How to Find Great Kids Books for FREE or at Discount Prices!

Our family LOVES reading and books!  Over the last few years I have been able to accumulate a wonderful library of books for our girls.  Many of my friends or guests in our home will ask where we have gotten so many great books.  I have shared my secrets with those who have asked.  As I was going through the girls books and sorting them I realized how much these books have been a blessing in our lives and  there may be more people that are trying to find great deals on books for free or at discount prices.

*The picture at the top of the post is some books I recently purchased at the local Goodwill Clearance Center.  I bought 63 books for $4.15 making it approximately 6 cents per book.  The books are used but most are in excellent condition, a lot of the books are worth over $4.00 each themselves.  The majority of the books I purchased were kids books but there were 3 for adults.  I am super excited about reading these with the girls.  A few of the books were even on my (want to buy list), for example 2 of the books are a part of a series called “Help Me Be Good” I have been trying to collect and the two new books I picked up were are on “Teasing” and “Cheating”.  I was able to get a couple Dr. Suess books, educational books, Science books, Golden Books, Scholastic Books, Early Reader Books and more.  Hoping that these will help motivate the girls to read more and we can share with others.

Where to find Great Books at Discount Prices:

• Goodwill Store – we have gotten a lot of wonderful books at Goodwill.  I typically only purchase the books if they are marked down 50% or less off Goodwills prices.  Goodwill has discounts every day on certain color tags and will have days or times when all tags are discounted.  Most of the books I buy are between $0.25 to $0.50.  Find a location near you.

• Goodwill Outlet Discount Clearance Center – we are blessed to live in an area that has a Goodwill Clearance Center, if you are in Greenville and enjoy “hunting” for a bargain you need to check it out.  All the items in the store on Haywood Road (115 Haywood Rd, Greenville, SC 29607, Phone: (864) 627-9840) are purchased by pound.  The Goodwill Clearance Center sells the books at $0.25 per pound.   You can often get quite a stack of kids books for $0.25 a pound.  Usually I have between 10 to 20 books per $1.00 so that makes it $0.05 to $0.10 each book.  In the Goodwill Clearance store you will have to dig through a bin full of books to find the ones you want.  Some days there are very few kids books and other days you’ll find a lot of great ones.  Most of the books are used so you’ll have to check for torn pages, writing, or any other imperfections prior to purchasing the item.  If you want to purchase other items at the Goodwill Clearance store you will pay $1.19 per pound (includes clothing, household items, toys, etc….). See if there is a location near you. Picture of a recent purchase is at the top of the blog post.

• Garage / Yard Sales – I love finding great deals on books at Yard Sales.   You can often get a whole stack of books or even a series of books to read for a $1.00 or less.  The price I target for books at a garage sale is between $0.00 to $0.20 per book.  Many people will have a “free” box at their yard sale and you can find some neat books in the free box or if you are purchasing a number of other clothes or goods you can often get a book or several for free.  They are great add-ons at a yard sale.

• Used Book Stores – I have one Used Book Store I frequent in our area, Mr K’s Used Books, Music, and More.   Mr. K’s is nice because you can bring in your books and receive cash for them or you can get store credit and purchase additional books.  You get more store credit for a book then you get cash.  Depending on what you are wanting to do you can really continue increasing your library by participating in such a great book store program.  Also, Mr. K’s usually has a box of “free” books so it is at least worth looking at if your already going to the store.  For more information or to check to see if there is a Mr K’s near you.  The one if Greenville is located at Verdae Village, 101 Verdae Blvd, Greenville, SC 29607, (864) 286-3000.
• Consignment Stores – there are several consignments stores I like to pop into every few months to check out their selection of books.  The nice part about the consignment stores is they are usually wanting to move the books too.  You can set up an account as a consignor for items their store sells.  Many times if I want a book at one of the consignment stores I will have the owner check my account, buy the book with the money on my account and bring the extra cash left over home or to the bank.
• Library Book Sales – our library has a monthly book sale.  They will often sell books they no longer are carrying in the library (too many of the same book) or donated books.  I have found that the majority of these books are in really good condition.  The children’s books are $0.25 each.  Picture of a recent purchase is at the top of the blog post.
• Craigslist – you can get some great books for free or at a discount through your local Craigslist.  I was on Craigslist earlier this week looking through the “free” section and found someone giving away free books.  You can often find free or discounted books that people are looking to giveaway.  Some postings will be very descriptive while others are not if you find free ones that you might want it’s okay to email the person giving them away for more information and a picture before driving to meet them.  Craigslist is a great resource for finding great deals, posts for yard sales, books, and more.  Find your local Craigslist forum.
• Freecycle – is an online forum where people can post items they are giving away.  The point of freecycle is to keep items out of the landfill and to recycle them in the local community.  You can look for free books people are giving away.  Some people will be very descriptive in posting while others will not listed the specifics.  You can ask for more details if you would like.  The nice part about getting books from Freecycle is you will only pay for your gas and time to meet the person who is giving them away because the items on Freecycle are always “free”.  Look up your local Freecycle group.
• Gifts from Family & Friends – we will often ask for books for birthday and Holiday gifts.  Our family and friends have given the girls some of their favorite books.

Books are great educational tools for the kids and adults.   You can find wonderful books for adults by going to these locations as well.  If you have the patience you can really find almost any book you are looking for within a few months at a discount or even free.  There is only one book on my list that I haven’t received yet but it was just put on my list last month.  I anticipate that it will be available soon.  I don’t go to these stores weekly or even monthly, it is nice if I get to stop by one or more of the above stores once a quarter (sometimes less).  I like to have a few extra books on hand because we give the girls a book every week as an incentive for them to read more.  They earn their books by doing extra chores around the house. Happy Book Shopping to You!  Do you have any special tips on finding free or discounted books?

Above is a picture of the 6 Kids books I purchased at the last Library Book Sale I went to (a couple months ago).  The kids books are sold for $0.25 each so I paid $1.50 for all of the books.  The Winnie the Pooh “I’m Really Sorry” was my favorite find because it is a part of a series I am collecting.  The “My Fun with Learning” books have a series of stories in them, many about history and famous historical people.  The “Eyes on Nature Fish” book is an educational book on fish and the “Bugs Life Flik the Inventor” is a great book for my sweet girl who loves science and inventing fun new things.