How to buy books cheaply online

In the world of online book sales, it pays to plan ahead. Having received three books for Christmas, I decided to order a fourth online so that I would have it to read when I was finished the others.

Given that the first present was 'Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's Guide to South Dublin', however, it was clear that I wouldn't be sorted for reading material for all that long.

I had had some success with Abe.com (above right) before, when the only copy of European Cinema by Elizabeth Ezra to be found in Dublin was on Eason.ie for some usurious sum like €70 or €80. Thankfully I went looking around the start of the semester, so the book was able to limp home from somewhere in the UK in time for presentations and essay.

This time around I didn't even bother browsing shops for Niccolo Ammaniti's 'I'll Steal You Away' (below left), the next novel by the author of 'I'm Not Scared', which was made into a sunny Italian coming-of-age/crime thriller by Gabriel Salvatores I particularly enjoyed. Great writer, though he probably sells fewer copies of his books here than Ross O'Carroll-Kelly does in Italy.

The Abe site allows you to trawl discount book sellers all over the place, so if it's a well-known book you can even pick how you would like it bound or the picture on the cover of a particular print. This is because of the Ryanair-style pricing in which everything is 50c or $1 and it all depends on the postage.

So order placed, processed and dispatched on one day, 15 January. The nearest seller is Lakewood, Washington. The confirmation e-mail says: 'Approximate Shipping Speed: 10 - 28 business days.' Grand. Except that by 7 March, still no sign of the book.

A customer service response by email states: 'International Standard mail usually takes 3-6 weeks to arrive, but can in some instances take as long as 8-12 weeks due to customs delays.' They suggest I get back to them after 12 weeks have elapsed, so I emailed them again last week. I got a much more conciliatory response agreeing my order should have arrived by now, and offering me any book I want from their stock as they have no more of 'I'll Steal You Away'.

But then this morning, a day after I reply suggesting a book, the first one arrives after some 14 weeks and one day. The next thing to arrive is an e-mail from them saying 'Delivery Status Notification: Failure' regarding my book request. I tried mailing them once more to make sure I wasn't going mad, and then decided it was a sign the matter was closed.

So the moral of the story is, for bargain books online, get ready to wait. It at least is something I couldn't get here, and for the princely sum of Stg£6.18 (€7.71 in today's money). I admit I could have done nothing and just got my book eventually. But come on, 99 days - a man once swam from Cape Cod to France in 73 days. The final irony is that I've since started reading the Harry Potter series from scratch - more about which another time - so I won't even be reading this one for some time yet.

Update
23 April 1651

It seems one of my emails to them did get through after all, and now I'm being sent the fifth Harry Potter book in apology. They also asked for positive feedback on the abe site about the seller, a request to which I obliged readily. If I was a gambler I would start a sweep on the number of weeks book number two takes to get here!

Update 2
14 May 1321

Replacement book in hand, arrived yesterday after just 20 days. Perhaps the first one was randomly selected for a customs check or something, as this was twice as large and came from the same place. The conclusion remains the same: if in a rush, don't buy discount books online!