ThriftBooks: New & Used Books

Review by eFreeware

If you buy books regularly and resent paying full price for them, the ThriftBooks app is built for exactly that habit. It is a free Android shopping app from Thrift Books Global that puts a catalog of more than 13 million new and used titles in your hand, with discounts advertised at up to 80% off list price. I'd expect it to appeal most to people who already think of used books as the sensible default rather than a compromise.

The pitch is straightforward: search for a title, look at the details, and buy it. Around that core the developer has layered the things that make bargain hunting less tedious, such as a barcode scanner for checking prices and stock, a daily deals section, a rewards program and wish list alerts. For a reader who buys several books a month, those extras are the difference between a storefront and a tool.

It has been on Google Play since February 2017 and sits at a 4.1 average from 4,726 ratings, with more than a million installs. Those numbers suggest an app that has settled into a steady role rather than one chasing novelty, which is usually what you want from something you will open every time a title catches your eye.

Searching a catalog of 13 million titles

The central job is browsing and buying. You can search by title, look through categories, and read book details before deciding. The category list is broad rather than boutique: arts and music, biographies, business, children's books, classics, cookbooks, health and fitness, history, literature and popular fiction, mystery and suspense, religion and spirituality, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, self-help, and teen and young adult titles all have a home here.

Two browsing aids stand out to me. A Trending section shows what is popular at the moment, which is useful when you have no particular title in mind and just want something to read. Personalized recommendations, drawn from your interests, do a similar job from the other direction, pointing at titles you might not have searched for. Neither replaces a good recommendation from a friend, but both cut down the empty-screen problem.

The catalog also stretches beyond ordinary paperbacks. The app covers large print editions, foreign language books and audiobooks, and offers a collectible section for first editions, signed copies and out-of-print titles. That last category is where a used-book marketplace can be genuinely hard to replace, since those are the books you cannot simply order new.

The barcode scanner and how price checking works

The barcode scanner is the feature I would reach for first. Point your phone at a book's barcode and the app compares prices and checks availability, so you can see what ThriftBooks charges before you commit to buying the copy in front of you. The developer pitches this as a way to confirm you are getting the best book price, and the appeal is obvious in any shop where used copies are stacked without clear pricing.

It also works as a stock check. Rather than guessing whether a title is worth hunting for online later, you can scan it on the spot and find out whether the store has it and at what price. For anyone who spends time in library sales, charity shops or secondhand stores, that turns a phone into a quick reference tool.

The scanner is not the only way in, of course. If you already know the title you want, searching by name is faster, and the scanner is really for the moments when a physical copy is in your hand and you want a number to compare it against. The two approaches cover most of the ways people actually shop for books.

Deals, ReadingRewards and wish list alerts

ThriftBooks Deals cuts 10% off over 150,000 titles daily, a permanent discount rather than a short-term sale. If you buy often, that is the kind of thing that quietly changes where you shop, since the saving applies across a large slice of the catalog instead of a handful of loss leaders.

ReadingRewards works on points. You earn them through reading, shopping and other activities, and every 500 points converts into a free book. It is a loyalty scheme in the traditional mold, rewarding repeat use rather than a single purchase, and it pairs naturally with the deals section for anyone who buys steadily through the year.

Wish list alerts handle the opposite problem: the book you want is out of stock. You add it to your wish list and the app sends an instant email notification when the item arrives. That is a small feature, but it removes the need to check back repeatedly, and for an out-of-print title it may be the only realistic way to catch a copy before someone else does.

Shipping, accounts and what the app asks of you

Shipping is free on US orders over $15, and the packaging is described as fully recyclable. That threshold is low enough that a couple of paperbacks will usually clear it, though a single cheap title may not, so it rewards buying in small batches rather than one book at a time. The US qualifier matters: the free shipping benefit is stated for American orders.

Existing ThriftBooks accounts work here, and the details already stored on them come along. That makes the app a companion to the website rather than a separate silo, and it means regular customers do not have to rebuild their setup from scratch.

The app itself is free, so the money you spend goes on books rather than on removing interruptions. The developer also points to a satisfaction guarantee and a large body of TrustPilot reviews with a 4.7 average score, which is the kind of reassurance that matters more when you are buying used copies whose condition you cannot inspect in person.

What the app is really for

This is a storefront, and it is honest about being one. Everything in it points toward finding a book and buying it: search, categories, trending lists, recommendations, deals, rewards, wish list alerts, a scanner for checking prices before you buy. If your interest in books is mainly about acquiring them at a good price, the app is aimed at you.

The strongest case is for people who read widely and buy often, especially those who mix new releases with older, harder-to-find titles. The collectible section, the large print and foreign language formats, and the wish list alerts for out-of-stock items all serve readers whose tastes run past whatever is currently on a bestseller table.

It is also a reasonable fit for students and anyone buying textbooks, since used copies at a discount are the whole point of the catalog. And if you already shop on the ThriftBooks website, the app is a natural extension of an account you have, with your lists and addresses already in place.

A buying tool for regular readers

I would recommend the ThriftBooks app to readers in the US who buy books regularly and want used copies without the guesswork. The combination of a 13-million-title catalog, up to 80% off list price, a daily 10% deals section and a rewards program that converts points into free books makes a coherent case for doing your book shopping here rather than one title at a time elsewhere.

The barcode scanner is the piece that lifts it above a plain mobile storefront. Being able to check a price and confirm stock while standing in front of a physical copy is a genuinely useful habit, and it costs nothing to use. Add wish list notifications for out-of-stock titles and you have an app that handles both the books you know you want and the ones you stumble across.

The trade-offs are the ones the app sets for itself. Free shipping starts at $15 and applies to US orders, so single inexpensive purchases are less attractive, and the rewards scheme pays out over time rather than immediately. It is free to install and asks nothing extra of you beyond an account if you want your lists and addresses to follow you.

For someone who reads a handful of books a year and buys them new, the appeal will be modest. For a household that goes through books steadily, keeps a wish list and resents paying list price, this is an easy app to keep on the home screen.

What's new in version 2.4.0

- Improved Google Play age verification compatibility and handling. - Updated the Android app to meet the latest Google Play target API requirements. - Improved compatibility and reliability across supported Android devices.