In the bookshop, opinions needed.....

[leaserspottedmummybird]

Okay. I'm not nc because this is not a personal or intimate issue.

Just wondering. The book I want to buy in Waterstones is £16.99 BUT amazon have it for £9.

Books are so expensive in general but I really want a treat for myself ( it's a cookbook so of benefit to all the family really)

I'm heading to get some lunch and going back to Waterstones later. What do you all think?
AIBU to want to get the book cheaper online? Or should I support a bricks and mortar bookshop? It's not as though they are a struggling independent bookshop and we are on a budget.
Thanks all.

Amazon all the way for me. A book is a book. I'm also happy to buy even cheaper, used from eBay but sometimes Amazon even beats that.
That said, the last book I bought was from the shop. It would have been £2 cheaper from Amazon but I wanted it straight away. If it had been less than half price I would have ordered from Amazon.

Amazon- if you have prime you’ll have it tomorrow

Rather reluctantly- Amazon. Who wouldn't?

Thank you all. I was feeling guilty because of checking the online prices after looking at the book in store
first

I always like to support small independent bookshops.

However I wouldn't give a second thought to ordering from Amazon rather than buying at Waterstones

Amazon don't pay proper tax

I think waterstones are really struggling too tbh - and at least they pay their tax!

There's a special place in hell for people who physically check out an item in a shop and then buy it online

About 30% of people who come in my shop (and take a photo of the item) and pump me for info on it then go on to buy it online

Some of them even tell me that's what they're doing

I wouldn't choose Waterstones over Amazon. They are owned by WHSmith and it really shows in the pricing!! They have also pushed other smaller chain bookshops into extinction and now take advantage of the lack of competition. Independent bookshop would be quite different.

Have you looked on wordery or the book depository online? They are sometimes cheaper than amazon. If you are on a budget then I think this is sensible. Although sometimes it's satisfying getting books straight away.

Easyandy I do that.
I don't do it in small independent shops but I do go into waterstones and make a note/photograph things I want to buy elsewhere.
If it's a choice between paying half the amount or not being able to afford it, I'm going to do it. Or are new books a luxury only for the wealthy?

Oops, easyandy101, I totally do this. If I see something I like, I often have a Google to check online prices. If there is not much difference and/or someone in the store has been amazing I might still happily buy it. But I'm not really willing to pay double, when I can get the exact same thing for half the price elsewhere. Quite often, I walk away and realise I don't even need the thing in first place and save even more money. :)

Get it from amazon but next time check out this online bookshop which supports local independents and is often cheaper than amazon

I bought a book for £15 yesterday that was on amazon for £8. But I was about to embark on a three hour train journey and thought that £7 extra for having it right then was worthwhile. I otherwise would have gone to amazon. I hypocritically am sad that bookshops of old have gone but £15 is a shocker of a price. Without amazon I’d be using the library instead.

WH Smiths haven't had any interest in Waterstones since 1998. The prices are set by publishers and retailers reduce them depending on margins etc. By all means order from Amazon if you wish but then don't moan that there are no bricks and mortar bookshops for you to visit.

I'm saying that from the POV of an independent shop keeper though. I don't really give a fuck if people are doing it to massive chains where you probably didn't get any customer service anyway

I don't support Amazon. I buy from my local bookshop or if not from the bigger independent bookshop in the next town.

If you can afford it dontbchoose Amazon. Their workers are treated badly and they do not need your support.

I think it comes down to what you want to see in the high street in the future and how you want to shop in the future? If you want to be able to browse and select books in person and handle them before you buy them then I would recommend using an actual bookshop.

I wouldn't choose Waterstones over Amazon. They are owned by WHSmith

No, they’re not.

Honestly, Waterstones is pretty much the only bookshop chain left standing, and if they go Amazon will have a price monopoly and you’ll only be able to buy whatever the Top 20 books are the supermarkets decide to stock. WH Smith’s book offering would go the same way.

£15 is cheap compared to a trip to the cinema, could be equivalent to a couple of coffees and cakes in Costa, and it’s only £9 on Amazon because they don’t pay taxes and squeeze the supply chain with an iron fist.

Of course everyone buys from Amazon. But I wish they wouldn’t - once Waterstones collapses there will be no bookshops on the high street anymore.

@easyandy101 - what sort of thing do you sell?

I think most of us are guilty of buying on line whilst complaining about the lack of independent shops 🙁

I REALLY hate shopping so I’m not often ‘at the shops’ (sorry Andy!) so I do buy Sone things online. But unless it was a ‘big ticket item’ (like a fridge /freezer, bean to cup coffee machine) I wouldn’t see something in a shop then look to buy it online. I’d just buy it (or not buy it) based on whether it was worth the price to me. (Though I understand people doing that if things are very tight)

I'm not really willing to pay double, when I can get the exact same thing for half the price elsewhere

But how do you expect a real ‘bricks & mortar’ shop with huge overheads to sell something at the same or similar price to an online ‘shop’?? They just can’t do it!

I think we ALL (when possible) have to be prepared to buy from and pay more in high street shops IF WE want them to still be there in a couple of years time. I know it’s hard when things are tight, but if we don’t we will only have ourselves to blame when there are no physical shops any more!

Plus half the nation will need another hobby if they can’t just ‘go to the shops’ 🤪

Don’t think Waterstones is in danger of collapsing. It has hoovered up all the smaller chains like Dillon’s and Ottakers and has just bought Barnes and Noble the biggest chain in the USA.

I read a lot but don’t have bottomless pockets so I use the library a lot, Amazon, Book Depository which is owned by Amazon, supermarket and second hand sellers on Amazon. I’d rather do that than read less.

I’m glad loads can afford Waterstones prices, I can’t. I check all the time and go for the cheapest. If Waterstones is cheaper or the same I use them. I like their loyalty scheme and offers which means they are sometimes the same as Amazon.

If you can and want to buy a book, get it from Waterstones. Amazon doesn't support UK and workers in the way that Waterstones do. If your budget is such a consideration, order it from your local council library. If they don't have it yet, you can order as an inter library loan. And you're supporting local services.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/08/waterstones-staff-living-wage-petition-james-daunt

Don’t think they’re that great. There are often long waits for newer books so sorry I use the supermarket or Amazon at these times. I pay enough to our library-75p every time I order a book just because I live in a rural area with very few books in the branch nearest to me. Sometimes it’s not much more to get the book second hand on Amazon and you get to keep it.

I’d go and buy it in my local independent bookshop.

80% of the time i find whsmiths online to be cheapest. Book depository was bought by amazon and 99% has the same price as amazon. Which has started selling things full price.