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How much do you usually spend on books
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message 51:
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Chinook
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Dec 12, 2010 03:24AM
I live in South Korea and within about 15 minutes from my house are two of the biggest English-language used bookstores in Seoul. I'd say I spend about $30, though sometimes less if I trade in a lot of books.
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Rosabelle wrote: "Just out of curiosity, how much do you usually spend on books? I usually spend about $30 / month for books, but recently due to the sale session happening in the bookstores where I live, I find mys..."I can totally understand how you feel. I too go a little crazy in a book store. But the prices are on the higher side, so all I do is drool! Thankfully, my area has a really nice library that has $3/bag book sales the last weekend of every month! Almost all the books are in tip top condition too, though no new book smell. In fact, because of such low costs, I am thinking of adding them to the Goodreads Swap pile ... :)
Ashwini wrote: "Rosabelle wrote: "Just out of curiosity, how much do you usually spend on books? I usually spend about $30 / month for books, but recently due to the sale session happening in the bookstores where ..."Ashwini... I envy you guys with libraries and library sales :( I don't have public library here or anything resembling that... and no crazy book sale as well... so everything that I want to read I have to buy. Well, sometimes the bookstore does have a sale, but not often and only about 25%, which is good enough for me.
Alex wrote: "I'm actively trying to build a better library, that's why I buy so many. I want a library that screams "Pretentious ass.""haha...
I spend between $50 and $100 a month. But that's for me and the kids. I have a love/hate with the Scholastic Book Club fliers my kids get- how can you resist a $1 classic kids book? I'll sometimes find I've spent almost my whole budget on their books during the school year.
I don't spend money on books on a monthly basis. Which means when I do enter a bookstore or have a "I'm going to buy some books," urge, I splurge on a huge scale! Enough said!
I have an ereader. I've been scooping up books under $3 lately. Lots of indie authors have books up for $0.99 as a Holiday Sale. For paper books, I really like site called seashellbooks.com - many $2 books. They take a long time to ship, but $25 and over is free. I find a lot of gems there.
i go to second hand book stores to buy my books so that i can buy more for less i spend about 20 euro on books a month
The local library has a very limited selection, and the nearest bookstore is 40 minutes away, so I almost always shop online for books. I usually pay less than $5 per book. Better World Books (which I love...the books are cheap AND they donate to literacy AND they're eco-friendly!) has many many many books for about $3.50 and shipping is free.
If you take the time to hunt at Amazon, you can find books for a penny, so basically all you're paying is the $3.99 shipping.
Ah, I love book shopping! :)
Hi all, I spend about $100 on books a month on average. I like to order several a time from amazon, so when they come in it's like Christmas.
Even in this community my spending habits make me feel a little crazy. My spending really varies from month to month. In the past month I spent close to $150 (half price books has 20% off everything & what's a girl to do?)Typically I spend $20-40 depending on what's coming out library availability and my patience level.
At a book store, my limit is $40.On Amazon, $10, which is totally doable because of awesome deals on their used books!
I get most of my books either for free or for really cheap; the library a couple of blocks from my house sells some for 25¢. (: I *very* rarely will buy books new, and when I do, I buy them at Borders with 20% off coupons. xD I am really cheap..
eBooks have saved me a ton of money. Not only are books by traditionally published authors usually less expensive, I have found a lot of sub $5 books from indie authors that I would never have discovered if not for ebooks.Now the question for me is how much I would spend per book. There is a book coming out soon that will be around $30 in hardback. I'll wait for the paperback or ebook.
Splitter
I'm pretty cheap when it comes to books. Most of the time I purchase from Thrift stores (only on the half-priced saturday sales). The challenge of finding a specific book in those unorganized shelves feels like treasure hunting! If I find an author I really enjoy, I try to purchase at least one full price book. Have to support the people who make my habit possible.
I find books to be incredibly inexpensive.Not counting eBooks, or books I have to read right away (and there are precious few of those - like "HARRY POTTER #7" being the most recent example), I find I've now trained myself to never spend more than $1-$2 for a printed book.
How?
- Library Sales: These are not just old library books, but donated collections as well. Example: A couple years ago, I knew I wanted to read "THE LOST SYMBOL" by Dan Brown, but didn't want to pay for the Hardcover. I thought I'd have to wait a year for the paperback, or to get lucky on some used edition. Instead, four months after its release, a local library had one of their quarterly sales. Not only did I find a pristine copy of "THE LOST SYMBOL" in hardcover for $1 - there were 4 other copies to choose from! Library sales are great - every book (or DVD) for only $1.
- Garage Sales: People are always unloading their books at garage sales. And cheap. It's not unusual to pay 50 cents for a hardcover and 25 cents for a paperback. Go late enough in the day, and some people will sell them by the bagful. You can try a lot of unknown authors for those kind of prices.
- Goodwill Stores: Or Salvation Army. Always have shelves and shelves of books for sale cheap, like $2 max for a hardcover.
- Swap Meets: Same story. Plenty of people selling books, and nobody seems to want them. Bargain hard, and you may be able to buy them for pennies a pound.
- Online: I put this last because the bargains aren't as great as you might imagine. If I'm looking for a SPECIFIC book, I'll try Amazon Marketplace (their used sellers). But at a minimum, you'll be paying $3-$4 just for shipping. Its the same problem with Ebay, and the base price is usually a little higher there, too. That said, if you just have to have a particular title right away, you'll still save off the retail price.
I haven't paid full price for a book in years...
...and have a TBR backlist that will take years to read!
Books are bargains.
Todd
12 years already for free or almost free: I used to buy them on garage sales. But mostly taking books from libraries or loading for free also from libraries or sites with free downloads
I bought 9 books this month and it cost me €12, that's a really good month for me :)
