Alternatives To Amazon For Books Online: 9 Options
Tried, tested, and recommended alternatives to Amazon for books online
It’s no secret that there’s plenty of controversy surrounding Amazon, it’s business practices, treatment of workers, etc. Rather than go into details, I simply want to provide options for anyone who’s looking for online alternatives to Amazon for books.
I rounded up both personally tested and highly recommended options to buy books online that aren’t Amazon. Included in the list below are websites for new books and used books.
So, whether you’re looking for the latest new contemporary romance book release or dirt cheap used books, there’s an option for you!
*Disclosure – I earn a small commission as an affiliate for some of the websites linked below, but I only recommend places that I personally use or trust myself. Thank you for helping support this book blog!
Alternatives To Amazon For Books: New Books
Bookshop.org My number 1 recommendation for where to buy books online that isn’t Amazon is Bookshop.org. This website is truly one of the few good things to arise from the pandemic. It was founded early in 2020 and became a way to support independent bookstores that were no longer able to bring customers in the door.
Bookshop.org supports indie bookstores by giving them a percentage of profits in one of two ways. You can search for your local indie and buy any books through their page and they receive all of the profits.
Or, 10% of all sales not linked to a specific bookstore go into a pool that is then distributed to indie bookstores across the country!
If you end up using my links in this post, you can both support this blog AND still ensure 10% of your purchase goes to indie bookstores.
As a bonus, you can also find curated book lists and book recommendations on my Bookshop page!
I truly love this website and use it almost exclusively myself. The books are often similarly priced to Amazon, shipping is cheap, and you’re helping ensure the continuation of local small businesses!
If you ever listen to audiobooks, Audible is probably your go-to source for new books. Enter Libro.Fm!! This is an amazing program that costs the same as Audible but supports indie bookstores everywhere! Through their subscription, you can “purchase” the books from your local bookstore. $15/month gives you one free credit to use on any audiobook and 30% additional audiobook purchases! A portion of these sales go toward the bookstore of your choice!
This site was initially included in my post, but I learned that it is actually owned by Amazon. So, if you wish to avoid Amazon and all subsidiaries, I suggest purchasing from one of the other options on my list!
Book Subscription Boxes
Options like the always popular Book of the Month (Get your first book for $5), unique Once Upon A Book Club (10% off with code NEVERENOUGH), and simple The Book Drop (15% off with code NEVERENOUGHNOVELS) make buying books incredibly fun.
You can check out my dedicated post for a full list of my picks of the best book subscription boxes, including details and pricing!
BookOutlet is your go-to alternative to Amazon for books if you’re hunting for deals. They find new books that may have slight marks, stickers, or very minor wear and tear and sell them for dirt cheap. It feels like a treasure hunt, searching through their site to find books you have on your TBR list.
My full BookOutlet review covers all of the details, including my experience buying from them! I cover the selection, shipping, rewards program, and more!
Your Local Indie Bookstore
Especially due to the pandemic, there’s a good chance your local indie bookstore has the option to buy directly from their store online! Your best bet is heading to their website or giving them a call to place an order!
Alternatives To Amazon For Books: Used Books
This was by far the number one recommendation from bloggers and bookstagrammers for used books! Their selection is astonishing and you can find a variety of conditions and prices.
They also have a rewards program where you earn points toward books when you make a purchase. If you sign up using my referral code, you can get 15% off your first purchase on their site!
Facebook Marketplace
This is a recent discovery of my own! I always saw the (annoying) notifications for Facebook marketplace and ignored them. When I finally clicked through and started browsing, I noticed quite a lot of books for sale!
The appealing factor is that books ship in the US for only a few dollars, so you can browse through listings from across the country. Most books are listed at yard sale level prices, so even with shipping added on you can find phenomenal deals!
This is exclusively an app that allows you to buy and sell used books. There are books from every genre, in all conditions so it’s fun to browse and see what you can find! It also allows you to follow others, so if you find a seller you like, you can see any new listings of books offered directly in your home feed.
You can find my store @neverenoughnovels and check out the latest books I’m selling!
If you’d like to do some good with your book purchase, give this site a shot! This is one of the most impactful alternatives to Amazon for books online. Every time a book is purchased through Better World Books, a book is donated to someone in need. To date they have donated 26 MILLION books across the globe.
As a bonus, you can find genuinely great prices on used books here! Check back often to see their always being updated selection.
There are new books for sale as well so if you’re searching for a specific option, you should easily be able to find it new.
One last thing to convince you – shipping is free!!!
Share any other favorite alternatives to Amazon for books online!
Love this list, even though I’m Canadian and things are a little different here when it comes to shipping prices. Recently I’ve started using Poshmark to get used books, where I can often bundle 4 or 5 books (sometimes recent releases) for one shipping fee. Worth checking out if that’s an option there as well.
That’s a great idea! Thank you for sharing! That may help out any other international readers as well.
Isn’t book depository owned by Amazon?
i love book depository, as an international reader it’s the only one that’s got reasonable priced books and free shipping.
Hi Rachel! I have found that 2 of your suggestions exist in the UK or ship to the UK so that’s good! I hope to try using Bookshop a bit more as there’s an indie bookshop not far from me that the site supports and I’m sure every little bit helps right now for any small business! I also had a look at Better World Books but found the site quite hard to navigate and there was no way of knowing if the book was in stock or not without clicking through to more details – most of the editions I checked for 1 book seemed to be out of stock ♀️ I also couldn’t see anywhere to sort the books by price unless I missed it totally ♀️! And while Thriftbooks do ship to the UK, I have to be careful about customs fees which can wipe out any savings I might make, and it seems daft to ship (aka fly) something from the US that I can buy anyway in the UK. Lots of things to weigh up when importing items unfortunately but anyway!
Thank you again for the list and the ideas! Hope you are well. Caron
Regarding the ebook alternatives, do they sell digital books in a Kindle format (i.e. mobi) as well as epub? Most people who buy ebooks from Amazon own a Kindle, and the format of the ebooks is unique. You can’t read an epub book on a Kindle. There are sites that convert formats but they don’t work if the file has the digital rights.
Another great option is abebooks.com. They ship internationally. I see in the fine print they are a subsidiary of Amazon, which is a bummer because I like ordering from them.