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Where & Why We Buy Books (2011 Edition)
- 05/17/11
- 45
Last week I posted a survey on my site—a survey that asked you about your book buying habits. This was a follow-up to a similar survey I had taken a year prior. The results were, I think, nothing short of fascinating. I sought to find out where we are buying our books today and why we are buying them where we do.
By way of background, 1,865 people completed the survey; 67% of the respondents were male and 82% lived in the United States. 88% identify as Reformed in theology, which means that this survey offers a little bit of a glimpse into this whole “Young, Restless, Reformed” movement.
As promised, I’ll share the highlights of the survey.
The first question asked this: “How many PRINTED (not e-book) Christian books do you purchase each month, on average, from e-commerce stores?” I wanted to continually distinguish between printed books and ebooks, hence the all-capital PRINTED. The results of this question were a little bit lower than last year, which makes me think that the difference could largely be attributed to people migrating away from printed books and toward ebooks.
The next question asked about book reviews, asking if a person tends to read at least 1 review of a book before purchasing it. The results were quite emphatic—we like our reviews.
The natural follow-up asked where people find these reviews. This question was asked on a blog so it was no surprise that blogging took the lead. But even with that bias in mind, it is remarkable how blogs have become a go-to resource for reviews. And close behind blogs is Amazon, showing that customer reviews can be very valuable. Publishers take note: continue to get your books into the blogosphere.
The questions now turned toward the heart of the survey which was to determine where we buy our books and why we buy them where we do.
Amazon’s dominance is apparent here. Over 93% of respondents had purchased at least 1 book from Amazon in the past 2 years. This was a percentage point higher than last year. CBD and Westminster also made strong showings here; Monergism was not too far behind. When I filtered the results so I could see where Americans buy their books, Amazon rose to 95%.
The next question was an obvious follow-up: From which store do you buy books most often.
Amazon continued to gain strength from last year, pulling in 73% of the votes here. So let that one sink in for a moment: 73% of us purchase the bulk of our books from Amazon. And it wasn’t even close—Westminster came in a distant second at 7.2%.
Not surprisingly, Amazon also dominated in the next question.
Almost 72% of us will buy our next Christian book at Amazon—9 times more than the nearest competition. And compared to last year, Amazon’s edge has grown a little bit.
The next question was a particularly interesting one as it asked about where we find the best prices for our books.
Now perhaps I should have qualified this as “Christian books” as opposed to simply “books,” though I think that was assumed by the context of the survey. 74% of respondents said that Amazon offers the best prices on the books they want to read. The truth of the matter is, though, that if you tend to buy the kinds of books that I positively review on this site, the kind of books that Reformed folk are reading today, Amazon typically does not have the best pricing. The other stores are in a price war with Amazon and tend to offer better value. Still, Amazon carries the perception of better value. They have poured a lot of resources into building and maintaining this perception.
I wanted to know what factors influence us as we buy books, so asked this question:
Combine price with shipping and add in a little bit of availability and you’ve got your formula. Essentially, we are after cheap convenience. And who can blame us, really? This will be a large part of why Amazon leads the way—they offer free shipping (then again, so do many of the competitors) and they offer low prices (but again, not as low as competitors). And, of course, they tend to carry pretty much everything.
From there I narrowed in on the single most important factor.
Not surprisingly, price led the way. In fact, there wasn’t any real competition. We do not want to pay much for our books, which is perhaps a little bit ironic considering how much we value the printed word. Nevertheless, the widespread availability of books means that prices have to fall. And we want to take full advantage.
From here I asked about price comparisons.
So we do price comparisons and yet many of us buy from Amazon which typically does not have the best prices, at least on the kinds of books I think we tend to buy. I’m a bit confused. Unless the answer is that we’d rather pay $1 or $2 more for a book but then also buy some batteries, a DVD and a new set of dishes—things only Amazon offers.
As I did last year, I asked about whether we factor theological affinity into our decisions. In other words, if an e-commerce store also sells the kinds of books we hate, will we still shop there?
And apparently many of us will. Which is consistent with our dedication to good prices and convenience.
Last year I turned from here to publishers. This year I wanted to probe a little further into the ebook market. My first question was kind of a weak one (in retrospect):
The long and short is that two thirds of us now read at least some of our books on an electronic device. And 20% of us now do the majority of our reading electronically. That is truly significant. The results probably would have been more helpful if I had done a better job with the question. Maybe next year.
OK, but are we just trying out electronic reading or are we increasingly committed to it?
It would appear that those who try it enjoy it. Or if not that, they find a reason to continue doing it (price, perhaps?). 26% of us intend to do more electronic reading in the year to come—the same amount as those who have no intention of ever making the transition. I think I will need to do an entire survey on e-reading at some point in the near future.
What devices are we using to do this reading? It looks like Amazon dominates here as well.
The Kindle has the dominant position here. It’s worth noting that many of those who read via iPad, iPhone and even computers will be using a Kindle app to do so.
Where do we buy our books? There are few surprises here.
Logos and Monergism Books show some strength here. Apple is getting into the act. But Amazon dominates. Again.
Reflections
And those are the results. Let me close with a handful of reflections.
First, Christian bookstores are barely competing with one another; they are competing together against Amazon. Even in a relatively niche market Amazon is dominant. Of course books are popular and even a small share of the market is significant, so those Christian bookstores can still make a go of it. But they need to fight this perception that Amazon offers the best prices.
Second, if we are truly committed to good prices, we should shop carefully and compare pricing before hitting the “checkout” button at Amazon. Unless there are other reasons to buy from Amazon (we are Prime members; we want to buy other items at the same time), we should look carefully at the Christian e-commerce stores to see if they offer better pricing.
Third, Christian bookstores need to maintain (or increase) their commitment to ebooks. The market is heading in that direction and the stores will need to be certain that they do not miss their opportunity. The big challenge, of course, is that Kindle owners will almost always get their books from Amazon; the most popular device has pretty much guaranteed that you will also use it to buy your books.
I am sure there is much more that could be said. I will leave it to you to leave a comment with some of your takeaways.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (45)
Thanks Tim. Once again this is a helpful survey. It is also helpful to us as a ministry that distributes books or recommends particular titles. We see very little value in maintaining an inventory if we can link to and benefit from a relationship with Amazon (or similar) to push those titles in a vendor type relationship.
We always look forward to the results of such a survey. All the best to you and happy reading!
Bob
My reasons to buy books at Amazon in addition to perceived best price are:
1) One account to rule them all - managing passwords and credit card/paypal info on 10 different sites is a pain 2) Selection 3) Already buying most things from them anyway 4) They ship to APO - it is *not* fun to get all the way to the final order page only to find out that you can’t ship to APO 5) The Kindle App is my preferred ebook reader on iPad and if I ever get an Kindle device they will all seamlessly transition over 6) Convenience - one click buying with wireless delivery…who can compete with that?
Of course, Amazon does have its down sides. I realized the other day that despite having read almost every book written by C.S. Lewis, I did not own a single ebook version. I thought…hey, I should buy all the available books for Kindle! Til I found out they average $10 each… So now I’m shopping around. ;-)
Recently I downloaded a book in a format that is readable by Kindle. If Christian publishers made it clear that their product is readable on a Kindle and gave clear instructions on how to access that product I’m sure more customers would buy e-books from Christian publishers. If I’m not mistaken, Kindle accepts two or three different kinds of documents.
Also, Amazon does a great job getting bloggers like me to link to them when I do a review. I’d be happy to do that with a Christian company so if they are going to get into the blogosphere they need to have an easy and rewarding affiliate program. I’m sure all of them do but it doesn’t seem to be as easy or as rewarding as Amazon. If your survey results are correct, Christian bookstores and publishers need to be getting into the blogging space.
Tim, you made an interesting comment: “We do not want to pay much for our books, which is perhaps a little bit ironic considering how much we value the printed word. ”
I’m sure you made this comment off-handedly, but I’m curious what you’re getting at. Of course, this being a survey of readers, we value the printed word. Perhaps “written” word is more accurate; it accounts for more possible formats. Would we expect to demonstrate how much we value the written word by the price we pay to acquire it?
I’m also a little amused by the idea of refusing to buy books from a source that sells books from perspectives the buyer disagrees with. It seems that logic would break down after a while. In order to achieve any kind of selection of books, a vendor would have to sell books from different perspectives. Even a specialty merchant like a Christian seller. I’ve learned to value exposing myself to viewpoints I disagree with. Well-presented viewpoints, anyway. There are plenty of poorly presented viewpoints out there, even those I do agree with. I ignore those as well.
I’ve noticed that Amazon doesn’t always have the best prices, but since I have a Prime account paying an extra $2 to get what I want in two days rather than 10 is worth it to me.
I'm sure you made this comment off-handedly, but I'm curious what you're getting at. Of course, this being a survey of readers, we value the printed word. Perhaps "written" word is more accurate; it accounts for more possible formats. Would we expect to demonstrate how much we value the written word by the price we pay to acquire it?
It was, indeed, just an off-hand comment. But I guess it just seems a bit funny that as people who place huge importance on the printed word, we value price above all. I wouldn’t read too much into that, I suppose. It’s just interesting to me.
Being a seminary student, amazon offers a free Prime membership for anyone with a .edu email address. So most of my shopping does go to amazon because of the free shipping (2-day free shipping at that). I do look around for deals and stuff at monergism, westminister etc to help support the christian booksellers because they are doing a great ministry.
I think the reason Amazon is cheaper is you can also buy the book used. Did your survey ask if they were purchasing new or used books? I know that is why I check out Amazon first. The new book might not be cheaper, but a like new (even paying $4 shipping) is usually half price or less
Amazon does have good prices, and if it’s in stock at the Canadian Amazon, I can have the book within a day or so. However, lately, I have been trying to buy the majority of my books from Monergism, because they offer to many free resources, and I feel it is a way to contribute to that worthwhile ministry. I recently purchased from them and am waiting. It takes longer, and the shipping isn’t cheap, but I want to keep that ministry going, and it’s a good way to contribute.
And interestingly enough, despite the fact that I am enjoying my Kindle, when I decided to participate in the classic book read, I opted for the printed version of Machen’s book. It wasn’t much cheaper electronically, and for all the wonders of Kindle, an old dinosaur like me likes to WRITE in the margins of my books.
I think a lot of people buy from Amazon because they are not aware of the other online bookstores. I buy most of my books from Westminster Bookstore anymore because of the price, but I bought a lot of books on Amazon before I even heard of Westminster, and I hadn’t heard of several of the booksellers on your survey before taking it.
Amazon might not always have the lowest price but if you are a Prime member like myself then you get 2 day shipping for free which cant be beat. It costs $80 for the year but if you buy as many books as I do then you get your moneys worth.
Also, it should probably be noted that, while CBD carries a large variety of Christian books, places like Monergism and Westminster only carry books from a specific Christian viewpoint. If I want a book that isn’t from a reformed perspective (or, for that matter, a Bible that isn’t an ESV or NASB), I have to go somewhere else to get it.
Very interesting, thanks.
I am one of the people that confuse Tim. I compare prices, buy mostly based on price, and buy mostly from amazon. Shipping is the key. Even if CBD has lower prices on the books themselves, they are rarely cheaper once shipping is taken into account. Also, if there’s some threshold to meet for free shipping (e.g., $25 on amazon), I am more likely to find something extra on amazon than CBD that (a) I want and (b) won’t put me way over the threshold.
If monergism or wtsbooks can get within a dollar or so of the totel price, I’ll buy from them over amazon.
you won’t find C.S. Lewis ebooks discounted anywhere in the US because the publisher sells under the agency model. I think you can add the Agency Model to your list of reasons to shop ebooks at Amazon as well. All the big publishers now price their own books so it’s the same price everywhere (by contract it has to be). This means you don’t really have to ever comparison shop for ebooks. of course there are many Christian publishers that are not yet on the agency model, but my guess is that will change if they want to sell in the iBookstore.
I mainly use Amazon because:
a) I’m a Brit and so shipping can be a big deal when buying Reformed books (which are mostly US published).
b) If you look for used or market place retailers amazon is normally cheeper.
c) Everything is in one place (card details, address etc.)
d) The Gift list works better than anywhere else.
e) Searching is better than anywherelse I’ve tried.
I really like this survey. Regarding e-books, I really don’t like the format so I only put on .pdfs, docs, free books and Themelios and use it while traveling so I don’t have to lug a bunch of books. Regarding price, I think we’re all trying to be good thrifty stewards of our money with an ounce of ‘how soon can I get it’ thrown in. I can get WTSbooks delivered to me the next day for a dollar and the prices are typically in the Amazon range — but I pay sales tax. I use Amazon if I’m buying something else and need a book to get into the free shipping range. CBDReformed sometimes has some unbelievable prices (e.g., Hodge’s ST) which are hard to pass up. I support Christian retailers whenever possible/practical.
I use Amazon because I will buy a book used if it is in good, un-marked condition. Also, I use Kindle for PC right now (hope to get a Kindle device soon) and not sure how other eBooks work with the PC.
I’ve compared prices on hundreds of Christian books. As many have said, Amazon Prime is a big factor in ordering from Amazon. (Which is a great marketing strategy, creating affinity and loyalty with the customer through a membership type program, like Challies Friends of the Blog!) Also, in most cases Amazon does have the lowest prices if you factor free shipping. WTSbookstore is usually $1 or so less, but when you factor shipping cost and time, Amazon wins. Christianbook and Monergism are only cheaper when it comes to the large sets.
This has been mentioned in various ways, but I was a bit surprised that you did not include eBooks in your survey. This may be a bit off topic for which I apologize.
Since switching to an e-reader a bit over a year ago, about 90% of my book purchases are in an electronic format. There are two exceptions that prompt me to buy a printed version: 1) I intend to do an in-depth study of the book during which I will do extensive highlighting and notation, and 2) it is a book I really wish to read and it is simply not available in eBook format.
My reasons for making the switch to this extent include that I now have access to my entire library regardless of where I am (and from multiple devices) and can access even more with nothing more that a wireless connection at a Starbucks; I can easily search any book for a particular phrase or content; most formats allow me to notate and highlight; I don’t have to devote valuable shelf space to books I will refer to only occasionally. Price is only a peripheral factor as it turns out - and then mostly on books that I read more for pleasure or entertainment.
It would be interesting to see the results of a similar survey that included eBooks, although your original intent may have had a lot more to do with publishing printed books.
I agree that Amazon’s search engine is excellent. It’s easy to find “similar” books to the one you are searching for or books by the same author or even different published versions of the same book. Add in the option to buy some of those books in “used” condition and you have another benefit over other book sellers.
Also, my father did some consulting for Barnes and Noble this past year and was amused to learn that for most of their market research they tended to use Amazon’s search engine rather than their own! B&N is aware that their current search algorithms are not as good as Amazon’s (and I’m sure many other stores are in the same boat!).
One other reason some of us buy Amazon is because we do not live in the US. It is expensive and difficult to get books shipped to Canada unless you go through someone like Amazon.ca
Over the past year, I have noticed that Barnes & Noble’s online shop has consistently been cheaper than Amazon for the required texts for the classes I teach. Again, this is online, and not in their stores, where the same books are not typically in stock and those that are carried, are not cheaper than Amazon. However, I am not necessarily talking about Christian books so much as classical and Medieval works of philosophy and literature. While CBD and Monergism can sell me Spurgeon or Piper, they tend not to offer Aristotle, Beowulf or Anselm of Canterbury.
Not much new to provide here, but I thought I’d comment. I always, always, always compare across e-commerce sites. I’ll even set up a spreadsheet with my desired items for purchase and check prices on Amazon, WTS, Monergism, and even eBay. I use www.bestwebbuys/books to check smaller e-commerce sites. If it is a SGM, IX Marks, or DG book, then I’ll check those online stores as well. If I have a large order, then I won’t necessarily buy from just one seller — I’ll find the combination that results in the overall lowest price.
Amazon consistently gets a leg up because of the availability of used books in good condition, and because of shipping (even if you aren’t a Prime member). “Consistently” is not the same as “always” — I purchase from WTS, SGM, and DG as well. But I would estimate that I get the best overall package at Amazon over half the time. I even passed on some books at the Gospel Coalition conference bookstore because I had checked prices online, and some books were cheaper at Amazon. And there are times when the books I want are not available at other sites because they aren’t necessarily Reformed — this happens especially with Monergism.
So I do check prices. And I do order most often from Amazon. It isn’t simply a matter of perception.
Tim,I’m not sure that my story is typical, but here’s how I typically find new books to add to my never-ending-reading-list:
1. I’m made aware of the book. This typically happens in one of several ways:a. I hear it recommended by someone I am already reading or listening to (Challies, Sproul, White Horse Inn, James White, TGC).b. I am already reading on a given subject and see another author or book referenced. (I started watching YouTube videos of Driscoll who spoke of his respect for Piper, who adores Edwards. By the time I followed this trail I ended up spending over a year addicted to the Puritans).
2. I look for a source for the book:a. First choice = e-book. It’s fast and it’s inexpensive. It’s also mobile, so I carry it on my iPhone. The good thing about Amazon is that I can check e-book first, and if they don’t have it determine if I want it new or used and how much I”m willing to spend. I have, I must confess, moved on to another book if it’s not in e-book format.b. Second choice = audiobook. I commute about 3 hours a day.c. Physical book: I often check the local “Half Price Books” , but the selection is limited. It is, however, inexpensive and immediately available.
As a background, I’m married, work 50 hours a week, commute 3 hours a day, and have 3 young children. Fact is, books are piled up on my reading list much like the backlog of movies my wife and I would like to see. At one point I read the latest and greatest on hardback, and saw most movies in the theater. At this point, much of what I’m catching up on is at used book stores and on cable. So convenience and price are in my favor. The hardback, limited source books will still have an audience with the reviewers and those on the front lines, but for me (and those like me) they are fighting uphill to compete for my attention. (“The Next Story” is the first hardback I’ve ordered in 2011. The only hardback I ordered in 2010 was “The Potters Freedom”.
Not sure if this is helpful, but I’m guessing I’m more fairly typical.
I’m surprised that BookDepository.com isn’t mentioned anywhere. For people in non-US countries (like me, I live in Canada) it’s pretty much like Amazon.com (in terms of pricing & selection) except with free shipping to anywhere in the world, whereas Amazon’s free shipping is only to the USA. It takes a little longer for the books to arrive since they are located in the UK, but it’s still become my #1 source for ordering online printed books. (Yes, I could use Amazon.ca to get free shipping but compared to Amazon.com the .ca site’s selection and pricing is terrible.)
When asking “How many books do you buy per month,” isn’t it a mistake to lump the answer “0” and “1” together in the same answer, as “0-1”? Who knows, most of those people may buy zero books, which throws off everything else. Make “0” its own answer, so it’s more accurate.
Tim,
Like others have mentioned, Amazon IS cheaper than other bookstores for those who don’t mind having a used book.
I can usually get books that are going for $15 or $20 on the sites you mentioned above for $4 or $5 used on Amazon, sometimes with 2 day shipping if Amazon Prime “sponsors” the seller.
I would guess that a decent amount of the people polled are like me and therefore I think it’s a bit misleading to say Amazon usually doesn’t have the best prices.
Just for the record, I usually check multiple sites/stores for price before buying. And yet, I still often end up buying from Amazon. I also compare between new and used.
So no, it’s not just “perceived” best price - Amazon does actually often have the best price! No, really - I check!
Remember, this includes shipping costs, and sometimes it does take into consideration that I’m buying more than one book.
So yeah - I really have checked, and very often found the cheaper price at Amazon. Honest! :)
Hi Tim, I didn’t read all the comments, so maybe someone has already suggested this, but here goes anyway:
You obviously have an interest in changing the perception that amazon has the best prices. What would be interesting is if you added up the total amazon cost of all of the books you have reviewed in the last few years and compared that to the total cost of the same books purchased from some of the other sellers listed on this survey.
This would give us an idea which sellers consistently have better prices then Amazon. If in fact other book sellers have better prices then Amazon then we will be able to see a number value for how much we can save by switching to that store instead of Amazon.
Throwing in some e-book numbers would also be really interesting: how much can we figure on saving if we buy the eBook version vs. the Amazon printed version vs. the printed version at other stores.
I favor Amazon because of the breadth of their selection and the consistency of their buying experience. I don’t compare prices very often but nearly every time I do then Amazon is the cheapest, and if they aren’t initially then after shipping they are. Also I am happy to pay as much as $2-5 more for something from Amazon because I know exactly what to expect from their service. If they say something will arrive in 3 days then it does. I am also opposed to the idea of regularly checking 10 different sellers and buying from a different seller every time in order to save money.
One of the things I like about Amazon is that any time I see a book I am interested in I don’t buy it right away but add it to my wish list. (Days/Months/Years) later when I am ready to buy something I go to the wish list and move items to the cart in order to get the price up to the level where shipping is free. This only works if you consistently buy from one source.
A recent experience I had with my kindle also scored huge points for Amazon. I had my kindle 3 for a few months and out of the blue it started crashing. I called customer service and after describing the problem there was no inquisition into how careful I was with it or whether or not I had dropped it in the bathtub. The guy’s immediate answer was “we will air a new kindle to you and it will arrive the day after tomorrow. In the package will be a label so you can ship back the old one for free any time within the next 30 days. ” I was floored and they delivered exactly as promised.
Seeing evidence that over a wide range of books another store consistently has better prices then Amazon might entice me away, but without that then I have no reason to switch. I don’t like the idea of shopping from 10 different stores just to find which one is $1 cheaper. I need to see that there is one other store I can go to that will be consistently cheaper and provide the same positive buying experience.
Even then I will still go to Amazon to check if they have the kindle version before buying anything printed.
AGREED!
And, some used book orders are now fulfilled by Amazon with Prime.
I chose Amazon.
First, I wasn’t really aware of that Westminster and Monergism had such wide selections. I thought Westminster was a college press, not a college bookstore, and I didn’t know Monergism was a bookstore, but thought it was something more like Banner of Truth Trust specializing in its own editions of the Puritans. I’ll look into them more often now.
Then, why do I shop at Amazon instead of, for example, CBD? Mr. Challies had it right when he said “we’d rather pay $1 or $2 more for a book but then also buy some batteries, a DVD and a new set of dishes—things only Amazon offers.”
I am a law student, which requires me to regularly purchase frighteningly expensive and heavy books. Sometimes, Barrister Books is cheaper for its purposes, just like, as I am now aware, Westminster or Monergism can be. But none of these specialty bookstores can let me place an order for, e.g. (these were from an order in December 2010), Tina Stark’s “Drafting Contracts”, Joshua Dressler’s “Cases and Materials on Criminal Law 5th Ed.”, and Stephen Grabill’s “Rediscovering the Natural Law in Reformed Theological Ethics” so they will arrive in one box, with free shipping.
I actively refuse to buy an e-reader after the 1984 incident. If I have a physical paper book, I know it will stay in my possession until destroyed, lost, stolen, or given away, with me retaining the freedom to highlight, write notes in the margins, or loan to a friend. With an e-reader, I don’t own the book, I’m just borrowing it from the distributor.
Just to check out how much of my “habit” of buying kindle books on amazon was just that, I recently bought an RC Sproul e-book at monergism, and it was easy and the same price as Amazon. I would do this more often, as I like to support Christian, especially reformed, booksellers, but I would suggest that when showing results of a search, or advertising a book, that they show that it comes in both formats. Right now, it seems that you have to search specifically for ebooks, but often I am just looking for a particular title. I am more likely, when given the choice, to download one ebook now rather than consider whether to order a printed version and pay shipping or spend the time to look around for more stuff to make the free shipping.
I’ve tended more to ebooks lately… because I’m cheap, and I can pull them up on my phone when unexpected time comes available. But I’m frustrated that I can’t pass ebooks along to others, or even purchase them as a gift for others.
If I want to buy an ebook for my wife, I have to go into her online account to make the purchase… awkward, but doable… but I can’t readily do that for my pastor.
Perhaps the main reason I have yet to incorporate more ebooks into my literary diet is simply a function of price. There are some amazing deals on old books to be sure (e.g. Edwards, Spurgeon, etc) but for most new books the price is far closer to a PRINTED version than not. Thus when choosing between the two, for my habits and preferences, PRINTED wins.
However, if publishers provided an option to purchase a PRINTED version and for a few dollars more included a promo code to download a ecopy, I would be far more inclined to go that route and pay a slightly higher price to get both. This is similar to what is being done with many DVD’s these days in providing a digital copy for an I-device along with the disc.
I live in the U.S., but in Alaska. Westminter would not ship books to my house, while Amazon will ship w/ a free upgrade to make sure that my order gets to me in their promised time frame - even w/ free shipping. The customer service is very good, but the frustration of having to figure out shipping or being tolds that we don’t ship to you is what makes me stay w/ Amazon.
Thanks for the survey results, Tim. Barnes & Noble seems to be perfect for someone like me who buys maybe 1-2 books per month. With my annual $25 B&N membership, there’s no minimum order to get free 3 day shipping. Makes it a little easier to get those $9-$10 paperbacks, one at a time.
I think that marketing has a lot to do with Amazon’s rankings… and so does page rank in search results. If, for example, I am getting books for my Seminary courses, I don’t typically start at a particular site… I start by searching for the book. Invariably, the first results that show up are probably going to be Amazon.
Interestingly, this semester, I bought my books from BarnesandNoble.com because I had gotten a Groupon ($20 worth of books for $10) earlier in the year. That pushed the price in B&N ‘s favor.
Another big thing is marketing. Amazon is an international, multi-million (billion?) dollar mega-site. People know that they can get pretty much whatever they want from Amazon, but the publisher’s sites don’t have the brand recognition. I think that it is entirely likely that the people who buy books from Amazon also do other shopping there too. It has become a sort of Wal-mart for online shopping.
And I can’t speak to other sites… but they also do have used book options that are even cheaper than their deal prices. For a Seminary student with two kids and a one income family, I’m willing to skimp on the quality (don’t need brand new) to get a deal.
My reasons for shopping at Amazon have to do almost exclusively with convenience. While away from home earlier this year, I used my amazon.com app on my iPhone to one-click purchase Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life (great book, btw). Amazon saves my credit card numbers and shipping preferences. Not having to find my card number saves me time. If I’m purchasing other items, I can often get everything on Amazon exclusively. Price differences typically seem minimal and Amazon rarely sells stuff at retail price from what I’ve noticed.
Yes, that’s it for me too. If I am going to be buying my Christian books from WTS bookstore, then I am placing two orders from two companies because I am almost certainly buying something else from Amazon that WTS doesn’t sell. Last week it was a book on building chicken coops. Next week it will be a watch for my son’s graduation.
Being an Aussie and hence a long way from most things I am very grateful for The Book Depository and am surprised it gets no mention? Free shipping worldwide and very competitve prices makes it my (e)bookstore of choice.
Tim, I value price “above all” in my book purchases exactly because I value the written word so highly. The more words I can buy with my (limited) book budget, the better. :-)
I love Amazon, but Amazon is absolutely not the friend of book lovers. Why: because they allow sellers to put books on sale for a penny. See if you can live selling a book for a penny, giving Amazon 3.00 in commission and shipping the book for the remnant of the $3.99 shipping fee. They will buy back your $25-100 book for under a dollar to sell it to undercut independent book dealers. Now frankly many books aren’t worth even wasting paper to print, but to allow a bottom-feeding frenzy destroys the market.
So while Amazon sucks the marrow from book sellers and seeks to destroy what’s left of the print book market so eBooks become the norm, think twice about buying new books from Amazon. Support the used book sellers they have who need to live on what they make—I’m one of them and it’s a tentmaker enterprise for me. Support the Christian book sellers.
A really interesting question to ask would be, How many of the book you bought last year have you read in full or in part?
I think there’s some other inconsistent behaviour among your readers other than price. If I read the charts right 73% buy from Amazon but 37.9% would consider shopping elsewhere if a Christian store also sells books with a bad theology.
So it seems to me that two different principles are at work. Happy to buy from a shop that sells books promoting witchcraft, alternative sexual lifestyles and all sorts of other godlessness (Amazon) but not happy to buy from a shop that is exclusively Christian but has some books with poor theology.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t buy from Amazon just that the two views aren’t exactly consistent.
Secondly it would have been interesting to see how many books your readers buy from a physical ‘bricks and mortar’ bookshop and then compare how much they are contributing to the demise of the bookstore or not. Which we may be happy with or grieve when they are all gone. But then price is king right?
I still use Amazon for reviews, but I havn’t actually bought anything from them in years. Customer service issues. When an order was taking forever to get to me, I contacted the company and was told they had a problem with my shipping address. (My first question was “Why didn’t you contact me when you noticed this issue instead of waiting ten days for ME to contact YOU?!”) It was the same address I had always used. Nothing had changed. And it was the same as the billing address, which was just fine for them to charge me. I never did receive that shipment. Cancelled the order; got my money back. The third time in a row this happened, and after getting the same responses from their customer service, I decided I wasn’t going to play with them anymore.
Much better customer service from CBD. And the prices are almost always the lowest. Sometimes somebody will tell me about cheaper prices they got at Westminster, but I usually get pretty good value for my money. And with my pay cuts stemming from today’s economy, price IS a significant issue.