Depending on where you are in the world, it can sometimes be difficult to find affordable books locally. That’s especially true if you’re in a country where you’re looking for books in a language that’s different to what’s spoken locally (for example: English language books in Spain). Thankfully, there are a few online bookstores that ship internationally.
When shopping internationally for books, it can be a good idea to add the same book to your cart across different vendors. While many of the shops will be similar on price (with Amazon often being the cheapest) the cost of shipping is where you can really see a difference.
Top tip: If buying books internationally is a hassle, consider getting a Kindle or other e-reader. This will allow you to instantly download millions of different books wherever you are in the world.
Amazon
When it comes to books, Amazon is the largest off them all. In fact, Amazon actually started out as an online bookseller before venturing off into just about every other category.
Most books can be shipped worldwide, although it does depend on the seller (sometimes it’s Amazon and sometimes it’s a third party). As well as new books, Amazon also sells a lot of second-hand books.
For English-language books, the largest Amazon sites are Amazon.com (the US site) and Amazon.co.uk (the UK site). You will find English-language books on Amazon’s other sites (e.g. Amazon France or Germany) but the selection will be a lot smaller.
Shop at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk for most English-language books. Most sellers on Amazon.com will be based in the US and in the UK on Amazon.co.uk.
Book Depository
Book Depository is a large online bookstore that offers free worldwide shipping on millions of books. As well as English-language books, they also have books in many other languages, including French, German, and Spanish.
Books on Book Depository are often more expensive than on Amazon, but the free global shipping means you know exactly how much the book will cost in total without having to add it to your basket and see.
Shop at BookDepository.com. Normally ships from the UK but Book Depository sometimes also ships from Australia.
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble is one of the largest booksellers in the US, both through its retail outlets and its website, barnesandnoble.com.
Barnes & Noble ships books internationally, however, there are quite a large number of countries that the company won’t ship to, including a surprising number of countries in Europe.
EBay
Like Amazon, you can find a bit of everything on eBay, but it’s also a good place to find books, both new and second-hand. For international shoppers, eBay is always a good arrow to have in your bow. Sometimes it’s cheaper than Amazon, but what’s particularly good about eBay is just how easy it is to see which sellers will ship to your country.
Shop at eBay.com or ebay.co.uk, if you’re specifically looking for book sellers from the UK. Where the books are shipped from will depend on the seller. Most book sellers, particularly of English-language books, are based in either the UK or US.