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1. Goodwill Books
When I first drafted this list, I was under the impression that Goodwill Books was a newer initiative. My research proved this theory incorrect – Goodwill Books has been cranking out recycled literature at an astonishingly affordable price for over a decade! Not only does this ensure that the books being donated to goodwill don’t end up in landfills, but this project is responsible for putting books into the hands of people who otherwise may not have been able to obtain them. Follow this link to Goodwillbooks.com to check them out.
2. Thrift Books (online) | Thriftbooks.com
This is probably the most popular outlet you’ll read about throughout bookish blogs and similar sites. Thrift books has a wholesome launch story and continues to fight the good fight in the world of reading by enabling readers access to books at a thrifty price. This means instead of paying the MSRP of $29.00 for a hardcover of Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons In Chemistry, you’ll pay less than $8. My favorite feature on this site, though, is likely the fact that most of their books qualify for free shipping – all you gotta do is spend $15. On thrift-store priced books. Easy-peasy, right?
PS – Thrift books also has a “BuyBack” service where you hop online, list the books you want to get rid of and their condition, print a FREE shipping label and send them on their way. Give them time to process your shipment and they’ll put cash in your pocket via Paypal. Plus, the books are filtered into their system so they end up in the hands of someone else down the road.
3. Half-Priced Books
If you haven’t had a chance to read about the founding of this Midwest based book chain, I highly recommend you give THIS article by TexasMonthly that was put out in November of 2023 celebrating the store’s 50th anniversary of being in business. I’ll spare you the details but it’s essentially a love story that ends in you with your next favorite book in your hands for much less than you originally intended to spend. Welcome to the world of HPB. They’ve got 120 physical stores but their network and book database is accessible via the world wide web and can be found HERE.
