I discovered The Book Depository UK when I was trying to get my hands on a copy of The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod. They offer free shipping world wide and their prices are comparable to Amazon.com, in a lot of cases cheaper. The good news is The Book Depository has opened a online US store: The Book Depository US, this was brought to my attention on Twitter last week by @Has_Bookpushers. Plus they are still offering free shipping world wide. I'm not sure if they are opening a warehouse here in the US to speed up the shipping time but when I ordered from the UK store, I received my books in about 6 days, I live in Central Texas. Which really isn't bad considering the shipping was free and I didn't have to purchase a yearly membership to be eligible for free shipping or try to create an order totaling $25 or more to be eligible for free shipping.
Another perk to buying from The Book Depository is you can also use PayPal as a payment option, in addition to the traditional form of online payment of credit cards.
The Book Depository doesn't sell ebooks at this time but they plan on doing so in the future.
Oh, one other thing I noticed, you can get the UK version (if it has been published over there) of a US book. So, if you like one book cover versus another, you have choice between the two book covers at one bookstore.
I went out and did a price comparison to Amazon.com (since they are the most widely used online bookstore), searching for various book media types, results are below. The results should make a lot people happy and shows everyone that there is an alternative to buying from Amazon.com and other online bookstores.
| Book | Media | Amazon.com | Amazon.com S&H | The Book Depository | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead* | Mass Market Paperback | $6.99 | $3.99 | $3.49 - 50% Discount |
 | Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost | Mass Market Paperback | $7.99 | $3.99 | $7.96 |
 | Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon | Hardcover | $16.49 | $3.99 | $12.48 |
 | Blood Memories by Barb Hendee | Trade Paperback | $10.99 | $3.99 | $11.89 |
*If you have a Kindle, iPhone or iTouch you can download The Thorn Queen for free right now. I do not know how long this sale will last, so if this is an option for you and you want this book, hurry and grab it.
14 comments:
Thank you for the wonderful information Donna. :)
M
I live in Germany. So it makes sense to order books - especially English books - at amazon.de. To my surprise there are a lot of books which are cheaper at Book Depository UK. Therefore I started to compare prices for every book I want to order. I still remember when I wanted to buy Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton. Finally I bought the hardcover at Book Depository!! It was cheaper and I could get it a lot earlier.
I think it is good to have an alternative.
I need to buy books online because there are not many bookshops in Germany which sell foreign fantasy books.
I LOVE the bookdepo - it is a great alternative to amazon!
Even though I live in the UK, and get free shipping from amazon UK, the bookdepo offers a lot amazon doesn't. I can get US editions at US prices (which is practically free in pounds) without having to pay the postage from amazon US. Also, I can get US books that haven't been published yet in the UK (I got Rachel Vincent's werecat series that way).
Glad to see the bookdepo has another fan!
Thanks for the great information. I'll definitely start comparing the prices.
Donna, that's interesting about the Book Depository. I wish there was one in the USA. Nice blog. I'm with you on book reviewing. I'm not good at it either.
Wow! Free shipping wroldwide! I'll have to bookmark that site for future purchases. Thanks for sharing the info, Donna!
Oh sure, give me another avenue to help push my habit. Bad influence.
You're welcome, Michelle and Chris!
Hi ediFanoB, I've heard from several of my German blogging buddies about how hard it is to get books a lot of times. I'm glad for online bookstores like the Book Depository.
Hi Dead Book Darling, I love your bloggin name. Very original. Yep, I'm a new fan of the Book Depo. I like having choices.
Hi delitealex, you're welcome!!!
Hi Kristen, I think the Book Depository is trying to create a presence in the US with the new online US bookstore. I'm definitely going to be using them.
Hi Amy, those are magic words to a book lover aren't they "free shipping". :)
Well Keri, you know me what they call me on the streets, The Book Pimp. :D
I'm from Finland and I buy most of my books from Book Depository UK. It is much cheaper and they deliver books much faster than any of the Finnish bookstores. I usually pay 4-6€ per book at BD UK. If I bought from Finnish bookstores, the price would be somewhere between 7-10€.
Hi Maija, It sounds like the Book Depository has been a book lover's life saver over seas. The lower cost at their online bookstore is an added super plus, especially if you purchase a lot books on a regular basis.
Hi Donna!
Thanks for the information, I'll check it out!
Dottie :)
Hi Donna - I hadn't heard of this before. I love that option of getting the UK cover version on books! Thanks so much for sharing! :)
Hi Dotti and Kimberly, I'm always up for another option on purchasing books. The choice between UK and US covers is an added plus. And you're both welcome!!
This is really cool. Thanks! I love the cover choice option, too.
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