Save money by trading in used books on tape

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The long and winding road can seem a little shorter when travelers have audiobooks to play in the car during a road trip.

Because many fans seek fresh titles after they've finished their latest Patricia Cornwell mystery or David Sedaris recording, businesses have devised ways to swap or rent titles, from reselling them at bookstores in vacation destinations to new Internet rental services.

The majority of travelers still buy audiobooks at bookstores or check them out of libraries before a trip, said Mary Beth Roche, president of the McLean, Va.-based Audio Publishers' Association. Industry sales are estimated at $800 million, according to information the trade organization released last year, using 2001-2003 data.

But several businesses cater to travelers who want to trade in their recordings after they've had a listen.

The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants, owned by CBRL Group Inc. in Lebanon, Tenn., have developed a following for a program that lets travelers buy an audiobook at any of their 519 locations in 41 states.

It can be returned at any of their other stores and restaurants, minus a weekly fee of $3.99, which drops to $3.49 on Tuesday.

"You can pick up John Grisham's latest novel in Nashville and return it in Atlanta," explained spokesman Jim Taylor.

He said the restaurants started the program in 1994 because customers liked the books to break up their time on the road. "We've always seen it as a service, and an opportunity for people to come back to our restaurants," he said.

He noted there are no guarantees about which titles will be in stock at a particular store, with travelers returning them anywhere along their route.

At Jupiter Books and Art in Jupiter, Fla., store owners Nelson and Milda Enos let customers turn in used books on audiotape for store credit. They give the customer 20 percent of the original price in store credit. The tapes are then sold to other customers at half price, Milda Enos said.

The customers with store credit can use it on half the price of books or audiotapes they buy, and the business keeps their remaining credit on file at the store.

The system essentially allows people to swap titles they've listened to for ones they haven't. And people can resell the tapes to the store again after they've had a listen.

"Sometimes the snowbirds will bring them back five or six months later, but they do bring them back," Milda Enos said.

She said similar practices are common at other used bookstores, and it's worth checking if the option is available when vacationing.

For the more technologically minded, Internet businesses also have sprung up that allow people to rent audiobooks on CD, like Simply Audiobooks, based in Oakville, Ontario, with offices in the United States.

With Simply Audiobooks, members pay a monthly fee and select titles they want. Under the $24.95 fan plan, they receive two audiobooks through the mail, and return them in prepaid packaging when they're done. There's no due date.