Monday, February 22, 2010

Do You Half.com?

     If you read my recent post about Nancy Drew books, you know I have had a lifelong obsession love of books. Sometimes I want a book to be brand new, all mine and untouched by the hands of others. Okay, really I always want them to brand new, but I can't always afford every book I want, so I settle for a little wrinkle in a cover, a bent corner or a little bit of loving use. I've used Half.com for years. When my daughter was in college, we literally saved hundreds of dollars on her textbooks buying and selling them through this website.

     My most recent purchase started innocently. I had a picture of a book torn from a magazine. I googled the title and found they had it on Half.com. I immediately went to the site and ordered the book.


Phyllis Hoffman's book was mine for $6.43! Woo Hoo! Of course now I was on the webpage and it asked if I wanted to continue shopping...that is where the trouble began.



A Nell Hill book for under a dollar, Shabby Chic for $3.09. It didn't stop there...I was in the decorating section and a few more clicks and look what I found...



All three of these were under a dollar each.


This one was calling my name for $2.78. I love it!


Who could resist the title of this one?
The Relaxed Kitchen: How to Entertain With Casual Elegance
and Never Lose Your Mind, Incinerate the Soufflé or Murder the Guests
It was only .75!

     What about shipping? You do pay $3.99 per book shipping, unless you happen to do what I did...combine purchases. Once I put a book I wanted in my shopping cart, I tried to find other books from the same seller. Each book from the same seller has a slightly lower shipping charge. Sometimes that worked, sometimes not. My total for all of the above books, plus a landscaping book that I picked up for my husband ($1.89) was $42.37 including the shipping. The retail price of the original book I was looking for, $24.99.

     I buy so many books from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders and Books-a-Million that I would never suggest that anyone should stop buying books through these wonderful stores/websites. There is nothing better that being the first person to open the pages of a new book. On the other hand, sometimes it is fun to get a big package in the mail and not know exactly what you are getting. Now, if I could just find the time to sit down and read them all!

Worth it!


* I was not compensated by half.com for this review.

18 comments:

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Think I will stay away from there. I need to keep cleaning out - not add. :)

xinex said...

Thanks for letting me know of this, Sue. I will have to check it out. I am a bargain shopaholic, lol. We ate at Columbia the last time we were in Ybor City so we ate at another place this time. We ate lunch at Iguana Grill and Bar and it was really good. I enjoyed my Blackened grilled Mahi with mango salsa and fried plantains. Yum!...Christine

dee dee said...

Sue,
I'll have to check this web site out... there are a few books that I would love to get my hands on for keeps! Most of my reading comes from the library, but every once in a while I'll come across a book that I'd just assume keep! I am looking forward to you sharing some great tablescapes and entertaining ideas once you have the chance to read them that is!
Dee Dee

Sophie said...

I was actually thinking of selling my used books on Half.com-- good to hear they do get customers ;)

Oh, and I think I once read a book by Julie Garwood-- not Sizzle though :P

Jenny said...

OH NO!!!!! You would have to post this....now I'm gonna have to check this out! On my next rainy day! Great post!

Life Laugh Latte said...

So funny Sue! You totally had me giggling as you reveled each new purchase. How many times I've gone into a warehouse store like Costco without a cart to buy, say, a flat of strawberries. 45 minutes later I'm struggling to get to the checkout with 10 items in my arms. Thanks for coming by. Hope the books are all awesome. Holly

J Rodney said...

You found some great books Sue! I used to use Half.com when I was in college, it sure saved me a lot of money.

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Thanks for letting me know about this site. It sounds fabulous! I love getting a bargain on books and have used amazon but I want to try this one now. I love all your choices and I hope they have more. That one about the kitchen sounded intriguing. Thanks for the great tip. (This is from honeysuckle. I am on my daughter;s computer)

Relyn Lawson said...

I love half.com. And, I love Phyllis Hoffman. So, I'm off to half. Catch you later...

koralee said...

Oh my...thank you for sharing..I spend way too much on books. I am always at the book store...I am so going to check this out. Love and hugs to you for a great week.xoxoox

Julie@beingRUBY said...

Hi Sue
Well since my teens I have been quite obsessed with my books.. my nieces and nephew used to laugh at me at how i stacked by colour coding.. haha... and how they were all my little family members.. Sadly they are mostly in the garage right now.. waiting for me to get my own home.. my apartment is too squishy!!! I used to do the same was a local book exchange store.. a great way.. for fiction that you don't want to keep...

Thanks for you comment.. You know I am still on leave... a break between contracts and getting back to human.. so it's all ME time right now... between sleeping hahaha... Have fun xx Julie

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Wow, thanks for the tip. I usually order from Amazon. You got some really nice books and what a great deal!!

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Oh Sue thanks for the information my friend...Now I have the first book and loved it...read it and now use to to set things on in my LR ha ha!! Thanks so much for sharing and for coming by girl...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Rettabug said...

Hi Sue,

I've been a half.com-er for years, too but I never got such bargains as YOU! I'm green with envy over the gracious spaces one. I have checked it out of our library twice & still drool over it. I think I'll go check it out again.

Thanks for your sweet comments on my Caroline's smocked dress. I couldn't afford the Polly Flinders dresses when my DD was young, so I'm making up for it now with the DGD. :D

fondly,
Rett

Shellbelle said...

I LOVE half.com. I used it to buy textbooks when I was in school a few years ago and saved tons of money. I remembering buying a math book, brand new, for $19.99. It was $125 at school.

I was a seller also for a couple of years. They make it easy to resell your textbooks and anything else you buy from them. I needed to clean out my own bookshelves and started selling those, including many cookbooks that are out of print. Half.com sets the shipping rate based on paperback, softcover or hardcover. Some textbooks are very heavy and would go over what we received as sellers, so you need to make sure that is included in your selling price. I really loved it and got hooked. I would buy books at garage sales and resell them on half.com. I live just blocks from the post office and ended up going there everyday with anywhere between 5 and 20 sales. It provided a nice little income and was a lot of fun. Oh, I sold CDs also. Quick and easy!

Gypsy Heart said...

Wow! You really scored. Thanks for sharing but I just have to go into avoidance right now. I am trying to scale down ~ :-)

xoxo
Pat

Holly Lefevre said...

Great books! I love bargains like this...even as an author...(we don't get credit or royalties on these) but a good book is a good book! I want that last one about the kitchen.

Americana Lady said...

I just have to check this out! Thanks for the info. I hope I get as lucky as you...Joan