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The Book Depository

For discussion about particular book sellers (brick-and-mortar bookstores, online book sellers, auction sites, swap sites, etc.)
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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Wed October 2nd, 2013, 9:43 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]Ok so I am not the only one. Any ideas on where I can buy UK books before or if they are not released in the US?[/quote]

Amazon UK, and pay for shipping?
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Brenna
Bibliophile
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Joined: June 2010
Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Thu October 3rd, 2013, 7:00 pm

Ah see here is what I would like to know-I'm an amazon prime member-do I still get free shipping if it comes from the UK?
Brenna

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JaneConsumer
Reader
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Joined: August 2008
Location: U.S.
Contact:

Post by JaneConsumer » Thu October 3rd, 2013, 7:23 pm

I use amazon.co.uk, but you're gonna pay for shipping.

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Brenna
Bibliophile
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Joined: June 2010
Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Fri October 4th, 2013, 3:15 pm

Fair enough. At least here are options-I would have to pay my aunt who lives in the UK to ship any books anyway and this way I don't have to make her go to the Post Office.
Brenna

annis
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Post by annis » Thu October 10th, 2013, 12:11 am

I don't know whether you've checked it out or not, but you can also buy British books through Book Depository.com, which might solve some of your problems. It's the US version. Obviously UK books are still imported, but you get them at the same time as buyers using BD UK. I use both. It's worth doing a cross-check, because sometimes a book will have a better discount on one site than on the other.

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Fri October 11th, 2013, 12:52 pm

Just spotted these comments from Sharon over at FB. https://www.facebook.com/sharonkay.penm ... 0757284922

I won't be able to copy and paste the text until much later today for those who don't so FB, so if anyone can jump in and do it, feel free.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Lisa
Bibliophile
Posts: 1153
Joined: August 2012
Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Fri October 11th, 2013, 1:33 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Just spotted these comments from Sharon over at FB. https://www.facebook.com/sharonkay.penm ... 0757284922

I won't be able to copy and paste the text until much later today for those who don't so FB, so if anyone can jump in and do it, feel free.[/quote]

From SKP on Goodreads (I assume it's the same as the comments on FB you refer to):
Sharon Kay Penman on Goodreads wrote:Why I am no longer a fan of Book Depository
I got a shock yesterday. Several of my American readers had told me they’d been unable to buy the new British hardcover edition of Sunne, that they kept getting an “out of stock” message. When I checked, the same thing happened to me, so I e-mailed my editor at Macmillan. She was away but she got back to me as soon as she returned, and I was utterly taken aback by her response. She said that Book Depository will not sell British books to American readers! Now we all know that with e-books, geography is destiny, but real books? My editor said that Macmillan does not have the legal right to sell their books in America and if Book Depository was selling in defiance of borders in the past, they should not have been doing that.

Like many of you, I’ve bought British books from Book Depository without any problem, but now they seem to be enforcing this insane policy. And Sunne is not the only victim. Americans cannot buy the new Bernard Cornwell, the Pagan Lord, either. They show only the American edition for pre-order; when I searched for the UK edition, which came out in September, even including the ISBN number, I was told there was no such book! And to add insult to injury, Book Depository is hiding behind weasel words like “out of stock,” instead of being honest and saying they won’t sell the books to us. I assume they will not sell American books to British readers, either.

So this is bad news for my non-British readers who’d hoped to buy the new Sunne. To compound the lunacy of this, Sunne is not taking sales away from my American publisher. There has not been a hardcover edition in the US since 1982! Amazon.co.Uk is still selling Sunne to American readers, but I suppose that could change at any moment; and of course, the mailing costs are quite high for these transatlantic sales. So once again the ants are crushed when the elephants fight, and guess who are the ants? Us, of course, the book-buying public.

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Brenna
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Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Fri October 11th, 2013, 2:14 pm

So funny I was just getting ready to post the exact same thing! Finally, at least we have an explanation which is really all I was looking for. I still think it is really stupid but at least I know now it's their stupidity and not mine. Little things you know?
Brenna

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Misfit
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Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Fri October 11th, 2013, 2:18 pm

That's the one, thank you. I just checked BD and it shows the new HB edition of Sunne as unavailable (and for the record, same as for EC's The Summer Queen), but at Amazon UK both are in stock. Doesn't Amazon own the Book Depository? Trying to wiggle out of the free shipping?
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Fri October 11th, 2013, 2:36 pm

BTW, link to some discussions we had earlier this year over the bait and switch tactics here.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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