Chile Forum

Ok, so I imagine that most of you, like me, sometimes need a book and have a hard time finding it in Stgo, or Chile for that matter, especially if you want it in English. I was recently introduced to a web site that is called "Better World Books" where you can get used books for really great prices, and new ones too if you prefer. And they ship all books internationally, for just $4 USD per book. Definitely comes out cheaper than getting books from a bookshop here in Stgo. There is even a section where you can get 5 books for $15.
So, just wanted to put up a post for those who may be interested. Also you can use some coupon codes like "goodreading" gets you 10% off your purchase or "cabin530" gets you $5 off a purchase of $30 or more.
So, I hope it will be as helpful to you as it has been to me!!

Heather, that's great! It cost my family member almost $10 to send two small paperbacks to me. I plan on getting a Kindle (from Amazon) whenever we get back, but this might be a good alternative in the meantime. Have you ordered and gotten your books? Any trouble with customs declarations? Thanks again!

Vicki

I ordered 1 book a while back, and had no problems. It came directly to my house. A few days back I ordered quite a large order of books, so I´ll let you know if I have any problems with customs.

To anyone out there in Chile that wants to clue us in.

Does Chile Customs keep a database of ALL packages coming in, who and where they go to, the stated content value and itemization of contents? Are small packages to residential addresses flagged for frequency or origin or other patterns?

heatherdevega wrote:Ok, so I imagine that most of you, like me, sometimes need a book and have a hard time finding it in Stgo, or Chile for that matter, especially if you want it in English. I was recently introduced to a web site that is called "Better World Books" where you can get used books for really great prices, and new ones too if you prefer. And they ship all books internationally, for just $4 USD per book. Definitely comes out cheaper than getting books from a bookshop here in Stgo. There is even a section where you can get 5 books for $15.
So, just wanted to put up a post for those who may be interested. Also you can use some coupon codes like "goodreading" gets you 10% off your purchase or "cabin530" gets you $5 off a purchase of $30 or more.
So, I hope it will be as helpful to you as it has been to me!!

I have to say that I'm more than a little excited about this-I love my books and haven't found a good way of adding new ones. my choices seem to be either to drag them back when I visit the US(which is too expensive for me to do often) or have them sent(and my son really can't "choose" bargain books for me). There are a few books in English here and there but they are expensive and, although I did buy a couple, nothing I would really choose to read-given a choice.

I'll be waiting to see how your shipping experience went!

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Are small packages to residential addresses flagged for frequency or origin or other patterns?

Are small packages to residential addresses flagged for suspicious noise, or when they emit light and heat without flame, or maybe other patterns?..

It would be nice if there were something like a book loan/exchange club for those of us who prefer to read in English but have a hard time getting books here. Maybe a future project.

Yes, it sure would. The mail is so bad here, that seems more difficult. But my Chilena friend was telling me(when i asked why the mail was so bad) that you can put packages on the bus and the other person gets them in a day or so. "Laura" she said, "no one uses the mail!" Oh my silly US ideas.

I would love a book exchange. I have HEAPS- (although I will not part with my Twilight series)

haha. I would LOAN my Twilight series if someone really wants to read it. But I´d better get it back! Really, here in Chile I don´t have so many good books, but I´d be willing to lend what I have if someone wants.

Does anyone have experiences buying from Amazon and having books shipped? That's what I was planning on doing for books, and would love to know if anyone has had issues with this.

See I would be too afraid to lend out my Twilight books. But when I arrive in Chile and we are all unpacked I will make a list of all the books I have.

we get amazon books regularly - as long as they don't go over a certain weight no probs... have incurred some random delivery charges when they were above a certain weight (ostensibly, a parcel of more than 2kg) but it's not consistent. Wouldn't expect it to be!

I have ordered previously from Amazon, and have had no problems with the arrival of the books. The only problem I have is that they charge a lot for shipping. Especially when you compare it to the $4 USD shipping from Better World Books. Plus when buying on Amazon, I´ve never been able to get any used books that will ship to Chile. And since I prefer to buy used, since they are cheaper and also it´s better to reuse rather than trash them, I don´t use Amazon anymore unless it´s something I can´t find anywhere else.

How many books does that $4usd ($3.97usd) shipping cover?