Least annoying "normal" (DRM) UK/US e-book shops to buy EPUB from (Thinking Alf)

[avid01]

Even though I have a Kindle, I thought I rather want to buy books in EPUB format. I see a bigger utility in them in the long run.

The following five UK shops sell the same (DRM) book for the exact same amount:
- Foyles
- Waterstones
- WH Smith (Kobo UK)
- Sony
- Nook

Now I know Amazon's system (I have to download their software to my PC, then look for the book in My Documents directory). I have no idea how the above 3 works but which of these 3 is the least painful to get my hands on the physical EPUB file to later do whatever I feel like with it (read: Alf). Instead of trying all 3 by myself, I would like to use your experiences.

Now the above question is for the UK situation (for books cheaper in the UK) but in the long run I will need the same solution (least painful to extract EPUB from) for US sellers as well.

Why do I want to buy EPUB and not convert Amazon's proprietary format back to it?
1. EPUB is just better: https://ebookglue.com/blog/2013/05/2...kf8-vs-epub-3/
2. My money goes to support EPUB vendors (in the broadest terms), not tricky reconverting to EPUB.

Edit: the book is not cheaper on Amazon by a single cent.

[speakingtohe]

I would go for pricing myself. If you open MY computer and type the name in the search bar you should be able to find the book easily enough at any of them.

Helen

As far as I know, WHSmith sold out their ebook store to Kobo. The irritating thing about Kobo is that you can only buy one book at a time, and their customer service... requires improvement. But they are my second go-to ebook store after Amazon. They do money-off offers quite regularly. (And their book readers are nice.)

Waterstones - I think I've bought from them once, because that's the only time they had what I wanted at the cheapest price. Generally they either don't have what I want, or they have it but with a hefty price hike.

Generally, I have to admit, I buy from Amazon. It's cheap, it's easy, and the customer service is good.

[HarryT]

When I buy ePub books (which isn't very often) I generally buy from Waterstones. But honestly, as someone else has said, I'd stick with Amazon. Their bookstore is the easiest to use and they have far and away the best selection. If you do buy an ePub reader in the future it's easy to convert from Amazon's formats (Mobi, KF8) to ePub using Calibre.

[cfrizz]

I made a file in my documents folder called My Ebooks.

All of my epub books get downloaded to my download folder, they are then transferred over to Calibre for cleaning. From there they get transferred to the My Ebooks folder. I also back them up on a separate Iomega portable hard drive.

I only purchase standard Adobe drm books or drm free books.

Buy based on price.

[Fbone]

Kobo with one of their promo codes is often the cheapest.

[pidgeon92]

I, too, buy solely based on price. If I can, I borrow from the library instead.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Kobo with one of their promo codes is often the cheapest.

Often only if the coupon is for 35% or better, at least in my experience from the US. Sometimes a 30% code will get you a slightly lower price than Amazon, but often it's still a bit more expensive. I'm sure it depends on the books one happens to be shopping for at the time though.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Often only if the coupon is for 35% or better, at least in my experience from the US. Sometimes a 30% code will get you a slightly lower price than Amazon, but often it's still a bit more expensive. I'm sure it depends on the books one happens to be shopping for at the time though.

That may be true. I generally use 45% or higher codes. The original poster may be in the UK so will have a different experience. And for Agency priced titles I sometimes see Diesel has the low price.

[shanghaichica]

Well Kobo have given me one measly coupon for 20% in a year and to be honest it's not worth using it. Most of the books I want would still be more expensive than the kindle version. Also the few that are cheaper are only a few pennies less. Hardly worth the hassle of converting for use on my kindle.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by shanghaichica

Well Kobo have given me one measly coupon for 20% in a year and to be honest it's not worth using it. Most of the books I want would still be more expensive than the kindle version. Also the few that are cheaper are only a few pennies less. Hardly worth the hassle of converting for use on my kindle.

You need to go to the deals thread. There are usually a bunch of discounts available for Kobo, but they don't work for all publishers.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...Discount Codes

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by avid01

Even though I have a Kindle, I thought I rather want to buy books in EPUB format. I see a bigger utility in them in the long run.

The following three UK shops sell the same (DRM) book for the exact same amount:
- Foyles
- Waterstones
- WH Smith (Kobo UK)

Now I know Amazon's system (I have to download their software to my PC, then look for the book in My Documents directory). I have no idea how the above 3 works but which of these 3 is the least painful to get my hands on the physical EPUB file to later do whatever I feel like with it (read: Alf). Instead of trying all 3 by myself, I would like to use your experiences.

Now the above question is for the UK situation (for books cheaper in the UK) but in the long run I will need the same solution (least painful to extract EPUB from) for US sellers as well.

I'm not sure that I understand your question - but if you want to buy epub books then you can continue to purchase from Amazon but just use Calibre's Alf plug in to handle the rights and conversion issues.

I use Sony's Reader for PC as my desktop software which is where all my epubs (and library epubs) get dropped into.

From there I import the title into Calibre and it does it's thing.

So - you will continue to use Kindle desktop as your desktop software for Amazon products, you'll use Sony Reader for all your epubs irrespective of whether you buy them from Kobo or any of the 3 you mentioned.

Hope that helps

[avid01]

I updated my first post:

The following five UK shops sell the same (DRM) book for the exact same amount:
- Foyles
- Waterstones
- WH Smith (Kobo UK)
- Sony
- Nook

[...]

Why do I want to buy EPUB and not convert Amazon's proprietary format back to it?
1. EPUB is just better: https://ebookglue.com/blog/2013/05/2...kf8-vs-epub-3/
2. My money goes to support EPUB vendors (in the broadest terms), not tricky reconverting to EPUB.

[HarryT]

Can you explain, please, how the money you pay for a book goes "directly to ePub development"?

[shanghaichica]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

You need to go to the deals thread. There are usually a bunch of discounts available for Kobo, but they don't work for all publishers.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...Discount Codes

Thanks I will check them out