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Best places to buy books online in 2024

Posted on by Vaseline

Once upon a time, new books were printed in limited editions, without any translation. If the nearest bookstore was sold out, you’d have to resort to desperate means to obtain a copy, or wait until a friend was willing to pawn one. The Internet, as it did with almost everything, forever changed the book-buying experience.

The joy of scanning shelves at your local bookstore is virtually irreplaceable. But there’s only so much time and, well, an endless amount of books to read. In addition to finding best-selling books on sale, you can save time turning pages by checking out the best places to buy books online.

Largest online booksellers

The beast. The goliath. That’s what we all thought, so let’s get it out of the way: Amazon has made buying books from the comfort of your couch easier than ever, for better or worse. Whether you’re pre-ordering a new release or looking for a collected set of your favorite series, chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for on Amazon. Not only is Amazon the place to go for books that you’ll need delivered sooner or later, but Amazon also owns Kindle and Audible, making Prime the destination for ebooks and audiobooks.

Amazon Prime Book Deals

Amazon Prime Book Deals

As America’s largest bookstore, there’s never a Barnes & Noble location too far, but the bookstore giant also offers free delivery with standard shipping. In addition to a fairly unlimited supply of paperbacks and hardcovers, Barnes & Noble also offers exclusive Special Editions, including my favorite science fiction series Dune, as well as some iconic horror authors like Stephen King.

Target Book Offers

Target Book Offers

Books-a-Million (or BAM) also has an extensive selection, and while Target doesn’t really have much that you wouldn’t find elsewhere, Target Circle members get access to some of the lowest book prices on the market.

Other places to buy books online

If you’re looking for convenience without resorting to the online retail giants, B Corp-certified Bookshop.org lets you choose an independent (collaborating) bookseller to support you in ordering your books. ThriftBooks is about as close as you can get to online book collecting. Although new copies are in stock, Thriftbooks’ main selling point is serving as a platform for buying and selling used books.

Better World Books, like Thriftbooks, may not offer “straight off the shelf” quality, but it does provide a sense of doing something good for the world because the company uses profits to support global literacy initiatives. The online sellers’ inventories mainly donated books (many of which came from libraries), with each offering rated on a condition scale from ‘Acceptable’ to ‘New’.

Where can I read books online for free?

If you’re less committed to the physical quality of reading, Libby is an online platform that lets you use an existing library card and borrow digital copies of books, magazines, and more. While you may not be able to keep your books at home and occasionally have to wait for something to become available, joining a library program is one of the best ways to cut costs without resorting to online stores. You can also check out our guide to the best free book sites and apps.

When do books go on sale?

In my experience, the best time to buy books is when I walk into a bookstore and see a cool cover. That said, there are certain times of year that I have found are better for my wallet. When it comes to ordering books (or pretty much anything) online, Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday are hard to beat. Barnes & Noble is also lowering prices during its annual Book Haul Sale near the end of summer.

Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who is always looking for the next great horror story and fantasy RPG.

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