handy book finders, revisited

by Stacy

Right after I posted links to several handy resources for finding cheap books online, Firefox upgraded to a new version which was not compatible with BookBurro. Sad times.

Luckily, BookBurro released an update for Firefox 3.5 and we can all find the lowest-priced books easily again. You can also add many local library catalogs to your results list. New paperbacks aren’t going to have a very large variation in prices, but older or more expensive books often will.

Here’s a little example of how it works once installed:

Let say you want to buy a book called Factory Physics. I don’t want it. I actually pulled it off my sister-in-law’s wish list. You look it up on Amazon, and you see it costs $70.25. Then you see the small BookBurro tab appear in the upper left corner.

Clicking on that button pulls down your options for other book sites and library catalogs, like so:

$39.35 instead? Even with expensive shipping, that still a pretty darn good deal. You can follow the links in the box to the alternate sites (make sure to compare shipping), too.

Let the holiday shopping begin! But don’t buy me that book, please.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

tater1112 October 11, 2009 at 5:00 pm

hmmm. I just installed that and I was excited, because it said I could get my book from Amazon Marketplace for $6.38 instead of 13.57. but it turns out it was reading the “amount you save” from the Amazon page. :(

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stacy October 11, 2009 at 5:15 pm

Aww. =(

I just have to keep reminding myself that books are heavy and I don’t need anymore! The library is closed today, but tomorrow I am all over it.

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dckatiebug October 11, 2009 at 5:40 pm

Have you tried bigwords.com? It’s sort of like kayak.com but for books. While slightly less handy looking than this, it’s really great when you’re buying large quantities (like textbooks, or if you had a list of books you wanted to purchase for Christmas).

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stacy October 12, 2009 at 12:35 pm

Eeeenteresting. It was down yesterday when I tried to look at it, but I’m exploring it now. I think it takes a little bit more work than BookBurro, but it also works for things other than books. I will continue investigating. In my family, savings money on books can make a substantial dent in the Christmas list.

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Angela October 12, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Um, doesn’t your sister-in-law read your blog? SHHH!

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stacy October 12, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Yes, and I think she would be happy to see $30 in savings for a book that she wants. ;p
Plus, she just got the kitchen torch I sent her, so now she’s on her own until Christmas.

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Dandy October 13, 2009 at 8:35 am

I was just thinking how much money I could save for Christmas! Thanks so much!

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