Books

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Costco v. Target

Amazon started off as a bookstore, so it must offer the lowest prices on books, right? After all, that’s the reason why independent bookstores cannot compete with the online goliath.

By no means is Costco a bookstore. At best, it offers a rotating stock of selected books all in one convenient aisle. However, since I’m in Costco on a weekly basis, I do browse and see what books Costco has for sale on occasion. Bookstores? Not so much.

So, Costco is selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days for $7.99.

Target is selling the same book for $9.99, or 25% more!! So much for being a discount retailer.

Amazon sells Dog Days for $10.39, which “saves” you 26% off the list price. But that is 4% more than Target and 30% more than Costco.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Costco is selling the Steve Jobs biography for $19.99. Amazon has the Steve Jobs biography for about two bucks cheaper for $17.88.

Scholastic v. Amazon

With the back-to-school season in full force, we reached an early milestone when we received our first Scholastic Book Club order form. Of course, reading is a worthwhile endeavor. But, how does Scholastic compare to Amazon?

Llama Llama Home with Mama sells for $9.89 at Amazon, but $12.00 at Scholastic. Both are the hardback editions.

The older Llama Llama Red Pajama is unavailable directly from Amazon, but Scholastic sells it in paperback for $4.00.

Stuck in the Mud (Thomas & Friends) sells for $3.99 from Amazon, and $4.00 from Scholastic.

Where Scholastic comes ahead is when Amazon only sells the hardcover edition. For example, Amazon only offers the hardcover edition of If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (If You Give… Books), which it sells for $9.99. Scholastic sells a paperback edition for $4.00.

So, Amazon has the better selection by far. However, where Amazon no longer has a book in print or only offers a hardcover edition, Scholastic may be a better buy if it has a paperback edition for sale.