Welcome to the first Blogging Outside the US Post! Today we’ll cover a topic suggested by Miki! You can help me with this new feature here!
Today I’ll approach one of the most difficult things for us who live outside the US, where to buy books? What’s the best service? I’ve created a simple comparative chart with some relevant information that we use to consider where to buy.
I have used all the services above and I’ll tell you my experiences with each of the services mentioned above!
Amazon.com - I love Amazon! It’s very reliable and I use it to buy not only books, but DVDs and other stuff too. The bad thing is that some kindle books are more expensive for us not in the US, and I have no idea why,so we have to pay attention to that!! Compare before buying! A few titles also aren’t available in some countries. The average delivery period here in Brazil is 3-4 weeks.
All Romance ebooks – I don’t use ARe much, but they have some good discounts now and then. It’s only for ebooks, and there’s a huge variety for romances. You can download several formats of ebooks.
Book Closeouts - That’s a fantastic service I found recently! You can get really cheap books, but they don’t have a lot of new romances. You can also buy autographed copies and find some romance classics for like 2.99! They only sell paper copies, including used ones, and the only delivery option in my country priority shipping, wich isn’t expensive. The average delivery period here in Brazil is 3 weeks. Plus, they might send you a coupon for your next purchase!!
Book Depository - Book depository is awesome, I love it. They have a lot of romances but you might not find a few sometimes. It has a small amount of ebooks, but their priority is towards paperbacks and hard copies. The books aren’t as cheap as other services, but shipping is free!! The average delivery period here in Brazil is 3 – 4 weeks.
Ebay- What’s cool about Ebay is that you can find signed books and packs of romances by authors. You have to research the person who’s selling the items before you buy, not all of them are reliable. Watch out for which users send the items internationally, some of them don’t.
Smashwords - It’s really easy and simple to use! What I love the most about it is that you can find several self published and small authors there. You can choose the format you want to download too. Some authors use this service for giveaways, as they can create coupons for their books.
Now it’s your turn! What service you use the most and like best? How long does it take for the items you want to arrive? Share with us!
Feel free to ask any questions too!
Next Friday: All you need to know to create an international giveaway! How to run it? Reading Romances tells all! Happy reading!
***
4 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
miki
October 13, 2012 at 8:34 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
i use the book delivery because i prefer print books and there is free shipping. I’m a bit sad the prices have up ( before we had 25off on pre order) but still with the free shipping is really cheaper for me.
When everything goes well it takes 10days for a book to arrives ( the longest was 20days) also if the book disapear they act. ( not sure it’s the case with amazon.)
From my country i can also often choose which edition i want.
Amazon: i use it only if i get an amazon gift card, delivery time around 3weeks, the price are often more than The bookdepository ( and i still have to had the shipping fee)but it’s true that i can find some print books there that are not on the book depository
Waterstone: only free delivery in the UK but before i discovered The Bookdepository it was wonderful for me ( now if you don’t live in the UK , forget it)
I’ve heard about fishpond and the best world also for print book and ifd i remember they have free shipping but i haven’t used them so if someone has please share^^
Nat
October 16, 2012 at 11:27 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Yes, the prices have been a bit higher since amazon bought them =(
Izz
October 16, 2012 at 7:43 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Thanks for the helpful post, I think The Book Depo is the best for selling paperbacks but sometimes there are some title I want not available there, and it’s only available at amazon, bummer for me, because Amazon doesn’t ship to my country, and many Amazon kindle not available for Asia Pacific :/
I’ve bought a couple of ebooks from Smashwords and All Romance the process is simple and I can download the ebooks from them, but many ebooks I want not available at Smashwords or All Romance and only available at amazon.
One more thing, how about fishpond, I heard the shipping is free like The Book Depo and what about the price is cheaper than TBD?
Nat
October 16, 2012 at 11:25 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Hi Izz, I never used Fishpond, but they don’t seem to have a wide variety of romances. They have a great “over 50% off” tab that has some nice deals. But I think that from what I could see, the prices on Book Depo are cheaper!
I can see it’s good for other items, since they have other sections too!