To all Book Lovers, here’s a personal post of how you can get a good deal out of buying books from:
- Major Bookstores like Borders, Kinokuniya,
- Online stores like Opentrolley.com.sg, Acmamall.com, Amazon.com, BookDepository.co.uk
- Events like MPH Book Sale & Borders Book Sale (check from Singapore Expo website)
I have done my research after visiting these sites and places and here’s a brief summary of how to get a good deal when you have the crave to read fiction books and selected non-fiction books like on Business, Marketing, Personal Development, Recipe!
Major Bookstores Like Borders & Kinokuniya
Two of the largest bookstores and biggest collections of books in Singapore, offers Membership and they gave occasional discounts on books from 20% to 35%.
Should You Get The Membership?
For Borders. The price for their books are usually 10% more than Kinokuniya’s. Therefore paying for the membership just to enjoy the 10% off is really like slapping yourself. But if you do eat from the restaurant over at WheelLock’s, you will get 10% off the bill (that’s removing the service charge) thus this deal of getting their membership is sweetened up a bit.
But… If you are a frequent buyer of books in quantities like 3 -4 at a time, then I would still say to go for it because of the frequent discounts given – up to 35% (+10% from the membership). Read more below.
For Kinokuniya. I would safely say that their price is one of the lowest or competitive among all the major bookstores in Singapore. And they have some books and magazine titles from Japan and Hong Kong that Borders do not carry.
Therefore if you like the Ambience, The Other Titles, and do not mind the lack of frequent discount, then I would suggest you to get the Membership.
My Verdict: Get The Border’s Membership. This is because of the many Discounts that Borders give.
How About The Discounts?
For Borders. Get the Discounts send to you through Email. And you can signup from this site. Sample Discount:
For Kinokuniya. You have to check out the newspaper and cut out the coupons to enjoy.
I would strongly recommend you to go for the Borders’ as their discounts are more frequent as compared to Kinokuniya’s. And in terms of discount value, Borders would usually offer more.
My Verdict: Signup For The Borders’ Discount.
Online stores like Acmamall.com, Opentrolley.com.sg, Amazon.com, BookDepository.co.uk
In comparison, Online Book stores have a lower price on books as compared to Major Bookstores. They also offer certain books that are not offered in Major Bookstores.
Only factor that you need to consider this option is that you have to wait for the book to arrive (could be up to a week).
So if you do not mind this, then you should consider shopping from this option. And in today’s time and technology, it’s safe to make your credit card purchase from these online stores.
So Who Give The Most Discounts? The Ranking & The Pros and Cons…
1. Amazon.com
Amazon.com gives the most discount for the same titles under this three online stores. There are more titles offered as compared to the other two. But only issue that’s stopping most Singaporeans from shopping there is the Delivery Charges.
How most people minimize the Delivery Charges is through Sprees (buying in bulk through a collection of different orders) and you can easily get into an Amazon.com spree just by doing a search online.
2. BookDepository.co.uk
After a recent positive experience with them, this site actually offers the next lower price after Amazon.com (also because of the current exchange rate) and another plus point is that they offer free delivery worldwide (you save on the delivery charge)!
But only thing to note is that they may not have that comprehensive collection as compared to Amazon.com.
3. Acmamall.com & OpenTrolley.com.sg
If there’s no Amazon.com and BookDepository.co.uk, then I would safely say that this two online bookstore has the best price as compared to all the bookstores in Singapore. But too bad… there’s the existence of the above two sites.
Each site offers their own perks and promotions (e.g. Limited Period Free Delivery, Credit Card Promotion, Get Discount with Minimum Buy, etc). But all in all, the price difference between the two sites is small.
My Verdict: If you are not into Sprees and buying one or two books at a time, then I would say to go for BookDepository.co.uk followed by Opentrolley.com.sg or Acmamall.com. Because of the Delivery Charges to Singapore, Amazon.com’s prices actually made the prices much more higher as compared to the rest.
Events Like MPH & Borders Book Sale
These events are usually held like twice a year in Singapore Expos. And if you want really good price, good deals and you like Treasure Hunting then I would suggest you to go for these events.
And what I mean from Treasure Hunting is that you do not really know the Titles offered. But at times, you can find Gems or even just Chicken Bones.
If you have time to go for one event, then I would suggest that you go for the MPH Book Sale. Reason: Books are usually offered around $8 and if you are expecting that these titles are from those ancient times, you will be glad this is not the case. You may be even surprised that very new titles that usually cost around $30 – $40 per book is only at $8.
This price even beats those major bookstores and online bookstores!
My experience with Borders Book Sale is that they only offer 15-20% off those usual titles. So may not be that attractive and worth going at all.
My Verdict: Go For MPH Book Sale! And there’s one coming up – June 25 to June 27. And for really good deals, go on the first day. There’s where all the Gems can be located before the Saturday crowd!
So What You Should Know In Getting Good Deals For Books:
- For Major Bookstores – go for Borders and signup for their Discount emails.
- For Online Bookstores – go for BookDepository.co.uk
- For Sales Event – check out Singapore Expo website and go for the MPH Book Sale.
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