Website Review: BookCloseouts.Com

Book Closeouts is a website that sells mainly books. They do sell some VHS video cassettes, DVD’s and other things as well but mostly it is books. The great thing about them is that all the books they sell are new. Don’t get me wrong, I love used books and generally buy used books because of the savings I can get on them but buying new books that have never been owned by anyone else before and for such low prices is quite exciting. Basically I love all books, new or used, but new books are my favorite!

I signed up to receive monthly newsletters from Book Closeouts. I love getting their emails because they always list when they have sales and promotions. Some of their sales are amazing with savings that are a huge percentage off of the original prices of the new books! The books they sell are closeout and remainder books. Most of the books that I’ve ordered from them have a black mark (a thin line) inked on the bottom edge of the book.

Originally I found out about Book Closeouts from MyPoints.com. When you ordered from Book Closeouts through MyPoints, you earned a certain amount of points per dollar spent. When I checked at the end of March 2009 though, BookCloseouts was no longer listed through MyPoints so I can only assume that they are no longer affiliated.

I like buying things through MyPoints.com and earning points because it helps my book budget. That’s the way that I am able to buy myself books and gifts for my family through what I can earn online through websites such as Gather, MyPoints, Associated Content etc. since my check goes all for bills with nothing left over for fun. I’m not complaining I feel fortunate to have a roof over my head and books to read, believe me!

I received the March email saying that BookCloseouts was having a 50% off sale on their ANIMAL books. And that is 50% off of their already discounted prices which equals an exciting and quite cheap selection of animal, or my favorite, HORSE books!

I couldn’t spend much; it had to be less than $30.00 total including shipping. So I went through every single HORSE book on their special 50% off sale list and picked all the ones that I wanted.

That ended up being a couple of hundred dollars so I started whittling down the list to the books that I wanted the most. I made sure to look up the books over at Amazon.com too so I could compare prices and make sure I was getting the best deal. Over at Amazon Marketplace you can get some great deals on used books.

My total was still too high so I had to make the list even smaller by choosing the books that I thought I would enjoy the most. It was hard but I managed it but then I had a small problem of needing another cheap book to reach a $25.00 total.

That’s because I had a $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase coupon that I got for signing up for the email newsletter from Book Closeouts. So I chose a dog book that looked cute and was super cheap (only $1.49).

This is the list of horse books I chose and the prices that I paid.

Owning a Horse 2.49

The Horse: A Miscellany of Equine Knowledge 3.49

The Nature of Horses 5.99

The Whole Horse Catalog 4.99

The Right Way to Start Horse Riding 1.74

Horses (4.99, they sent me a different copy of this book & deducted $1.00) 3.99

Disguises for Your Dog 1.49

Less my $5.00 coupon

Shipping by media rate $7.25

Handling fee 1.00

I placed my order with Book Closeouts on March 14th, 2009. I received an order confirmation email immediately. Two days later on March 16th, I received a shipping confirmation email in which they listed my order and let me know that it had been shipped and could take up to 21 days to reach me.

I received my entire book order on March 28th, 2009. It was delivered by the United States Postal Service in a medium-sized box that was quite heavy since most of my books were large hardcovers. The quality of the books I received is excellent.

One of the books I ordered, titled HORSES, was a “scratch and dent” copy which simply means a book that has been damaged somewhere between the publisher, during shipping, or at the warehouse. BookCloseouts offers these “scratch and dent” copies at a discount. The original copy I ordered cost $4.99 but BookCloseouts sent me a different copy and deducted $1.00 off the price. The books’ only flaw is a two inch tear at the bottom edge of the spine which I will be putting a piece of clear tape on to keep the tear from getting larger. The book is 335 beautiful pages filled with color pictures of horses.

This is not the first time that I have ordered from Book Closeouts. This is my third order and each time I have ordered, I have been very happy with the service and books that I have received.

The only somewhat negative thing I can say about Book Closeouts is about the $1.00 handling fee that is added to each order. In the first order I made from them, it was not listed that a $1.00 handling fee would be added to each book order. I let my slight dissatisfaction go though because I really wanted the books and the prices on the books still made for a good deal. Plus I earned points from them for my MyPoints account. Since that first order though, Book Closeouts has added the information to their website and order form that a $1.00 handling fee will be added.

I am unhappy that Book Closeouts purchases no longer count towards MyPoints.com point totals and I hope that the company will change that back one day soon but in the meantime, I will still order books from them.

I recommend Book Closeouts for all book lovers who love a good deal on a new book. Plus it is quite exciting to read that monthly email to see what genre of books will be on sale that month!