Our library has a large sale of discontinued books annually, in a large exhibition hall, at very reasonable prices.

I'm reasonably certain that one wouldn't find best sellers (well, recent ones) there, or popular ones, either.

I got ten copies of several popular magazines, a year of so old (or more) for $1.00 last week. Which included quite a few copies of what I believe to be Canada's best personal money management magazine - and up to fairly recent copies, at that.

But - what to do with them? I have all of them now. Can I read one copy of each with each eye?

ole joyful

I think you can only keep a new book at my library for 14 days. I also have used ebay to purchase books. But my rule is that i will check them out from the library first and if i LOVE it then i will buy it. Im a bit of a cookbook junkie. Of course i also go to garage sales, and the store Half Price Books. Right now i am waiting for my library to get in a new book by Sandra Lee. Even though im dying to get it, the cheapo in me wont let me buy it until i know i LOVE it first.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I've found the amazon marketplace sellers consistently sell the biggest range of books and computer software at the best prices. Almost always cheaper than eBay for the same items, and no need to bid either.

I've used half.com,a division of eBay for both buying and selling books. No bidding; the postage adds up, tho. We can access our library online, and I reserve books that way. I've found that if I read a book review for a new book and reserve it right away, I can get it in fairly short order. We're lucky that our library allows 3 weeks per checkout,a new policy, but of course no renewals on books with reserves on them. I also have good luck with garage sales. Often, people sell bestsellers that are only a little behind the curve.

As far as postage, if you ask the seller to ship media mail, it is way cheaper than regular postage. Some do it, others don't, but it is always good to ask. Many people don't know of its existence.

I always ship books media mail and buy them that way too. It still adds a lot ($2.50-$3.00 and up) to the cost of a book. Sometimes, it's cheaper to buy from Amazon and take advantage of their free shipping. I also get books at our twice yearly library sales. Patrons donate books and these are sold at good prices, and it benefits the library, too.

Jannie, what is wrong with being on a waiting list?

By the time you've searched eBay, exchanged emails, paid up and then waited for the delivery, you probably would have moved to the top of the waiting list. Otherwise just have some patience. I've never been at a loss for social conversation because I haven't read the latest book the first week it came out. Same goes for renting movies.

To each his own.... We are library users and go on waiting lists for things we want on a regular basis. Don't mind the wait and if it is something we really want our own copy of, we will purchase it at a discount book outlet. Like most book lovers we get over run and really should just read what we have sitting around waiting to be read. Somehow it doesn't happen and our bi-weekly trips to the local library are something we enjoy. Our small library doesn't have alot of the wonderful things inner city ones offer but we enjoy what is available and make the use of our tax dollars. I agree with bud i, but jannie is happy with her choice(s) and joyful, I'm surprised you haven't found another money saving idea to use your magazine stash once you've read them. I drop off (good but older mags) into the hospital waiting room, doctor's office, or even the local airport. I'm not talking 3 years worth of old mags, just the odd semi-recent copy...someone will sit and look through them. Budster with her 2cents.

Besides the waiting list for books that our library has, I can get most other books on interlibrary loan for no charge. If they have to go out of our area for the book, I have to pay the return postage, but this is very rarely the case.

When I want to buy a book, I usually check with bestbookbuy.com. They list several places that have the book, and the prices for new and/or used, paperback and/or hardcover from each site. I've sometimes found the price of a brand new book at one store for far less than a used one at another site.

There's another online site that does this book comparison shopping, but I can't remember what it is.

Btw, hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum, but I see several familiar names from other GW sites.

Budster,

The mags were all duplicates of ones that I already have, by subscription.

Someone used to make an annual index of the articles in the magazine.

I think that quite a few of the subscribers hang on to their copies for some time - I have mine for 4 or 5 years I think.

Now I just have to find a home for the extras.

Good wishes to you and yours.

o j

Have you heard of paperbackswap.com? I love it. You post the books you have to trade and when someone requests your book you mail it to them (site prints the wrapper and postage is only $2.12...it prints it on the wrapper). When they receive your book you get one credit and get a book to order for free. The only expense is the book rate shipping at your local post office.

Paperbackswap has been my main source of books for the past two years. I have received many nice hardbacks through them so it's not just paperbacks. You can set up a wish list (mine is over a hundred) of books you want and when they come into the system they are sent to you. I can't say enough good things about paperbackswap! CDSwap , their sister site, is equally good.

Other than that I go through Amazon's used book sellers.

I don't use library - we like to keep the books and we read a lot. I usually use ebay and amazon for used books, if I am awaiting a book's release and can't wait till it becomes available used, then I buy them at BJ's (about 45% off retail) and if BJ's doesn't stock it, at borders (if you google border's there's always a coupon for about 30% off).

I typically do my holiday shopping at border's (especially for kids) and since Border's came up with the rewards program a while back, it's been very "rewarding". If you sign up for their email, they will send you coupons (a lot during holiday season). There are a lot of coupons out there on the net too. Every time you spend $50/per month, you get an additional 10% off personal shopping day (which you can combine with coupons). Plus, they used to bank 5% off your purchases for the holiday spree (now they issue a $5 credit once you accure it.) Last Nov-Dec, I made a number of trips to Border's, a saved a ton between personal shopping days, coupons and such.

But, ebay is still my #1 spot for books. Border's is mainly for gifts.

In our suburbs the libraries have a Friend of the Library Group that takes donated books and has a sale once a month.
I went last Saturday and bought $21 worth of hard cover books for 50cents a book plus a bunch of paperbacks for 25cents apiece. among the purchases were hard cover of Two little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark which is still on the bestseller list. check with your library about the sales.

There are a lot of places where I like to save money--buying books isn't one of them.

The author probably put 6 months, to a year, maybe more into writing that book. They ONLY make money the first time the book is sold. I always buy books new for that reason--when you buy secondhand, the author gets nothing, the resaler gets it all. I just feel that the kind of work that goes into a book needs to be rewarded.

That's just one person's opinion--not saying anyone else should follow my lead. Just one of my own personal foibles.

The book market, and I say this as someone who works in it, is just full of crazy prices.

I recently ordered some books though an amazon marketplace seller. All books were new and arrived promptly in perfect condition, and I paid prices like £7 for a book which amazon are selling for over £25. I'm happy with that. The books also arrived with a company branded book mark that gave me their web site address, where it turns out the books I just bought are also being sold for just a few £ less than amazon. The same company are selling that book on amazon marketplace for £7 and on their web site for £23.

I have found this time and time again, both from personal shopping experiences and research through my work, a large number of book sellers are selling the same books in different places for very different prices. They know that in competitive markets like amazon and eBay the way to make sales is to undercut the competition, while in stores and custom web sites where the competition are a little further away, they can sell for much more.

The half price book store I go to has a clearance section and I've found some great books there for $1. Some books I would have never tried and did try b/c I got them for a dollar. I used to go to garage sale and always got good books for 25c. Our library lets you keep them for 2 weeks.

Someone mentioned Half Price Books. If you actually register to be on their mailing list, they will mail you a sheet of coupons twice a year. I just got one in the mail. These coupons are good for a certain date - one book 50% off, next date 40%off and so on for four or five dates. I use them for Christmas shopping and also to treat myself.

Also, don't forget about selling your books there and using the money to buy more books.

We have a local thrift store that has terrific books. Usually they are $.79 for paperbacks, but several times a year they sell them half of that price. I can never resist books.

I get books through bookmooch.com (similar to paperbackswap.com, only international). All I pay is the postage for the books I give to others. I have received some books through this website that weren't available where I live, books that are out of print and new and newish hardcovers. All in return for being active and giving books to others (you do need to keep your mooching below 5 books mooched for every 1 given). You get 0.1 point for every book you list in your inventory, it costs 1 point to mooch a book locally and two internationally and if you give internationally, you get two points from the moocher and 1 extra point from the system, meaning that by giving two books to someone abroad, you get enough points to mooch 3 books internationally or 6 locally.

I got a library card when I ran out of room on my bookshelves. I usually get a book out a week. I also have the ability to get books downloaded onto my computer for 3 weeks.

When purchasing my books I usually buy second hand as many of the books I'm looking for are no longer in print. When I find a new book that I want, then I will go to my locally owned bookstore and get it. If they need to order it in then that is fine as well.

I like to have a book in my hands when I'm deciding if I really want this book. It makes me face up to the fact that I have to purge about 300 of them. :-(.... *sob*

IN my city there is a big centeral library in which there are so many books of each and every field and of every auther ..so i have a membership of that library..i can issued the books and save my money :)