My family's a bunch of eggheads -- my husband and I have MBAs, both of my kids are in the gifted program, and our house, well, it looks like a combination of an electronics store and a library...a high-tech library with a lot of video games and dust bunnies. (I hate cleaning. But that's a topic for another post.)
Anyway, when we were tossing around ideas for which merchants to put in the QuickRewards.net Spotlight this week, I made a special request for one of my favorite bookstores online, BookCloseouts.com. I knew they had a big dollar sale going on, and I had just helped negotiate two exclusive coupons for the store, one for $5 off a $35 purchase and another for $10 off a $65.
BookCloseouts' coupon codes work a little different from most websites: they're two-parters. Under the list of items in your cart there are two fields, one for Coupon Number, and one for Coupon Password. To get $5 off a $35 purchase, enter Coupon Number QuickRewards-5 and Coupon Password bookcloseouts.com. To get $10 off a $65 purchase, enter Coupon Number QuickRewards-10 and Coupon Password bookcloseouts.com. Standard shipping is by media mail, so it is VERY reasonable for large orders.
Be aware, these are closeouts -- they will probably have the little mark on the side of the book to indicate that. Some books are "scratch and dent" but if they are, the description will tell you. Every year, I place two or three huge orders there and I've never been disappointed with the quality or the value!
Here are some of the items I bought today:
Grapevine, by Balter and Butler: $1.00 (hardcover). Dave Balter of BzzAgent.com wrote this book about the importance of word of mouth when you're trying to sell a product. It contains lessons learned from BzzCampaigns you may have been in yourself if you're a BzzAgent member!
Better Homes and Gardens Easy Everyday Low Carb Cookbook, by Kristi M. Thomas: $1.00 (paperback, 256pg). I've been on (and off) a low-carb diet for over a year now and my doctor says it's VERY heart-healthy if you can avoid the high-fat meat. I get bored with it, though, so I hope the 200+ recipes in the book will help!
NASCAR in Photographs, by Elliot, Ingram, and Yarborough: $1.00 (hardcover, 175pg). I am not a racing fan, but my son's friend is, and I thought this would make a great (and cheap!) Christmas gift.
Training the Perfect Puppy, by Andrew De Prisco: $1.00 (hardcover, 160 pg). I am probably getting myself in BIG trouble with this one, because no, we do not have a puppy, nor am I planning to get one! But the kids LOVE animals and this book has 150+ color pics!
Stars of Stand-up Comedy, by Topics Entertainment: $1.00 (6 audio cassettes, 5 hrs). Yup, I still have a cassette player in my car. Don't laugh; it's paid for! But have you TRIED to find audio cassettes? Good luck, buddy! But BookCloseouts has a bunch of them for $1, and this sounded fun -- 5 hours' worth of 6 comics' routines. I also picked up Keep it Simple, Stupid by Judge Judy Scheindlin for $1.00.
I'm a Big Sister, by Chambliss and Cole: $1.99 (hardcover, 32 pgs). I'm ready for my brother to give me another niece or nephew and this is my not-so-subtle hint. ;) They also sell a Big Brother version of this book, if you're interested.
Get a Grip, by Layden and Leong: $1.00 (hardcover, 244 pgs). This book is an empowerment guide for women living with arthritis. I have several family members with arthritis so I bought two copies.
A Police Officer's Night Before Christmas, by Carabine and Kawasaki, $1.99 (miniature book). My cousin is a cop and I thought his daughter might like this. They also have versions for a Firefighter, Teacher, Hairdresser, Cowboy/girl, Mom, Grandma, Fisherman, Golfers, Dog, Cat, and more. (Search for Night Before Christmas and on the results page, click Miniature Books).
Mad Libs on the Road, by Price and Stern: $1.00 (softcover). Remember these from when you were a kid? You're asked for types of words (verbs, adverbs, nouns, etc.) to plug into a fill-in-the-blank story that turns out quite funny at the end. This is a version for the car; hope it helps keep the kids entertained!
Some other items you might like:
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (Cine-Manga): $2.99 (lists for $7.99)
The Mom's Guide to Earning and Saving Thousands on the Internet: $4.99 (lists for $14.95)
Living Well on One Income: $6.50 (lists for $11.99)
(Budget Living) Home Cheap Home: $7.99 (lists for $19.95)
Scrapbooking: $6.99 (lists for $19.95)
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids: $4.99 (lists for $10.99)
In a Cajun Kitchen: $8.99 (lists for $29.95)
Other suggestions: Do a search for Smithsonian for some great books for both kids and adults. Like romance books? Search for Johanna Lindsey or Barbara Taylor Bradford. To find popular children's character books, go to the Kids tab at the top and search for Berenstain, Barbie, Arthur, Bob the Builder, Sesame Street, etc.
Don't forget to click through QuickRewards.net's link to BookCloseouts to get 6.7% cash back (make sure you're logged into QR before you click through to the store), and remember to use the above coupons for $5 off $35 or $10 off $65! All items are in limited quantity so shop now!
Hi, Becky ~
I'd just found this site's $1 sale, on my own, & was just about to ask you if you could look for a QR coupon code that I could use, but you came up with 1 before I could even ask! Imagine my delighted surprise!
Great job, Becky!
~~~~~
Hey, folks, this is a great sale! I love books, too ~ in fact, I guess I've got a fetish for them, as they're 1 of the few things I 'collect'. (And, yes, I also read them!)
Just out of curiosity, & because I suppose I needed to zone out for a while, I went through JUST the list of $1 books, on this site, & found almost 80* that I would've considered ordering, if I hadn't already spent my 'non-essential spending' money for this month, on car repair!
For an order of $35 (minus $5 QR coupon code & $2.40 (8% of $30) QR cash back), the shipping was under $17, making the whole order cost around $44 ~ for 35 books! (If you buy books not on the $1 sale, of course your shipping will probably be less.)
The only place I can do better than that is at my favorite thrift store, but on USED books!
Posted by: send-me-no-fwds | 08/14/2008 at 01:46 PM
I'm tellin' ya, SMNF -- it is an incredible sale! Heck, you can even sort the books not in the dollar sale by price and just look at, say, books between 1 and 3 bucks. I found some other great books that way, too.
My order went like this:
29 books for $65.47
minus $10 QR code
plus $11.95 shipping and the $1 handling fee they charge all orders
= 68.42
minus 8% cashback
= total cost for 29 books: $51.03 ($1.76 per book)
Those 29 books included Christmas gifts for the husband, the kids, my niece, one teacher, two cousins, and a neighbor... and a few (well, 13 to be exact) for me. How can ya beat that deal and (like SMNF said) on NEW books?!
Posted by: Becky | 08/15/2008 at 08:22 AM