This year I’ve bought less books than ever before. I’ve always been an avid library user but this year I’d say I’m borrowing 90% of books & buying only 10% of what I consume. And of the 10% I’m buying maybe half of that comes from op-shops or book sales. So much of my book collection is second hand.
I used to shop at lot at booktopia but when my pre-orders started arriving two or more weeks after the release date I stopped buying from them.
Over the last 17 years almost all books stores within a 45 minutes drive of me have closed. There’s two dymocks stores & QBD left. That’s it. I only visit them if I’m in the area because driving 45minutes isn’t always feasible.
And like you, I’m watching my budget so stores like Big W, Kmart & at times, Amazon, just make more financial sense, especially for new release cookbooks.
Op-shops are fun to look through for cookbooks and lately I’ve been checking out Facebook marketplace, eBay & even gumtree to see what’s on there. This week I got a second hand copy of The Joy of cooking from eBay for $20!
You must have a good library near you! That’s great you can find things at op shops and book sales too, those sorts of places are always fun to check out and see what’s there. I had the same experience with booktopia re pre-orders it was so frustrating!
That’s such a shame that the book stores close to you have gone, I agree 45mins travel is a lot. It makes it so hard to find good alternatives for new books when there isn’t any thing close by in person, but the online options are the budget stores and those that aren’t great for the book industry generally. That’s amazing you got a copy of The Joy of Cooking from eBay! I haven’t bought much from eBay book wise for ages, but you’ve reminded me I should take a look again. I went to a Lifeline book fair today which is also a good way of finding second hand titles (if they pop up near you anytime!).
I was a sometimes user of Booktopia - their service was always a bit hit and miss. I do have a back order with them but I doubt I will see either the book or my money! We are fortunate to have a couple of really good independent bookstores in Hobart which I try to support but they don’t always have what I’m chasing and it’s a good hour away so as much as I prefer not to use them, Amazon is generally cheaper and reliable.
I agree Booktopia was a bit hit and miss (and that’s with them delivering to me in the same city they were distributing from!). You should lodge a credit card dispute with your bank (or PayPal) to get your money back for the transaction, customers have a very high rate of success disputing transactions that way. That’s great the bookstores in Hobart are good! Though like you say, that’s a long way to travel if they don’t have what you are after. I wonder if they would order in what you wanted so at least you knew the hour drive would be worth it? Amazon is so reliable I agree, it’s almost annoying as if they weren’t as good it would be even easier not to use them! I can generally get things next day (even weekends and public holidays!) which always seems crazy to me how they can manage to make that happen.
Good idea about the credit card dispute. I should look into it, although it was an order I made some time ago for a relatively obscure book, and one I had forgotten about until I recieved an email telling me I was a possible creditor! I don't know how amazon do it, even to our regional location they are relatively quick. I don't know if you say this article with some suggestions for alternative suppliers -https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/11/freight-expectations-if-booktopia-closes-where-can-i-buy-books-online
Thanks for the link, that was really interesting and reminded me about The Nile, whom I had bought from once or twice, but I’d kinda forgotten about them.
Oh this is a really difficult decision to make! I only used booktopia a few times but found that they were way too slow to dispatch books that were in stock even before the current issues. I’m lucky that there are a few good bookstores near me but admit that I do buy most new releases at BigW. I don’t know how they manage to offer such low prices! I absolutely love the cookbook section of the Dymocks in Sydney and try to devote some time to browse whenever I am visiting (and some pocket money!).
It is such a hard one. I agree Booktopia’s dispatch times got really bad, they were great when I first started using them over 10 years ago but there was a noticeable difference over the last few years. I suppose Big W and the like are hoping we buy other things from them at the same time, so it makes up for selling something so cheap (I think it’s called a loss leader, like the cheap thing gets us in store then we buy more whilst we are there). The Dymocks in Sydney city is great, I always make sure I visit too!
This year I’ve bought less books than ever before. I’ve always been an avid library user but this year I’d say I’m borrowing 90% of books & buying only 10% of what I consume. And of the 10% I’m buying maybe half of that comes from op-shops or book sales. So much of my book collection is second hand.
I used to shop at lot at booktopia but when my pre-orders started arriving two or more weeks after the release date I stopped buying from them.
Over the last 17 years almost all books stores within a 45 minutes drive of me have closed. There’s two dymocks stores & QBD left. That’s it. I only visit them if I’m in the area because driving 45minutes isn’t always feasible.
And like you, I’m watching my budget so stores like Big W, Kmart & at times, Amazon, just make more financial sense, especially for new release cookbooks.
Op-shops are fun to look through for cookbooks and lately I’ve been checking out Facebook marketplace, eBay & even gumtree to see what’s on there. This week I got a second hand copy of The Joy of cooking from eBay for $20!
You must have a good library near you! That’s great you can find things at op shops and book sales too, those sorts of places are always fun to check out and see what’s there. I had the same experience with booktopia re pre-orders it was so frustrating!
That’s such a shame that the book stores close to you have gone, I agree 45mins travel is a lot. It makes it so hard to find good alternatives for new books when there isn’t any thing close by in person, but the online options are the budget stores and those that aren’t great for the book industry generally. That’s amazing you got a copy of The Joy of Cooking from eBay! I haven’t bought much from eBay book wise for ages, but you’ve reminded me I should take a look again. I went to a Lifeline book fair today which is also a good way of finding second hand titles (if they pop up near you anytime!).
I was a sometimes user of Booktopia - their service was always a bit hit and miss. I do have a back order with them but I doubt I will see either the book or my money! We are fortunate to have a couple of really good independent bookstores in Hobart which I try to support but they don’t always have what I’m chasing and it’s a good hour away so as much as I prefer not to use them, Amazon is generally cheaper and reliable.
I agree Booktopia was a bit hit and miss (and that’s with them delivering to me in the same city they were distributing from!). You should lodge a credit card dispute with your bank (or PayPal) to get your money back for the transaction, customers have a very high rate of success disputing transactions that way. That’s great the bookstores in Hobart are good! Though like you say, that’s a long way to travel if they don’t have what you are after. I wonder if they would order in what you wanted so at least you knew the hour drive would be worth it? Amazon is so reliable I agree, it’s almost annoying as if they weren’t as good it would be even easier not to use them! I can generally get things next day (even weekends and public holidays!) which always seems crazy to me how they can manage to make that happen.
Good idea about the credit card dispute. I should look into it, although it was an order I made some time ago for a relatively obscure book, and one I had forgotten about until I recieved an email telling me I was a possible creditor! I don't know how amazon do it, even to our regional location they are relatively quick. I don't know if you say this article with some suggestions for alternative suppliers -https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/11/freight-expectations-if-booktopia-closes-where-can-i-buy-books-online
Thanks for the link, that was really interesting and reminded me about The Nile, whom I had bought from once or twice, but I’d kinda forgotten about them.
Oh this is a really difficult decision to make! I only used booktopia a few times but found that they were way too slow to dispatch books that were in stock even before the current issues. I’m lucky that there are a few good bookstores near me but admit that I do buy most new releases at BigW. I don’t know how they manage to offer such low prices! I absolutely love the cookbook section of the Dymocks in Sydney and try to devote some time to browse whenever I am visiting (and some pocket money!).
It is such a hard one. I agree Booktopia’s dispatch times got really bad, they were great when I first started using them over 10 years ago but there was a noticeable difference over the last few years. I suppose Big W and the like are hoping we buy other things from them at the same time, so it makes up for selling something so cheap (I think it’s called a loss leader, like the cheap thing gets us in store then we buy more whilst we are there). The Dymocks in Sydney city is great, I always make sure I visit too!