Got to love Amazon

[Sandibar]

So, was looking at pilot books for northern Europe to Biscay. Not saying we'll do the distance this summer, but it's nice to daydream a bit, and who knows... Anyway, picked up this lot from Amazon UK for 2.82 GBP total + postage (granted, postage more than the books). They are somewhat dated from 2000 to 2004, but still, the price is just ridiculously low for books in mint condition.

Just wanted to share the good vibes, the new season is fast approaching...

[olepedersen]

Good DEAL.Gets me dreaming too.

[dannc]

I used to prefer buying new, hard back books...

Then the Kindle came along....

Now, depending on the book, I prefer an eBook.

However, many of the boating books I am reading, or want to read, are out of print so buying used is the only way to get the books. The quality of the used books I have been buying via Amazon has been amazing. Amazon is just the "store" since third party sellers have been from whom I have been buying. I have not been disappointed yet but usually surprised at the quality of the books. The books have been as the seller has described but usually better. Some of the books I don't think have ever been read.

Kinda a duh for me, , since I would like to see some the cruising guides and charts for some areas in Europe, but it does not make sense for us to buy new since they would be out of date if we ever got a chance to use them. Did not think of buying used.

Off to Amazon.

Later,
Dan

[redhead]

I don't have any experience with Amazon, I know others that love it. Has anyone else tried "Thriftbooks"? I've had great experiences with them. Good prices and they are honest about the condition the books are in.

[Sandibar]

I also buy most of my casual reading for the Kindle. For reference books print is still king. I agree, the quality of used books on A. is awesome, have bought many academic books there and some seem untouched, although used.

A hint (if you did not know already) for looking at used books from Amazon, click on the "all formats and editions" and follow the links there. Of the above books, two were 0.01 GBP and one was 2.80

[Sandibar]

Originally Posted by redhead

I don't have any experience with Amazon, I know others that love it. Has anyone else tried "Thriftbooks"? I've had great experiences with them. Good prices and they are honest about the condition the books are in.

I think Thriftbooks also sells through Amazon, may even have bought from them. At least, I'm pretty sure it has come up as one of the vendors. As Dan pointed out, Amazon also acts just as a market facilitator for some third party vendors.

[Sailor_Hutch]

You look at the sales figures of some of the Amazon used books vendors and see that they're really running the paper through the mill (some have 300,000 or more sales).

When I can, I like to buy new because it supports the author. If every author's book got resold 10x, then he/she would have 10x less motive to write the next book. But - sometimes I feel cheap (hey - maybe that's most of the time!) Recently found an older computer programming related book that was worth $40-50, and got it at very good price. I don't think they necessarily check books against lists to determine if they have a "gem" or not. Or maybe they do, but some archane endeavors (programming, sailing) - are usually not listed.

Picked up Chapman's Pilot lately for next to nothing ...

I've never had any issues (like no shipment made, etc) - so it's a safe way to buy. But, it doesn't help the authors very much :-)

[Sandibar]

Sailor Hutch, I feel you on the author's income. The other side is; what do you do with stuff you don't need anymore? Put it in the dumpster? We tend to sell or donate everything we don't use anymore. Books and art could be excluded of course, but I do frequent second hand bookstores out of habit. And it's not just because I'm cheap . I'm sure Imray will do just fine even with my second hand purchases. Just bought 100€ worth of charts from them and probably have a lot more coming in before June.

[reed1v]

so you got a great deal on out of date books? What else is new. Always check with Ebay before buying on Amazon and vica versa.

[Maka]

I not only buy books and e books from Amazon, I buy all my paper goods, TP and paper towels as well as most canned goods from Amazon Prime Pantry
It all delivered cheaper than I can buy it in the store.

I Love Amazon.

Wonder if they will deliver to Marinas when I'm cruising this summer ?

[Sandibar]

Originally Posted by reed1v

so you got a great deal on out of date books? What else is new. Always check with Ebay before buying on Amazon and vica versa.

Ummm... thank you for your valuable input. Ebay not a viable option for Finland.

[Franst8]

I have only bought through Half.com, a division of eBay I believe. Every book was as described and wide range of categories and prices.

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by Sandibar

Sailor Hutch, I feel you on the author's income. The other side is; what do you do with stuff you don't need anymore? Put it in the dumpster? We tend to sell or donate everything we don't use anymore. Books and art could be excluded of course, but I do frequent second hand bookstores out of habit. And it's not just because I'm cheap . I'm sure Imray will do just fine even with my second hand purchases. Just bought 100€ worth of charts from them and probably have a lot more coming in before June.

Yes, like you, we donate books when we can. My problem is, I tend to keep books until nobody wants them anymore. Finally I say to myself, "Gee self, you haven't opened those books in twenty years, and probably won't for another twenty years." I recently cleaned out the computer section, and took half a van full of such titles as "101 Tricks For DOS" and "Programming for the Paradise Database" to a local store. They just shook their heads, saying that they definitely couldn't spare the shelf space for them. I probably could have put them up on Ebay, since those crazy people buy anything at twice the new value. But, even then, would have been too much trouble...

[exMaggieDrum]

I have bought several books from Book Depository: Millions of books with free delivery worldwide They are international, have better or as good as prices from Amazon, don't charge for shipping, and are reasonably fast. I have heard that they were started by a previous Amazon bigshot and also heard they are owned by Amazon. In any case I prefer them to Amazon.

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by exMaggieDrum

I have bought several books from Book Depository: Millions of books with free delivery worldwide They are international, have better or as good as prices from Amazon, don't charge for shipping, and are reasonably fast. I have heard that they were started by a previous Amazon bigshot and also heard they are owned by Amazon. In any case I prefer them to Amazon.

It's almost as if Amazon has gotten too big. They're sending rockets into orbit with that book revenue! Well, I guess now they sell everything under the sun. So, I like to patronize the smaller outfits. With the smaller outfits, I lose the nice thing about Amazon, which is that the credit card info does not go to the third party (AFAIK). I'm pretty sure that Amazon acts as intermediary, and pays the sellers.

To get the same kind of deal with the smaller outfits, I use gift cards or Paypal (but usually gift cards because I don't have to worry about the vendor's interface to Paypal).