Anyone know a good discount for new books?

[Vodka7]

Lemme start this by saying that I buy books the way Preacherman buys ammo 

I used to always use Amazon without even thinking about any of the alternatives, but then Google Checkout came along with its $10 discount off any Buy.com order (deal ends 11/06 and you only need to spend $30 to get free shipping and the ten bucks off.)  So, I put together quite a few Buy.com orders because, hey, if I can get $30 worth of books for $20, why not?  (Because of my aforementioned affliction the current total stands closer to $150 worth of books for $100.)

But, what I noticed while actually using the site is that even their regular prices are better than Amazon--not a lot better in most cases, but frequently in the area of ten percent, and those cents add up.  And during one of my many checkouts, they tried to interest me their rewards credit card, which made me think even more about changing my book buying habits.

So, I did a round up of the three online booksellers that I knew had a rewards credit card, using ten books I've purchased during the last month (a few new releases that I had to have in hardcover, and paperbacks of books I never got around to in 2005).  I assumed that my orders would all qualify for free ground shipping.  Barnes & Noble charges tax in my state, so I added Philly's 7% to their subtotal.  Here are my results:

Buy.com
Total:    $118.96
Rewards earned:    3.57
Other notes: Card provides 3% of your Buy.com purchases as Reward Points, which can be redeemed in multiples of 25. (1% for other purchases.)  Card also gives a 30% off (up to $30) instant discount on your first purchase.   
   
Amazon.com
Total:    $132.28
Rewards earned:    3.97
Other notes: Same as Buy.com, except that the initial $30 discount is not an instant credit to your order, and is instead applied to your monthly statement.   

Barnesandnoble.com   
Total (after 5% statement credit):    $143.72
Rewards earned:    0
Other notes: Oddly, purchases made at Barnes & Noble do not give reward points.  Instead, any B&N order is automatically discounted by 5% on your monthly statement.  Purchases made elsewhere accrue bonus points at 1% and are also redeemed in multiples of 25.  Card has a $25 yearly fee.

One thing I can't speak to is customer service--I've used all three retailers and never had a problem with any of my orders.  But, from a purely financial point of view, Buy.com is coming out way ahead.

But now to my actual questions and reasons for posting this 

Does anyone have experience with any other bookseller rewards credit card or membership discount?  Does anyone here actually use the Buy.com card, and if so, how is it?  Since the main benefit of the Buy.com card is the 3% reward and initial $30 discount, is there any traditional, merchant-unaffiliated cash back card that I should explore instead?

(PS - I'll be posting this to Fatwallet or Slickdeals eventually, but I'd rather get some real life anecdotes than forty people copying and pasting links at me from other threads.  The main thing I'm curious about is saving money on new books, and if anyone has found a great way to do that, let me know.)

[ilbob]

I buy ebooks at baen.com. Much cheaper than anything printed.

And no DRM crap.

I get some at fictionwise sometimes, but they are afflicted with DRM, and many of the ebooks are priced at about what you would pay for a hardback.

[lee n. field]

Keep an eye on the vendors that list through amazon ("x available from $y.yy new or used" link).

I recently bought a new copy of a book with cover price of $12.99, amazon price for $10, for about $7.    The vendor I picked turned out to be from a little town about 10 miles up the road.  I ended up getting the book the day after it shipped.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

I've always been a book junkie, and what I wind up doing is throwing a boatload of books I'm interested in onto my Wishlist at amazon.  'Bout once a week or so, I'll check the wishlist, click on the links for "New or Used" to look for the cheapest copy, and wind up buying a huge number of books for a buck or so plus S&H.

I also don't care about whether it's new or has dog-eared pages and such, so if new is a requirement, you're probably going about it in the most economical fashion.

[Vodka7]

Well, new's only a requirement for online shopping--for used books I like to support my local bookstores.  The wishlist and other seller ideas are good ones though; I used to ignore them because I always thought after shipping from X number of sellers the savings would cancel out.

Thanks for the tips.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I often buy used books via abebooks.com  So long as you watch out for the shipping costs, that's the best (cheapest) way I've found to acquire books I want.

[DrAmazon]

Look into www.zooba.com.

I've never tried it myself, but I've been darned tempted.  I'm using the public library a lot right now, saves $, even with my overdue fines.