Amazon swallows UK online bookseller
The world of online book retailing is about to get that little bit less competitive, with Amazon announcing that it’s reached agreement to buy UK seller The Book Depository. Perhaps recognizing the importance of the brand, the 900-pound gorilla has faithfully promised that it’s not going to squash The Book Depository brand. …
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Ah typical
Bought a few books from them at prices cheaper than Amazon. Of course we can't have that happening.
Merde! Crap! Scheiss! Etc
I am a Kindle owner with nothing particularly against Amazon, but I *LOVE* the Book Depository, and really fear for its continued excellence now. Free shipping up here to NZ was fantastic, and the range of books was very good. I am glad that I bought a lot from them in the last year, because I'm sure the assimilation will sooner or later (most likely sooner) mean the end of all that was so remarkably good about Book Depository.
noooooooo
I regularly buy from The Book Depository from Australia, I'd hate to see the business messed with by Amazon (and prices go up).
Prices in NZ
No wonder Borders went under - the prices of books in NZ is beyond retarded - I don't know how *anyone* buys any of them. I only heard of the Book Depository about 6 months ago so have only managed to buy a couple of books but yes, if they remove free shipping to NZ, that'll be the last of them. Amazon UK did trial free shipping to Australia and NZ a couple of months ago (or discounted at least). I'm sure the Reg is right about Amazon examining anything that looks like good proper service / vfm.
Prices vary on Book Depository
One thing I noticed with Book Depository is their prices vary depending on your location.
Try this:
Those in UK, check a specific product on their website, note the price.
Connect to a VPN that's in North America and go back to that same product's page, you will notice the price has increased.
I'm not sure whether what they're doing is legal or not because they claim to offer free shipping but their prices increase to cover the extra shipping costs.
Currency
I'll miss em, they seem to understand that 1pound doesn't equal 1 dollar
Boo
That's a real pity, Book Depository are brilliant, especially for US published and rare books, even without their print on demand.
Feeling bad for some people
I know a number of people who switched all their affiliate links to The Book Depository after one Amazon-vs-publishers dispute or another. What's going to become the protest affiliate of choice now?
If Amazon stop free delivery from the BD
Then I'm off to find another affordable book seller......
Oh!
Shame!
You could always guarentee to have to pay exactly 1p less after postage costs if you bought through the Book Depository rather gointg through than Amazon
Looks like Amazon will now be gathering up those pennies for themselves.
Nooooooooo
Damn damn and double damn... I've happily used them to send many many books to France after one too many run-ins with Amazon's laughably called "Customer Service". The Book Depository seemed to actually have a clue.
Good prices - although not *always* cheapest - that's the point, I still used them anyway...
Continental Europe
Getting English-language books to continental Europe is also greatly aided by Book depository where I don't have to wait for an entire basket of goods to be ready before parts can be dispatched.
Confusopoly
Amazon has lost the plot. Searching for a product name brings up too many links to other sites, auctions etc and often these are displayed before the actual Amazon price. They're trying to grab every piece of the market and it's a mess; Amazon is becoming a tacky shopping search site like Kelkoo and the like.
I tried to buy a camera for my daughter yesterday and prices ranged from £79 to over £200 for the same item. In the end I gave up and ordered it from a different retailer; I don't like confusopolies.
Amazon swallows bookseller
Perhaps they held them to Ransome?
Finding it hard to swallow...
They're certainly Ruth-less. So at least one of them must be a "Nancy".
Oh there's a lot of puns to be had here.
The reason...
I use The Book Depository is because they are cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. I like Amazon and use it for many things, but now I fear a bit for the prices of my books.
The cuicible.
A clear monopoly situation: if it isn't blocked, then the Competition Commission and their like should admit to their pointlessness and go the way of the dodo.
Damn and blast.
Only found out about them a few months back, now where do I shop for books without having to go to Amazon?!
Amazon margins
Well if Amazon actually packaged electronics properly, they wouldn't have to refund ths cost of the electronics, plus postage in both directions. That might help their margins. (Read the reviews for 2TB HDDs!)
And you can thank...
Any idiot that bought a Kindle for this...
They are the ones contributing to Amazons lock-down of the book market iTunes style....
Amazon's book quality is diabolical!
I order a lot of items from Amazon, most video discs (DVD and Blu-Ray arrive intact and undamaged. Most CDs arrive with cracked or scratched cases. 50%+ of books arrive bent, scratched, torn or otherwise damaged. The latter are damaged BEFORE they are packaged because the packaging is always intact. Amazon's warehouse staff are either doing the damage themselves or the books are arriving from the printers in poor shape. Either way this could be solved by shrink-wrapping all books, if they'll do it for a £5 DVD then why not a £25 book?!
I like Amazon, their customer service is second to none but they urgently need to address their quality control.
Warehouse staff
Amazon have a huge warehouse in my area. Staff are paid just over the minimum and are treated like drug smugglers every time they leave the place. Do the staff give a FF about quality control? What do you think!
Annoying, to say the least
I find this news most upsetting - Book Depository are/were a fantastic source. Not always necessarily the cheapest, but more often than not, and a great source for hard to find books.
Amazon on the other hand lost the plot a long time ago, when they turned into a purveyor of everything. And as a previous poster pointed out, their search results can now be so confusing, mixing in other vendors in an altogether unclear way, as to be of little use.
This seems a clear case for the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, but I hold out little hope of this takeover being blocked.
Time to find another bookseller then
I refuse to give money to Amazon.
abebooks.co.uk are being reasonable at the moment for me.
Abebooks
"I refuse to give money to Amazon.
abebooks.co.uk are being reasonable at the moment for me."
You mean, Abebooks, the amazon company.
From their site:
"AbeBooks is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. AbeBooks, an online bookselling pioneer, was acquired in December 2008 and remains a stand-alone operation with headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and a European office in Dusseldorf, Germany."
long before the net book agreement
Died, the publishing and bookseller business has been contracting. Quality has suffered with the loss of typesetters, desk editors, staff that knew their books and authors, and the tea lady. Now you can skip the lot and get your Potter fix direct from the horses mouth! are agents next for a round of cost cutting.
Shucks!
Yet another British business flogged off to foreign interests.
Nice employers
Amazon are much worst than I'd been told
http://www.housmans.com/boycottamazon.php
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