by Dennis Huckabee

Created on: July 31, 2009

Buying used books on the internet just makes sense. No doubt you have seen the prices of books at chain bookstores, and have been appalled at the prices charged. By buying online you have the ability to save a great deal on any type of used book, even audiobooks. Not only will you be saving money, but you will also be providing benefits to other causes, such as reducing your carbon footprint, and conserving valuable resources. In this article I will take you through a list of the best resources on the internet to find used books for very little money, and possibly for free! I will also provide you with some general tips on the lingo that used booksellers used, and some pitfalls to watch out for.

Purchasing Used Books

The first topic that I will cover is that actual purchase of used books. While there are ways of getting the book for free, you may not be able to keep it. If you would like a copy to read and browse through at your leisure, than, buying the book is the more attractive option.

No doubt you have heard of most of the major online bookstores:

Amazon.com
Ebay
Half.com
BooksAMillion
AbeBooks
Etc...

Most of these stores offer seller marketplaces where independent booksellers can list their used books, often at a substantially reduced price. This is a great way to find good deals on books, but, the prices between the sites often vary wildly, and if you wanted to make sure you got the best deal on the book, you would have to check every site for the lowest price. This is where a really handy tool comes in. Book price comparison sites let you search all of the major, and minor, online bookstores at once, and provide you with a list of the lowest prices on the internet. A great site for this is:

BookSpy - Your Book Price Comparison Engine

What is really great about these kind of sites is that it not only searches the major bookstores, but also many independent and smaller bookstores, which may often have the lower price! At the site listed, you can search for books by ISBN, Title, or Author, or any compination thereof, and can even browse user reviews of books, find similar titles, and alternate editions. Alternate editions really comes in handy when you are trying to get a book for the absolute cheapest amount possible. If you don't mind getting an older copy of the book, you can often find books for as little as $0.01 + shipping.

Trading Used Books

Another option of getting used books is through a book trading site. On book trading sites,

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