lunababymoonchild Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 I mainly use Amazon too. Sometimes it's Book Depository or World of Books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 I try to buy books from physical book shops where I can, even if that sometimes means paying more for them, as I like the whole experience of tracking down a book I want to read and finding it in good condition - even if that also means waiting a bit. When I do have to resort to online shopping, though, it is usually Amazon as I have Prime membership more often than not these days. I did buy What Abigail Did That Summer from Waterstone's however, and would use them again as I got the book on the day of release (although, again, it did cost me more than Amazon would have). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 On 20/03/2021 at 11:20 PM, Raven said: I try to buy books from physical book shops where I can, even if that sometimes means paying more for them, as I like the whole experience of tracking down a book I want to read and finding it in good condition - even if that also means waiting a bit. When I do have to resort to online shopping, though, it is usually Amazon as I have Prime membership more often than not these days. I'm the same. The staff at my local Waterstones are great and they have recommended many good books to me over the years so I buy there more often than not, even thought it is a bit more expensive. I like scouring the second hand bookshops in my towns but they are quiet small and the selection is fairly limited. Finally, if I want something specific which is a little harder to find I use Amazon. As annoying as they are, they are undoubtedly easy to use and often the cheapest option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 27 minutes ago, Brian. said: I'm the same. The staff at my local Waterstones are great and they have recommended many good books to me over the years so I buy there more often than not, even thought it is a bit more expensive. I like scouring the second hand bookshops in my towns but they are quiet small and the selection is fairly limited. Finally, if I want something specific which is a little harder to find I use Amazon. As annoying as they are, they are undoubtedly easy to use and often the cheapest option. Before The Dark Times, I used to pop into my local second-hand bookshop once every couple of months to see what they had in stock - usually to buy out of print copies of old novels or railway books. Just as the last lockdown started, however, I realised that although the majority of their stock is second-hand, they actually sell quite a lot of new books as well, so I may well use them in future if I want to order anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 There's one very good second hand bookshop in one of our local shopping centres, they do also sell some new books as well. Apart from the Works and Waterstone's, there's a bit of a dearth of bookshops in my area, only 2 indie shops left now. I don't go to them very often as the traffic and parking are so horrendous, and they're not open on Sunday which is slightly quieter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 When I want tree-books I use Wordery, Hive or Book Depository. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 I'm in France so have to do the majority of my book buying on-line or at the big twice yearly charity book sale for books in English. There is a small English language bookshop in Bordeaux which I do try to buy from. I try to avoid Amazon and Bookdepository (owned by Amazon), Amazon is very efficient but it isn't good news for smaller retailers, Awesomebooks is a good source of second hand books outside plague years, their stock is a bit limited at the moment, and I've just discovered an on-line bookshop in Ireland which has good prices and as it's in the EU there isn't any problem about customs (there is no duty on books but it doesn't stop some of the carriers trying to charge it and a hefty handling fee.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I used to use Awesome Books until I had a couple of incidents where books which they described as being in "good condition" weren't, one was filthy, looked like tea or coffee stains but how they could describe it as being "good condition" is beyond me. world of Books are pretty good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 31 minutes ago, Madeleine said: I used to use Awesome Books until I had a couple of incidents where books which they described as being in "good condition" weren't, one was filthy, looked like tea or coffee stains but how they could describe it as being "good condition" is beyond me. I had this problem with some second hand DVDs I bought last year (it was from a firm like Music Magpie, via Amazon Marketplace). Described as "very good condition" the box set I ordered had obviously come from a heavy smoker as the box stank and the inlays were yellowed. Had to give it all a good clean and even then the slip case ended up going in the recycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 43 minutes ago, Madeleine said: I used to use Awesome Books until I had a couple of incidents where books which they described as being in "good condition" weren't, one was filthy, looked like tea or coffee stains but how they could describe it as being "good condition" is beyond me. world of Books are pretty good though. Yes I've had a couple of run-ins with Awesomebooks too but in general they aren't too bad. The problem with World of Books is that they charge £2 per item to send to France which mounts up! Awesome charge £2.99 for the whole order, no matter how many books or how heavy they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 8 hours ago, France said: The problem with World of Books is that they charge £2 per item to send to France which mounts up! Awesome charge £2.99 for the whole order, no matter how many books or how heavy they are. Oh wow that would add up! I have used World of Books a couple of times in the past though and they've always been good. I can't remember if I already posted about this (I don't think I did) but I've ordered from an indie bookshop in Wales a couple of times during the lockdown, ( book-ish.co.uk ) and I've noticed they have postage to Europe as an item to add to cart on there. I think I was about £5 if I remember correctly. Did everyone see the new bookshop website that opened a few months ago? I can't remember if we talked about it already! It's the same concept as Hive really but it's meant to give a lot more money to the indie bookshops and still has a small discount. I haven't tried it yet. This was one of the articles about it when it started... A new website for independent bookshops is just what the industry needs | Booksellers | The Guardian . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Link to the actual site: https://uk.bookshop.org/ Will take a look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 15 hours ago, Raven said: Link to the actual site: https://uk.bookshop.org/ Will take a look! Seems to be good, so that’s another online book shop to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 15 hours ago, Raven said: Link to the actual site: Oh yeah that would have been a good idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Good site but postage a bit pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 8 hours ago, Hayley said: Oh yeah that would have been a good idea... Tsk. 1 hour ago, Madeleine said: Good site but postage a bit pricey. It's a trade off, though, isn't it - between getting cheaper books from companies who don't pay their way whilst accruing vast profits, or putting some extra money into the hands of smaller businesses who pay the tax they should and also contribute to their local economies. COVID, and the various lockdowns we have had, have made me reappraise who and where I buy items from; I'm certainly leaning towards supporting smaller, local businesses wherever I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 27/03/2021 at 6:31 PM, Madeleine said: Good site but postage a bit pricey. I didn't actually see how much the postage was. I think I remember that Bert's Books (the one I posted about at the top of the page) has free postage but then they don't have the discount that bookshop.org has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 Has anyone seen those news items about the amount of brand-new product that Amazon sends to landfill - every day! Including laptops and, gulp, new books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Madeleine said: Has anyone seen those news items about the amount of brand-new product that Amazon sends to landfill - every day! Including laptops and, gulp, new books. Yes, it's utterly disgraceful. My youngest daughter was interviewed for a job at one of the big Amazon depots in the south of France as an h&s officer and lets put it this way, she was rather relieved not to be offered the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Madeleine said: Has anyone seen those news items about the amount of brand-new product that Amazon sends to landfill - every day! Including laptops and, gulp, new books. Yes, I was horrified. We all know Amazon's practices are iffy, but that was a truly shocking amount of waste. On the subject of Amazon alternatives, have I already posted about Book-ish? They have 4 for 3 offer on Penguin 'Summer' books at the moment: Penguin 4 for 3 offer! – book-ish.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 21 hours ago, France said: Yes, it's utterly disgraceful. My youngest daughter was interviewed for a job at one of the big Amazon depots in the south of France as an h&s officer and lets put it this way, she was rather relieved not to be offered the job. They said on the news last night that in France there is now a law which means that big companies can't destroy viable stock, they have to actually do something useful with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEV67 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Most the time I use Amazon if I can't find what I want at Waterstones or W.H.Smiths (or Oxfam). I have used Hive recently. I think I have also used Book Depository, World of Books, A Great Read, and Wordery. Hive is good if you want to help out a small, local bookshop, because you can pick your books up there. There's another that sells second hand books, World of Books I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Book Depository is part of Amazon. I use Blackwells a lot, they're a real bookstore too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thugtomas Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 The 8 Best Amazon Alternatives to Buy Books Online 1. Powell's Books. ... Books-A-Million. ... Alibris. ... Peachpit. ... Barnes & Noble. ... Valore Books. ... BetterWorldBooks. ... ThriftBooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 5 hours ago, thugtomas said: The 8 Best Amazon Alternatives to Buy Books Online 1. Powell's Books. ... Books-A-Million. ... Alibris. ... Peachpit. ... Barnes & Noble. ... Valore Books. ... BetterWorldBooks. ... ThriftBooks. Isn't Peachpit a publisher of educational texts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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