I live in Quebec Canada,Where sometimes its hard to get hard to find English books.
Is it less expensive to order books (used books) from Amazon.ca and have the books shipped from the States or Is it just as expensive to go to Amazon.com and have them shipped from the States.I’m refering to the used books like Fred’s Big Book Barn from Waycross Ga. Example not a real place.Keeping in mind exchange,postal and shipping charges.Has anyone had this experience before I have to breakdown and whip out the calculator. :smack: :smack: :smack: Thanks
You can buy Amazon.com Marketplace items and have them shipped to Canada. But you will pay higher rates than US cutomers would.
Books - $9.98
CD’s, cassettes, vinyl albums, VHS tapes - $5.49
DVD’s - $9.79
All amounts are in US dollars.
Basically, living in Quebec, you’re getting screwed on these rates. You’re probably only fifty kilometers outside of the United States and you’re being charged the same flat international shipping rates as places like Europe and Asia.
I just checked the Amazon.ca Marketplace rates.
Books, videos - $6.49
CD’s, DVD’s - $3.49
These amounts naturally are in Canadian dollars.
Taking the exchange rate into account, you’re going to pay $11.29 to ship a book from the US as opposed to $6.49 to do so from Canada. Unless you’re getting a real bargain on the American purchase price or are buying a book you can’t get in Canada, the shipping costs are going to favor domestic buys.
Thanks Nemo,To add what’s the advantage of me going through Amazon.ca if the book is going to be shipped to me from the States anyway.If I go through Amazon .com I get more selection but get screwed on the shipping in the end.
Powell’s Books has both new and used books. Some people swear by them. I’d love to order from them, since I turned up some books listed on their website that I can’t get through Amazon, but their Japan shipping rates are way too high to justify for anything but exceptional stuff. Their Canadian shipping isn’t horrible.
You’re probably better off ordering from your local Amazon rather than the US version. The Japan version of Amazon is basically equivalent in price to the US one, but I don’t have to pay for international shipping. Of course, the selection is lower, but, hey, you can’t have everything.
RedfishHunter, why don’t you try ordering from Chapters.Indigo.ca? They’ve got some really good deals, especially on best-sellers, and shipping is free for purchases over $39. Heck, I live in downtown Montreal, and I’ve gotten better deals buying books from this shop online than by walking into their brick-and-mortar stores.