Barnes & Noble.com

Full review
Television is okay. I like to get together with my friends. I love spending time with my husband. What I need every day is to spend quiet time with a book. I have had this need since I was a small child and relied on my parents to take me shopping. Now, as an adult what better than a book store that delivers to my home?

Barnes & Noble.com
I have shopped at Barnes & Noble.com several times and each one has been a good to excellent experience. When I received a gift card to B&N.com for Christmas I was on the computer within a few minutes searching for book treasure.

Arriving at the site I found several options to choose from. Books, DVDs, Music, Textbooks, Toys, Office, & More, and a general search box is across the top of the page. There are several "highlighted" items in the middle of the page and more specific categories along the left side. Since this page is rather cluttered and busy I head right for the link that will take me to the books section.

You will notice a "Bargain Books" link. That is a great place to start for books that have been discounted up to 90%. There are several ways to search for a book you are looking for. I prefer to search by topic. Clicking on the topic I choose will take me to all of the bargain books in that category. I further set the order by choosing to display them by lowest price to highest. What can I say? I'm cheap. I enjoy finding an interesting book for a low price.

I do want to mention that if you are looking for a newer book that is still listed full price, most of the time (not always) there is an option to buy from an approved vendor that usually has the book available for a much cheaper price. The approved vendor books are listed by outside book sellers and can be used or new and in varying conditions. Today I found a book that listed for $24.95 at B & N.com for $13.62, in very good condition, from an approved vendor. I have had good luck with these outside vendors and generally buy my newer books from them. If in doubt about the vendor there are star ratings and reviews on most of them, check them out.

Each of the books I looked at had a synopsis of the book, critic reviews, and consumer reviews. I, generally, just pay attention to the synopsis as I already know my tastes in books and would have missed out on many books that I have enjoyed due to the poor reviews by others.

The "add to cart" button available on the page of each item allows for a quick and simple purchase. It next takes me to a page where I log in to my account. If you are a new user you can choose to make an account or continue as a guest. I purchase enough items from Barnes & Noble.com that it makes it quicker/simpler for me to just log in and have my personal information already entered. I do not store my credit card information on the site, although the option to do so is available. I receive several gift cards a year and use the PayPal option when I need to supplement the cards.

There are several shipping choices when ordering directly from B & N.com. Standard, expedited, air service, and expedited air service range in price, low to high respectively. I use the standard shipping (4-14 days) and generally receive my book(s) within a week. *Note: this page is where you add information if you are a tax exempt customer.*

You will notice that there are "member prices" offered on each item. You can buy a Barnes & Noble membership for $25/year that will give you a small discount when buying B & N items. I find that my savings would not come close to the $25 amount so skip this portion of the check out. On the same page is where I put my gift certificate information or choose payment option (Credit/debit card, PayPal, Pay by phone). The approved vendors receive their payment from the Barnes & Noble.com checkout. There are no other sites/stores that receive my information other than my mailing address. After completing my checkout I receive an email receipt within a few minutes.

I have had to call Barnes & Noble.com only one time. That was because I wanted to combine several small amount gift cards on one order. Online allows the use of only one card. The process was quick and the service representative was friendly.

Recommendation
After several orders placed at Barnes & Nobles.com I have nothing but good things to say. It is easy for me to find books that I am interested in reading and easy to purchase them. The hardest part of the whole process is waiting for my packages to arrive.

Barnes & Nobles.com has a lot more than just books, but the only other thing I've ordered is a DVD. That experience was just as good as the others.

I know there are other online book stores. Why would I want to try them when Barnes & Noble.com has cheap prices, a large selection, and keeps me happy?