Best Book distributor for the USA

Kenny’s Books (Ireland)

Scarlet_Sorcerer wrote:

Kenny’s Books (Ireland)

Nothing but good to say about Kenny's so far. When I did have a problem, through no fault of theirs, they sorted everything out really quickly and professionally. Plus it keeps money away from the big boys so a win win.

I have never had a problem with kennys.ie.

But then again I am in Ireland also - so not far to ship to me - 50 miles.

Their postage rates are very good worldwide also:

Destination Delivery Charge
Ireland FREE
USA €9.50 per book
France €3 per book
All other destinations €2 per book

Charges to our shipping destinations excluding Ireland and the USA have been slightly increased in September 2023. This is due to increased costs around international shipments.

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The following are the countries that we ship to from Kennys.

Ireland, United Kingdom, USA, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Channel Islands, Chile, China, Columbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

I am also interested in folks’ thoughts on this.

I have never had a bad experience with a Blackwells order except once (and that was a printing issue not Blackwells’ fault). But they rarely seem to run discounts and their shipping to the U.S. is higher than Awesome Books if I recall.

I’ve only recently been purchasing from Awesome Books. Their prices are great and the €3 shipping to the U.S. is hard to beat. My first few shipments from them were fine but the last one was pretty beat up in transit. I am considering going back to Blackwells despite the higher prices in the hopes that I won’t have anymore shipment damage.

Blackwells is usually my go-to retailer, despite them being a little higher priced than others, especially Awesome Books (AB). I've only ever had 1 issue and really that was more of a printer/factory issue as the book was damaged under the shrink-wrap and the shipping package itself was undamaged. Still, their CS was incredibly easy to deal with and I got a full refund without needing to ship the damaged book back.

I have also used AB, though pretty much for "deluxe" books, which come in their own box from HarperCollins and thus are basically double-boxed when AB sends them to me. Which has been a good thing as their packages have definitely arrived more beat up than anything I get from Blackwells.

My last order with AB was for the HoMe boxset #1 and it never actually arrived, "lost in transit" they claim (though I never got an email stated it had shipped and my order status never updated on their website but that part has been normal for my orders with them), though I've heard from enough people who did get their HoMe boxsets that the packaging left a lot to be desired and they showed up pretty beat-up.

That said, always looking for other retailers -- especially for boxsets as Blackwells as I can't recall if they add extra packaging/padding on them and I'd like to make sure the slipcase arrives in the US and to me intact.

Scarlet_Sorcerer wrote:

Kenny’s Books (Ireland)

Never even heard of them! I’m so glad to hear good things about them here, I will definitely try them next!

Regarding Blackwells vs Awesomebooks, I’ve had more success with Awesomebooks, and their prices have always been better, both for books and shipping. But not enough success to want to use them, and I’ve only had 1 shipment from Blackwells turn out, out of 10.

Halbarad wrote:

2. Does anyone else regularly have issues with Blackwells or Awesomebooks?

I do. I've had nothing but issues with both suppliers. All but one of my orders have arrived damaged.

May I know more about the issues you've been experiencing with GrandEagleRetail lately? I order from them almost exclusively now and never had a damaged book. If I'm going to start having issues with them I'd like to be forewarned!

Kilmessë wrote:

May I know more about the issues you've been experiencing with GrandEagleRetail lately? I order from them almost exclusively now and never had a damaged book. If I'm going to start having issues with them I'd like to be forewarned!

I ordered the 2004 deluxe Hobbit, Lord of The Rings and Silmarillion. The Hobbit and LoTR showed up minimally packaged with heavily dented and deformed corners to the book and slipcases. The Silmarillion was fine. And for the first time their customer service was awful. 2 different people who did not speak English well at all, and were very slow to respond, which is a drastic change from all of my experiences in the past. They ended up offering me a measly $30 partial refund for an order over $300 in value. I accepted, and then had to get eBay customer service involved to get them to honor the partial refund. It was a nightmare. And crushing at the same time as I have dearly loved purchasing from them. I wish I knew what was going on. Maybe the owner sold the business or outsourced customer service. 🤷‍♂️