For several months blogland has been in an uproar over various things that Amazon.com has (or hasn’t) done. Last month there was some kind of glitch (according to Amazon it was a glitch, many others have a hard time believing that was actually the case) in their system that caused almost all romance and romantica titles to be removed from their main search. To be completely honest, I missed almost the entire thing. I had just started back at work when everything went down and I didn’t even hear about it until almost a week later. By then things had cooled off and, from what I understand, the situation had been remedied by Amazon.(If you, like me, were living under a rock and have no idea what I’m talking about, you can visit Dear Author and read the posts Jane did about it here, here, here and here.).
There have also been debates about the Kindle cornering the eBook market and many other complaints. But you know what? Even though Amazon is a big, bad evil corporation, I still do 90% of my print book shopping through them.
Yes, I admit it, I am an Amazon junkie. Why? Because they offer me what I need. Reasonably priced books in a quick, convenient manner. As you all know from my previous rants posts, I live in the middle of nowhere. If I want new books I have the option of WalMart or whatever happens to be stocked at my local grocery store. There are no independent booksellers in my area, and the closest chain store (B&N and Borders) is 50 miles away. Which is fine if I want to make a day of book shopping (something I love to do). But with a full time job, two kids, three dogs and one husband, those day trips are few and far between. So what are my options? Online shopping or no books at all.
About 90% of all my book purchases are now made in e-format. As I’ve said many times before, I love the convenience of eBooks and, when possible, prefer the instant gratification I receive when I download one.
If I can’t find a book in e-format, however, the first place I go is Amazon. You can say what you want about Amazon being evil and awful and terrible, but they offer me, as a customer, something no other online seller does.
I’m not talking about the Kindle, either. I personally think the Kindle is a waste of money. Perhaps I’m just miserly, but the idea of paying almost $400 for a dedicated e-Reader makes me mildly ill.
But let’s look at what Amazon has to offer me that no other major online bookseller does:
Fast, free shipping. For $80 a year I was able to get a Prime Account at Amazon, which offers me free 2-day shipping on almost any item sold by Amazon (from books to jewelry) or overnight shipping for $3.99. That means my wait time for the books I ordered is practically nothing.
If I want free shipping from Barnes and Noble I have to spend a minimum of $25. Which is fine if I plan to buy several books at a time. But then the books are shipped regular ground mail, which can take up to 14 days to arrive. Not to mention that I mostly buy books one or two at a time. Because I’m greedy and want them now. I don’t want to wait until I have $25 worth of books in my cart.
Not only that, but in my experience, B&N’s shipping times aren’t very regular. Their shipping policy says, “Books usually ship within 24 hours – 2-3 days”, but I’ve found it often takes upwards of 5 days for their books to ship. So not only do I have to wait 2 weeks once it leaves their warehouse, I may have to wait several days for them to even send it out.
The average mass market paperback is $7.99. According to B&N their shipping charges for regular domestic shipping are $3.00 per book plus a $.99 per item charge. So that’s $3.99 for shipping, per book. To have it arrive in 7-21 days. Or I could pay $3.99 at Amazon and get the book overnight.
2 day free shipping at Amazon no matter how much I spend or a minimum purchase of $25 at Barnes and Noble to receive the book in about 2 weeks? Obviously I don’t do a lot of shopping at B&N.
I realize the reason Amazon can offer such great benefits to its customers is because they don’t have overhead costs from actual brick-and-mortar stores like B&N does. But..well, I honestly don’t care what the reason is. I don’t care that Amazon is “taking over the world”. What I care about is getting the books I love at a reasonable price in the least amount of time possible.
The Kindle is not $400. It’s $359. That’s a $40 distinction. LOL
I buy most of my books from Amazon, too. I love Amazon Prime. The hardcovers that I don’t get from the library, I buy on Amazon. They are almost always 30-40% cheaper than what I would get them for at B&N or Borders.
Also, I know the internet/tax thing is different in certain states, but when I order from Amazon, I don’t pay sales tax.
I have a love hate relationship with Amazon
We sell books on Amazon Marketplace and it is the only way we can stay afloat in the used book world. I admit I wasn’t to thrilled with their “glitch” but from what I can tell it is fixed and I am not sure it was malicious in the first place.
As a seller in the marketplace, I do have some issues with Amazon and their other glitches, and I have been know to curse them out when it causes my sales to drop.
I just see them as a necessary evil.
And yes, I do buy book from them as well.. lol
Love your label: Holly is going straight to hell. But you know, you’re gonna have fun doing it! 🙂
I don’t shop at online bookstores (for print books) but maybe 1 or 2 times per year but 1 of those times may be from Amazon. I really have a middle of the road stance on them to be honest. I can take them or leave them.
I leave in france so for me it’s not a matter of “do I love them or hate them”. Truth is I just need them. I read in english only so without them I wouldn’t be able to satisfy my book addiction. Plus they ship for free (even just 1 book) and take no extra fees. If a book costs 7.90 dollars then I’ll pay the exact amount in euro (around 5€)…
Another advantage of the online store is that you can find mass market books that are no longer on shelves. With so many recommendations coming from the web — and some of us not reading about the books we might enjoy during a time when they are still on the shelves — I’m grateful…
Hear, hear, Holly.
I don’t approve of everything Amazon does but I’m still a loyal customer. I don’t live in an English-speaking country, so it is really hard to find the books I like to read. Amazon.de has an excellent English Bookstore & offers free shipping. That’s me sold.
I do most of my book buying from BN.com – and I think a distribution center is pretty close by. I ordered a book Monday afternoon and it arrived today, for example.
But I buy a good bit of other stuff from Amazon – because they are relatively trustworthy (unlike random unknown websites) and have everything under the sun! It’s hard to fight that. :o)
Hey Holly, we are in the same club. I buy most of my books with Amazon if I can’t find them readily available with my local Borders. Although I have this love/hate relationship with Amazon– I love that they have the books that I am looking for in stock when my local bookstore no longer shelve them and that the trade paperbacks are discounted too…but I don’t have Amazon Prime so I do the free shipping with $25 min purchase and lately the wait time have doubled (a few times even tripled) from my first year of shopping experience. But then again, I am getting free shipping without paying my share so I guess it’s fair.
Hi,
We have just added your latest post “Book Binge: Why I Buy from Amazon.com” to our Shopping Directory . You can check the inclusion of the post here . We are delighted to invite you to submit all your future posts to the directory for getting a huge base of visitors to your website and gaining a valuable backlink to your site.
Warm Regards
bestmart.info Team
http://www.bestmart.info
I’ll be joining you in hell, Holly. I buy online almost exclusively from Amazon, too. For the exact same reasons that you do. I don’t get involved in all the hoopla – I just want my books fast without paying for shipping. Ok, I pay $80 a year for it, but imagine if I paid for 2 day shipping on all my orders? Now that would be expensive! Way more than $80.
Ha. I love you Holly.
I don’t really buy books online.
I practically LIVE at the Half Price Books near my apartment–do you all have a HPB in your neck of the woods? It’s the best EVER. Love it.
If there is a new release I just HAVE to have (usually a Brockmann…hehe!) then I go to either B&N or Borders.
I also use the library a lot. Because I’ve worked in the library I know about when they order a new release, so I can get in the system and reserve it before the reserve list gets to high.
Here in Columbus it’s not unusual to have a Bestseller’s reserve list be anywhere between 100-400+ requests.
I really only use Amazon for out of print or hard to find books. Sometimes I order DVD’s there when they’re on special. That’s about the extent of my Amazon use.
And I STILL can’t get into ebooks. Which surprises me because I’m so into gizmos and gadgets.
Hmmm, I support Chapters/Indigo online instead because it’s the Canadian distributor and their prices are quite competitive with Amazon.ca.
What bothers me with Amazon is when you order multiple books, they wait till they have all of them to ship – if not, you have to pay. Chapters ship the books as soon as you get.
I don’t like that monopoly that Amaozn has, but I have to admit I’m using it quite a lot too because it’s damn convenient, prices are cheap and they have almost everything. Especially when it comes to erotica books from small presses, Amazon is the only place I can find those books for a halfway reasonable price; I’d like to encourage the authors by ordering directly from the publishers but to the point of paying 6$ more plus shipping to Canada? I simply can’t afford it. So I use Amazon for most of my TPB, hardcover and pre-order purchases, but I do try to buy paperback books that are not pre-order worthy (but still interesting) from my local bookstore. Although it is still a big chain, as independant bookshops here don’t carry English romances anyway. So so I don’t think it makes much of a difference in the scheme of things.
I buy at both Amazon and B&N, but my experience with B&N is very different then yours. I joined their book club at $30 and get both discounts on all books and free shipping regardless of total price, and my books arrive faster than they ever did with Amazon. I’ve only been buying with them a few months now, but so far its been a great experience. Compared the Amazon’s $80/year for free shipping only, it doesn’t sound like the bargain.
I also shop at amazon — I have a Kindle! aNd when I posted the other day abotu my kindle experience — mostly really positive — I felt compelled ot defend myself against charges I was siding with the devil.
You know, I found it so amusing that all these people were going bananas over #Amazonfail, and then they would Tweet something like, “Off to Walmart to buy my kid some shoes!”. And I’m thinking …. okay, so Walmart censors lyrics, conducts exploitative business practices at home and abroad, and financially supports antigay causes, but you’ll shop there??
Holly – When I buy books online it’s from Amazon. The prices, no tax, free shipping plus I have an Amazon VISA so I rack up Reward Certificate $$. Makes perfect sense to me.
I think it varies on circumstances. Personally I have no problem ordering from Amazon if they offer the better deal. Mostly though I buy through B&N because I get points and if I order books on a Monday, it’s not unusual to get them by Wed or Thur. I also live within 7-10 miles of 2 Borders stores and 2 B&N stores, so I will usually only order if they don’t have it in stock and it takes too long for them to get it in.
I still like the experience and the instant gratification of going to a brick and mortar bookstore and browsing. Luckily, I live close to one Borders’ and work close to another, so it’s not too hard to make time for a quick run for the Border, or a longer amble if I have time.
Then there’s HPB, which I usually try to check before turning to the web.
But it’s definitely Amazon for stuff I can’t find on the shelf.
I also show from Amazon, and while I can be made to feel guilty, I haven’t yet felt inspired to stop.
I buy from Amazon and Borders/Barnes and independent bookstores. It just depends on where I am and where I can get a good deal. I have no qualms about using whatever works best for me.