Summary
In this guide we look at the best book stores with international shipping. Here’s a quick recap, scroll down for more info.
- Amazon Books– The World’s biggest. Free shipping is available on selected books. Also Audible for Audio Books. Kindle is their reading device for eBooks.
- Book Depository – Unfortunately, Book Depository has now CLOSED! (04/23/23)
- Book Outlet – USA based, free international shipping on orders of $35 or more to US & Canada. Shipping to about 60 countries.
- Barnes & Noble – Large US chain of bookstores. Limited international shipping. Free on orders over $35.
- Blackwell’s – Education specialist. Large selection limited international shipping, check top right of website. Delivery costs included.
- ThriftBooks – Good selection of second hand and collectible books with international shipping.
- Abebooks – Book marketplace. Both Used and new. Shipping to most countries.
- BetterWorldBooks – Based in the UK and US, new and used books. Shipping from either location is free.
- Waterstones – Large British book shop chain, fixed delivery costs to Europe and Rest of World.
- Alibris – Another place to buy and sell new and used books, international standard and priority shipping available.
- Taschen – Luxury coffee table style books, expensive but stylish. International delivery.
- Zavvi – Computer games and books, pop culture! International delivery here.
- eBay books – The book category of the online auction site, many sellers offer international shipping.
- Kobo – eBooks and audio books available worldwide.
Buying books can be expensive and often an infuriating task. You go to the book shop to discover they have sold out of the latest Stephen King masterpiece and you go home disappointed and empty handed, and if they do have it in stock then it often costs you an arm and a leg. This is one reason why book selling online has become so popular and why stores such as Amazon have done so well.
The internet is a global resource and so it is just as easy to browse book stores worldwide as well as locally. But which bookstores offer international shipping and are there any that will ship worldwide for free? Here is our guide to the best of the best and we have detailed, as much as we can, their international shipping policies, so whether you are looking for text books, fiction, reference books or picture books you will be able to find a store that will ship to your country where ever you are in the world. We have even included a couple of places for eBooks and audio books.
We list 14 book shops here and all have a very good offering for domestic as well as international orders. Covid-19 supply and delivery issues should now be ironed out.
Now that Book Depository has closed, this list of international book shops provides a good list of alternatives of places to buy books now that hey have shut down. Here is our list of where to buy books online.
Book Stores with international shipping
1. Amazon Books
The world’s biggest store. Free international shipping available on some orders.
It would be remiss of us to have a list like this and not include the world’s most famous: Amazon. We all know they started out selling books and they still have a great selection, they also deliver to many countries. Global shipping rates vary from place to place, for example standard shipping to Europe for book is $3.99 per shipment and per item, which needs to be added together. Here is a quick international shipping table:
Region | Per Shipment | Per Item |
Europe | $3.99 | $3.99 |
Middle East | $4.99 | $3.99 |
Japan | $4.99 | $2.99 |
Canada | $4.99 | $2.49 |
Africa | $6.99 | $6.99 |
Asia/Pacific | $4.99 | $4.99 |
Is free international shipping available at Amazon?
“FREE AmazonGlobal Standard Shipping” is available for eligible books and other items at Amazon, the items and the cost of good purchased in order to qualify does vary from country to country. Items must be fulfilled by Amazon and shipping must be to an eligible country. The only way to see for sure if you can qualify for free international shipping is to add the products to the cart and go to checkout.
Audible Audio Books.
Amazon offer audio books through their Audible brand, which offers access to many audio books for a monthly fee. Here is a link to a free trial and 2 free audio books.
Kindle eBooks
Amazon’s device for reading eBooks is called Kindle, you can find out more information about reading books in this way and purchasing reading material.
2. Book Depository – NOW CLOSED!
Unfortunately Book Depository, which offered free international shipping many countries has now closed. The final date for orders was 26 April 202, and support for orders will cease on 23 June 2023.
Why has Book Depository closed?
Unfortunately no official reason was given, but it is assumed that the supply-chain issues related to COVID have caused too many problems for the bookseller. More and more readers are consuming books by electronic means too.
What will happen?
Book Depository is owned by Amazon and you will be able to continue to buy many books from them.
Deliver to over 100 countries, all international orders delivered for FREE.
The Book Depository promises “FREE DELIVERY WORLDWIDE” at the top of their homepage, whilst they don’t deliver to every country in the world, we think the list must be about 100, so it is likely that your country is on it. Click here to have a look. Delivery is free on every order.
They are owned by Amazon, which is one reason why they can offer good prices and free shipping. They have a large selection of many types of books. They have a slick website, and even a Bargain Shop, which is worth looking at.
3. Book Outlet
Based in the USA, they ship books free to the US and Canada on orders over $35 USD or more. They ship to about 60 different countries including, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel and Japan. Notable exclusions are the Middle East, Russia, India and Australia/NZ. Although they do allow shipping to a freight forwarding company. Estimated delivery time for international orders is 7-45 business days, which is a bit vague.
4. Barnes & Noble
A large chain of US book stores, they usually ship internationally and offer free shipping too. They also ship to US Protectorate destinations. Free standard shipping is available on order of $35 or over.
5. Blackwell’s
Educational specialists
Blackwell’s is a famous book store originally from Oxford, UK. Home of the university and Inspector Morse. They ship worldwide and the shipping cost is included in the price of the book. For Europe, US and Rest of World addresses shipping is estimated to take about 10-15 business days.
They have an option to choose your currency at the top right of their website, and have a selection of 13 to choose from.
6. AbeBooks
New and Used books.
A marketplace for people to sell books, selling new and used books, AbeBooks.com will ship to most countries around the world, there are separate websites for some countries such as Aus/NZ. Shipping can be expensive to some countries, but is a good place to look for rare or difficult to find books.
7. BetterWorldBooks
Sells new and used books, ship internationally.
Selling a combination of new and secondhand books they dispatch from the UK and the US, so can cover shipping worldwide. Shipping internationally is free from either location.
BetterWorldBooks.com was founded and is run with a social purpose, some of their profits are invested to help literacy programs to improve people’s lives. This is done in many ways including donating a book for every book sold and funding literacy grants. They are from the USA and are well worth checking out for their values.
8. ThriftBooks
New and used books, new books not eligible for international shipping.
US shipping free over $10 order, prices for Canada and rest of world available at checkout. Sells new and second-hand collectible books. Thrift also sell music and video games.
9. Waterstones
Waterstones.com is another book store chain from the UK. They ship all over the world. UK delivery is free over £20, Western Europe is £9 + £1 per additional item and Rest of the World delivery is £12.50 + £1 per additional item.
10. Alibris
New and used books sold.
Another online book store where you can sell your used and preloved books. They have a US and UK website and ship internationally, all countries is the claim. Costs vary for regions but they do offer standard and priority international shipping methods.
11. Taschen
Coffee table style books sold.
Taschen.com are a little different to most of the others listed here. They sell big, quality coffee table type books. They are sumptious, sexy, glorious and sometimes expensive. Books on photography, architecture, famous people and places fill their listings. They offer international shipping, 4 different languages to choose from, the cost of international delivery varies for each country, for example to Australia it is $70.
12. Zavvi
Zavvi.com sell lots of pop culture products from comics and magazines to films/TV to gaming in many of the most popular genres. They also have a good selection of books, many science fiction, music and graphical novels. If you are a comic fan or film buff they will probably have the book you are looking for. Owned by The Hut, a UK e-commerce company that owns many other stores they offer worldwide shipping for a cost as low as £3.99 and up to £9.99 depending upon your country, tracked international shipping is also available.
13. eBay Books
New and used books sold online.
A good place to look for secondhand and used books, although there are sellers there who are selling new books too. International shipping is available at the seller’s discretion, here is our tip to help you find books on eBay worldwide.
14. Kobo
Kobo.com is owned by Rakuten.com, and sell eBooks and audio books available worldwide. Physical delivery is less of an issue, but you may need a reader with which to read the books.
Can I get free international shipping?
Many of the book shops listed above will offer free worldwide delivery. We have highlighted the ones that do, for some it is available on every purchase and others it is available for a minimum spend, so be sure to check that out, it may impact the cost of the book in the first place.
Leave your comments
Do you agree or disagree with our list? Why not leave a comment and help others out below?
13/06/21. Edited to include summary for quick browsing.
24/05/23. Edited to include up-to-date information about the closure of Book Depository.
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