Comments on: Seven Ways To Get Books For Free (Or Close To It) http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: FMROX http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-530285 FMROX Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:48:43 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-530285 I love the library, as well. Not only the checking out of books for free, but also the cheap bookstore that I have often donated books. But I can’t fail to mention swaptree.com. It isn’t just paperbacks. And unless you live near the person you will have to pay a small shipping charge, but it seems worth it.

]]> By: reulte http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-116107 reulte Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:06:52 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-116107 Oh and by the way — media mail is NOT extremely cheap, however it is usually cheaper than any other rate for mailing books. I have mailed smaller books that were cheaper at the First Class rate because they were so light.

I believe that media rate is measured in pounds (with the lowest charge being $2.13) while first class is measureed in ounces . . . so a book weighting less than 6 ounces or so may be cheaper to send first class.

Also, for certain books on religion, mythology, folklore and esoterica an excellent site is sacred-texts.com.

]]> By: reulte http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-116101 reulte Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:59:10 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-116101 Bookcrossing.com is great; although not a “trading” site (more of a tracking site and it is considered rude to simple ask/demand a book without offering a book in return or without checking the profile to see if they trade.), many of the people do trade. Another way to use Bookcrossing is to “GO HUNTING” . . . where you can check an area close to you and see if someone has wild release a book in the area. Sometimes most of the fun is in the finding of the book, journeling it and leaving it for the next person to find.

Freecycle is great for boxes of older books, as are yard sales.

I buy occasional small boxes of books on eBay.

Libraries – for books, interlibrary loans, DVDs, CDs, VHSs, magazines, audiobooks, a quiet place to sit and information — many librarians know of other internet tradeing sites.

I am also brazen enough to wander into a bookstore, start reading a book and finish it at the store — these are generally info-lite books (romance, humor, trivia) that don’t require a lot of thought or notetaking. Even I’m not brazen enough to tackle ‘War & Peace’ in a bookstore!

]]> By: Kay http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-113555 Kay Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:45:15 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-113555 I agree with Henry, library bookstores are the best. Magazines, sometimes new, 25 cents. Hardback books for $1 or less. Albums, tapes, CDs, dvds, you never know what you’ll find, and your purchase supports your local library as well. My other fav is audio books. You can’t read a computer screen while driving.

]]> By: Heather http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112191 Heather Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:09:23 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112191 I’ve been using the site http://www.half.com for many years and have always had good experiences with them. great prices and great service!

]]> By: rebecca http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112143 rebecca Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:26:46 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112143 Paperbackswap is my favorite used book store. Credits can be bought for a little over 3$, and mailing is included since the shipper pays as part of their deal. I don’t contribute books anymore, (I don’t want to hassle the mailing, although they make it as easy as possible) but when I want to research a subject, say, solar power, I always go there. We have gotten entire series of books by putting them on the wish list as auto-request and keeping our account full of credits. Then they just arrive in the mail! It’s great. They have 1.5 million books on the site.

]]> By: Brendan http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112114 Brendan Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:56:43 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112114 For Sci-Fi and Fantasy fans, there’s the Baen Free Library:

http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm

full text downloadable in multiple formats (including HTML, RTF, and ebooks)

Baen also puts old titles out on CD compilations with some of their hardback books and allow the CD content to be freely distributed:

http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

They don’t believe in restrictive copy protection and I like their author’s enough after reading from their library to buy their new offerings on occasion…

Enjoy,

Brendan

]]> By: 91030Mom http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112107 91030Mom Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:50:32 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-112107 Here are a few more sites:

bookcrossing.com (“pay it forward”-type swapping; free and kinda fun)
bookins.com (book swapping for a small fee)
dailylit.com (ebooks; some free, some with small fee)
wowio.com (free ebooks)

]]> By: Debi http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111990 Debi Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:43:11 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111990 Bookmooch.com is worth mentioning again. It works like paperbackswap, but is not limited to paperbacks.

I’ve given out more books than I’ve received, but that’s OK with me. Bookmooch has several ways to donate your points to worthy entities in need. I like that.

]]> By: Louise http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111911 Louise Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:53:27 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111911 I’m suprised no one has mentioned op shops (thrift shops). All charity op shops have books and you can pick up some real bargains. It’s easy to get them for as little as 5 cents, and often there are sales where you can get a whole bag of books for $1. Used book stores are a better bet for getting a specific book, but if all you want is some novels for light reading, then there’s plenty to choose from. Sometimes collectible items come up, and some real treasures can crop up. I bought the complete notebooks of Paul Klee (famous artist and founder of the Bauhas Movement) for 50 cents, along with several other rare art books for less than $2 earlier this year. In fact I totted up that I’ve bought around 50 books for myself and friends this year at various op shops, and the most expensive would have been $2. As well as art books, art catalogues and novels I’ve bought books on history, alternative health, eco housing, finance, making your own furniture, fishing and goodness knows what else. Because it’s so cheap I regularly pick up books for friends that I’m pretty sure they would be interested in. At an average price of 20 cents per book this is a luxury I can afford.

Also look around your community for a book club. I’ve found that you can often start an informal book swapping club at your local neighbourhood centre or senior citizens centre just by mentioning to the co-ordinator that you are interested in swapping books. They will sometimes make available a small bookshelf where you and other people can bring in books you no longer want and take whatever you find on the shelves that interests you.

]]> By: Kate http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111869 Kate Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:12:06 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111869 Public libraries will often purchase a book if you request that they do so. The policies differ from library to library. My library has a publication date cutoff–if it is older than a few years they won’t purchase it UNLESS it is a classic that they haven’t realized has gone permanently missing.
Even if they won’t purchase it, most library participate in an interlibrary loan agreement with other libraries. The cost is minimal.

]]> By: Christine http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111660 Christine Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:42:23 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111660 I’d also recommend http://www.bookcrossing.com
It’s fun finding a Book Crossing book somewhere.

]]> By: Cat http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111646 Cat Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:20:02 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111646 My brother, sister and I did a co-operative buy when the last Harry Potter came out. We pre-ordered ($15 cheaper) and then split the cost three ways – unlike last time when we bought a copy each!

]]> By: Lynoure http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111642 Lynoure Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:14:53 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111642 For a non-American BookMooch is a nicer online bookswap that PaperBackSwap mentioned above, as BookMooch does not rely on US Postal Service.

]]> By: MVP http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111602 MVP Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:17:53 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111602 FYI, Dave Ramsey has a holiday $10 book sale every season. Any of his books for only $10. That’s a good deal.

I second Jeni’s suggestion of buying books used on Amazon.com. I’ve gotten many nearly new books for a fraction of their new price.

Also, not sure if you mentioned it or not, but I’ve heard of a company that offers books for a monthly fee, like Netflix offers DVDs. It’s not free, but you pay a reasonable monthly service fee and get a certain number of books at a time. If you read A LOT, it sounds like a good deal.

]]> By: Mike Berry http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111553 Mike Berry Fri, 16 Nov 2007 04:14:46 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111553 One way to get more free books than you will ever be able to read is to become a reviewer. More publishers are now willing to send advance reading copies to bloggers who regularly produce reviews. If you become affliated with a network like BlogCritics, they’ll assist you in tracking down publicists and PR reps for review copies.

]]> By: Laura http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111521 Laura Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:32:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111521 I’ve had success with finding cheap reads by scanning the websites that sell “remainders,” the books that never sold at the store. They may not have all the NYT bestsellers, but I’ve found some good coffee-table style architecture books there for $7-10, and those usually run $25-50 retail.

hamiltonbook.com is one example, but I’m sure there are others:

]]> By: Laura http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111518 Laura Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:30:58 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111518 I’ve had success with finding cheap reads by scanning the websites that sell “remainders,” the books that never sold at the store. They may not have all the NYT bestsellers, but I’ve found some good coffee-table style architecture books there for $7-10, and those usually run $25-50 retail.

]]> By: Robin http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111444 Robin Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:17:06 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111444 Most libraries offer books for sale at very low prices. These are library books that are being taken out of rotation and donations from citizens. The books cost a quarter for paperback and a dollar for hard back. A bargain!

]]> By: Chuck http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111346 Chuck Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:07:49 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/15/seven-ways-to-get-books-for-free-or-close-to-it/#comment-111346 I find it economical to buy used books on eBay or Amazon and sell them on eBay after reading. After transaction fees, it might cost me a dollar or two to do it this way, but I figure that it’s very convenient for the book to show up in my mailbox and costs less than the gas I would have spent to drive to and from the library.

]]>