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Purchasing fresh new books is pointless as there are used books available. They’re not only pricey, but you’re almost sure to strain the spine, spill coffee on the pages, and distort the cover. Is it essential to spend money on new books that may be damaged? The pages may be wrinkled, but the words are legible. Why will ebooks never replace paper books? You’ll save money and give a neglected book a new home.
It can be more challenging to discover them online, especially if you need help seeing photographs and are concerned about factors like quality. So, here’s a guide to the greatest websites for finding used one, as well as how to make sure you receive precisely what you want.
1. Half Priced Books
Half Price Volumes has fantastic prices, with some books as cheap as 99 cents. If you go to the Books dropdown menu, you’ll see a category called Superbuys, which allows you to filter books for $5 or less. There are also several rare first editions and autographed copies available.
Half Price Books is another excellent resource for students. It includes a variety of secondhand textbooks for students in middle school, high school, and college. Students will not have to pay hundreds of dollars for readers at the start of the school year.
2. eBay
eBay should be the first point of contact for anybody wanting to buy used books. It features a wide selection of trendy titles, and you can often get them cheaper here than elsewhere. You’re also already aware of how it works, such as checking seller reviews and sorting by price.
In general, there should be enough fixed-price vendors on eBay that you can avoid resorting to bidding. Bantam Books and CMedia are two of the most well-known retailers, although many others exist.
Many offer multi-buy discounts, which allow you to save a percentage if you buy many books from the same vendor simultaneously. Using this method, you should be able to cram in four or five books for between $10 and $15, which would be impossible if you bought them new.
The one disadvantage of eBay, which applies to all of the venues on this list to some extent, is that you rely primarily on the seller to identify the book’s quality appropriately.
Misplaced expectations are a severe problem, regardless of how trustworthy the vendor is. Because the vendor seldom uploads genuine photographs of the book, instead opting for stock images, it’s truly anyone’s guess how the book will finally come out.
Also, try to avoid getting too attached to individual covers. Many people are concerned with ensuring that a series’s spines are gorgeous and matching. Still, getting the body you want needs matching bibliographic data for specific editions (even then, it only sometimes works). You might not be concerned about this, but it’s something to think about if all of the other books in a series are from the same print run. However, buying used books on eBay is often inexpensive, quick, and dependable.
3. Powell’s
Powell’s began in 1971 as a bookstore in Portland and has subsequently expanded its reach to the internet. While it does feature a selection of new books, it also has a large selection of secondhand books.
Many of the utilized titles were published within the last five years. Popular novels include Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Rupi Kaur’s Milk & Honey. These recently used books are sold at a discount—they’re not dirt cheap, but they’re still less expensive than paying full price.
4. AbeBooks
AbeBooks, one of the most major used book sites, is committed to connecting sellers and consumers. It can sometimes be more expensive than eBay, so always compare prices first, but it offers a superior user experience.
Many independent bookstores use this platform, so it’s a terrific way to support them unlike on eBay, where the seller has practically unlimited control over what data about the book they choose to add, almost all AbeBooks ads provide a considerable amount of bibliographic facts—including the all-important book condition, binding, and publisher.
AbeBooks has a strong emphasis on textbooks and rare or unusual books. While we doubt many of you are seeking to buy the first edition of EM Forster’s Passage to India, which recently sold for more than $18,000, there are plenty of autographed books here. Meanwhile, AbeBooks has its podcast, Behind the Bookshelves, that covers a variety of literary themes.
5. ThriftBooks
ThriftBooks is especially helpful for finding a great discount on out-of-print books that would be prohibitively costly elsewhere. This is due to its robust email notification system.
If you sign up to be alerted when a book you desire becomes available, they will contact you as soon as it is uploaded to the site. You’ll often be able to get cheaper versions of books that are more costly elsewhere through this method. Thus, we must suggest the site more when hunting for a rarer book.
There are a few extra advantages to purchasing at ThriftBooks. It includes a ReadingRewards system, for example, that allows you to collect points on your purchases (eight points per dollar spent), which you can subsequently redeem for books. Some novels also have multi-buy deals.
6. Better World Books
Better World Books, like World of Books, has a huge advantage in that it offers free shipping on all, with no minimum purchase quantity necessary. That is true regardless of where you reside, yet the price of a book does alter to reflect hidden costs. For example, a copy of Kresley Cole’s fantasy romance novel A Hunger Like No Other (set in Indiana) costs roughly $10 when transported to the UK but barely half that when mailed inside the US.
BWB also offers new books, which is why it is included in this list of the top Amazon alternatives for book purchases. Its selection of used ones is what sets it apart. It’s a quick, user-friendly search capability, and various titles are available. A multi-buy discount, similar to ThriftBooks, saves you 15% when purchasing four books (a percentage that raises the number of books in one go).
A rewards program, like ThriftBooks, allows you to earn eight points for every dollar spent. When you reach 500 points (about $63), you will be eligible for a $5 voucher.
7. Alibris
Alibris provides the ideal mix of new and used books. You may find everything from freshly published books to classics, children’s, textbooks, and best-selling fiction novels on the site.
Locating what you’re searching for with 175 million books in its collection is nearly impossible. Remember to go through the Bargains area for 99-cent novels! If you don’t want to read, Alibris sells secondhand movies and music.
EndNote
In a nutshell, if you’re seeking the greatest websites to buy your favorite books, whether, for business, enjoyment, or education, you’ll be inundated with options. However, only some websites will provide the necessary services.
Some websites provide free books, while others charge a fee. If you do not want to spend more money on them from reputable e-commerce and book-selling businesses, you may utilize online coupons for books to obtain them at a low cost.
Also read: Amazon Hub Counters And Lockers: Safest Ways To Avoid Porch Pirates
