I have been an Amazon.com customer for a long time … and have routinely spent a few thousand dollars a year buying books from them. Last week, for the first time in over a decade, I purchased books online, and didn’t go through Amazon. Instead, I purchased the books from The Book Depository in the UK.

Why? For an order of 9 books, Amazon was at least 20% more expensive, once Amazon added the shipping costs. The Book Depository charges more per book, but offers free shipping around the world.

And in a total shock to my system, rather than waiting for a few weeks for the books to come from Amazon to New Zealand, my new books started showing up yesterday … 5 days after ordering them.

Anyone else been exploring The Book Depository?