Book Depository sold out - did everyone else know this?

[byslantedlight]

Just... waaaaah! Apparently Book Depository was taken over by Amazon a year ago - how did I miss that news? I've been using it as my alternative-to-Amazon online bookshop for ages now... I buy from actual shops whenever I can, but parking in Cambridge is such a bugger that I'm in town a lot less often these days, and I do buy books online... I buy from Amazon too, because sometimes it's effectively the only way, but Book Depository was my seller of choice - especially when I read about Amazon's tax avoidance, even of what little money presumably doesn't go to the American over-company in the first place...

So... well now what? Does anyone else have an alternative to the big corporative giants? AbeBooks is also owned by Amazon... I'm currently eyeing Foyles as a possibility - still apparently independently owned, and paying its UK tax, and of course when I'm in London it's on the way back to the train station I use, and I like the store... Has anyone else mail-ordered from Foyles?

Any ideas? Or is everyone all kindled-up, and I'm the last lj-er to care...?

Comments

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

No, I still prefer regular books over ebooks, though my buying has tapered off somewhat (what do you do with 2300 books?!) Anyway, I can't say that I have a preferred place to buy. Things being what they are, there's not usually much difference. I suppose what you could do is check on bookfinder.com to find any copies that are being sold by smaller, independent sellers.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - I know, my books are mostly in storage at the moment - in fact this week I'll be piling them all in a corner to see how many boxes there actually are...

The difference to me is often whether one place treats people badly compared to another, and I thought that Book Depository was the latter rather than the former... but I shall find a better alternative now, if I can!

(And yeay for real books!)

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

The Kindle is handy for keeping in a handbag for reading on public transport/in waiting rooms, etc, but nothing beats a real book.

Shame they aren't all that easy to source, really. I don't tend to order books online that much. I buy mostly from second-hand bookshops, which isn't much help to you. We've only got one proper bookshop in the centre of Cardiff since Borders went bust and that's Waterstone's. I miss the variety of bookshops we had only 10 years ago!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I can definitely see the advantages of an e-reader (though I'd prefer one that didn't worm its way quite so far into my computer, or be able to delete books that I'd paid money for), but as you say, only for specific situations.

Even Cambridge has only really got two bookshops now - a Waterstone's and a Blackwell's, though there's a couple of second-hand shops (priced fairly highly, not "ordinary" second-hand... We used to have a Borders with a Starbucks in it, and I spent alot of time there (even though they were also foreign chains)... *sighs sadly*

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

I've bought books online from Foyles before (their website is a wonderful time-suck, just like the Charing cross road shop, and they do a click-and-collect service which is good, but only if you're desperate for something, willing to spend more and have a Foyles nearby!) - both times with the online delivery purchase the books were about a quid cheaper than Amazon. Both were non-fiction, I don't know whether that's significant. On the other hand, the latest fiction paperback I bought from Amazon was about half the Foyles price, so... It's a matter of weighing up the practical, the economic and the political I suppose.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Excellent review - cheers! So far I've noticed a slight price difference in a book I wanted, and I think it says you need to spend £10 for free delivery, but I'm still thinking that's preferable... (though there's bound to be times when the price difference is more, I suppose)

It's more the moral differences that swing it for me, a company's effect on the world in general... *g*

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I boycotted Foyle's for years because they were anti-union. Whether that's changed now, I couldn't say.

Touch wood, I've never had a problem with Amazon. I understand your misgivings with them, but I go where I get good service, and Amazon have always been fine (touch wood). I'm of the view that independent doesn't equate with good necessarily - I don't shop in the one indie bookshop where I live because the woman who owns it is so objectionable. And she's alienated a lot of people like me who buy loads of books!

My Kindle was one of my best purchases - I use it constantly.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ha - I can't imagine Amazon being terribly supportive of the unions, I've got to say!

I've never had a - touch wood - customer service problem with Amazon, and I vowed not to go back to the independent bookshop in Ely where I did have a customer service issue - I quite agree that independent isn't necessarily = good. But I wouldn't mind buying my books somewhere that actually paid its taxes rather than dodged them... and I do remember that not long ago people were up in arms about the the whole issue of lgbt books being taken off the sales rankings/search results (while Playboy centrefold books were still allowed on), and... something that they blamed on their French branch (the fact that they didn't take responsibility bugged me more than whatever the mistake was in the first place, to be honest - blame it on the French!) I'd just like to have an alternative...

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I prefer real books but I buy mostly from Amazon so I can't help you^^

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I did buy mostly from Amazon, but I'd quite like to buy from a company that's not quite so controlling and dodges paying tax...

[nypagan.livejournal.com]

I used to buy loads of books from Amazon, but not so much lately. I do not have a kindle or a nook, I prefer a 'real' book, even though most of mine are paperback. Plus, I'm in the US, so can't really help you. I kneel at the feet of the capitalist US corporations. Just wanted to sympathize with your pain! Have you tried typing in the ISBN # for the book and seeing who carries it?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - there are capitalist corporations in every country, including this on - but with everyone moaning "recession, recession!" it doesn't make sense to spend my money on a company that's not even contributing to the UK economy by paying its taxes... grrr!

Paperbacks are real books! I've always been reluctant to buy hardbacks to be honest, just cos they're so much more expensive, as well as being heavier to hold when you're curled up in bed at night! *g*

I do the isbn thing sometimes, but I'd rather have a trusted company that I'd know were working in the best interests of people, not just of their own profit... This one looks decent, for example, courtesy of the Hag: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

You might take a look at http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah, nice site - thank you, shall bear that one in mind!

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

How about the 'resellers' options - the "14 used from £0.01, 1 collectible from £1.20" links you see on the Amazon pages for most books? (Those numbers are for Ten Years After Ivan Denisovich, which I thought you might appreciate :)) I presume Amazon profits from them in some way - and then avoids tax on that profit - but some of them might otherwise be worth a shot, especially if you then go direct to their sites and buy that way.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, I quite often use the Marketplace sellers, but as you say I'd quite like to avoid Amazon in general. I shall try Foyle's for a while I think, and see how we get on! I'm kind of surprised that there haven't been more alternatives suggested though, after the various anti-Amazon outcries over the last year or so - seems like most people have settled back into the harness...