Tag Archives: Booko

The best way to use Booko & Bricko/Popz… a guide for clever people

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We’re not really ones to blow our own trumpet but you guys have been telling us that the best way to buy cheap books online is to search through Booko – we’re rapt, of course, and couldn’t agree more. Thousands of people a day are using Booko to find the best price for books and DVDs – and that’s just here in Australia, not even counting the other 22 countries we are in.

In its infancy, Booko was just a web page with a series of small programs collecting prices and calculating delivery costs for a handful of online book shops, to find the cheapest supplier of books. The overarching objective was to find both new and second-hand books online for the best price possible and when shops which offered free shipping could be added, it made the page even better.

Fast forward 10 years and we have people in 23 countries using Booko every day to find the best price for new and used books, DVDs and board games. To cater for our LEGO loving users, the family has grown to include Bricko, and Popz.deals for those collecting Pop! Vinyls.  That’s a lot of clever people finding lots of good prices. 

Here are the best ways to use Booko to make sure you remain one of those clever people. The same features are included on Bricko and Popz.deals. 

Create an account 

We treat data very seriously at Booko and want to give you ultimate control of all of your data too. Creating an account allows you to make wish lists, set price alerts and view your search history along with deleting said history, and disabling Booko from keeping track of your history altogether. Just so you know, we don’t actually use your history for anything at all; it’s housed just for your entertainment and reading pleasure.

We have tweaked the account function to give you more control. You can now export your data or delete your account and data altogether. Just click on the user icon in the top left of the screen when you have logged into Booko.

Make Lists

Once you have created an account, you can set up lists to keep track of the products you’re interested in. 

Want to know how much the 5 books you’re buying as Christmas presents will cost? Booko will take your list, find the shop that sells the whole lot for the best price and calculate shipping for the entire list.

What’s best is you can have multiple lists and even download and email them to people. There’s nothing like giving someone a nudge as to what they may like to buy you for your birthday, or Christmas…or ‘just because’.

The list feature allows you to check the prices for used books as well as new, if you wish. 

Set Price Alerts

Booko / Bricko / Popz has a price alert feature (which is a super handy set-and-forget tool) that emails you as soon as the price of a product falls below the current price, or a price specified by you.

To set an alert, you need to be logged into your account (because we need to know which email to send the notifications to). Just click the ‘Add an Alert’ button directly below the product image on the left side of the page. Nominate a price you are happy to pay, type in your email and the Alert is set. Now all you need to do is wait for the Good News email!

The alert function is really handy when you are shopping and have a little extra time up your sleeve (like getting on top of Christmas shopping early, or buying textbooks for courses next semester). You can have multiple alerts on a product, too. 

With our latest round of updates, you can also now specify a separate price alert for new and used books. This function is loved by many of the students that use Booko…because let’s be honest, not all courses ask for a brand new textbook…nor do they need one. Academic textbooks can be breathtakingly expensive – a single title can be over a hundred dollars, so imagine how much your entire reading list will cost! Booko is great for searching for specialist or academic texts. All you need to do is type a book’s ISBN into the main search box (this ensures you are searching for the correct edition) and away you go. Booko can find most books, whether they are e-Books, Reference books, Fiction or Non-Fiction. And since Booko can locate used copies, you may be able to save even more by buying second-hand!

If you fancy a little more detail have a look at this blog post.

Buy for friends and family overseas

If you want to purchase something as a gift, Booko has some clever functionality where you can purchase in the local currency and the gift gets shipped directly to the recipient…saving you on both gift wrapping and postage! 

Here’s what you do: Jump online to Booko / Bricko / Popz. In the top right hand corner, there will be a flag (it’s usually your local country flag). Click on this and all the countries that Booko works with will appear. Simply select the country that you want to send a book to and then keep using Booko the way you normally do. When you choose a different country, both the shipping charges and times are specific to that country (so it’s easy to make sure your gift will make it in time). 

Click here for a detailed How-To guide.

Finally, shopping clever means being one step ahead. Did you know we now have a newsletter? It’s super low volume and we don’t email you every week, or even every month, just when we have something exciting to share. You can click here to subscribe (oh and you can unsubscribe at any time, it’s okay we won’t bug you or make you feel guilty, we know inboxes can get a little overwhelming). 

You can also follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Enjoy!

Booko Alerts: never miss a sale again

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Have you ever missed a sale on an item you really want?  The Booko Alerts feature can help you avoid that happening to your book purchases.  When the price drops on a nominated title, Booko will email you with the new best price.  Booko Alerts work for DVDs and eBooks as well as printed books.  It is easy to use, and will help you get more out of your money!  Here’s how:

1.  Start by entering details of your item in the search box, then click Search.

Alerts Fig1

2.  Choose the item you want from the Results List.  Click on its Name or its Cover Image to see the detailed record.

Alerts Fig2

3.  On the left hand side of the Detailed Record screen, there are two red buttons directly below the Cover Image of the book.  Click on the one on the Left, called “Add an Alert”.

Alerts Fig3

4.  This brings up a box where you can specify your preferred price.  The box automatically shows the current best price.  You can also delete that value and enter a different lower price.  Then enter your email address, and click “Add”. 

Alerts Fig4

5.  That’s done!  Booko checks prices daily, and when the price of your item drops below your preferred price, you will receive an email alerting you to the new lowest price, with links straight to the relevant Seller.

Alerts Fig5

Managing multiple alerts

If you are creating alerts for multiple items, then you will find it useful to create a Booko account.  Once Logged In, you can view a list of all of your alerts, and update them as necessary.  You can also include second-hand books in your price watch.

1. To create a new Booko Account, scroll down to the bottom of the Booko homepage, and click on the red “Sign Up” button.

Alerts Fig6

2.  On the Create an Account page, you can either use the form on the left hand side to create a new Booko ID, or you can click on one of the icons on the right, to connect using your account details of your favourite social network.  When prompted, allow Booko to share the login details of your chosen social network, and Booko will do the rest.

Alerts Fig7

4.  Once you are a registered user, simply Sign In to your Booko account before you create an Alert.  The Sign In button is located at the top left corner of the Booko page. When you have signed in, you will not need to supply an email address each time you create an alert.

Alerts Fig8

5.  To view the full list of your Alerts, click on “My Alerts” at the top right corner of the Booko page. This will take you to the Booko Sign In page if you are not signed in at the time.

6.  The list of Active Alerts shows the current price and the target price for each item.  You can change the target prices, or delete alerts here.  Check the box for “Include Used” if you want to track the prices of used copies as well as new ones.  Don’t forget to click “Save” each time you made any changes!

Alerts Fig9

City Guide: Rome

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There is an Italian expression, Roma, non basta una vita, which means that for Rome, a lifetime is not enough to really know her. I visited Rome once, for a period of a few days but during that time I fell in love with this beautiful city. Aside from the obligatory touristy things like lining up for the Colosseum and throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain, it was simply walking the streets, gelato in hand that I loved. We are lucky we can bring Rome to life simply by reading a book. Here are our recommendations:

 

I, ClaudiusI, Claudius by Robert Graves

The emperor Claudius tells of his life during the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula and the events that led to his rise to power in a classic novel reconstructing ancient Rome.

 

 

 

 

The Public Image by Muriel Sparkhttps-::covers.booko.info:300:97801

“All homage to Muriel Spark, the coolest writer ever to scald your liver and your lights” (The Washington Post). The Public Image, which the author has called “an ethical shocker,” provides a scalding the reader is unlikely to forget, particularly as it is so enjoyable.

 

 

 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:978111The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Murder and romance, innocence and experience dominate this sinister novel set in mid-19th-century Rome. Three young American artists and their friend, an Italian count, find their lives irrevocably linked when one of them commits a violent crime of passion. Hawthorne’s final novel is “must reading” for its symbolic narrative of the Fall of Man.

 

 

Rome Tales by Hugh Shankland, Helen Constantinehttps-::covers.booko.info:300:978019

In ways no guide book can achieve, these twenty absorbing tales by Italian authors ranging from Boccaccio in the Middle Ages to contemporary new writers offer the delight of discovering and exploring one of the world’s most unique cities thorough a wide variety of individual lives and epochs.

 

 

 

 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:9780143Pleasure by Gabrielle D’Annunzio

This new translation of D’Annunzio’s masterpiece, the first in more than one hundred years, restores what was considered too offensive to be included in the 1898 translation—some of the very scenes that are key to the novel’s status as a landmark of literary decadence.