Buying cheap books in Australia

I really enjoy reading, there is nothing quite like getting a new crisp book and sitting down in your own personal space and time to have a quiet read.

It is a great way to learn and also a fantastic way to tune out of everyday life that can get you down (budgeting, debt, saving money – sometimes you need to just have some me time) or you can decide to read books on those topics if it will bring you some excitement about learning new tips.

Today I thought it would be good to look at ways you can save money on buying new books and tips on getting the best deal when you want to hunt down a book at a fraction of the retail cost.

Imagine if you never bought a book in your life? There would be two things I could promise.

1. You would not be as smart or well adjusted as you are now.
2. You would have a bank balance of $10,000 or more for your savings.

Buying cheap books

Until recently I always went into my local Dymocks or Angus and Robertson to find the books I wanted to read. Now days I just search for them online in an attempt to save money on buying books.

There are a range of sophisticated online shops and book search engines to look through in order to find the best price on a book.

Doing this means that I can shop from the comfort of home, buy books in one big hit to save myself worrying about what to do when I don’t have anything to read and I am also noticing that the variety online is much greater and better then using a local bookstore as they stock all titles on a one by one basis.

Postage costs for books

Postage and handling costs are renowned as the hidden costs of buying things online. You will be surprised to hear however that most online book shops don’t actually charge for shipping if you spend over a certain amount!

Finding cheap books online

Here are the services that I use in order to find the best deals on books.

Booko.com.au
This is a book search engine made specifically for Australian readers that syndicates the products from all major Australian book shops into one search result. This site managed to save me over $100 when buying a marketing text book when I was at Uni.

Bookfinder.com
This is another book search engine but is a world wide service. It also works for Australia but I find the results are not as accurate as Booko.

eBay.com.au
Do I even need to explain? Some of the best bargains ever exist on ebay when searching for books. Why pay $35 for a new release when it will be on eBay in brand new condition for $15?

Other tips to save money on books

1. Try searching Amazon.com – be careful of exchange rates though!
2. Use the public library.
3. Read books online via ebook downloads or scans.
4. Buy only the books you know you will read.
5. Share books with like minded people.
6. Read book reviews before buying.
7. Try searching online book shops like fishpond.com.au, seekbooks.com.au, dymocks.com.au and more.

Your tips to save on books?

Share with us your tips for saving money on books?

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