The best online bookstores for new and/or used books that accept PayPal?

January 22, 2011 8:15 AM

The best online bookstores for new and/or used books that accept PayPal?

I'm on a pursuit to find the best online bookstores that accept PayPal. PayPal support is essential because I refuse to use any other method of payment. If you know of places that cater specifically to Canadian residents, all the better. I've come across quite a few online bookstores that offer free shipping to American residents, but haven't come across any, other than The Book Depository, which offer free shipping to Canadians.

So far, the best online bookstores I've found that have PayPal support, ranked in order, are:

. Biblio (shipping can be quite expensive if ordering from multiple bookstores, so I tend to order from the same bookstore to save money on shipping)

. The Book Depository (I recently discovered this site. I love it because everything there has free shipping. I only use it when looking to buy new new editions of books)

. AbeBooks (unfortunately, not every bookseller here accepts PayPal. But lots of stuff can be found. Not as good as its main competitor Biblio IMO)

. Thriftbooks (I usually check out this site after looking for title(s) on Biblio and AbeBooks)

. Alibris (haven't ordered from here yet, but it looks promising. I'd use it if I could find stuff cheaper here than on The Book Depository. Books seem to be reasonably priced)

. Barnes & Noble (very well-known bookstore, though I haven't used it. The prices there are very promising and they have a lot to offer. However, I tried ordering from there and couldn't checkout. I've no idea why it didn't work, but I'll give it another shot sometime)

. Ebay (technically not a bookstore, but lots of books can be found here. Unfortunately, most books on Ebay have absurd shipping rates, so it tends to be the last place I look to when buying used books. When I started buying used books, Ebay was the only place I used to use. Thank god I discovered more places online that sell books)

Any additional bookstore recommendations would be great. I'm sure there are plenty more good online stores out there that are worth checking out. The only thing I ask is that you mention stores that have PayPal support. If Amazon had PayPal support, I would've mentioned it.

Thanks.

*Note - not sure if I should stick this in "shopping" or "writing and language". I guess shopping would probably be more relevant . . .

posted by GlassHeart to Shopping (11 answers total)

Powell's takes Paypal.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:23 AM on January 22, 2011

My claim about Powell's is a little difficult to verify -- after I posted it I started to doubt it. To save you the trouble, here's their page on payment methods.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:25 AM on January 22, 2011

Response by poster: My claim about Powell's is a little difficult to verify -- after I posted it I started to doubt it. To save you the trouble, here's their page on payment methods.

Why do you doubt it? They obviously accept it.

Thanks.

Powells looks like a great site. I've heard of it many times before; odd I've never tried it . . .
posted by GlassHeart at 8:34 AM on January 22, 2011

Paperbackswap.com accepts PayPal. I recently joined and have received six or seven new-to-me books for... well, very little money.
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 8:43 AM on January 22, 2011

(In re. paperbackswap.com: "All you need is a valid USPS mailing address")

You can also check Etsy; people are interpreting the "vintage items" category pretty liberally nowdays and plenty of old paperbacks show up there. PayPal is the usual payment method.

(I'm in Canada and I do not hesitate to send friendly "Hey, I'm interested in your such-and-such but the shipping calculator is showing a high rate. Would you be willing to send this via blahblah USPS method for $X?" mails to eBayers and Etsians; this usually works, for what that's worth)
posted by kmennie at 9:00 AM on January 22, 2011

GlassHeart: sorry I was confusing there. I doubted it because I thought I was misremembering. (I thought they took PayPal because I sold some books to them once and got PayPal credit, but then I remembered they actually paid me in store credit. And that was selling to them, not buying from them.) So the confusion is really about me; there's nothing confusing about them.
posted by madcaptenor at 9:11 AM on January 22, 2011

Response by poster: I'm in Canada and I do not hesitate to send friendly "Hey, I'm interested in your such-and-such but the shipping calculator is showing a high rate. Would you be willing to send this via blahblah USPS method for $X?" mails to eBayers and Etsians; this usually works, for what that's worth

Thanks for the tip. I'll likely try that sometime.
posted by GlassHeart at 9:19 AM on January 22, 2011

D'oh! Sorry, I missed the part where you're in Canada!
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 9:20 AM on January 22, 2011

In Canada can you get a debit card linked to your PayPal account? That works fine for me, for online and out-in-the-world purchases. Would that solve your problem or am I misunderstanding?
posted by artlung at 10:03 AM on January 22, 2011

Response by poster: In Canada can you get a debit card linked to your PayPal account? That works fine for me, for online and out-in-the-world purchases. Would that solve your problem or am I misunderstanding?

Yes. That's how I use my PayPal account.
posted by GlassHeart at 12:18 PM on January 22, 2011

Better World Books! They accept PayPal and have free worldwide shipping. They also donate a lot of money to world literacy charities and libraries.

I've only bought used books from BWB (not from their marketplace) and their customer service is awesome. I received a book that was missing a bunch of pages and they sent a brand new copy as a replacement for free, and I didn't have to send the other book back.
posted by shoreline at 3:05 PM on January 22, 2011