Hello everyone,

I've been purchasing books from BookDepository for a really look time, but have lately started to look for alternative options. Not only have the prices gone up tremendously, but they keep imposing these strange limitations on your order (for some time they didn't ship to the EU countries, now they only accept orders below 150 eur, etc.).

What good, cheap online alternatives would you recommend? I'm mostly interested in books on philosophy, history, and religion; and I live in an EU-country.

Thank you for your suggestions!

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Jack-Campin t1_iuhaa70 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:53 AM

http://used.addall.com or http://vialibri.net - both are union catalogues incorporating listings from booksellers all over the world.

ManueO t1_iuhaubc wrote on October 31, 2022 at 10:01 AM

Not OP, but thanks for these links, they are super useful!

0DarkNightofTheSoul0 OP t1_iui9nvz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:18 PM

Never heard of these, will make sure to check them out. Much appreciated, thank you!

TheOneCommenter t1_iuhm3b4 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 12:14 PM

The €150 limit sounds like the VAT limit the EU put on non-eu shipments. Considering for the EU most books came out of the UK, the Brexit is the cause for this.

You can have a look at Abebooks, and then filter the seller on the EU, should be okay!

ObscureMemes69420 t1_iuilqgq wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:39 PM

Betterworld books

Choice_Mistake759 t1_iuj4cmw wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:42 PM

The 150 euros is likely a customs thing because they are sending books from the UK into the EU. And since they are not charging for shipping, you can always divide your order into several smaller orders, assuming there are no books or sets which are individually over 150 euros.

The customs change at July 1st last year, everything is now charged VAT, I do not know how your country is handling it, but for a lot of countries, namely mine, receiving books from outside the EU can be pretty expensive, and slow and bureaucratic. It is not necessarily the bookdepository's fault and they are the non-eu bookseller which seems to be understanding better how to pay for VAT themselves so you get stuff without needing to pay VAT and fees again.

Be careful about ordering books from outside the EU. Otherwise, sadly, just check the within-EU amazon stores, or any local stores.

Or you know, ebooks.

Marril96 t1_iujgkzk wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:04 PM

Blackwell's is amazing! I always compare prices between Blackwell's and BookDepository and buy from whoever has it for cheaper.

hnryjmes t1_iuhh9s0 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:23 AM

I buy and sell used books on Wob (formerly World of Books) and they appear to ship to most countries worldwide. https://www.wob.com/

0DarkNightofTheSoul0 OP t1_iui9wpz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:20 PM

I've just given them a go recently; let's see how this pans out. The prices were somewhat lower than the ones at BD; I'm curious about the delivery, etc.

Thank you for your kind suggestion, much appreciated!

juliaaargh t1_iuh8hjd wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:26 AM

So, are you exclusively looking for physical books or would e-books bei OK too?

0DarkNightofTheSoul0 OP t1_iuh8ts0 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:31 AM

Thanks for your response/inquiry. I'm looking most for physical books. (Yeah, I'm an old-school nerd that way. :-))