How I Saved 70% Off My Book Haul At 66 Books

A few months ago my friend tagged me in a Tik Tok that had been doing the rounds about a book warehouse. Reading and book buying are two of my favourite hobbies and as soon as I saw it I knew we needed to make a trip. And finally in December I headed to 66 books in Hemel Hempstead.

What is 66 Books?

66 Books is one of the UK’s leading book wholesalers. They sell their books all over from high-street stories through to schools.

They have a huge space in an industrial estate located in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. And the warehouse stocks over 15,000 titles a a time.

The wholesalers only open up to the public one weekend a month, but this December they were open twice. Absolutely everything in the warehouse is 70% off the RRP. Yes that’s right 70% off! So that hard back book priced at £20 will only cost you £6.

The first time I went I spent £42 on books with the below image being a portion of my haul. And it should have come to almost £140.

When you head to 66 Books you pay £2 membership for the year. And that is a household membership so anyone in your home can use it too.

What can you find at 66 Books?

When I say you can find everything at 66 Books I mean it. While the stock changes regularly some of the types of books you can find are:

• Adult fiction
• Young adult fiction
• Kids books
• Baby books
• Educational books
• Graphic novels
• Cookery books
• Self-help books
• Memoirs and biographies
• History and academic books
• Puzzle and colouring books
• And everything else you can think of

Plus it’s not just books you can find there. On my recent trips I spotted Moleskin and other notebooks, games, puzzles, cards and loads more.

As I headed to the warehouse in December there was a dedicated Christmas section. Although there were plenty of Christmas fiction books scattered around.

You’ll find plenty of new and old books. When I headed there I saw loads of things released that year, especially in the hard back section.

How to make the most out of your trip to 66 books

Don’t skip aisles and be prepared to browse

There’s a little bit of an order in the warehouse, but each aisle has loads of different types of books. You can find a book about Christianity next to a fantasy book. Or a dictionary next to a biography by a sports star. So because of this you need to be prepared to browse each and every aisle to make sure you don’t miss anything.

Generally series’ will be together, but not always. And most of the kids stuff is together so if this doesn’t interest you it’s easy to skip.

You start upstairs and I’d recommend walking right to the back and working your way forward aisle by aisle. Then when you move downstairs do the same thing as the front is near the exit where you pay.

Arrive early

I’ve seen a lot of things online about people having to queue for a long time to get in. Or spending quite a while queuing to pay. But that’s generally with people who arrive later in the day. 66 Books says that it opens at 9am on their website and social, but both times I’ve been there at 8.30am and been able to go straight in.

And going first thing means it’s a lot quieter and easier to browse. When it gets busier it can get quite crowded and each aisle isn’t overly big. The second time I went I was the second person in and I didn’t feel like I was being rushed down aisles so I could really browse.

Expect to be in 66 Books for 2-3 hours

There’s a lot to see in 66 Books, and every time you go there will be new things. And there are so many aisles and books to look at it’s easy to lose track of time. The first time I went there I was inside for about 2 hours, then the second time just 1 hour, but that’s because it was very quiet.

So make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to explore.

Head there in a car

As it’s a warehouse on an industrial estate the unit isn’t particularly easy to access via bus or train. Plus you don’t want to be dragging your haul back on public transport.

I’d recommend driving to 66 Books as there’s a good sized car park outside. But the car park does fill up when it gets busier (another reason to head there early). There is on street parking outside the unit if the car park is full.

Have you ever been to 66 books?

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