Online Shopping is a very hot topic currently. Most shoppers are finding online prices much more competitive than buying from our department stores. I am all for supporting local businesses, but having kids does impact on my shopping style - a) the money has to stretch that much further now to pay for all the costs of a growing family, and b) lining up at department stores, after walking past 2 unattended cash registers, and having to deal with temper tantrums from your own kids and also other dissatisfied shoppers, is just no fun compared to shopping from the comfort of your own home, anytime you're free, with no queues and no glares from tired sales assistants. Obviously there are pitfalls to shopping online (you can get that lecture elsewhere) and not everything is appropriate for buying without trying, but purchasing books online is a fairly safe bet that the book shouldn't be too different from the one available at the shops!
A friend of ours recommended we check out The Book Depository last year(http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/) and we've never looked back since. They are a UK based company and stock a huuuuge range of books and their prices are often up to a third cheaper than the shops. Best of all they have FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the world. We have since figured out the shipping cost has probably been incorporated into the price of the book but the books are STILL CHEAPER and I guess the bottom line for comparison is how much money you have to part with to get the item you want. I usually get my books delivered within about 2 weeks of purchase which is not a terribly long wait.
I recently bought The National Geographic Answer Book (yes, to feed my love of useless trivia - actually this was pretty useFUL trivia!) The Book Depository Price : A$23.67
Fishpond.com.au Price A$69.99
Borders.com.au Price A$79.95
OK, I think you can guess where I bought the book from.
The news today is that the government is considering taxing overseas purchases to make it more "fair" for the local traders. I guess I'll just take advantage of the cheaper prices until the party is over.....
Eat. Shop. Play. Recommends : Going to the site and having a browse. If you're bored you can go to the "Watch People Shop" Window and see what books people are buying from all over the world!
Give it a Miss : Some Australian books are difficult to get. eg/ I wanted "Hoot's Lullaby" and while it's on the site it's been listed as Out of Stock since forever.
Give it a Miss : Some Australian books are difficult to get. eg/ I wanted "Hoot's Lullaby" and while it's on the site it's been listed as Out of Stock since forever.
not sure if you know but you can get 10% discount codes on their facebook page:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/BookDepository
Current discount which expires on 20-Jan-2011 is:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ebay/?a_aid=fkw
Thanks for that Breda! I didn't know about the current discount! I do know they have 10% off now and then when you refer a friend and they shop at The Book Depository! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteBefore reviewing your entry, I was not sure whether was safe or not to buy there (prices seemed too cheap). Now I am posting my order!!! By the way, there is another 10% disccount coupon on their website. It expires at the end of May. Nice blog.
ReplyDelete