My hubby has a DVD habit. A huuuuuuge DVD habit. As in, "Run for your lives, the DVDs are about to take over the entire family room!" It makes me crazy every time another DVD finds its way into our home. I long ago admitted defeat; he uses his own personal spending money on them, so I really can't tell him to stop buying them.
At least he's a bargain shopper. He only buys new releases the first week of release when they are on sale. He compares prices between Target, Best Buy, and amazon.com (especially if he can get free Super Saver shipping). For older DVDs, he buys a lot of them via the amazon.com used marketplace. Prices range from one cent (seriously) to whatever the seller thinks the market can bear, plus a fixed $2.98 shipping fee. The shipping fee is per title, and sellers are not allowed to charge a combined shipping charge if you buy more than one item from the same seller. My hubby's rule for buying a used DVD this way is to not pay more than about $5 or $6, including shipping. He's gotten many titles for only a penny (and still, in my opinion, paid too much).
I have also started checking out the used marketplace to pick up some older books. The standard shipping price for books is $3.99, and, like DVDs, the prices for the books themselves start at 0.01 and go up, depending on condition, popularity, and availability.
So, while checking out a book or DVD from a library would be the best frugal option, if it is a movie or a book that you've just gotta have, buying used on amazon is definitely worth a try.
