I don't know about you, but I luuuuurve me an Amazon buying spree. There's just something about receiving a parcel filled with brand new, fresh-ink smellin' books. Not that I 'spree' much - I think my record is two books in the one shipment - but you get the idea. I'm a book person. I would add cool new finds to my WishList and then when my birthday or Mother's Day rolled around, 'money to spend on Amazon' was always in the list of suggestions. And Amazon is the default site to which we go, don't we? Everyone knows its there.
Then a while back, a friend put me on to this site: The Book Depository. It's British-run, akin to the book side of Amazon. You can choose to have the prices displayed in British pounds or US dollars and they offer FREE worldwide delivery. So I thought I'd do a little comparison shopping, using three of the books currently on my WishList
(Note: Amazon shipping prices given below are for Australian delivery and based on a 'one book at a time' principle, ie, not combining items in the same shipment. To ship one book to Australia we pay $4.99 (USD) per shipment and another $4.99 (USD) per item):
Sew Pretty Homestyle by Tone Finnanger
Amazon's Price (in US dollars): $15.63 plus $9.98 (USD) standard shipping - Total $25.61
Book Depository's price (in British pounds) £11.69 plus NO shipping - Total £11.69
The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn
Amazon's Price (in US dollars): $15.61 plus $9.98 (USD) standard shipping - Total $25.59
Book Depository's price (in British pounds): £16.39 plus NO shipping - Total £16.39
Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol
Amazon's price (in US dollars): $14.93 plus $9.98 (USD) standard shipping - Total $24.91
Book Depository's price (in British pounds): £13.95 plus NO shipping - Total £13.95
Now, of course this means nothing to me until I convert them to Australian dollars using this simple currency converter:
Sew Pretty Homestyle (cost in Australian dollars, including shipping charges):
Amazon - $36.74
Book Depository - $24.15
Complete Tightwad Gazette (cost in Australian dollars, including shipping charges):
Amazon - $36.71
Book Depository - $33.86
Bend The Rules Sewing (cost in Australian dollars, including shipping charges):
Amazon - $35.73
Book Depository - $28.82
If a book is listed on Amazon, it's rare that I can't also find it on Book Depository and I am yet to find an example of Amazon being cheaper once you factor in the free shipping component to us southerners.
Then I started thinking. The free shipping is a total bonus when you're way down here in the boondocks like I am - but what about US residents for whom Amazon's shipping charges would be much less? (For the purposes of the argument, I'm using Amazon's US standard shipping chart and putting aside for a moment things like Super Saver Shipping - we're not eligible for that down here so I'm trying to compare apples with apples etc. Again, this is based on a 'one item at a time' shipment)
As far as I understand it, standard-shipping a single book via Amazon to a US address costs $3.99 USD. Book Depository will ship free, so lets compare both sites. I'll set Book Depository's website to reflect USD for ease.
Sew Pretty Homestyle (US dollars)
Amazon - $15.63 plus $3.99 shipping - Total $19.62
Book Depository - $16.87
Complete Tightwad Gazette (US dollars)
Amazon - $15.61 plus $3.99 shipping - Total $19.60
Book Depository - $23.66
Bend The Rules Sewing (US dollars)
Amazon - $14.93 plus $3.99 shipping - Total $18.92
Book Depository - $20.14
Interesting! Clearly the Book Depository somewhat builds their shipping costs into their prices, making them more than Amazon. The most obvious example is The Complete Tightwad Gazette, which, if I remember rightly, is an enormous tome of information - so it stands to reason their 'regular' price would be comparitively higher if shipping on the heavy book is included in the price. But it's not always the case - Sew Pretty Homestyle is cheaper at the Book Depository, even for US shipping addresses.
Obviously, being in Australia makes the Book Depository cheapest in nearly every circumstance (Amazon's $9.98 international shipping vs zero shipping at Book Depository will do that, LOL) but there are still great bargains to be had with them for US residents as well.
And we know it always pays to shop around, don't we?
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing this. I've never heard of book depository before and do order from Amazon every so often. Next time I'll try book depository.
Libby
do you have access to Paperbackswap.com? I seldom buy brand new books anymore. I tried them out and most of the books I have received look like the spines have never been cracked! Every now and again, you get one that you can tell was well loved over and over again, but not usually. Any time I see a book I am interested in, I add it to my wish list. It has kept me well stocked with more than I usually can read and I have been able to keep up with the NY Times bestsellers list fairly well. Just a thought.
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