Buying books - ethical choices

[Tulipomania]

There are 3 books I need to buy for Xmas presents.

If I buy from Amazon they will cost £45.

If I buy online from Blackwells, who are a more ethical bookseller, they will cost £60.

If I order & buy from my local bookshop, (a 20 minute drive away but the most ethical choice) probably about £70.

What should I do?

Have you tried bookshop.org? Supports local bookshops and price is usually somewhere between actual RRP and Amazon. Delivery has always been quick and I'm happy to pay slightly more than Amazon but still have convenience and help my favourite small bookshops :)

How about second hand? If they were available that would be the most ethical and environmentally conscious option wouldn't it?

Is second hand ethical for the author though, as they don't get a royalty?

I guess 2nd hand is acceptable as a gift if the person you are giving it to also cares about ethics & sustainability.

I'd say second hand is still an ethical way of buying books.

I would class second hand book buying as broadly sustainable enough that it certainly counts as an ethical contribution. Paper books contribute significantly to deforestation, lovely though they are to own, and the publishing industry in general has great steps it needs to continue making towards inclusion and diversity.

This year I've made a point of telling those who I know will be getting me books (because they always do,because I'm a huge bookworm) that I absolutely welcome second hand copies of all the things on my list or that I've mentioned and I sincerely hope they know I mean it and go for it.

If I'm buying new I occasionally use Bookshop.org who direct a % to an independent bookshop (which you can choose if you like). As @hilariousnamehere says, there is often a degree of discount off of list price even if it cannot compete with Amazon.

Would it be very nosy to ask what the books are?

Thanks for the advice. I ended up ordering from WOB, www.wob.com/en-gb

They are a B Corp which is a good ethical benchmark and were a bit more expensive than Amazon, but cheaper than Blackwells. I have always bought my book club paperbacks 2nd hand from them, but hadn't realised they also do new books. I ordered a mix of new and 2nd hand.

The books are all hardbacks: a large and expensive obscure political biography, the Definitive Desert Island Discs, and Lessons in Chemistry.