to think cheap books are not such a great idea

[WouldYouCouldYouWithAGoat]

just back from borders - if a big company like that cannot compete in thsi market we really are in teh sit re. choice, quality etc. interesting article here. amazon is terrific but i am now worried the only books on offer will be celeb tat adn pulp shit such as ' the zookeeper's goddaughter' and the like.

amen

they do have a free delivery service as well, I just checked!

[bows]

exactly!
use your local bookshop! work us till we drop! that's what we want!

nickelbabe - found you! Nice cite - will be having a good browse later!

The only reason I use Amazon is that they have more specialised books. My last order included two academic works (one of which was in French) on Roman letter collections, a biography of Dickens that was originally published by British Library but is out of stock in their shop, several of the lesser known works of mrs Gaskell and Daphne du Maurier, a second-hand copy of the Quiller-Couch edition of the Oxford Book of English verse and an architectural history of the Alhambra. It's the kind of stuff you simply cannot get in an ordinary bookstore.

Also, I have gone off my local Waterstones since they placed Erotic Fiction next to the classics: last time I took dd in there, we were rubbing shoulders with a seedy looking bloke engrossed in Naughty Spankings (yes, I looked over his shoulder and that was the title!). I'd rather have her frequent a respectable online bookshop tbh.

So I don't get the argument that real book shops sell reall books and that it's all cheap crap online.

Oops - that should be site. Clearly can't type and eat cake at the same time....

We home educate and use quite a few American resources, which are simply not stocked on the High Street. So we have to order either from amazon (quick and easy, usually pretty cheap) or a small independent supplier, specialising in American home ed resources who are great but a bit more faffy to order from and more expensive (esp P&P). So I find amazon are great for what we need. Waterstones will order stuff but you have to pay in advance and they are not always that quick. Sometimes I am not sure if I want the book anyway - until I have seen it.

Our nearest Borders was about 20 minutes drive and had some great stuff in but wasn't very convenient to get to.

I agree in theory, but the benefits of Amazon mean that I very never buy full price in store any more.

On amazon, you can browse from one book to another, and read reviews. They've got a great way of guessing what you'd like by what you've already picked. They can link you directly to sellers of second hand stuff too, this is a godsend for me as I like lots of American writers who you never see in the second hand shops here.

I like to browse books in charity shops too, though I have to say not in Oxfam as I think it's too expensive.

I don't mind paying for books I want, but the supply in Waterstones is so limited; I can't go on buying the same books over and over again. And I am really not interested in Naughty Spankings!

YABU Amazon are brilliant and stock every book under the sun, not just ones about celebrities. I always go there or the Works because they are far cheaper, what the heck is wrong with wanting a book at a reasonable or bargain price!

I used to be a book shopaholic, but am now a total Amazonaholic. I order books from Am every month without fail. What does it for me is A) the convenience of actually getting to look at what i want at the precise moment i want to, instead of having to wait, b) the instant link to other second-hand sellers - I have often brought a book in brand new condition for as little as 1p c)the look inside option d) the suggestions for other similar books and reader reviews e)the ability to send books gift wrapped as pressies f) the chance to get rare out of print books.

Since the travel fare to a decent bookshop is roughly at least £4 quid, the delivery price is worth it, and they give free delivery on books £5.00 and over.

Like Tinuviel we HE and most of the books we order are simply not available in borders or waterstones.

I think it would help if the more local WHSmiths were better stocked, but I think they're rubbish on the whole, more like large newsagents. So what incentive is there to get on a bus and travel when you have the likes of Amazon, ABEbooks, and Alibris with next day delivery options, which you can access from the comfort of your own home?

Neither Waterstones or Borders websites were as good as those purely netbased IMO.

The book and the bookshop are on the way out. When Apple make a reader a book will become the equivalent of an LP/CD. So last century....

don't forget, though, that althought Amazon may be a good site for the weird books that you want, 99 times out of 100, your local bookshop will be able to get you the same book. and in pretty much the same time frame.
I have a customer who regularly buys philosophy books from me and they're always really weird titles that most shops wouldn't have on the shelf, but I can order them through my normal channels.

don't forget that we're a local employer too, so the more people shop online at the big names, the less likely local people are to get jobs....

(and Shineynewthings, you can email your local shop, or phone them and ask them the same questions: in fact, use Amazon as a books database and order the book from your local bookshop!
although we won't mind so much if it's cheaper on there if you want to go that way, but if anyone wants me to gift wrap and send a book to someone as a pressie, then i'll happily do so. and at no extra charge too)

You'd be amazed at what your local bookshop will do for you.

Hehehe nickelbabe! And how comes my book choices are 'weird'? I prefer weird actually. I am fed up of walking into a WHSmith on my way to somewhere and having the latest celeb autobiography, and Maeve Binchy thrust in my face. Children's section is just as commercialised; one would be forgiven for imagining that there are other authors beside Phillip Pulman, Enid Bylton and JK Rowling! But I might be tempted to to try your suggestion and put my local bookseller (there's only one near my way) to the test. I'm all for bookshops really

Anyway, I see it another way. You see I am supporting the Posties! So I am still supporting jobs for workers. My Postie has a special knock now which tells me 'Open your door I have a parcel'

Anyway now I'm addicted to receiving things by post; it makes me feel like I have a pressie coming. Since no one else buys me any!

wh smith isn't really a book shop as such.

Yes, we should go back to the days when people people just did without books.

nickelbabe, I find local bookshops are really not very good at ordering foreign books, which is a large proportion of my reading matter

would you be able to order me a French or Swedish PhD thesis and get it to me in a week?

That's what Amazon does.

boohoo

And shoes.

And children had to share trousers, and eat stones, like Frank McCourt.

luxury!

colditz

sorry, Shiney, didn't mean weird, i meant unusual of course!!

(i send stuff by Royal Mail too!)

cory, I think that's where being a large company has its bonus, I suppose: they have enough people who want these things to be able to order them from places that wouldn't ordinarily send out to independents.
I don't know if you've ever tried European Schoolbooks? they're good at getting that kind of thing.
You do need a bookshop who knows where to go...

the thing about independents is that we'll cater for the market that's there: so just because we never have found suchandsuch, doesn't mean we won't do our best to if customer wants it!

Maybe in the future the local bookshops will have print-on-demand machines so they will do it while you wait.

that would be brilliant!
unfortunately those machiens cost about half a million pounds! (possibly not that much, but out of my league) I live in hope.
i even feel guilty when i can't sell people the book they want that minute if i have to order it in for them!