Online Bookstores That Are Not Amazon

Here’s what you’ll find in this article:

• A list of independent online bookstores that have a lot of titles for you to choose from.
• The best places to buy used books on the web.
• A short list of ethical bookstores with a socially aware mission.
• Textbook stores online that will help you save money.
• Resources that will help you find local bookstores near you.
• A list of book and literacy charities you can donate to.

Amazon is an online retail giant that dominates virtually every market for online goods. No matter what you’re thinking of buying, it always feels like Amazon is the premier shopping destination and for good reason: The products are cheap, shipping is fast, and you have a wide selection of items to choose from. This is especially true for books.

As someone who made a conscious and deliberate choice to buy a more expensive Kobo eReader over an Amazon Kindle, I get why you might not want to give your money to a company that’s known for nefarious labor practices and getting its employees killed. Books are great. Amazon? Not so much.

But with Amazon accounting for nearly 75% of all online book sales and acquiring one of its biggest competitors, we’re running out of options for more ethical online bookstores.

Or are we? While these independent online bookstores aren’t as popular as Bezos’ operation, they’re a great option for people looking for where to buy books online other than Amazon.

Independent Online Bookstores With A Great Selection of Books

1. Bookshop.org

Bookshop.org is our favorite non-Amazon online bookstore here at A Little Bit Human. This online book retailer carries big titles and regularly adds new releases to its site. Along with popular YA novels, the store has a varied selection of books from POC writers and indigenous writers as well as foreign literature translated to English. Bookshop.org even has this list of books about sapphic pirates which is a delightfully hyper-specific niche. If that’s a little too out there for you, don’t fret. It also has a plethora of classic books available.

What makes Bookshop.org so great is that it helps raise money to keep local bookstores open. At the time this article was written, it had already raised over $19 million for independent bookshops across the country.

Bookshop.org does this in two ways. The first is by giving smaller bookstores 30% of all sales made through the Bookshop.org page. The second is by adding 10% of all regular sales earnings to a pool that’s divided evenly among all partnered independent bookstores on a bi-annual basis.

2. Alibris

Nothing says wide range of choices like having over 150 million books for sale.

Alibris is a California-based online book retailer established by Richard Weatherford. In the 1980s, Weatherford wanted to start a company that would help sellers find rare and out of print books.

A lack of capital delayed that dream until he met Marty Manley. Together, they turned the initial business model idea into something that could put independent booksellers on the online retail map.

If you go on Alibris right now and search for a book, you’ll find that the product page has a list of independent bookstores that you can buy from, along with their locations. This lets you support local book shops while still enjoying the much-loved Amazon convenience.

TTRPG fans reading this will be glad to know that Alibris has copies of Dungeons & Dragons modules. So if you want to pick up a copy of Strixhaven, it’s available right here.

3. Book Outlet

Book Outlet lays a claim to the title of best online bookstore for one key reason: its books are exceptionally affordable. The site claims to have “read-iculously low prices.” Scroll down a bit and there are ads for books on the site discounted as much as 90%.

That said, prices this low are bound to make anyone question how Book Outlet manages to charge so little. Turns out it makes cheap online book shopping possible by selling excess inventory and store returns. Don’t worry, though: the books are still in great condition.

For my fellow Jane Austen fans, or any 19th-century literature fan for that matter, you’ll be pleased to learn that Book Outlet has a ton of leatherbound classic novels from Paper Mill Classics. Case in point, a lovely copy of Pride and Prejudice that you can buy here.

4. City Lights Booksellers

City Lights is, as it describes itself, one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States. The San Francisco-based bookstore itself could count as a national landmark seeing as it’s been around since 1953 and was once home to beatniks — probably because its founder, poet and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti, was himself one of the original beatniks.

This bookstore, which now has an online book shop, caters to a specific kind of reader. Intellectual, if you’d like to be gracious, or pretentious, if you want to offend. If that just makes you more eager to check out the site, you know exactly what kind of books I’m talking about.

Used Book Shops to Buy From Online

1. ThriftBooks

The hardest part of buying used books online is finding a trustworthy secondhand bookseller who accurately describes the condition its books are in.

ThriftBooks does. Not only does this online thrift bookstore have glowing reviews from thousands of customers, but it also offers free shipping for whichever book you decide to buy from the inventory of 13 million books.

With that many books available, it’s hard to think of a title that ThriftBooks doesn’t have but believe it or not, it happens. When there’s no demand for a book, ThriftBook donates or recycles its unwanted inventory.

2. Check Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Book Groups

This list of the best websites to buy used books from is a lot shorter than expected, mainly because Amazon now owns many of the used books retailers initially listed. Though Facebook isn’t exactly what we have in mind when we look for thrift books online, going small is the easiest way to make sure you aren’t buying your secondhand books from Amazon.

Facebook might not be the hip social media site it once was, but most people have a Facebook account, book lovers included. It’s not hard to find book-loving communities there or groups where people put their used books up for sale.

3. Instagram Used Books Stores

Another way to buy good used books is to look for small book thrift stores on Instagram. The site is mostly known for influencers and perfectly curated feeds, but it has a bustling network of vintage and used item sellers. The biggest shops sell used vintage clothes but right up there with them are used books sellers.

The books typically come from flea markets, garage sales, or small local bookstores that don’t have an online presence though some of them are the local used book shops themselves.

Ethical Online Bookstores That Are on a Mission

1. Wordery

Wordery has a lot going for it. Aside from having thousands of books (and puzzles!) to choose from, it offers free delivery no matter where you are on the planet. Wordery also has one of the most pleasant to use websites on this list, together with Bookshop.org.

But what makes Wordery ethical? The company has a strict policy against modern-day slavery throughout all of its supply chains and packages all of its orders in recyclable material. Wordery also supports Cherrywood Community Primary School which is located in the U.K. Finally, the company donates to the National Literacy Trust, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and to other schools worldwide.

2. Biblio.com

If you need another used books and rare books seller other than ThriftBooks, Biblio.com is right up your alley. Biblio.com has a lot of cool books from as far back as the early 1900s, when Art Noveau was the name of the game for book covers. Just take a look at this gorgeous set of fairytale books published throughout the late 1880s to 1910!

Biblio.com doesn’t just sell beautiful first editions, though. The company practices an equally lovely business model founded on the idea of the “EPIC” bottom line. EPIC stands for Environment, Profit, Independence, and Community, all of which Biblio.com balances in its pursuit of profit.

Biblio.com also has its own non-profit organization, Biblio Chairtable Works, Inc., an organization that seeks to bring literacy to underserved and impoverished communities in countries like Bolivia. The non-profit collaborates with prison book programs and homeless shelters, too.

3. OR Books

OR Books isn’t so much an online bookseller as it is a publishing company because its entire ethical schtick goes against the typical practice of printing books and sending them to sellers who will then sell them. As Book Outlet and ThriftBooks have shown, there’s a lot of waste involved with this kind of bookselling method.

So OR Books just prints books whenever someone wants to buy them. The company claims that this unconventional print-on-demand style of book retailing avoids “the waste of unsold stock and returns.” Plus, its e-books aren’t picky when it comes to what device you’re reading it on. It’s the ultimate anti-Amazon.

Textbook Stores Online for the Broke Academic

1. Valore Books

Anyone who is or has been to college knows that textbooks cost a small fortune that no one has the extra money for. Valore Books offers a simple solution: connect broke college (and law and med school students) with textbook sellers and rental service providers that can give them access to the semester’s books without costing an arm and a kidney.

When you’re done with the textbooks you bought from Valore Books, you can sell them back to them. The site offers instant online quotes with free shipping. It also claims to have “the highest sell back prices in the industry”, higher than Amazon’s textbook sell back rates.

2. eCampus

Like Valore Books, eCampus offers the option to buy, sell, and rent textbooks. It also has digital copies for sale, if you don’t like carrying half your weight in paper all over campus. This store will ship your thrift textbooks for free if your order is above $35. You can save an additional $5 if you avail of its discount by texting “BOOKS” to 87955.

If you’re planning to order the same textbooks with at least 20 other people, eCampus can offer you a discount for the bulk order, however, shipping for 20+ copies of the same book does not come for free.

3. Legal Alternatives to Those Free Textbooks on Imgur

This is it, folks, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: free books!

It’s no secret that textbook prices have pushed many desperate college students into a life of crime and by a life of crime, I mean piracy. But you don’t have to resort to the “free” college textbooks on Imgur because there are legal alternatives.

OpenStax.org is a non-profit that develops open-source educational material written by real experts and thoroughly peer-reviewed. Another site that’s working to make information accessible is Open Textbook Library which has everything from veterinary science books to legal casebooks. There’s also the UC Press E-Books Collection, Open Library, and Brill.

Find Local Bookstores Near You

1. A List of Independent Bookstores by State

One of the best ways to keep Amazon from taking over the entire bookselling industry is to support local indie bookstores. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to find one near you. what can help, though, is this list of independent bookstores by state compiled by Book Riot. The number of bookstores to choose from is typically just a handful per state, but it’s a great place to start if you want to start ordering books online from stores that aren’t Amazon and are in your area.

But the list might not have all the indie bookstores in your state and, frankly, just because it’s in your state doesn’t mean it’s possible for you to visit in person post-work from home hours.

That’s where IndieBound’s bookstore finder comes in.

2. IndieBound’s Indie Bookstore Finder

Four words: search by zip code.

IndieBound is a “local first” indie book shopping initiative launched by the American Booksellers Association. The site has a nifty Indie Bookstore Finder tool that lets you filter local independent bookstores by zip code, city, or address. You can even specify how local you want it to be by selecting one of the options under “Distance”.

3. A List of Members of the Independent Online Booksellers Association

If you want one more way to find independent bookstores, you can look through the Independent Booksellers Association’s member directory. The member directory of the IOBA lists all of its member bookstores in alphabetical order. In case you found the earlier two options a little lacking, this one has hundreds of stores to choose from, all organized in alphabetical order. For example, if you’re looking for somewhere to purchase used books and you’re near PO Box 243, Sand Lake, MI, 49343, United States, you can hit up Gabe Konrad’s Bay Leaf Used & Rare Books. That’s how specific this directory is.

When you’re done getting through your TBR pile, consider donating to the following charities to share the joys of literature with people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Book Charities to Donate to So You Can Spread the Love for Reading

1. Book Aid International

Book Aid International is a London-based registered charity whose mission is to bring books to poor communities that don’t have access to them. The organization works with publishers, partners, and donors to select brand new books that are then supplied to libraries, schools, refugee camps, hospitals, and prisons worldwide.

Book Aid accepts book donations as well as monetary ones. If you do send in books though, note that it only takes brand new books unless you have books in braille that are still in good condition. For secondhand book donations, Book Aid recommends Book Aid for Africa, an organization that provides secondhand textbooks to schools in Africa.

2. Literacy for Incarcerated Teens

Addressing crime and juvenile delinquency goes beyond enacting change at the policy-making level. For Literacy for Incarcerated Teens, books are the key to providing a lifeline for incarcerated teens to become emotionally healthy and well-rounded adults. The basic idea is to give them books that can help them develop a more positive outlook, strengthen their sense of self, and, hopefully, stop them from engaging in criminal behavior.

According to the organization, 96% of youths detained by the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice read two or more years below their current grade level. Considering that education tends to reduce crime and increase public safety, Literacy for Incarcerated Teens is serving an often overlooked need of young people in prisons.

3. The Chicago Literacy Alliance

The Chicago Literacy Alliance isn’t one organization — it’s a collection of over 100 of them. Each of these organizations is focused on the goal of bringing literacy and reading resources to people of all ages and backgrounds. The alliance is trying to solve low literacy in Chicago where 39% of public school students don’t meet the reading standards for their grade and 61% of low-income households do not own books for children in the family.

The Chicago Literary Alliance’s member organizations help give more than 18 people a year access to books. The alliance also runs English as a Second Language tutoring programs for adults. If you’re interested in its cause, you can check out its member organizations here.