Never, ever, ever should a person be without books and if you know these resources, there is no reason you ever should be.

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