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Amazon, Abe books or book depository

For discussion about particular book sellers (brick-and-mortar bookstores, online book sellers, auction sites, swap sites, etc.)
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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Mon July 4th, 2011, 12:40 pm

I didn't know that! They must be having difficulties - I suppose it must be difficult if you're up against the likes of Amazon. Bookshops are suffering, took, I think. I know Waterstone's in the UK is. They can't really compete.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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Jemidar
Avid Reader
Posts: 397
Joined: February 2010
Location: Adelaide, Australia

Post by Jemidar » Mon July 4th, 2011, 1:17 pm

[quote=""Amanda""]Well the options are narrowing now that Amazon are going to buy The Book Depository.

Hope they keep their free shipping rates to Australia then.[/quote]


NOOOOOOOOO!! That can only be be bad news!

Do you know if it's Amazon.com or Amazon UK that's buying it? And is it both the US and UK Book Depository or just one? I know Amazon UK has been feeling the pinch of UK BD.

What I really hate though more than the thought that I might soon be paying shipping again, is that soon we will all be buying our books from Amazon whether we want to or not :mad: .
Jenny

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Currently Reading:


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

Post by Misfit » Mon July 4th, 2011, 1:28 pm

Found this and a few other mentions by googling the two.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Jemidar
Avid Reader
Posts: 397
Joined: February 2010
Location: Adelaide, Australia

Post by Jemidar » Mon July 4th, 2011, 1:45 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Found this and a few other mentions by googling the two.[/quote]

Thanks Misfit.

Figured it was Amazon buying out the competition in their bid to rule the world...lol. Just hope they don't feel the need to fix something that's not broke--BD works just fine how it is!
Jenny

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Currently Reading:


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sweetpotatoboy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1641
Joined: August 2008
Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Mon July 4th, 2011, 2:04 pm

Interesting. Kind of a shame that a worthy competitor couldn't stand it alone. But also an indication that it was clearly making a decent dent in Amazon's market share.

As a UK resident, I pretty much stopped using The Book Depository once Amazon UK scrapped all domestic shipping charges a couple of years ago. BD's prices weren't particularly better than Amazon's and their range was not as broad. But I can see that it's free worldwide shipping was a boon to those overseas.

Will be interesting to see whether Amazon keeps BD as a separate entity with its own model, or eventually merges the two (and perhaps introduces its own free worldwide shipping?).

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5859
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Mon July 4th, 2011, 2:59 pm

EEk! I order quite a lot from BD - their prices are the same as Ammy, although their occasional extra 10% offers are also very welcome! I've also got some books off BD that even Amazon didn't have, such as a couple of Sara Donati's "Wilderness" series.

Amazon do free del in the UK so I can't see them re-introducing delivery charges, not for basic, simple orders like current paperbacks - hope not anyway.
Currently reading "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer

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emr
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 840
Joined: January 2009
Location: Castilla

Post by emr » Mon July 4th, 2011, 7:15 pm

I've sometimes received books from BD with strange stickers as in from some little shop. I guess they have some local sources which explains why they have many books amazon doesnt have.

I've been watching their map for a while. In the last 90 minutes they have sold:
UK: 8 books
US and Canada: 6 books
AU, Malaysia etc: 4 books BUT they are mostly sleeping now I think
Other: 1 book
EU: 33 books with maybe a 15% going to Ireland

So what are amazon buying?

Little suppliers who can get the odd book?
BD's main market seem to be Europe. Is it hurting them that much?

*sigh* I guess the good days of free shipping are gone...
"So many books, so little time."
— Frank Zappa

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Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Mon July 4th, 2011, 9:39 pm

I used to buy a lot directly from BD, but aside from a number of pending pre-orders, the majority of the UK books I'm after are listed as unavailable in their database. Maybe due to territory restrictions. They are, however, available for purchase through them via ABEbooks, so that's where I do the majority of my shopping. The free shipping deal is valid there too. I'm hoping that avenue won't disappear!

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Veronica
Avid Reader
Posts: 344
Joined: July 2009
Location: NT, Australia

Post by Veronica » Tue July 5th, 2011, 6:15 am

[quote=""Amanda""]Well the options are narrowing now that Amazon are going to buy The Book Depository.

Hope they keep their free shipping rates to Australia then.[/quote]


WHAT!?!?! :eek: They better not push the prices up! And keep the free postage!
"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted"

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Veronica
Avid Reader
Posts: 344
Joined: July 2009
Location: NT, Australia

Post by Veronica » Tue July 5th, 2011, 6:20 am

[quote=""emr""]I've been watching their map for a while. [/quote]


I don't really believe their map- according to the map on my computer there is always someone buying a book in Alice Springs, Australia (and it's not me!) - what about the rest of the country? Just happen to be one buyer?
"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted"

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