charlesroast said:Nobody mentioned Half-Price Books. I belive they are a national chain. I get all kinds of books there, plus when you are done, they buy them back. Obviously not for much, but hey, better than them sitting around the house collecting dust.

I second that and here is the link
Halfpricebooks.com

For children's books in particular, try BookCloseouts.com. They frequently have sales and almost always have coupons.

kunjoosmemon said:Hi,
I searched the forum for a thread on where to buy the cheapest books .. online or B&M. I just know of Barnes and Nobles (love the thread), Overstock, Amazon and CostCo. So I thought I'd start a discussion thread on the best places to buy books. Anyone know of better places or deals? Feel free to share!!!
Thanks much!

I think Amazon, half.com are the cheapest overall. You can find books that publishers want to get rid off and used book at various places for really cheap and if you want to get a particular new book --- the cheapest can be some sale combined with a coupon sometimes.

All the book chains have a super cheapo book section --- Crown, Barnes and Noble and Borders etc. When I lived in the southland near LA there were tons of chain stores all clustered together and several stores from each chain within 20-30 miles. You would see tons of books for 1-6 bucks. I would often see the hardcover version of a Stephen King bestseller long after it fell off the bestseller list selling far half the price of the paperback version. The chains only have the bestsellers and a few types of books on discount. With tech books there is often a ZERO discount unless you have a coupon or theres some special sale. They only discount a handful of tech books on what they claim is some bestseller list. You can get far better deals at Amazon. CompUSA and some stores like that used to carry some tech books heavily discounted too but my local one has really cutback carrying various items such as books. I got an Access book by Alison Balters $59 list for 35 and another one that has strictly code in it $27 for $16 both at Amazon.

You can find lots of cheapo books at the chain stores too though they are cheapo versions. I got a paperback version of the complete works of Shakespeare for real cheap eons ago for 10 bucks. One thing if you buy lots of paperbacks almost all of my books have been turning brown from the acidic content in the paper I think. Ive seen some better paperbacks that point out they use better paper and Ive read a few blurbs that say they stopped using that type of paper. Most of my recent books have been technical, throwaway fiction or of better quality like Lyotards books on Postmodernism etc so I havent seen that happen as much and of course they arent as old as my older books - duh. My old Hesse, Thomas Mann and Fitzgerald, Faulkner etc have gotten brownish. Some actually look like they were in a mild fire.

One thing I miss are the huge and varied cheapo sections at the chainstores in LA. You would see all kinds of weird books for dirt cheap every week. I got The History of American Law by Friedman for $3 bucks. Almost all the Faulkner stuff and Dickens etc. were also there for dirt cheap in cheapo paperback form. I would even see hardbound versions of classics there for cheap. Another area Im interested are business books that have become dated or other current topics. I got one on a scandal in scientific research and another about some controversy at Harvard (Poison Ivy). There are literally tons of business books --- investigative books on accounting firms, airline industry etc that are fascinating to read which often sell for 2-6 bucks which most would never pay 20-30 bucks for when they were new.

A really WEIRD service. I saw this on a cable show - "Books By The Yard". I remember someone was asking for this ---cheap books to buy that look good sitting on your shelf. I thought --- gee , thats really goofy. However theres a demand for it. You pay a set price and they send you a grab bag of a yard long set of books. I guess the main thing is they look good sitting on your shelf.

Link

foxmail said:the best place for cheap books is campusi.com
just enter name of book and they search 9000 bookstores and give you lowest prices incding shipping!

Ive got to check that out.

One thing if you are close to a college sometimes they also have good discounts on programming books etc but some stores may require a student ID for some discounts. I was at Wal Mart the other week and they had a small collection of paperback fiction for 40-50 % off.

If you live in VA, WV or MD check out the Green Valley Book Fair held in Grottoes several times a year. About 3/4 of our personal library is well-stocked from their inventory.

I search for cheapeset prices on www.ADDALL.com . I am and Electrical Engineering major...Amazon has multiple site such as US, Canada, UK.... For EE books, most of the time Amazon.UK will have the same book as Amazon.com *US* but cheaper.

thanks guys! i live in the chicago/naperville area so there's a halfprice books about 40 minutes from where i live. I'm going to make sure I check it out. And the Goodwill stores as well as CampusI, Zappos and Amazon UK. Thanks! -k

Another vote for Paperbackswap.com lets you get rid of your old books and get free new books. Also you get 3 free books for signing up (which is currently free) and listing 9 of your books. Also it is very easy to use. Try it you will like it. Any questions just PM me.

PaperBackSwap Link

whats the best place to sell books. I put some up on half.com already.