Let me buy your books, UK!

October 25, 2007 12:42 PM

Where can I buy books printed in the UK for sale in the US?

It occurred to me that I can find imported cds all over the place, but I didn't know where or if I could find imported books.

I live in NYC, so stores in town would be great, or maybe there are U.S.-based websites that have better prices than ordering from Amazon.uk?

posted by papercake to shopping (12 comments total)

Amazon UK at http://www.amazon.co.uk
posted by Fferret at 1:03 PM on October 25, 2007

Are you looking for UK versions of books also available in the US, or books that are only available in the UK that someone had imported?

For the later, it really depends on the books. There are publishing companies that specialize in importing UK titles for the US (say, Trafalgar if they're still around), and most bookstores will be able to get books from those publishers.

In New York, you should try the Strand, if only to get a metafilter member to help you.

I'm not sure if the price will be cheaper than ordering from amazon though.
posted by drezdn at 1:13 PM on October 25, 2007

I'm looking for books that are released in the UK that have yet to be released in the U.S. Sorry for not being clear.
posted by papercake at 1:22 PM on October 25, 2007

Amazon.com.uk is your best bet for "regular" stuff.
posted by anastasiav at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2007

Yup, I've bought a few UK versions (and not yet released in the US/Canada) books through amazon.co.uk
posted by defcom1 at 1:33 PM on October 25, 2007

The problem is that shipping is just so expensive.

I've been gradually reading the Inspector Rebus books by Ian Rankin and I've been buying them on the US amazon.com.

I look for the used versions, but ones that are shipping from the United Kingdom.

I've been getting them for $8, including shipping, which seems reasonable to me.

Much better than paying £3.49 plus £6.98 for shipping!
posted by gregvr at 2:20 PM on October 25, 2007

You might be able to find cheap used copies of British books on ebay.

That's how I found a rare Jeff Noon book (which I foolishly sold a year later).
posted by drezdn at 2:24 PM on October 25, 2007

I reguarly import books from the UK, at least a few books per month (big bibliophile here). I used to use amazon.co.uk regularly.

DO NOT USE AMAZON.CO.UK *

Use The Book Depository. They have FREE shipping to anywhere in the world, including of course, the US. I regularly save 10-15 (or more) per order on shipping costs. They ship one item per book per box though (for whatever reason) so be prepared if you order multiple books to receive one per box (which threw me a little at first).

*On occasion they will have a higher price than amazon.co.uk, but it is usually still less than amazon.co.uk when the shipping is figured in. Also on occasion they will not have a particular book in stock that amazon.co.uk has in stock.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 3:37 PM on October 25, 2007 [3 favorites]

You could try Bookmooch. It's a book trading service, with quite a few UK members. You have to build up credits, but it's a nice and free way to get UK books if they are available in the database.
posted by reenum at 4:15 PM on October 25, 2007

I would definitely peruse eBay. I've gotten recent (at the time) pop culture books published in/from the UK, namely music, comedy, and television books that I don't think were ever published in the US. There are a lot of warehouses that sell their extra stock of books on eBay (some rare UK stuff).
posted by Mael Oui at 8:21 PM on October 25, 2007

The Greenwich Village Shakespeare & Co. has a Brit section.
posted by brujita at 9:42 PM on October 25, 2007

2nding The Book Depository. Great service, speedy delivery - even faster much of the time than Amazon couk.
posted by derMax at 8:40 AM on October 26, 2007