Robert Doucette: “Although I also admire Amazon.com, I have stopped buying from them in favor of a site called positively-you.com. I love the site for many reasons. It was run from the spare bedroom of a college professor in Iowa who started it because he loves books. They were profitable from the first day (their fixed costs are about $150/mo). And, best of all, you can donate 10% of your purchase price to any charity you want. Why would you buy books from anyone else?”
Well, perhaps because others charge less?
Barry Basden: “Go to http://www.bestbookbuys.com and look up a title. You may find a delivered price even cheaper than the booksamillion club price.”
The title I tried this on showed booksamillion.com as the cheapest of the bunch — $10.97 delivered (46% off the price of a paperback), vs. $14.35 at Amazon.
Ralphe Wiggins saved even more: “Bestbookbuys.com compares prices at about a dozen different sites. I recently bought a book that was priced at $107 at every site but Borders, where it was $69! Of the three technical books that I bought, there was a different best-price site for each.”
Tom Mathies: “As a guy interested in saving a buck and as a computer science professor, I like to follow how online shopping is evolving. I agree that competition makes it difficult for an online store to earn a profit.”
If it’s books you’re after, Tom suggests http://www.acses.com. But forget books. Try deal-finder.com, flamingoworld.com, and http://www.albany.net/~tiacat/Refunding/Offer.html. All three list deals and coupon codes on a variety of items, the modern-day electronic equivalent of 40 cents off on a can of coffee. Only you need never leave your chair, and you typically save $5 or more.
Thanks, Tom.
