Best Values for Books Online

I love books but don’t have a lot of bucks so I’m always looking for the best value for books online. I enjoy checking out the sites, reading reviews, and browsing and I always check around for the best value for books online. Over time, I have found the best value for books online are to be found at four sites: Amazon, Alibris, Powells, and Overstock. I recently shopped for a somewhat obscure book called “The Passion of Mary Magdalen” by Elizabeth Cunningham. I also shopped for Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” and I am possibly the only person on earth who had not read it by this late date. These two searches for the best value for books online gave me a chance to test the sites for both comprehensiveness and price. Here we go.

AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com

Amazon has become the behemoth we all wish we had bought stock in. Nonetheless, it is still one of the very best places to by books online. They did have “The Passion of Mary Magdalen” in stock. A new book cost $19.17 and the cheapest used book was $17.00. Bear in mind that used books change day by day and on another day there might be a less expensive used book. Amazon is a wonderful site for reading reviews, interviews, getting lists and reading what others think of a book. You can also read excerpts from books.

“The Da Vinci Code” was $10.17 new and a whopping 37cents used.

OVERSTOCK
http://www.overstock.com

It is something of a surprise to find that Overstock sells books and that it has a very large selection. I was surprised to find that they even carried “The Passion of Mary Magdalen.” It cost $19.79. Overstock has only new book, however. Overstock was selling the book for $18.78. It sold a new copy of “The Da Vinci Code” for $9.66.

ALIBRIS
http://www.alibris.com

Alibris did not carry “The Passion of Mary Magdalen.” It did have a great bargain on the “Da Vinci Code” which sold new for $2.95. Used copies were also started at $2.95. Alibris is another great browsing site but not as complete or as extensive as Amazon is.

POWELLS
http://www.powells.com

Powells sells all used books. They did not have a copy of “The Passion of Mary Magdalen.” Their used copies of “The Da Vinci Code” started at $3.95.

Remember that used books on Amazon and Alibris are from independent vendors and that Amazon and Alibris tack on a charge for this service.

To sum up, the best buy for “The Passion of Mary Magdalen” was at Overstock. Amazon had a used copy for slightly less but by the time they added their charges it would have been more expensive.

The best buy for “The Da Vinci Code” was hands down at Amazon for only 37 cents. But Alibris had a very good deal for new books at $2.95.

Neither Alibris nor Powells carried “The Passion of Mary Magdalen” and I have found these two sites generally not as extensive as Overstock and especially Amazon.

It is fun to look for best values for books online, but please don’t forget your local bookstore.