The Good Cook Book Club Savings

These days one can come across many a claim that the advent of online book retailers have stripped book clubs of an important advantage in the eye of a value-minded book lover: low pricing.

But, is it really so? In the table below, prices at The Good Cook are compared with those at a leading online retailer. Six books are included, all of them boasting extraordinary success, with a lengthy tenure on various bestseller lists to prove it.

Note: to simplify the calculation and cut down the shipping costs, we're assuming the two commitment books are combined into one order. This way there are no shipping charges at the online store at all (they offer free shipping on eligible items if the total amount of the order exceeds $25), while TGC's charges are reduced to a single $2.49 flat fee.

As you can see, by joining The Good Cook not only can you still save, but you can save big: nearly $11 per cookbook compared with the chosen online retailer. For your information, in a regular book store these six titles would amount to about $175.

Note: to achieve such savings, you need to take a bit of care when shopping. Since your first four books will cost you a total of $4 (plus shipping) no matter which ones you choose, it makes sense to stuff higher priced items into the introductory offer. Then, for the rest of your commitment, you might want to pick some more competitively priced books: for the example above we have chosen a couple of lower-priced books ($15-16).

It is quite possible to save even more than our example shows. At the enrollment, The Good Cook gives you an option to choose one more book for 50% off retail price and reduce your commitment right away. That's a few dollars not covered in our example. You can pick more expensive introductory books then we did in our illustration – such as these few samples in the column to the right – and boost your savings even further.

Bonus Points

Clearly, most of the savings in our example are due to the incredible introductory offer. Once it's been exploited, the playing field levels out to an extent, but that is not to say that TGC membership will not save you money anymore. On the contrary: meet the Bonus Points.

As a member of The Good Cook Book Club you earn Bonus Points on everything you buy, be it books or merchandise items. Those are earned based on the amount of your total order. You need to spend $10 or more to start earning. For every additional $10 you spend, you get another Point.

Total order excludes shipping and handling costs.

A minimum of 8 points is required before you can get a bonus-priced book.

So: when you gather 8 points, you get any book priced at up to $19.99 for just $4.99, and so on. Note that you can save up to $50 on most expensive books (requires 16 points).

Bonus Points are redeemable against books only. To redeem your Bonus Points, visit your Online Account or check off the appropriate box on your Reply Form.

In addition to Bonus Points, TGC always features online discounts, one day sales etc. Special offers with opportunities for more savings will come your way regularly.

Another way of saving money that some people use is by canceling and rejoining – thus effectively taking advantage of the introductory offer over and over. Although The Good Cook Book Club would prefer it by far that you stayed a member for a long time and buy many many books, and although they state that they "reserve the right to refuse memberships", if you cancel your membership and then decide to rejoin at a later date, they will likely take you back without a question.

While this approach will presumably save you a bit more money, it's probably not for everyone. But that's just as well; as was exhibited, if you remain a loyal member The Good Cook Book Club will reward you with plenty of opportunities for additional savings.