If you don't want to pay full price, then go with half.com!
Written: Aug 23 '01 (Updated Apr 09 '02)
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The Bottom Line
If you haven't looked at half.com, then give it a shot. You may just get hooked on this one.
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I buy and sell at half.com, and I’m not one to hang around for the long haul if I’m looking at a second rate dot com (or a second rate anything for that matter). Life is too short to play in a weedy sandbox.
WHAT IS HALF.COM? (www.half.com)?
Half.com is an online used (and sometimes new but privately owned) bookstore where you can buy things for half or less the list price. That’s it in a nutshell, but it’s a little more complicated. Stock now includes videos, DVDs, video games, trading cards, sporting goods electronics, and computers. So, it’s more than a bookstore. Also, items can be listed for more than half the original price, so it’s not always half the price (but it is also often less then half the original price).
One spot where I see higher than half is the new textbook section. In many cases, you are looking at ¾ the original cost, but that is still good on specialized books. Since Wal Mart is getting into the text book selling market, you might expect things to go lower though. Right now, half.com is usually your best bet (also note—you can go through Ebay currently and get dollars off a textbook order for first timers).
Half.com is an Ebay company, so it is similar to the net auction giant, but half.com allows the sellers to set the prices rather than listing for auction and then waiting to see how high (or not high) the prices go.
For the buyer this means . . . .
You can click in and search for items and buy or not buy depending on how you feel about the prices listed and about the seller (based on community feedback in the form of a 5 point scale with 5 being the best rating).
With this approach, you come, you buy, you wait for the package to arrive. You do not have to second-guess how high much an item might be worth. You do not have to check back and see if you are winning in terms of how much money you said you’d be willing to spend.
For the seller this means . . .
You decide how much an item is worth, and you get that amount if the item sells. Since it does not cost anything to list (but half.com does get a percentage of sales—generally 15 % but goes up for items sold at over $50), you list, you wait, you mail the package when requested.
I would say that half.com is more like a yard sale vs. the big auction where all the neighbors come over to see your stuff.
WHY WOULD I WANT TO CHECK HALF.COM OUT?
If you use any of the items listed (and most of us do like books, music, sports, and electronics), then you can get some really awesome deals. For example, I get most of the Oprah pick books for a couple of dollars at half.com. If you’re familiar with those books, then you’ll know that even the paperback generally run $12 and up with the Amazon discount.
Another plus with half.com is that members (sellers) have items that you may have trouble finding. My local used bookstore did not have a copy of Lois Duncan’s book How to Write and Sell Your Personal Experiences. That is my favorite writing book, and I often buy copies for writing friends now that I can find them on half.com. It took 8 years to get a copy for my mom when I used the local store and an old book search company. The copy I bought for my mom ran me $30 after 8 years of waiting while the copies I buy now run about $3 on half.com. (DON’T TELL MY MOM THOUGH OR SHE WOULD HAVE A COW ABOUT THAT PRICE).
HOW DO I BUY THINGS AT HALF.COM?
Buying is very much like any other online buying experience. You visit the site and search. They have a search bar and also list by categories. The organization is solid though it is more confusing now that they have added the sporting goods and electronics.
When you find something you want to buy, then you put that in your cart. To help you decide, half.com lists other online stores with the same items and with the prices. Now I must say that a company must be really solid to tell you what the competition is going to charge. And, they do list the others biggies in the online market. There have been times when I’ve opted to buy elsewhere when the cost was lower, but that has been a very few times.
When you are finished with the order, then you go through checkout and get your total. This should be no surprise, since you see the shipping totals as you go along. But it is still nice to see how much you racked up before you hit buy.
One thing I would mention here is that the shipping is added for each item. The items come from individuals who pay to mail them, so each item is priced accordingly for shipping. As a seller, I would note that the shipping is usually right on target. In most cases, the buyer is paying actual shipping. In a few cases the seller makes a few cents on the shipping part of the deal.
HELP! Half.com does not have what I need/want?
If you visit half.com and want something but don’t see it, then you can add the item to your wish list. Half.com will let you know when your wanted item comes in. I have used this service, and it is very helpful.
You can also pre-order. With this option, then you basically purchase the item before it is posted up. Of course, you can limit what you will pay. I have not wanted anything this bad before, but I could see this as very helpful for something hard-to-find.
WHERE IS MY STUFF?
Once you order, the owner (seller) is contacted. The owner has 48 hours to confirm the sale and then 24 hours to put the item in the mail. In some cases the confirmation is almost instantaneous. For example, when I’m online and see a sale come in, I just click confirm. If I’m not online, then it may take a few more hours. I’m fast, and most of the other sellers are too. The only exception is when a seller did not confirm on a baseball card Caleb ordered.
When the owner confirms, then half.com will let you know that the order is confirmed. That tells you that the item will be in the mail within 24 hours. I live a block from the post office, so I generally take packages right up there and mail them. I find that when I buy, most of the sellers are really fast too.
Typically your items come Media Mail (unless you upgrade and pay first class), and it takes about 4 days to get your order. That will vary depending on where you live and where the item is shipped from.
Since your items are coming from individuals, you will see all manner of packages coming in when you order. Some half.comers are business types and sell a lot of stuff while others are Grandma who is packing up her treasures and mailing them to you. You may get one postal box and another wrapped in a Piggly Wiggly bag.
WILL MY STUFF COME AND WILL IT BE GOOD?
I am sure that there are cases where a seller has not sent an item, but I have never had that happen. In fact, the NO CONFIRMATION baseball card did come (and we never even got a charge for that). If that should happen, then you can contact half.com. They are your go-between and take care of problems like that.
To be on the safe side, just check the ratings on the seller. I usually look for 4.5 and up. I also consider sellers with no ratings (though I guess that is more of a gamble). This has always worked fine. In one case, I got a LIKE NEW book, which was not LIKE NEW. Even Caleb noticed that the book was pretty rough, so you can imagine that it was raggedy. I did make sure to rate that time (and also rate when I get what I ordered which was every time that once).
As far as quality, most of the items I have ordered have really been brand new (unless I go down in price and buy something listed as VERY GOOD or ACCEPTABLE). With that rating system, sellers will not be around long if they say LIKE NEW and the item is not primo. I am always pretty confident that I can purchase LIKE NEW and get a brand new looking item for a great price. I am not sure how someone can read a book and it look virgin, but that has been my experience on LIKE NEW.
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE . . .
It is hard to have a perfect site on the web, but this one is close.
If I had to make some changes, then these would be the changes I would want . . .
1. The shipping adds up, since all the sellers are in different locations. I don’t know of anything to do about that. The great prices offset, so I’m fine with the actual shipping charges (and thankful when I’m boxing up to mail out). You are not looking at handling charges here to be sure.
2. They have a couple of bad apples (like everywhere). But the buyers weed those out really fast. If the sellers are not being upfront, then it only takes a short while to edge them out.
3. In the past, you could not contact the sellers, but they have now fixed that. It is still a problem though since you often have to buy fast at half.com. Several times I have been shopping and the item I wanted was purchased before I finished up and hit purchase.
4. On SEARCH, you sometimes have problems finding things. I know that I’ve seen “no results” on a book title and then found it by author. Any variation in spelling can make a difference, but I’ve also seen this happen when my spelling was on target. I wish they would add the ISBN number search, which sellers can use to list up items.
THESE CONCERNS ARE VERY MINOR AS YOU CAN SEE!
Although I could think of those very few things that are irritating about half.com, I would recommend the site without reservations. I can’t even remember how long I’ve been buying half.com (probably since they started up) and I’ve been a seller for several months (and have made over $200 turning around books I don’t need now).
Since I found half.com, I’ve been able to purchase more and also have been able to make money on things I don’t need anymore. I will always think of half.com as the ultimate yard sale where I can get great things that need a home and where I can move things out of here that need a new home. And, the price is right on both ends!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
CyndiA
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Member: Cyndi
Location: out in the yard grilling
Reviews written: 1158
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Get some sleep and dream of rock 'n roll - Bread.
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