by Pat Merewether

Created on: October 28, 2008   Last Updated: September 09, 2010

A new book by one of our favorite authors is one of life's great simple pleasures. Unfortunately, our favorites are best sellers because everyone else wants a copy right away as well.   Here are a few ways to get that hot book and avoid paying top dollar.

One way is to purchase a best seller when it comes out from a source or store that offers discounts, and then resell it online.  Amazon and other booksellers allow you to sell your books via their site and this way you can get most or all of your money back after you read the book. 

The library is free, but has limited copies our favorites. Many local libraries have waiting lists, so check this out and maybe you can jump in early and be at the top of the list when the book becomes available. If you're like me and already have a reading pile taller than you are, it won't matter if you have to wait a few days or weeks and so can wait and read the book for free.  Libraries also have used book sales and these are filled with ex-best sellers at a dollar each or less. You'll end up with loads of great books and also help your library purchase new ones in the future.

If you're not in a huge hurry, check Amazon or other on-line book sellers. Quite often you can buy a used copy very cheaply and rather quickly too. A best seller means that thousands of people buy the book the first day it hit's the shelves, so chances are there will be at least dozens available for resale in short while. If you're not real fussy about the condition and more interested in the content, there are often slightly damaged copies for pennies. Unless you're a collector, who cares if there's a coffee ring on the cover or someone wrote a love poem on the first blank page?

Trade with friends. Several of my friends and I are fans of the same authors. When we get together we agree to each buy a copy of one of the latest best sellers and then swap. This way we only buy one new book among the three of us and I've also been introduced to many new authors and topics at the same time. This method also saves time when a best seller ends up being a clunker.  It happens because the best seller lists count the huge volume of books sold to large book store chains. Haven't you ever wondered how a book can be on top of the list when it only became available yesterday? Usually the buyers for these large chains are spot on, but once in a while they are wrong, at least where the readers are concerned.

Check your local thrift shops. Our Goodwill has an entire room devoted to books. Best sellers are literally a dime a dozen on bag day. These are special sales where all the books you can fit into a paper grocery sack are $1.

Garage and yard sales usually have used books for as little as a dime a piece. Best sellers are quite often among these offerings, because people who have garage sales read best sellers too!  Estate sales are excellent places to purchase gently owned books.  I know it sounds rather grim, but at garage sales people are selling stuff they no longer want or need, whereas at estate sales usually offer items that people held on to until the bitter end, as estate sales are usually held after a person dies to settle their 'estate'.

Today a new, hardcover first edition of a best seller can cost more than $30, so hopefully some of the tips in this article will save you much of your hard-earned book budget.

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