I need to make some purchases for books. I am comparing my options and prices.

Books-a-million charges $20 for a year of membership while Barnes and Noble charges $25. Do you find memberships to be worth the standard 10% in membership discounts?

 

 

 

       

My Mom has a Barnes & Noble membership, loves it!  She has told me several times about the good deals she has gotten from them.  The thing she likes about their site is that the discount is also on DVD's, CD's, and I believe she also sometimes gets free or reduced shipping.  She is a book junkie so she really enjoys it.

It depends on how much you spend on books each year.  I don't spend $250/year at Barnes and Noble (not even close... although I would if I could talk myself into it), so I wouldn't get the membership back.  If I spent more, I'd do it - but I have so many books already that I refuse to buy more, except to complete series, until I get some more bookcase space; the room is full (by which I mean 4 bookcases, 6 feet high and 3 feet wide), with overflow in the basement - it's hit the point where my primary concern isn't money, it's space!

Good point about what you would have to spend to pay for the membership.  My Mom does buy a fair amount of books, and she uses the site as well to purchase gifts for others.  They have awesome sales around Christmas time if I remember correctly.

If you lived in my town you could buy a Preferred Reader card from the local bookstore for $10.00 per year.

I also have a Barnes & Noble card. B & N sends out email coupons often.

I got my B & N card because I got tired of having to pay for my books in advance when I did a special order at the local bookstore. I normally pick up 3 or 4 books at a time and I much prefer to do one check instead of many checks. I'm sure that the bookstore has felt the loss of my business. I've had a B & N card for several months now.

I understand that Borders has a card, but I haven't looked into getting one.

I got my B & N card when I couldn't get the newest cookbook of a junior league from the local bookstore. As I recall, Borders didn't have it. B & N had it and I bought the card then.

Back when I had a BAM card it cost $5.00 a year.

I think it depends how many books you are buying and how much you plan to spend over the membership period.  They can be good, depending on what and how much you buy. 

Personally though, if I have the time to wait for shipping, I think Amazon has the best prices, and shipping is usually free with $25 purchase so that is what I do rather than buy the membership cards.  I try to plan book purchases ahead of when I need them to take advantage of Amazon.

It's very much worth it for me. I have memberships at both Books a Million and B&N (DH gets them for me as Christmas and birthday gifts). Aside from the ten percent discount, B&N sends out coupons and sales info regularly, and they both have great bargain book sections, which is where I do most of my book shopping, thus saving me even more. As well, Books a Million has a big sale once a year, where you get 20% off instead of 10 if you're a member, on almost everything in the store. If you don't buy books too often, it's probably not a good idea, but if you're like me and collect books (at the best price you can find, of course! ), memberships can be a really good deal.

 

I put together all my numbers.

I need to buy several Magic Treehouse Books. At the prices of these, I would need to purchase 50-60 books to make back my membership fee at the bookstore. I need eleven of them and I can't be sure beyond that how many books I would buy this year. I could get gifts but I am not sure if that would work out in my favor either.  My husband buys a couple of new novels for himself a year and I buy used often at .25 a piece, I am not sure we would personally get enough benefit.

Buying used at Amazon would come out to paying $4 or more a piece for them. New would be $4 plus shipping unless I get $25 worth at one time. The retail price on these are $3.99. Buying new here would put me at the same cost as the bookstore without a membership and I would not have to go out to get them.

Next question. I am looking over my book lists for schooling over the next few months to see if there are any more I will need that I could get cheaper with a bookstore membership. If a bookstore does not a carry a particular book on the shelves, have you had any success in getting them to order it for you? Do you just go through their site instead and have it shipped to you? Do you spend more to order online and have it shipped directly?

 

Just to note..

My husband and I had B.Dalton and Books-a-million memberships years ago. When we found ourselves not getting our membership back in discounted amounts, we did not renew.

Life changes so do resources and prices so here I am making sure we are making the most frugal choices. My bookstore membership experiences are really outdated though.

 

All the books I get are special orders.

I switched to B & N because I can park better there than at the local bookstore.

I pick up the phone & order my books. You can order books online on the B & N website.