Book shopping with Amazon.com

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Book shopping with Amazon.com

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1australwind
sep 16, 2010, 10:36 pm

Silly me....I thought I might take advantage of the good exchange rate at present and stock up on a couple of titles from Amazon US.

So the total cost of the books I selected was $AU38 and some cents...imagine my horror when I saw the bottom line including the slow boat to China shipping rate....$102!!!

The freight costs for these books was twice the book costs - no longer is Amazon a good deal!!!

2wookiebender
sep 16, 2010, 10:40 pm

Have you checked out The Book Depository? Free shipping. Anywhere.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/
http://www.bookdepository.com/

I'm still sticking with my local independents, but I like drooling over TBD.

3Surtac
sep 16, 2010, 10:54 pm

I pretty well gave up on Amazon in favour of TBD about 3 years ago. I'll still use Amazon UK for dvds and cds occasionally, but no longer for books.

4TineOliver
sep 16, 2010, 11:08 pm

I think it depends what you're after. If it's recent popular fiction, the Amazon is definately not the way to go. However, if its a rare out of print title that I'm after (especially if I want it new), then I find Amazon is actually fairly good and I'm happy to wear the postage.

The book depository is good, but sometimes I find their range a bit limited. You could also try Booktopia or Fishpond locally.

5pinkozcat
sep 16, 2010, 11:17 pm

I use Amazon.co.uk; the US postal rates are a killer.

I also shop at Fishpond.com.au and TBD. And I have just acquired a Kobo e-reader, which I love. The choice is a bit limited still but more and more good authors are coming online with their books in electronic format.

6australwind
sep 17, 2010, 12:36 am

I sourced one of the books I wanted from New Zealand...the rest I will investigate alternatives in the future but Book Depository and Amazon UK have both been recommended because the postal rates are either free or much more reasonable.

Many of the titles I am looking for are hard to find here which is why I had resorted to Amazon in the first place.

I had placed an order in May for three titles which cost about $20 in freight - still a reasonable figure in my book that I was happy to pay....but today's experience left a really sour taste in my mouth.

7TineOliver
sep 17, 2010, 10:54 am

The other thing you could try is Booko:

http://www.booko.com.au

This website provides a comparison (in $AUD) of the major online booksellers including postage to Australia - very helpful.

8aluvalibri
Redigeret: sep 17, 2010, 1:13 pm

You are right, the US postal rates ARE a killer!
That is because we cannot ship overseas (or to Canada, btw) other than by air mail. So, every time I send books to friends in countries other than the US, my wallet bleeds. I think it is totally unfair.

9dajashby
sep 26, 2010, 11:13 pm

I have just ordered a couple of books from Book Depository US. Until now I didn't know they existed. For US publishers they're even cheaper than the UK operation - no doubt something to do with the Oz dollar being almost at parity. And you use your existing account so that the books go on to your history.

We'll see how long the books take to arrive, but I don't care, I've just saved myself about $60.00!

10snail
sep 27, 2010, 7:01 am

$64 delivery sounds odd to be honest - I've been buying from Amazon for years, both US and Uk and I've never paid anything like that for postage. For example, I've just had two hardcovers arrive from Amazon US today:

US$54.35 for both books
US$14.97 for the postage

total: US$69.32

They took a week or so to arrive. I know you said you selected the cheap rate but it sounds more like the express delivery rate. Did you compare costs for each of the shipping options?

With that said, I second the recommendation for:

http://www.booko.com.au/

Fantastic for comparing book prices across the majors, both local & Oz, and takes into account shipping rates. It's my first stop these days as it tells whether Book Depository or Amazon is the cheapest.

11australwind
okt 1, 2010, 1:39 am

I haven't written Amazon off....

I will try it again as I would love to take advantage of the dollar's good showing at present.

However I am about to purchase a privately published limited edition book from the UK and given its weight its going to cost about 25 pounds to post!

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

12Murmurs
okt 17, 2010, 6:31 pm

dajashby,

I discovered the new .com version of TBD a few weeks ago. The books still come from the UK although for some reason the .com books can sometimes, but not always, be bit cheaper.

Your account, if you use the same name etc., uses the same database.

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