The wonderful site that is half.com
No one has asked me to write about half.com or sing its praises, just so you know. These are my pure, unadulterated, unsponsored opinions!)
Have you heard of half.com? My husband and I have been using this site for years and years, and I am always surprised at the number of people who haven't partaken of its bargainy goodness before.
What is half.com and how does it work?
Well, it's sort of like Ebay, except without the pain-in-the-rear auction part of things (I am not a fan of auctions, in case you couldn't tell). Ebay actually bought half.com a number of years ago and was planning to close it down, but thankfully they decided against that.
Anyways, half.com has inventory that is listed by private sellers, just like Ebay, but the prices are all fixed. If you find something you like at the price you want, you just buy it, pay for it, and the seller ships it to you. Easy-peasy.
The private sellers list the condition of the item as Brand New, Like New, Very Good, Good, and Acceptable, so you can choose from a wide range of conditions and prices. The used items are usually great bargains, but even the brand new items are often great deals.
What should you buy there?
Half.com will not be able to supply all your needs, because they only sell media (books, CDs, DVDs, games) and some gaming equipment, but if you are in the market for any of those things, you really should check there before you buy anywhere else.
We've used this site for buying
- music
- children's books
- school books for our kids
- textbooks for college (SO much cheaper than anywhere else)
- a DS for Joshua (he saved up for it himself!)
Selling at Half.com
While we've bought our fair share of merchandise at half.com we've also sold quite a bit of stuff through them. I prefer selling there over Ebay because on half.com, there is no up-front cost to list your items. When your listed item sells, you pay a portion of that sale to half.com, but until your items sells, listing is totally free. Love that.
It's also less of a headache to get paid on half.com than on Ebay, because the buyer pays half.com directly, and then half.com pays you.
I have now typed "half" so many times, it doesn't even look like a word to me any more.
That probably means that I have said enough about it in this post to last you for a while. Really, though, I cannot say enough good things about this site. Next time you need music, movies, books, or games, go check it out...I can almost guarantee you won't be sorry!
I also highly recommend campusbooks.com for college textbooks. I don't know if they would have book for home schoolers or not, worth checking out. It is one of those sites that looks at a bunch of other sites for you. You punch is the ISBN # from a book & it brings back the lowest price from half.com, amazon, ebay, etc. Saves you from having to compare all the sites looking for the best deal. Most colleges have the ISBN numbers posted online in their virtual bookstore or it is listed on the back of the book above the bar code. I could have saved $50 on the same book my husband bought at his school bookstore yesterday. Sigh.
Jenn H
I need to check this out. Thank you!
Agreed! Half.com is a great website. I have not looked into it lately because I used it for college textbook buying. I will have to look at it again! Thanks for the info!
I need to buy 2 books for my last Admin Credential class today. Perfect timing. I priced them yesterday on amazon and they were well over $125. Ugh! I will check out Half.com!! 🙂
I've survived college, grad school, a new job and now motherhood because of half.com!! Love it! Now even better is paperbackswap.com because it is free! All you have to be willing to do is part with a few of your old books to earn credits....and are you list 10 books you get two free credits! (All books are 1 credit and audiobooks are 2 credits.)
I concur! I love half.com, I've been using it since my college days and not wanting to pay an arm and a leg for textbooks. Now I'm selling textbooks and buying more books and games and music. Love it.
I've been a member of half.com for years and love it! I've had such good luck both buying and selling. Textbooks especially.
I will definitely check it out...Why have I never heard of that website??
I have had a lot of success in the past selling my textbooks on half.com. It has been a few years since I have been on it - thanks for the reminder.
I've fallen in love with half.com. I buy most of my books and movies there when I can't find them on paperbackswap or ebay.
Thank you! I just ordered our next Sunday School book for $5.38 WITH shipping!
I have bought plenty on half.com (two things yesterday, in fact!) but I haven't ventured into the selling arena yet. Have you ever posted tips on selling? I'd read them before I dive in if you have! Do you research price? List yours just under other prices? Go with the "norm" on shipping? What packaging and shipping tips would you offer? Do you go with USPS or another shipper? Ah, my question list goes on and on...
I read this yesterday and then sign on with half.com and listed a couple of items. Today I received a notice that one item had already sold. I'm very excited! Thanks for sharing your experience.
My daughter discovered this site this fall when she started college. Sold one book so far and bought one for this semester too. She loves it.
Thanks for letting us know it works for you! I've bought books on there, but never sold any...but I have a ton of text books just sitting around.