Which stores do you use for English books?

[Dr. Drib]

Amazon, of course!

I want to help them, so I buy from them.

[rcentros]

Mostly Amazon. Some Kobo. Some Barnes & Noble.

[Victoria]

Used to buy from Sony, Fictionwise, Books-onboard, etc, but they've all closed.

I initially decided to split my major purchases between kobo and amazon, as i wanted to support a Canadian business. But i find kobo frustrating. The search function can give mixed results. The storefront software doesn't lend itself to reading reviews very easily. The apps clutter my screen with all kinds of annoying little ribbons and trinkets to congratulate me for reading.

But the biggest issue is that everytime the app software is updated, i have to redownload my books. Plus they make it difficult to locate and the download the backup epub from my laptop. It seems to me that Kobo's agenda is to "rent" books to me, rather than acknowledge that i bought them. That's where my patriotism ends i now make most purchases from the US amazon store.

I haven't been very familiar with Baen, but have just begun the Liaden series, and am really enjoying it, so will explore more from them.

[burnafterreading]

since my devices are Kobo Glo and two Android tablets (7" and 10", with various reading apps installed), my first store to look at is Kobo since that'll sync across all devices. i always cross-check with Google Play Books to see if the prices are equal or at least close enough to not be a big deal. i've added the Amazon Kindle app but haven't looked through their store yet. the rest is sideloads.

so, in order every single time:

1 - kobo, cross-checked with other stores for price
2 - google, usually by now i've found the book and the price is acceptable so i buy
3 - amazon (new)
4 - sideload

[tecweston]

I have a Nook so I tend to shop at B&N first. Then check Amazon, which often have cheaper prices. Then I'll check Kobo since sometimes you can use discount codes. Google Play rarely has the cheapest price but it has happened a couple times. Those are the only ones I buy from, since I can't put iBooks on my Nook.

I always check my library website first though. I've noticed that, since about a year ago, they've gotten pretty much every big new book. They used to only get some stuff and I'd have to pay for stuff like Stephen King books, but now they even get his stuff. I rarely have to buy books anymore because my library gets pretty much everything.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Mivo

The only outlet I categorically don't buy e-books from is Amazon, but that is just me being stubborn.

Me too, but not really for any philosophical reasons; I dislike mobi/AZW3 and 1-Click®. If they got rid of 1-Click®, I'd buy from them occasionally and if they sold epubs, I'd probably buy from them almost exclusively.

Originally Posted by cromag

** Kobo has given me more problems than any other vendor -- in terms of downloading the wrong book or failing to download anything. And their customer service has been miserable to deal with.

This has been my experience, as well. In fact, I have a book that won't download right now that I've been putting off contacting them about because I don't want to deal with it.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sure, I agree. There's no reason to buy at B&N rather than Kobo or any other ePub store.

I used to think that until I figured out that B&N will update downloads with new editions. B&N doesn't tell you that they've done so (you just have to download and check), but I think B&N, eBooks.com and Amazon are the only ones that update previously purchased books. I feel like NOOK Media is living on borrowed time, but until it disappears, it's still my favorite overall. In addition to updates, B&N's prices are competitive and I can download on any number of devices without worrying about ADE activations or a different DRM key for each device.

Kobo used to get most of my business because of the good coupons, but now they barely get any. I buy from Google very occasionally, but Google's epubs have almost as much added code as Kobo's do. I buy from eBooks.com if a book I want is the same price as other vendors, but it's prices are usually much higher. The only other vendor that regularly gets my business is Christianbook. While it's selection is somewhat narrow , books from several publishers are available DRM-free and are clearly marked as such.

[Apache]

Calibre makes Mobi/AZW3 moot.
And you can turn one click off at Amazon.
Apache

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Apache

And you can turn one click off at Amazon.

... and you can still buy ebooks? I didn't think that was possible....

[susan_cassidy]

It isn't. One-click is the only way to buy ebooks. You can't turn it off for them, period.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Apache

Calibre makes Mobi/AZW3 moot.

I disagree. I don't like the way Calibre conversions work. Some AZW3 books were created from valid epubs and KindleUnpack will return them close to the original state. For the others, I'll create an epub from the HTML that can be extracted. If I really want a Kindle-only book, I'll go to the trouble. For the rest it's not worth it, especially if I also have to pay for it.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

This has been my experience, as well. In fact, I have a book that won't download right now that I've been putting off contacting them about because I don't want to deal with it.

I've got one Kobo book that can't be downloaded (not even to Kobo for PC) and I decided to let it go. It's not worth the time and frustration to pursue it.

[Phogg]

I used to buy from Fictionwise, Feedbooks, Baen, and Sony.
I have some things I got from Peanut Press years ago.
I get a lot of free domain stuff from here and Guttenberg.
Most of my purchases now are from Amazon or Kobo, but I may start using Smashwords more.

[GERGE]

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I have started to use Amazon because of this; and if others doesn't do anything against this, I might start use Amazon exclusively.

[piperclassique]

Whoever has the book I want at the best price, except for B and N, who are a pain to deal with, and life is too short to download their books any more. Of course, quite often the best price is right here, or at Gutenberg.
I use Luzme to find out the best deal, then read on kindle.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

I buy from Google very occasionally, but Google's epubs have almost as much added code as Kobo's do.

I recently bought a few books from Kobo. None of them had any added code. Are you sure that added code is from Kobo and not from the publisher?