I may be the last person to hear about this, but a post this morning on Galley Cat caught my eye. There’s a company out there called BookSwim that’s marketing itself as the Netflix of books. For a monthly fee, you can have books (including brand-new hardbacks and textbooks) shipped to your door.
As a devoted library-goer, the site initially left a bad taste in my mouth because of the “Why not just go the library?” section (Answer: late fees, limited hours, limited selections, long waiting lists for popular titles, location). Hmm. I don’t know about that. Even if there is a long wait for new titles, my favorite part of going to the library is browsing the shelves and finding a surprise.
The site also seems to be keeping a close guard on the price of plans. Instead, we get details such as: “Whether you’ve got our 3 or 5-books-a-month plan, you’ve got your nose in a book, the wind at your back and the sun upon your face.” After a little digging, I found out that the cheapest plan (1 book at a time) costs $9.95 a month + $3.99 shipping and handling. 3 books at a time is $23.95 (free shipping) and 11 books at a time (“devout reader”) is $59.95.
Seems a bit steep to me, although I won’t knock the company until I hear feedback from someone who’s used their services. With so much new fiction out there this fall, I wouldn’t mind getting a few hardbacks at a discounted price.
Anyone out there tried BookSwim? Is BookSwim going to do for bookstores what Netflix did for Blockbuster?
“Most people have felt the difficulty of getting to the library or the bookstore. Most new bestsellers retail for 27.95…” was one of the comments made by the company’s director of customer service. Has he been to a bookstore recently??? Who pays almost $28 for a new hardback book? I certainly don’t and most of the time I don’t even pay as much as $10.
So, for me, I think I’ll keep waiting at the library or in the line at my local book store until they figure out a better pricing structure.
For the latest bestsellers, you have a point – most people do not pay retail, but for things like “The Lost Symbol” they are $16 on amazon. For the first 6 months after a release, a hardcover bestseller ranges from $15-$25 even from the discounted outlets (I urge you to find it cheaper). Our 3-at-a-time plan is $23.95 – which is still an unlimited plan but if you only got 3 books a month that would be $8/book with free shipping. If you got 6 books, that would be $4 a book. That is where the value is
Thanks for the promo code. Maybe some of our readers will try out BookSwim and report back…
Hi,
I’m the CIO/CTO of BookSwim.com and thank you for posting this on your blog. BookSwim really does provide value for our bestseller readers (we keep a tally of the list price as well as amazon selling price for books we rent and display the savings to the user). I’m so sure that your readers will be happy with our service that I’m going to share a promo code that will allow you to try any plan for $9.95 the first month. The promo code is : ALLPLANS995
I would love to hear your honest feedback about the service.
i hadn’t heard of it either, but i agree with you – fees are too high, even if it takes a while to get what you want from the library. anyone that waitlists books at the library surely is reading a bunch and can usually wait (me!). $9.95 for kindle books and i keep them (as much as keep means to amazon). PLUS shipping?? is shipping per book. so i could spend upwards of 30 bucks if i get five books a month? i’ll pass. thank you thomas jefferson for the concept of the library.
I’ve heard of the service but I never really have a problem finding a book I want at the library. The libraries in my state are interconnected so if my local branch doesn’t have a book, it can be ordered from another. With libraries going downhill in terms of funding, I want to give them all the support I can. If I can get a book on amazon used for under $10, that’s a better deal to me. Plus the one time I went on the website to look for a book I wanted, it wasn’t listed so that turned me off.
Thanks Nick. I may take you up on the offer. Cheers.
Never. Sorry, BookSwim. I’m a librarian, been going to the library since I was a kid, and I’ll always get my books from the library. If I buy a book, I support my local independent bookstore, which is the best in the business. Thank you to those who will continue supporting us–and your local bookstores.
I feel ya. I’ve always been a library and indy bookstore girl, myself. Although I am interested in all the new technology out there (but not enough to buy a Kindle — yet).
Hm. I read over the website and it’s not for me. Going to appeal to a certain market, I’m sure. Good luck to ‘em.
Actually,there are other websites who provide similar services out there;I have an account at Booksfree,which works just like Netflix. For a monthly rate,you can rent paperbacks or audio books(with a mail back envelope included)for as long as you like. I’ve used them for over a year now and it’s a pretty good deal.
How interesting! These sites are all news to me. I’ll have to check out Booksfree.
Half the enjoyment of books is in buying a book that you can cherish and read and reread until the spine is so worn out. for me personally, finding a new book in any bookstore, makes the read more exciting. i take tons of trips to the strand bookstore in union square, and i love stumbling upon new used bookstores whenever possible. This netflix-for-books idea might be ideal for someone who is just interested in a limited amount of books, such as maybe just following a bookclub like Oprah’s, or just someone who’s interested in reading bestsellers to keep up with the current arts world. But for those real booklovers, the ones that find the best reads in random just-picked-up off the shelf books, this would just diminish the pure love of flipping through pages, marking favorite passages, and being able to pull it off yourshelf and reread those passages to get you inspired..and dont even get me started on those digital book readers!