I like to buy books. I like to read books as well but, sometimes I find myself with more money than time. Regardless I try to shop around and find the best prices I can when I buy things. For books, the best way that I have found to get them at a lower than retail price involves Borders. A while back when at my local borders store I allowed the lady who was checking me out to sign me up for the Borders Reward Program. After that almost every Thursday I would receive an e-mail from Borders. This e-mail usually has things like new releases in books and music, it also includes a coupon. The coupons are usually between 20-30% off. From my experience Borders seems to sell most books for list or retail prices. Amazon.com has many books from 20-30% without the use of a coupon. However the shipping is what stops me from buying much from Amazon these days. Even if the price is the same for the book, I am going to have to pay at $3 in shipping and wait 3-5 days. For the impatient/impulse buyers out there, this time frame is not acceptable. Besides anything that my local Borders does not have in stock they will order for free. So when I decide on a new book there are a few steps I take.
1. Check amazon.com and read reviews to make sure that I really want book
2. Goto Isbn.nu and search for the book and find the lowest price possible, if it is only a couple dollars lower I usually choose to buy it local.
3. Goto Borderstores.com and search my local Borders to see if the book is available there or at a Borders in a close by city.
4. If the book that I want is in stock then I simply wait till Thursday to receive my coupon in my e-mail. I sometimes even reserve the book if I am worried about it being there in a day or two.
5. After that I purchase my new book for usually 20-30% less then suggested retail.
Also sometimes on the receipt from Borders there will be a coupon. I am planning on using this system for buying books for college in the fall.
"A room without books is like a body without a soul." - Cicero
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