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Are you an avid book reader (or buyer, no judgment) and wish to buy as many books as you can without breaking the piggy bank? I’ve got your back! You see I love books but it can become expensive in the long run if you just keep buying books non-stop. Which again I’m not judging since I do the same.
I kind of created a strategy when it comes to buying books and I think you might find it helpful and in case you have any tips, make sure to leave them down below in the comments section so all of us bookworms can help each other out.
Where Do I Get My Books
When it comes to books I tend to buy them from 3 places though it ends up being most of the time 2 which are Amazon and ThriftBooks. The third place is very rare for me to get books from since it will end up being a thrift store but I don’t go out much so ThrifBooks and Amazon tend to be the way for me.
On Amazon I tend to buy new releases or books that have been really recently published because on ThriftBooks they are either the same price or more expensive and the whole point of this “strategy” is to save as much as I can on books because the more money on books I can save, the more money I can spend on books and at the end of the day, get most of the books I want.
Since there are so many books out there that I end up just sticking with “old” or not-so-recent releases since I want to catch up with what I’m interested in that’s already out there I end up getting basically all of my books from ThriftBooks.
There was this one time that I was able to get a really good deal on Amazon which was the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book box set by Rick Riordan for like $16 and that was the best deal I’ve ever gotten and till this day I’m so proud of it. I kept on checking multiple times a day for a few weeks until it reached that price point and was able to get them then.
What is ThriftBooks
So ThriftBooks is an online store in which you can get new and used books and they tend to have super great prices on their used books which tend to be $5 or less most of the time which I love!
The way the price varies is by choosing the format (paperback, hardcover, etc.) and the quality (acceptable, good, very good, like new, or new).
In my case, I tend to the most affordable one regardless of the quality because what matters to me is that at the end of the day I can read the book.
How to Get Good Deals
These past few years I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the books I’ve gotten since I tend to get them in acceptable shape. It’s kind of a hit or miss depending on the book and your expectations so I will show you a few of mine so you can get an idea of what you can get.
Acceptable
Good
Very Good
Like New
Shipping
I live in Puerto Rico and the shipping tends to be super affordable. For instance, if I get only a book or 3 the shipping goes from $1-3 and if I spend $10 or more on books there, I get free US standard shipping though again this can vary from country to country. That means that if I get 4 books for $4 or so each, I get free shipping.
Another thing I would like to mention is that the shipping may take a while to arrive. I don’t mind this because again, I just want to get the books. It varies on the time but it usually takes about 3 weeks or so for them to arrive but this may yet again depend on where you are living.
Reading Rewards
ThriftBooks has also a rewards “system” in which depending on the amount you spent a year on books there, you are assigned to a tier and get points for each purchase you get. With those points, you are allowed to get books for free depending on the limit they have put whether it is a book that’s less than $5 or a book that’s less than $7 and things like that.
I’ve been able to get a few books for free and I just love it.
Customer Service
I’ve had one instance in which they accidentally sent me the wrong books and I simply went to their website/app and sent a customer service email through their contact form and they replied to me super fast and sent me the correct books right away.
So that’s it guys for this review. I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you would like to read something similar, make sure you check out my How to Establish a Reading Habit blog post in case you’re in a bit of a reading slump.
QOTD: Have you ever bought books from ThriftBooks?
If you would like to stay up to date with the latest content, make sure you check out my social media and my YouTube channel (there may be a book haul coming there soon).
Be Yourself, Be Happy, Be Human.
Lots of Love, Patrick.