Online Bookstores

There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of places to buy books online. Like us at EzBuyBookOnline, a great number of online bookstores are affiliates of the bigger, better-known stores. Here's a list with some background on the better known booksellers online...

Amazon is now pretty well a household name and is the largest online retailer in America - outstripping its nearest competitor by a factor of three. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon commenced business in 1995 as an online bookstore named Cadabra.com. The name was changed and the company quickly diversified, selling DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, and toys. Amazon now serves customers in United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Canada and even China through its country-specific websites. Amazon is said to have invented the "affiliate program" which has been a real success phenomenon, changing the way marketing online is done.

Barnes & Noble is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the NYSE under the symbol "BKS." They claim to be the largest online bookstore, stocking over a million titles (more than its competitors) and so have focused on building a site search engine in order to provide customers with fast access to the products they seek. Their search interface is indeed quite fast. In 2009, Barnes & Noble became the internets leader in ebooks and launched "Nook", an advanced ebook reader allowing downloads in seconds. The website offers vast interactivity, author-hosted events and lively discussion boards that a real hit with booklovers.

AbeBooks.com is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc as it was acquired by Amazon, late 2008 but remains a stand-alone operation with its headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. AbeBooks is an online bookstore with millions of new, used, rare, and out-of-print books from thousands of booksellers around the world. Founded in 1995 by two couples from Victoria, AbeBooks.com went online in 1996, specialising in rare, hard-to-find books. The New York Times has described the company as “an actual Internet success story.” AbeBooks is without doubt the best web bookstore for finding extremely rare books and so is very popular with book collectors.


BookFinder.com is a book search engine that searches over 150 million books for sale—new, used, rare, out-of-print, new and used textbooks. Bookfinder searches every major online bookstore , and shows which booksellers are offering the best prices and selection. BookFinder.com was launched in 1997 by then -19-year-old UC Berkeley undergraduate Anirvan Chatterjee. Bookfinder is one of the most valuable resources for bibliophiles online. BookFinder.com is an independent subsidiary of AbeBooks, which is based in Victoria, Canada, which is an independent subsidiary of Amazon!

Alibris is a leading online marketplace for independent sellers of new and used books, music, and movies, as well as rare and collectible titles. Launched in 1998 and located in Emeryville, California, Alibris has grown to become the largest independently owned online bookstore. Using proprietary technology and advanced logistics Alibris provides access to more than 100 million used, out-of-print and new books to retail business partners, consumers and libraries. Alibris prides itself on its social conscience and participates in initiatives to save the environment.

Powell's Books commenced its operations in 1971 and now operates five Portland, Oregon stores and one in Beaverton. Serving its customers from a number of warehouses and book sources locally, nationally, and internationally, Powell's has become a successful dot com.

Tomfolio.com has an interesting story... The website is owned and operated by a legally incorporated cooperative under Wisconsin law, aptly named "ABookCoop". As a cooperative, the site is jointly and equally owned by independent member booksellers. Owner-membership is open to all independent booksellers who purchase a share of cooperative stock. TomFolio.com specializes in selling used, rare, and collectible books, periodicals and book-related paraphernalia.