Lanny Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Two weeks ago today, we received the 7th grade Social Studies textbook, the last one DD needed for 7th grade, which we'd paid $30.22 + shipping for (Used-Good). That night, I was curious about the 8th grade textbooks, and I saw that the Math textbook was available for one cent and the Social Studies textbook for 58 cents. From the same Amazon seller, HPB-Dallas. Both textbooks were described as "Used-Good" condition. Those 2 books were delivered by our Forwarder this morning. DD and I both believe they are in "Very Good" condition. Better than the condition of the $30.22 textbook. :-)These price wars seem to happen when the computerized pricing algorithms of Amazon Sellers see that a company they compete with, directly, and consider to be their competition, or, possibly, their "enemy", begin to decrease (or increase) the price. It doesn't happen on all textbooks, but I suspect it will happen for the 8th grade English textbook that DD will need and I am watching that one, every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have had really good success buying books used from Amazon. Since I am not overly bothered by pencil markings and such - as long as no one has blacked out words with a Sharpie, I'm good! I particularily like having a few different math books handy for our current levels so that I can pull out a new explanation of a topic if need be and Amazon used books are really great for that! I just picked up a big stack of Shakespeare plays over Christmas - 12 books for $10 including shipping. They were all listed as "Used-Good" but honestly, I don't think anyone has ever cracked the covers on any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I buy inexpensive used books all the time on Amazon. The vast majority of my books are used. There's always a little element of gamble, but rarely have I been disappointed. It's the shipping that gets me when I really load up my cart, but for four bucks, I'm not complaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I also have had excellent success with used books on amazon. The most recent were several Narnia lit guides; they were a penny or a quarter each, plus $3.99 for each for shipping. They all said gently used, but they were in like-new condition, aside from a bit of highlighting in one. But tight bindings, no dog-eared pages, etc. Very nice. I also scored one of our Latin's Not So Tough books from amazon for the same deal, a quarter plus shipping. Said gently used. I emailed the seller to be sure it had no writing in it, since it's a worktext, and the seller confirmed that it had no writing. Looks brand-new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I use camelcamelcamel to track prices on Amazon - works for Used ones, too. I've noticed prices of (used) books mentioned on The Hive to jump considerably - both due to demand & to supply (as Hive members buy up the lower cost items). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 I use camelcamelcamel to track prices on Amazon - works for Used ones, too. I've noticed prices of (used) books mentioned on The Hive to jump considerably - both due to demand & to supply (as Hive members buy up the lower cost items). Thank you for sharing that with me! I'd never heard of it! I will sign up in the morning... I have a "watch" on eBay and they send me emails when there are new listings, but I don't think Amazon has that kind of service available. When I opened the carton today, it was very obvious that the textbooks being sold for one cent are not sold for that price because of bad quality. We could have paid FAR more for those 2 textbooks, and received books that were not in as good condition. Yes, many of the sellers have programs running that check their competitors prices, how many people are looking at that item, how many people are buying that item, etc., and they raise and lower prices accordingly. I have seen "price wars" on several textbooks now. It is on some of them, certainly not all of them. Thanks again for the link to CamelCamelCamel I bought one textbook for DD on eBay and that was a great buy for us. $15. At that time, on Amazon it would have cost $40 or $50 more in that condition. I strongly prefer buying on Amazon, but for a deal like that, I would be happy to buy on eBay in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjffkj Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I love love love buying books used on Amazon!!! I also sell books on Amazon. Listing the condition as being worse than it is usually happens because sellers want to make sure they get positive reviews. Peoples' standards vary so much that its much safer just to put 'acceptable' when it might be 'good' but you are not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.