Usborne books

[Diamondsapphire]

I know it’s a bit of a scam but was thinking about signing up and being the only ‘customer’ and getting cheaper books for DCs, anyone do this?

Is there a particular reason you’re pulling faces at me, @Ragwort?

I’m sorry but it’s true. I work Monday to Friday. Charity shops are closed Sundays - here anyway. I don’t really want to spend Saturdays traipsing a toddler around charity shops. I’m sorry if that has ‘confused’ you in some way.

Is try Vinted or Facebook market place. Loads of noisy books on there

I don't know why I just said noisy books. There are loads of childrens books generally

@MarshmallowFondant

Usborne is a scamtastic pyramid scheme or MLM scheme.

I'm sure there will be a hunbot along shortly to tell you it's not like that at all and how they are living their best life selling their stuff.

Just buy their books from The Works, or Amazon, or second hand from ABE or Oxfam.

What I would say is that out of the 2000+ titles perhaps less than 100 are sold through the supermarkets and discounted on Amazon, the Works etc. They tend to be the toddler, touchy feely, sticker books etc.

Where Usborne are amazing, and sadly so few people know, are in the older categories (8+) - for Science, history, languages, fiction. And the Young Adult stuff (both fiction and non-fiction is fab). My DC with learning needs still use some of the KS3 dictionaries for GCSE as it is pictoral and suits a visual learner.

They are an amazing quality publisher.

You would never know that unless you work in a library, or see the range of books. How can a series like Beginners (or even B+) be made cheap? Why would you want cheap for that quality.

Best of luck with your cheap search. I havent worked for Usborne for years and hate their home selling model. But they are a leading childrens publisher for a damn good reason and it certainly isn't Sticker Dolly Dressing.

Must admit I couldn’t see the titles I liked the look of on the Waterstones website or Amazon.

Tbh I didn’t really want to support someone else’s MLM which is why I wondered about signing up myself!

I used The Book People a lot when my children were young.

I love usborne books, particularly their non fiction ones, my dds find them easy to follow. I get them from amazon. Often I'll put a load in my basket and keep an eye on prices as they go up and down quite a lot

Op i signed up for usborne books..i havent made much but i definitely havent lost!

Ive basically just got some lovely books very cheap or free!

Its a hassle though op.. i dont regret it and if you sign up and sell to schools you can make quite a bit..do your research!

@Mammyloveswine

Op i signed up for usborne books..i havent made much but i definitely havent lost!

Ive basically just got some lovely books very cheap or free!

Its a hassle though op.. i dont regret it and if you sign up and sell to schools you can make quite a bit..do your research!

I think you’ve misunderstood me a bit I don’t want to sell to schools or to anybody. I’m not seeking to make money, just to try to save a bit of money on book buying!

I have some of the older Usbourne books, the maths ones especially are fantastic, but they have all been charity shop finds or second hand. That is generally how I buy books.

Toddler books though are everywhere, I just can't believe how many "That's not my...." books there are, so many more than when my almost 16 year was little and we first had them.

The That’s Not My are a hit. So are the Where’s Mr / Mrs - not sure if Usborne though. Usborne also have some nice lift the flap / peekaboo type books.

But at £6.99 a pop they aren’t cheap 😬

Apologies I didn't mean to direct the confused face at you personally, it's just a sad fact that, for whatever reason, it seems incredibly hard to sell childrens' books in (my) charity shop .. I do find that many people (not meaning to point at you personally) just don't really want to buy second hand books for children, despite the fact they have probably only been read once.

Maybe it’s a covid thing? I’ve no real objection to second hand books per se and I’m not particularly paranoid about covid but given the penchant toddlers have for chewing everything and in the case of the That’s Not My books touching them all over (our copy of That’s Not My Tractor has something revolting on it, even I dread to think what!) even I feel a bit repulsed at the thought!

The problem with browsing charity shops is the time involved. You have to go to town, park in town, walk around town … not brilliant entertainment for toddlers. Compared to a click on Amazon or Waterstones I can see why people opt for that.

But it does work out expensive.

This is Wob (world of books) They have buy 3 books and save 20% so it is possible to get 3 "That's not my..." books for about £8.40 sent.

www.wob.com/en-gb/category/all?search=That%27s%20not%20my

Toddlers love a good rummage in a charity shop. You wouldn't have to go weekly. Once a month (or even every 2 months) or so. To a toddler this would be a great Saturday morning activity. If you are on local Facebook groups ask which are the best charity shops in the area for books. Personally I find Oxfam/BHF are fairly 'expensive' (ie £1.50/£2 etc) for toddler books but shops for local charities - usually hospices etc do books at 3 for £1.
Come summer car boot sales are even better because people often sell books at 10p.
As much as I think Usborne books are fantastic you don't really want to limit your choices to just one publisher. People have already mentioned The Works. They are a brilliant retailer and their online service is really good (in my experience). They sell loads of childrens books - including some published by Usborne - in various special offers from discounted box sets to 10
books for £10.
I have bought books from Usborne directly in the past and it's always cover price - not discounted at all.

Thanks

Toddlers love a good rummage in a charity shop

I can assure you mine wouldn’t, without wanting to sound overly contentious MN is filled with advice about what toddlers will apparently love doing and I always end up with a face like this

But it isn’t just the ‘rummaging’, it’s the fact that it’s a trip into town and parking the car and loading everybody out then the same in reverse. It really, honestly isn’t an enjoyable activity at all.

Agreed with charity shops. I got my son a musical xmas book for 50p
Also got a disney collection- went into a different shop later and it was £10!

Can easily 5/6 books and spend less than £3! Toddlers can have fun, make a morning trip of it.. take the bus/train for the excitement of it and let them pick.

B&m have a good range of toddler books too.

Ok leave the kids at home (with their Dad, Granny, babysitter - whoever) and go by yourself. A couple of hours on a Saturday morning once every six weeks or so isn't exactly too much really.

Are you in any local Facebook groups where you could ask if anyone is selling any secondhand books as a bundle, or even just ask the people you know who have older children. It might prompt someone to have a clear out. I had a box full of baby and toddler books that I gave to a friend who had recently had a baby.

This may sound a little more waspish than intended but I didn’t post for advice on how to get to charity shops. I have ordered a few more That’s Not My books from that link above - thank you - and will keep my eyes peeled, but I’m not making a special excursion into town to go to charity shops where they may or may not be suitable books.

Thanks @delilahbucket I wouldn’t mind from a friend but would feel a bit funny about them reading books from a house I didn’t know since they eat them! Daft really as I’m not normally fussy about germs!

DK is another good publisher. Find some out of town charity shops, (or a smaller local town) they usually have better pickings anyway.

Ok ok....you don't have to go to charity shops. It's just a really good way of getting really cheap books.
So instead I would recommend online buying at Abe books, The Works, World of Books, eBay and local Facebook selling groups.

@Diamondsapphire

Ah - I see. Yes but the cost of postage can be prohibitive and also DC is a toddler so a lot of books are the sort of touch / feel ones which don’t tend to survive toddlerhood very well

World of books is brilliant. All the books have been in excellent condition and its free postage in UK absolutely huge selection and they arrive really quickly too

I don’t really want to spend Saturdays traipsing a toddler around charity shops.

This to me sounds a delightful way to spend a Saturday and I bet your toddler would enjoy it too!