Stumbling upon iheartbookstores.com reminded me of the value of purchasing books in person rather than simply clicking “buy now” online. The map on the site currently lists more than 6,000 independent bookstores across the U.S. Recently, I was about to buy a used book on eBay when I noticed that the seller was Recycle Bookstore in San Jose, CA, just a couple of miles from me. I decided to drive there and buy it in person instead. Of course, I ended up finding more books to buy and remembered how much I love the serendipity and magic of physical bookstores. — CD

I recently discovered Spoken.io, a website that reveals the practice of "white-labeling" in the furniture and home decor industry. White-labeling is when the same generic product is sold by multiple retailers under different brand names and prices. Spoken.io tracks items from over 100 stores, making it easy to compare prices for identical products across retailers like West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Crate & Barrel. The price differences can be substantial, so if you're furnishing a home, it's worth checking out to ensure you're getting the best deal. — MF

Propstore.com consigns and sells entertainment memorabilia, like props, costumes, posters and other collectibles, through both Live and Online Auctions. I have not purchased or bid on anything (yet), but I enjoy browsing the website for doses of nostalgia. This weekend there is a live auction of rare and collectible posters, and I pinned some of them for design inspiration. — CD 

When I’m using Instagram, I get served quite a few ads for electronic gadgets and kitchen tools. If I see something I’m interested in buying, I don’t buy it from the advertiser, because they are a dropshipper who marks up the price by a factor of five or more. Instead, I go to AliExpress and search for the product there. That’s where the dropshippers go to find products and the prices are much cheaper. — MF

If you’re like me and have soured on Etsy, here’s a brand new handmade marketplace to keep in mind: Artisans Co-op. It just launched so I can’t vouch for any of the products, but I have been following their updates and “phases” and I appreciate their transparency and integrity. Their community vision is fair tech, not big tech, which is why they are member-owned by artisans. As of right now they have 65 shops and more than 1000 handmade items, and each day the selection keeps growing. — CD 

BuyItForLife is a subreddit where people recommend and discuss high quality products that last a lifetime. This website is a ChatGPT interface that lets you ask questions about everything that’s ever been mentioned in the subreddit. Here are the results it gave me when I asked for the best spinner luggage. — MF

The best online source for used books is BookFinder. Its bare bones design is unchanged from 1997 and feels like a Craigslist for books. It’s an aggregated meta-search engine that simultaneously looks for a book on Amazon, Ebay, Abe, Alibris, Bibio, and 100,000 indie booksellers. It will find all copies available and arrange them by price, and supply the link for purchase from the source. (In other countries and languages it is known as JustBooks.) It reliably yields the least expensive option for a used book. — KK

There’s a guy on YouTube who does the most thorough and insanely complete testing of tools I’ve ever seen. He test to the breaking point up to a dozen variants of one tool (say cordless chainsaws), including the cheapest and the most expensive, to see which one is actually best. His channel, Project Farm, is sort of a one-man Consumer Reports, only better. This year he rounded up his best results into one video he calls The Top 10 Products of 2022. — KK

Our Cool Tools Lab colleague Camille Hartsell put together a holiday wishlist of unique writing instruments and other crafty things. I really want this “fine line” painting pen and this hardcover journal with super thick paper. — CD

This article “How to become a truly excellent gift giver” has some great advice for gift-giving, including 3 questions to consider when gift-giving. “Can I introduce someone to something they might not otherwise know about? Can I get them a nicer version of something than they would buy for themselves? Or can I make them feel seen?” Another helpful trip is to write a mini-bio of the recipient to help you hone in on their enthusiasms and interests. — CD

I made my holiday gift wish list for Cool Tools. This year instead of selecting the best tools we discovered in the past 12 months, we are listing cool stuff we desire. So contrary to our usual process, we have no idea if what we wish for is actually any good. My wish list is here. If you have opinions about what I am wishing for, add them in the comments. — KK

This year on my holiday wishlist are 6 objects to improve my work-life balance, which includes a new machine-washable rug for my home office and desk chair, some tools to alleviate stress and glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos — just for fun. Check it out here. — CD

Gem is a search engine for vintage and used clothing and jewelry. You can quickly search eBay, Etsy, Poshmark, TheRealReal, and more, and the results are displayed in a large gallery view with prices to save time. You can also set email alerts for hard-to-find items. — CD

Looria.com took all the most talked about “brand mentions” on Reddit — in posts and comments — and ran it through “sentiment analysis” to identify the emotional tone behind the mentions and determine what are the most popular products and then listed them by subreddit here. — CD

Creative reuse stores are secondhand stores for all kinds of craft supplies. I still have drawers of specialty papers, posters, paints, and fabric from when I used to live in Oakland and frequent the East Bay Depot. I would pay $20 for everything I could fill up in a grocery paper bag. Swoodsonsays.com keeps on top of updating a map of upcycle stores near you (in the U.S. and some outside). You can search the Google map here. Thanks to Margaret Cherry for sharing this with me! — CD

A world-class scrounger I know ranked the best places to find bargains for used and old stuff. He said “There are no good bargains on Ebay because sellers know the true value, and price accordingly. Facebook Marketplace has good stuff at ok prices. But if it is advertised on Craigslist, they just want to get rid of it. If you are patient you can offer 10% of asking and sometimes get it.” — KK

Amazon has a sub-site dedicated to products from Japan. You can buy cookware, toys, gadgets, candy, stationery, clothing, beauty supplies, and more. Many products are Prime eligible, like this tasty miso paste I bought. — MF

This breakdown of pricing tactics is useful to check out, even if you are not a marketer. I learned that consumers respond to alliteration in prices, like “two t-shirts for $25” because it just feels right. Which I agree with! Also, be precise with large prices — like in real estate transactions — $362,978 is better than $350,000. Why? We associate precise numbers with small values. If you sign up on Nick Kolenda’s website with your email address, you’ll get access to his other psychology + marketing PDFs, like Choice Psychology, Font Psychology and Color Psychology. — CD

On my browser I keep bookmarked the Free Stuff page on Craig’s List, set to my locale (Location > For Sale > Free). I look there first when I need something. Almost everything will pass through sooner or later — from vintage bath tubs to cardboard moving boxes to baltic plywood. Yours for the hauling. It’s best if you can give it a few weeks or more to find what you want. — KK

This year I focused my Cool Tools Holiday Gift list on golden oldie products that I still use. Stuff that I have recommended in the past and still love and use now. But none of these seven are really gift items, so ignore the title. These are just proven good stuff I recommend. — KK