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Press & Media >St. Joseph News-Press
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May, 2009
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Books on a budget
Bookins helps readers save money
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by Sylvia Anderson
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Jim Critten of Gallatin, Mo., loves to read, particularly horror novels. He also likes to collect hardbacks by his favorite authors, such as Stephen King. But with the price of new books, his hobby was pretty limited - that is, until he discovered bookins.com.
It's like a used bookstore online where members can trade books with other members all over the country. And the cost is always the same, even if it's a $50 book: $4.49 for the shipping with no additional charges.
"I am a big fan," Mr. Critten says. "You can find most any book and DVD that you can think of, and it's easy to navigate the site to quickly find what you want."
Mitchell Silverman, the founder of Bookins, says he decided to create the site after he and his wife ran out of shelf space in their small New York City apartment. Since he began, he says he has helped more than 40,000 readers save money by trading for what they want.
"The idea was if a service could make trading books simple, I mean really simple, then people would use it," Mr. Silverman says.
It works on a point system. Members earn points by shipping their items to other members. Each book has a different number of points depending on what kind of book it is. For example, a new best-seller is worth more points than an old romance novel.
To find a book, members can search by category, by author, or look at one of the many lists, including Oprah's book club, recent releases and audio books. Then under each book is a description of the book or DVD with member reviews. The cost is $4.49 in shipping, plus points, for each item you receive. Sending out books is free using postage Bookins provides.
Mr. Critten says what he likes best is there is no rush to read a book, as with a library. And if he decides to keep it, he can. With more than 500,000 books and 30,000 DVDs on the site, he imagines he won't be running out of books anytime soon. For more information on Bookins, visit the Web site at www.bookins.com.
Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com.
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/may/10/books-budget/
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