Book Depository is Closing

I nearly spat my morning coffee out yesterday when I heard that Book Depository was closing down.

Unfortunately,  Book Depository’s parent company, Amazon crunched the numbers and decided that Book Depository did not make the cut.

Book Depository has always been a great place to order books for Australian colorists.    The prices were often lower than other online sites, users could purchase in their own currency and shipping was included in the price.

A much-loved feature was the packaging of the books in a secure cardboard sleeve.  The sleeve ensured that the book corners and pages were secure and had limited damage in the shipping process.

 

 

 

You can still order online from Book Depository until midday (12 pm BST) on 26 April 2023.   Delivery and support for purchases will continue until 23 June 2023.

Alternatives to Book Depository for Australians

For Australians, it is getting even harder to purchase coloring books internationally without taking a loan for shipping costs!    Fortunately,  though there are a few options available where we may be able to get our coloring fix without breaking the bank.

Always do your research first before buying.  Satisfy yourself that you know the total cost of the book plus shipping and any other transaction fees/currency conversion costs, to ensure you get the best deal before you order.

Booktopia

Located in Australia and boasting over 6 million books across a range of topics, Booktopia also has a wide range of coloring books for adults including physical and some digital formats.

Booktopia offers standard flat rate shipping within  Australia and to New Zealand of $9.99 for all orders.      This means no matter how many books you order at a time, the shipping cost will still be less than $10.00. Priority shipping can be obtained for $14.99 at the time of writing.

 

 

 

Due to the flat rate shipping, depending on the price of the coloring book, it would be a great place to grab a few coloring books at a time in order to ensure the most bang for your buck.

Abbeys

When I lived in Sydney I used to love going to Abbeys book shop and sniffing the shelves during my lunch hour.     The shop is a bit of an institution in the Sydney CBD area.   As well as being well-stocked with titles they are also super helpful.    Many years ago, they helped me locate a coloring book from Indonesia (for memory) I had taken a fancy to and they were a pleasure to deal with.

You can order books online and pick them up in-store or have them posted within Australia for less than $10 with standard shipping.    They also have priority shipping available and will post internationally for additional fees.

 

 

 

They do not have a large range of coloring books at the moment (less than 1000 and many for children).  They do stock many mainstream titles and from my experience are often able to help you locate that hard-to-find book.

 

 

 

 

 

Kinokuniya

This is one of my favorite bookshops in Sydney and it is filled with wonderful books from not only Western countries but Japan, Korea, China, and more.    At the height of the coloring boom, Kinokuniya was my go-to store to get the latest coloring books released from Japan and Korea.

The store then decided that they would not stock coloring books anymore but still had titles online.     That was the day my heart broke 🙁

At some stage, things changed and they now have over 32000 coloring books that are available to order online (and some mainly mainstream titles in-store).        Many of my favorite artists, Eriy, Kanoko Egusa, Eriy, and Nelco Neco are in stock at their fulfillment center. Some are available as pre-orders only.

Some books will show as “out of stock”.    If you notice that on a product listing,  you may need to check back or ring the store to see if they will be able to obtain a copy for you.

I suspect that Kinokuniya’s website automatically updates all coloring books being released, but does not necessarily stock them unless requested.

 

 

 

If you join up as a member, for $15 per year or $25 for two years, you will also receive a small discount on your purchases.

Shipping is free within Australia if you spend more than $50.00.

Yes Asia

This online bookstore stocks many of your favorite coloring books from Korea, China, and Japan among others.    I have ordered from Yes Asia many times before and there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

When ordering, the currency will indicate the price in Australian dollars BUT the order is actually in US dollars.    Depending on the exchange rate and transaction fees this can be more than you budgeted for.

The other issue is that often the packaging is not the best with books flopping around the box with only a little bit of paper to take the brunt of the blows.     So far, I haven’t suffered any major damage to the books I have ordered but it is something to keep in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free shipping is available for Australians and other countries if you meet two prerequisites a) the item is eligible for free international shipping as indicated by an icon and b) you order the minimum spend with one order (not a split order).  The minimum spend for Australians is currently USD $59.00.

 

 

 

 

Blackwells

Mariana on Facebook recommended Blackwells UK to me.   I hadn’t heard of Blackwells before so this was a great find to add to my collection.   The Blackwells website lists about 5000 coloring books, many of which are for children.    They do however stock many of my favorite artists including Maria Trolle, Kanoko Egusa, and Hanna Karlzon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orders ship within 24-72 hours and can take up to 15 days to reach Australia.  Delivery is included in the price of the book and there is no minimum spend.

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon Australia

Amazon Australia has been quite frankly a bit of a disappointment.    I had such high expectations of it when it opened but the lack of sellers and variety of inventory meant that it was one of the last places that I shopped for coloring books.  Over the years though, it has improved and there is a wider range available now for shoppers and colorists.   There are over 70,000 titles listed as coloring books for adults at the time of writing with many shipping from Australia, third-party sellers, or the Amazon Global store.

If you are an Amazon Prime member you are eligible for free delivery in most circumstances.     Amazon Prime includes music, video, gaming,  the Kindle library, and more.    This is a paid membership of  $6.99 per month or $59 annually.  There is a free trial that you can try to see if it is something that you would fancy.

Even if you are not a Prime member, you may find that some items are eligible for free delivery if your minimum spend is over $39.       On the left-hand side of the Amazon page, check the box to see items eligible for free delivery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are shipping to New Zealand you may also be eligible for free shipping provided your order meets certain requirements including a minimum spend of $49 inclusive of GST.  You can read more here.

Fishpond

This online New Zealand owned business has branches in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.  Fishpond lists over 20 million products including coloring books for adults.   There are thousands of coloring books available for order, many with discounted prices.       You will find artists like Maria Trolle, Hanna Karlzon, and Kanoko Egusa as well as many mainstream titles.

 

 

 

 

There are over 5 million products that are eligible for free shipping. You can easily find this by selecting the radio button on the left-hand side of the site marked “free shipping”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some books and music though attract a standard postage fee of $7.95 per order. This means that you can order a number of books and the shipping cost will remain the same.   You can read all the terms and conditions relating to shipping here.

Mighty Ape

Mighty Ape is an online marketplace in New Zealand and Australia similar to Fishpond.   It provides a range of products including a large range of coloring books for adults.    The website is easy to navigate, filter, and sort products.    The company offers a range of promotions and discount offers from time to time as well.

 

 

 

 

 

As well as mainstream coloring books you will also find artists like Hanna Karlzon, Maria Trolle and Kanoko Egusa.

 

The Nile

The last on the list is the online store, The Nile.   This online store has a wide range of products but only a small range of coloring books for adults.   They do have books though by Maria Trolle, Hanna Karlzon, and Kanoko Egusa.

 

 

 

 

They offer a range of payment options including credit card, PayPal, and pay later options like Zip and AfterPay

Store Fronts & Online Book Stores

The main brick-and-mortar bookshops,  Dymocks, Angus and Robertson, and QBD also stock coloring books for adults.   From my review of these sites today, they are all more expensive for the purchase of a book than the above sites.    Most have a variety of payment options including PayPal and pay later.

Dymocks

Dymocks has many of my favorite artists including Maria Trolle, Hanna Karlzon, and Eriy available to purchase online and some in-store.    However, the price per book is more expensive than other retailers.

 

 

 

Shipping is available at a standard flat rate per order of $9.99 within Australia and priority shipping of $15.99.

QBD

The QBD website is very basic and lacks filters, sort, or advanced search functions which makes it a frustrating site to navigate, in my opinion.      They do have a lot of mainstream coloring books in-store and online but more for children and teens.

Hanna Karlzon, Maria Trolle, and Kanoko Egusa’s coloring books can all be ordered online but are not available in-store.

 

 

 

QBD offers flat rate shipping of $6.95 within Australia per order.

There are promotions sometimes offering free shipping to watch out for as well.     QBD also has membership rewards where Gold Members ($40 per year) receive free shipping among other benefits.

Angus & Robertson

An easy to navigate website which appears to have quite a large range of coloring books for adults.   Many mainstream adult coloring books are available including  Creative Haven, Disney, and Thomas Kinkade.    You will also find coloring books by Maria Trolle, Hanna Karlzon, and Kanoko Egusa at Angus and Robertson.

 

 

 

 

Standard flat-rate shipping is $9.99 per order with express shipping at $14.95.

Hopefully, this list of alternative sites to Book Depository will help you find your next coloring book without breaking the bank on shipping.

Happy shopping and coloring x

Lea

 

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