海角大神

Saving Pennies or Dollars is a new semi-regular series on The Simple Dollar, inspired by a great discussion on The Simple Dollar鈥檚 Facebook page concerning frugal tactics that might not really save that much money. I鈥檓 going to take some of the scenarios described by the readers there and try to break down the numbers to see if the savings is really worth the time invested.

Connie writes in: I trade books by mail. It costs me about $2 to send out a book via media mail and I have to also spend the materials to wrap it. If I just swap page turners at my local used book store, I can get them at $2.50 a pop if I buy a bunch at once. Am I really saving anything trading by mail?

This sounds like you use PaperBackSwap, a service I love and have been using for years. Much like you, I鈥檝e been curious at times whether or not it鈥檚 worth it and I鈥檝e ran the numbers several times. Each time, I鈥檓 pretty sure I鈥檝e decided it鈥檚 a good deal.

For starters, my estimate of the cost of my supplies is about ten cents. I use a sheet or two of printer paper, a single printed page with black and white ink on it, and some packing tape. Media mail varies by weight, but the typical range for me is $2.41 for a paperback in the mail. So, my total cost for shipping out a book is $2.51.

Now, let鈥檚 compare that to the used bookstore. At my local used bookstore, they will take most books in trade for anywhere from $0.25 to $1. They also sell used books at varying prices, anywhere from $1 (for Harlequin romances and the like) to $5 (mostly hardbacks). There鈥檚 also sales tax on your purchases, so that tacks on another 7%.

If I were just swapping for Harlequin romances, the local used bookstore would probably be cheaper. I could trade in one for $0.25, buy a new one for $1 (minus the $0.25 credit), and walk out of there having paid about $0.80 for a novel.

However, most of the books I want to read there are on the $3 or $4 shelves. I tend to read a lot of nonfiction, some science fiction and fantasy, and some general fiction, too. I might get $0.50 in trade for the books I bring in, but my net cost is either $2.50 or $3.50 for a book I want to read, plus the sales tax. That means either $2.68 or $3.75 for a new (to me) book after paying the sales tax.

If you add on top of that the fact that I can do PaperBackSwap at home whenever I want and there鈥檚 a much more extensive selection there, it starts to become a no-brainer.

In Connie鈥檚 case, she鈥檚 shipping out books for $2.51 via media mail, or she鈥檚 buying them for $2.68 at her local used bookstore. For her, the cost is pretty close, so it really comes down to other values. Would she rather support the local business? Or would she rather enjoy a larger selection online?

As for me, I鈥檒l just keep using PaperBackSwap. It鈥檚 a service I鈥檝e used for many years to recycle my read books because it鈥檚 convenient and the selection is pretty good.

There鈥檚 also another take-home point here. If you鈥檙e an avid reader, trading used books is really a bargain. Let鈥檚 say I spend eight hours reading a book that I swapped for $2.51. That means I was entertained for a cost of about $0.30 per hour.

While that鈥檚 not as cheap as the library, it鈥檚 pretty cheap, and there鈥檚 no danger of late fees or other such things if you don鈥檛 get your book finished or if your son drops a library book behind his bed.

Not only that, if you read something at least a little challenging, you鈥檙e growing your mind, too. You鈥檙e learning something new and improving your literacy. That鈥檚 what I call a real value.