I’m not an educator, so I would like to buy between 50-100 copies of a book. It’s a common title found in any book store, a novel. On Amazon the used copies of the book are cheap, but they all have their own shipping costs (I presume because they are from different sellers). Used copies are fine, I am trying to get these as cheaply as possible. Any ideas?
The big megalisters on Amazon and eBay (who will have huge feedback numbers) probably have a significant number of copies. Contact them about a bulk deal.
Exactly. I’ve searched for particular titles on Ebay and found 3-4 from the same seller. Could you consider paperback AND hardback versions? The prices are often not greatly different. Also try contacting Half Price Books.
Check with a college bookstore in your area and see if they could do a special order for you.
One wonders if the postage issue with second hand means that you may as well buy bulk new…
There are numerous bulk book stores online.
But why risk it when you could look at a special order via your school’s network or a local college’s book shop or something… Stores selling one at a time need to charge higher % over cost to cover the cost of loss and failure to sell.
The OP says they’re not an educator … Might’ve been a typo.
I don’t have guidance on buying used, but I do have two and a half suggestions if you might want new copies. (And for future readers with a similar question.)
- Contact your local chain bookstore (probably B&N in the US) and ask about getting a corporate or institutional discount on a bulk order. At Borders, where I once worked handling bulk orders, you would’ve gotten 25% off the cover price and free shipping for most titles if you ordered that many copies. (“Trade” - i.e. non-specialty/academic publishers - generally give stores a discount between 40 and 50 percent.) If more bulk orders are in your future, setting up an account with a store that can handle them is a great idea.
1.5) Your local indie bookstore might cut you a discount too; unlikely to be larger than what the chain offers, though. Probably would require prepayment/deposit. - Contact the publisher. I don’t have experience doing this as a “civilian,” but I do remember, from my bookstore days, that publisher websites/ordering systems often had an option for non-retail customers to place bulk orders.
That seems like my best bet since I wouldn’t have to buy a bunch of used ones piecemeal if I can get 25% off and free shipping, I will try a Borders near me. Thank you!
Borders went out of business several years ago.
And it is obviously missed.