Best for Rare and Out of Print. (Barnes & Noble)

Member Name: jatkinson100

Product:	Barnes & Noble
Date:	09/11/00 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent range of goods and rare books. Site is excellent.

Disadvantages: As it is an American firm, the shipping costs can easily outweigh any reduction in price, and there's a six week wait for the goods.

I have just finished at Uni., and for my dissertation I was trying to get hold of a book that had been highly recomended to me, and I searched everywhere. The thing is, and maybe this is just because I haven't looked hard enough, there aren't any online book shops offering a wide range of the rarer or out of print titles on this side of the Atlantic. I looked on WHSmith, Amazon.co.uk etc, but nothing. Then I had a brainwave, "Use a search engine" I thought, and so I did. The result was a load of synopses of the book, references to people who had quoted from the book (and, presumably, owned the bugger!), but nowhere for me to buy it. Then I clicked on the B and N banner, thinking that it would be a waste of time but I had exhausted all other options. Then, there it was! Like the Holy Grail, a chance to buy this book stared me in the face.

The price was a little over the odds, but as I didn't have much choice, I had to take it. As I remember, the shipping costs were reasonable, and they had sent me $10 off a couple of days before, so it didn't turn out as expensive as I thought. The trouble was that there's no point getting one single book sent from America, is there? There web site, with a great deal more than just books on offer is accessible, easy to use, quick loading, and damn easy to blow your cash on, which I did, and I've used them several times since.

Overall, I'd only go accross the Atlantic for rare or hard to find books, as the prices over here are now much the same (Amazon.co.uk gives you the US list price in £'s, and they compare favourably) but the shipping costs are so expensive. B and N is a good site with a wide choice, but its just too far away.

Summary: