By Lilian Nguyen
Do you ever find yourself scrolling through Barnes & Noble or Amazon, looking at random books and wishing you had the money on you to buy everything that you stumbled upon? Well, I most certainly have, but being a student in high school means the budget is tight.
Knowing this, however, here are some online bookstores that sell used books (still in good condition, of course) for half the price than your usual find at your typical, expensive bookstores.
AbeBooks
AbeBooks, like many other online bookstores, has a wide variety of books for you to choose from. Whether it be research-based books, prep books or even textbooks, AbeBooks has it all. The website is easy to use with the run-of-the-mill search bar where you can search by title, author, keyword, etc. It’s not just books that AbeBooks offers as well.
You can find even more things to satisfy your hunger such as comics, old photographs, music, maps and more! Even better, there are rare editions of books, photographs, art, etc. that AbeBooks offers on its websites although they may be costly since many of them are first, limited, special editions or even signed by the author themselves.
ThriftBooks
If you can’t already tell by its name, ThriftBooks is one of the most well-known websites to buy used books at a cheap price. There are over 13 million titles to browse from with a wide variety of genres to choose from. You can find new books written by new authors, or even renowned classics if you want to dive into the world of classics then ThriftBooks has them all. The books are super affordable, and if you’re willing to go cheaper for a more “used” book, then prices can even range from $2-$5 (even for incredibly well-known authors).
The best part about ThriftBooks is that if you make an account and start racking up points by buying books from their website, they give you massive discounts and even free books! And if you’re just on ThriftBooks to browse, then it’s got a lot more than just books to choose from. There are movies, tv shows, video games, gifts, collectibles, etc.
GoodwillBooks
Everyone in their lifetime has at least heard of Goodwill, a store that a lot of people frequently visit to find thrifted goods. One of Goodwill’s hidden gems is its online bookstore, dedicated to selling used books. Like the previous websites mentioned above, it offers a variety of genres to pick from with their price tag being much less than the book’s usual market price.
There are different GoodwillBooks sellers to choose from, and it’s not only books that Goodwill offers. There are movies, games and even music records. However, one downside of the website is that if you’re looking for a low price for that certain book, you may have to keep scrolling through the website until you find a seller with a price listed at your budget.
Amazon
Amazon. It’s ironic that the site is even listed but if you find yourself opening up that wallet to find only a couple of dollars and loose change then you don’t necessarily have to buy a new edition of the book. Amazon offers a wide variety of sellers to choose from and many of them sell a used copy of that book. Although most of the time, the used options for the book you’re trying to find will most likely come from small booksellers or large ones such as Goodwill. No matter the seller, you’re still getting the book for a cheaper price than normal.
At the end of the day, whether you choose to buy a new book or a used book is not for anyone to judge. If you like the smell of that new freshly printed book, then knock yourself out, but if you’re willing to buy an old raggedy tagged book that’s been used and had its pages turned over thousands of times, no one can stop you.
It doesn’t matter where you get your book from and whether it’s new or old. All that matters, in the end, is whether that book is readable and was able to teach you something new and something valuable.
