Saving Money on Books

This post is part of a multi-part series on Saving Money A to Z here at Frugal Follies.

I've done quite a bit of selling books online, so I thought I'd share some ideas on how to get the best prices on books.  With the holidays coming up, I'm sure a lot of parents would like to get some books as gifts for their kids, but don't want to pay bookstore prices.

If you can, buy books used - they are far cheaper than buying them at the bookstore.

• When looking to buy single copies of books online, use a book aggregator like Bookfinder.com, which will list several online sources for a specific book, and includes shipping in the cost of the item.
• Look for your book as part of a book lot on eBay.  After you remove the book you want, resell the unwanted books as a lot on eBay.  You might be able to get the book for free, or even make a profit on the lot!
• Check out book sales at the library, garage sales, or thrift shops for books.
• Ask around!  Perhaps a friend has the book you are looking for in their library already.  Perhaps you could swap books.
• If you don't actually need to buy the book, but just want to read it, definitely check out your public library.  Even if your library system does not have the book you want, almost any book can be gotten through an interlibrary loan.  Ask your librarian for more details.

If you absolutely must buy a new book, try some of the following ideas:

• Most of the major bookstores have customer rewards programs, where you can receive a percentage off of books.
• Buy books at national chain discount stores, which also sell personal care items, cleaning supplies, and/or groceries.  Find deals that use coupons which will result in an overage (saving more money than you spend on the item).  Use the overage toward the purchase of books.
• Look for a Scholastic Books warehouse sale in your area.  Books go on sale there for 50-80% off just before the holidays.  The fine print says that the warehouse sale is "exclusively for school employees, school district personnel, homeschoolers, and Book Fair chairpeople / volunteers."
• Join Swagbucks and earn points by doing searches, watching videos, and filling out surveys.  Once you've earned 450 Swagbucks, you can get a $5 Amazon.com gift card, which can then be used to buy books.

Leave a comment with your favorite tip to save on books!

Check these sites for more great tips and frugal ideas:

• Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM
• Making Dollars out of Change @ Madame Deals
• Penny Pinching Party @ The Thrifty Home 
• Works For Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family
• Thrifty Thursday @ Coupon Teacher 
• Fantastic Frugal Fridays at Frugality Is Free and Being Frugal and Making It Work
• Money Saving Monday @ Family Friendly Frugality