My experience with bookdepository.com - Shipping time and packaging

I recently made a couple of purchases on bookdepository.com for the first time. They have free worldwide delivery on all items I think, so check them out if you are interested. In this post I will show you how the books had been packaged and compare how accurate the estimated delivery time is with my experience, in case there are people who are concerned about this.

Shipping time - How long does it take?

The first order was shipped the 6th of September and arrived the 24th/25th. Not counting weekend days this is around 12 days. They state that delivery time from the UK to Europe (in my case Denmark) is 4-8 days, so it isn't that far off.

The other order was shipped the 13th of September and arrived the 26th. Not counting weekend days this is 9 days, which is only off by 1 day. So no problem at all.

From what the package says the orders where both shipped by Air mail.

Packaging - Did the items arrive safely?

Regular manga volume (standard english tankobon size)

The first order was a volume of Eyeshield 21 which i was missing.
It was packaged in an envelope with bubble wrap padding on the inside. Which I think is a packing I see a lot when purchasing single volumes of books or video games.
In the case where it is used for video games I haven't had any problems with it at all, since they are in plastic cases they don't get damaged with this packing in my experience.
Books on the other hand are more risky, because they can get bend marks or have their spines crushed a little bit at the ends. Although I don't think it happens often and if there are such mark they are usually minimal.

In my case this time the end of the spine was a bit bend (see the picture below). But other than that it was in perfect condition. The damage was very minor, so i don't mind. But it might be a bigger deal for you if you want everything in "mint" condition or plan on reselling it later on.

Hardcover book

The other book that i ordered was the English release of Vinland Saga (hardcover). Just a heads up, the book fell a little in price since I placed the order even though it doesn't say it's on sale or anything, so it might pay off a bit to keep en eye on the prices. Although this might just be changes of the exchange rate though, i don't know.

It was packed in cardboard similar to those that Amazon sometimes uses.

This one had a minor bend at one of the corners. But I tried to bend it back in place a bit, and with that it is barely noticeable. Other than that it was perfect too, so I am really happy with that.

After bending it back in place -->

Closing comment

Overall I am satisfied with my experience with bookdepository.com and can see myself using their services again in the future. It would be nice if they had more sales, but maybe I haven't been keeping an eye out for it enough. UPDATE: In the beginning of October I did get a 10% off code to use on an order which was pretty nice :)

I usually get english books online from Amazon, but I think bookdepository.com is just as good in terms of packaging and delivery time (Amazon standard/free delivery). So I will probably continue to use both websites in the future.

By the way I used to be able to get free delivery through Amazon.co.uk to Denmark if my order totaled a certain amount some years back, but they stopped offering this. Instead I recently discovered that Amazon.de is offering free delivery to Denmark for orders over 39 EUR. This apply to other European countries as well, so check out their site: International Delivery Rates & Times.

I hope this post was helpful.

Feel free to leave a comment below and please share your experience.

Have a nice day~