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Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

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Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#291

Post by shnksi »

aaronhand wrote: post #267

I use bigwords.com which works well and has quite a bit more features like ISBN searches, selling/buying, shipping cost, book condition, book type (electronic, international version, etc), bundling multiple book purchases, etc. It was originally for textbooks, but I find that it works for any book.

ISBN searches are now live, shipping cost is included in the price if you're in the US and will be reflected for other regions soon, book condition is included, currently the site only includes physical books but shortly I will add support for ebooks and audiobooks at which point I will include book types. Bundling book purchases will also be coming in the next few weeks.

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#292

Post by shnksi »

chatterhead wrote: post #57

Searched for Streams of Silver and got a higher priced book as a return than what was available on the site recommended. Seems that was because of the cost of shipping. Though it was only 0.01 more than what was recommended and didn't appear on the results. Recommended: $4.58 https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3131841312... Found: $2.50 + $2.00 shipping https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi…

It looks like this was happening because the book is too far down the list on that site so the algorithm assumes its unimportant. I'm improving the algorithm now to account for these cases.

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#293

Post by unhammer »

shnksi wrote: post #175
unhammer wrote: post #173

Pretty nice as a way of finding non-Amazon places to buy books. I don't care so much about cheapest, but I do prefer to support independent shops and authors. Any plans to add e-books, preferably with a filter to exclude those with DRM? (watermarking is fine, but adobe drm requires opening in windows and extracting things with dedrm, such a hassle / business opportunity)

I'm going to add a "No Amazon" filter in the next couple of days which excludes Amazon and it's subsidiaries from all searches. I also plan to add ebook and audiobook support but that will likely take until the end of next week until it's operational. If there's anything else you want to see please let me know, I'd be happy to build it for you.

Well, if I search for "Middlemarch" as an ebook, I would expect to get https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/george-eliot/middlemarch :-)

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#294

Post by mattkrause »

shnksi wrote: post #226
mattkrause wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently discovered that my local shop can sometimes order books at prices that are much better than Amazon ($80 vs. $110) and often not much slower (under a week, which is competitive with Amazon’s free shipping).

That's great, do you mind if I grab the name of one of these shops so I can look into including similar shops in the tool?

I actually found it via the publisher. Penguin Random House has a service that does it, at least in Canada.

Try here https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/656337/neural-contro...

Hit "Shop Local" on a webpage and enter a post code. I don't want to give mine (they sometimes resolve to individual buildings) but H1A1A1 works.

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#295

Post by greenie_beans »

shnksi wrote: post #66
socialismisok wrote: post #64

Is "cheapest" the right objective? Because if that's the case, book piracy seems like the clear winner. But maybe we should consider "cheapest with some boundaries". For instance, we probably agree that bookstores are nice for a myriad of reasons, even if we don't frequent them. They employ people in the area, they offer curation and recommendations, they invite speakers and host events, and they help local authors g…

Thanks for your comment, all of that is certainly true. I'm thinking through a solution that would likely come in the form of certain filters on the site. I'd try to get your region as accurately as possible or ask for input, and then serve you local bookstores in your area that have their catalogues online. Something like this would help promote local stores and help you differentiate between your local bookstores.…

that already exists: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780988518391

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#296

Post by greenie_beans »

niklasmerz wrote: post #142

As a German I don't have to worry too much about the prices of books. We have Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung

does that apply to used books, or just new? i think (?) the target for this website is used because there is a fixed price for newly published books. (however sometimes big box stores will mark them down or run a sale)

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#297

Post by greenie_beans »

criddell wrote: post #211
rolae wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bookshop.org is about that, privately funded with the objective to let independent book sellers stand up to the power of amazon. https://bookshop.org/info/about-us

Isn't Bookshop.org really just Ingram Content Group?

yeah bookshop hardly counts for a win for the indies. it's basically affiliate marketing if you're an indie and you link to "your" bookshop

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#298

Post by greenie_beans »

andrewstuart wrote: post #165

How about "finding the site that best supports independent booksellers"? Its disappointing that so much of our society is about cheapest price.

indiebound does this, here's an example: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780988518391

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#299

Post by barbazoo »

CompleteWalker wrote: post #51
barbazoo wrote: post #35

Funny, that's not even my highest priority. I wish I could sort by how big or small they are, if they do anything particularly socially or ecologically responsible or something. I want to spend my money at good, human, responsible places.

Check out https://bookshop.org/ Allows you to select a local bookshop to support. The book gets shipped directly from Ingram, with some of the proceeds going to the selected store. I asked at my local bookshop if this was preferable to ordering the book with them and going to pick it up. They assured me it was, it saves them upfront costs and guarantees the sale. I still go in when I can to browse new titles, but the…

That looks great thanks. I should have mentioned I'm in Canada but I'll keep an eye on it.

Re: Show HN: I built a site that finds the cheapest place to buy a book

#300

Post by kortilla »

bee_rider wrote: post #83
kortilla wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re conflating cheap with copyright violation, which is a bit disingenuous in an attempt I guess to guilt people for wanting to buy a cheap book. It’s fine to want a cheap book, want to support the publisher/author with a legit purchase, and not care about supporting a bookstore. Not everyone who likes books cares to keep alive the industry of physical books and bookstores.

What is "fine" is a values judgement. I would say that there's a continuum that goes from downloading an unapproved copy (worst) to buying the book at a local bookstore (best), and buying from Amazon instead sits somewhere in the middle. Somebody else might find the whole publishing industry gross, and decide the most moral choices are to either pirate the book or buy a secondhand copy.

>would say that there's a continuum that goes from downloading an unapproved copy (worst) to buying the book at a local bookstore (best),

Because you’re still fixated on bookstores, which tons of people don’t give a shit about. You’re incorrectly putting stuff on a one-dimensional continuum.

>or buy a secondhand copy.

Being a secondary market participant supports a market. If you don’t want to support publishers, it must be pirated.

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