I've only ordered one book through the PBS Market, and it was a book that is now on my keeper chelf, so I figured the book was worth the price.  Some of the "in demand" books are going to be a bit more expensive, so it's usually best to shop around to figure out which price will be best.  I usually do my comparison shopping on Amazon.

As far as I know, PBS Market has two different book companies.  There are the slightly discounted newer books and then there are the overstock books.  These are two different companies, and shipping cannot be combined in the two kinds of books.  It is my understanding that the best shipping deal is to order several books from one of the two companies.

I've only purchased from the overstock section (the books that cost $2.09 plus a credit). I ordered a bunch of books at once to save on shipping, so they were a good deal.

The books the OP is talking about aren't overstock books. They're slightly discounted (are they called supersaver?). But I imagine it's hard to compete with Amazon, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, etc. So if you're looking just at price, you probably don't want to buy those through PBS. If you're looking to support PBS, then this is a way to do it while still getting something out of it.

Every time I look at a book in the market, I decide not to order due to the expense.  I haven't found any instances of it making financial sense to order a book from the market as opposed from getting it from another source.  I like to help PBS in other ways by buying DC or printable postage, but I won't buy books from the market unless the prices come down. 

I think I'm through ordering books from the PBS market, at least the newer, more expensive ones. 

I ordered two books a few weeks ago. Purchased 6/23 at 4:01am, mailed 7/13, which is definitely more than 10 business days. Arrived at my PO on 7/19 which is fine, I have no problem with media mail being used. 

But that's not what got me. What got me is these two, brand new, rather pricey hardbacks which are definitely keeper books for me, were shipped loose in a padded envelope. They arrived OK, but rather banged up around the edges :( What I might expect when receiving a book via trade, but not when shelling out real money for new books that I want to keep.

I just can't justify using the service. It's slow as heck and they're not even taking great care when shipping the books. 

Buy what you can afford, just click through on a link from PBS to amazon and then PBS gets a small amount for that purchase..:)