Sharing : Book Depository Online Bookstore

Edited to Add : I've received the book today (15th July 2010). It took about 20 days, and I don't know whether this is standard/early/late because I've never ordered anything from England before. I noticed one thing though, it took quite some time for the order to change from 'Processing' to 'Dispatched'. Around 3-4 days. I've since ordered another book, and this time it was dispatched within 24 hours. So maybe the first time Visa took a while to process the transaction?

Anyway, here's the picture! Taken by phone's camera so sorry for the poor quality.

So, if you don't mind waiting for the book to be delivered, this online bookstore is really a good alternative to buy imported books, especially those hard-to-find/out-of-print titles. Coincidentally Book Depository is also giving out 10% off vouchers at the moment so now is a good time to try the store out.

----

First, let it be said I receive no commission whatsoever from writing this. :)

I would like to share a site that I just recently discovered, Book Depository. This online bookstore is most famous for its free worldwide shipping. Yes! Free worldwide shipping! Intrigued, I made a visit to this site.

Prices can be shown in 5 currencies : USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD. I chose EUR because after comparisons of each currencies using the website XE.com, price in EUR is actually cheapest when converted to MYR.

I checked the price of a title I've been wanting to buy, but previously there was only hardcover version in Malaysia and the price was MYR99.90. The site list a paperback version, costing 9.55 EUR after a 9% discount. (9.55 EUR = 37.9084 MYR).


To make a comparison, I head to MPHOnline to see the price listed for the same title:

The same title, the same publisher (Harper UK) but at MPH Online it costs RM 44.90. A 7 ringgit difference.

And this is where MPH as a local bookstore loses SO MUCH against Book Depository:

MPH can't even provide a next day delivery when it costs that much for shipment. FAIL.

I checked with Kinokuniya Online Store KL, and the price for the book is same as MPH Online. However the shipping fee is RM 8 for West Malaysia and a whopping RM 40 for East Malaysia. Free shipping will only be given when one's total order is more than RM 300 for East Malaysia and RM 500 for West Malaysia. Either way, those living in Sabah & Sarawak lose. They are better off getting their books from Book Depository.

p/s: I've succesfully placed my order from the site. Will update this entry when the book is delivered!

Penyokong Menyokong

Malam ini. Pasukan pilihan saya akan bermain, menentang Switzerland pada jam 10.00 waktu tempatan : SEPANYOL!

Penyandang Kejuaraan Eropah

Berkata tentang Piala Dunia, ingin saya bercerita bagaimana saya mula-mula berminat dengan bola. Pada tahun 1998, ketika itu Piala Dunia diadakan di Perancis. Saya berasa kagum apabila mengetahui 'Zinedine Zidane' yang sangat hebat itu ialah seorang Muslim, dan 'Zinedine' adalah salah satu cara mengeja nama 'Zainuddin'. Menurut Pak Busu, selepas Zizou menolong Perancis memenangi Piala Dunia tahun itu, toleransi terhadap penduduk Muslim di Perancis semakin meningkat. Semenjak itu saya rajin menonton perlawanan bola sepak, kagum dengan impak bola sepak dan pada masa yang sama saya selalu mengambil tahu siapakah pemain-pemain Muslim terkemuka dunia.

Menjulang Piala Dunia 1998

Izinkan saya menyimpang sebentar. Dalam perbincangan mengenai Qur'an, Falsafah dan Sains, ada satu 'trend'/fahaman yang agak popular. Ia dipanggil Bucaillism. Dinamakan sempena Maurice Bucaille, pengarang buku The Bible, The Qur'an and Science, penyokong trend ini cuba mencari bagaimana penemuan sains semasa boleh dikaitkan dengan ayat-ayat di dalam Al-Qur'an. Teori-teori dan fenomena seperti pasang surut air laut, Big Bang serta pelbagai telah terlebih dahulu disebut di dalam Al-Qur'an mengikut penyokong fahaman ini. Antara pengarang yang 'masuk' dalam kategori ini ialah Harun Yahya.


Namun terdapat kritikan terhadap trend Bucaillism ini. Kritikan paling vokal terhadap bahaya menghubungkan ayat-ayat suci Al-Qur'an dengan teori-teori sains ialah bagaimana bila teori sains yang dihubungkan ini terbukti salah? Adakah ia juga membuktikan bahawa ayat-ayat Al-Qur'an itu salah?

Di internet terdapat banyak perbalahan antara golongan penyokong Bucaillism dan mereka yang 'anti-Bucaillism'. Pembacaan menarik.

Apa pula kaitannya dengan bola? Sebelum ini saya mengagumi pemain-pemain bola Muslim. Namun.. Muslim sayangnya tidaklah bermakna mereka ini mempunyai sifat terpuji. Contohnya apabila Franck Ribery dan Karim Benzema sama-sama ditahan kerana skandal pelacur bawah umur. Aduh!

Jadi, saya kini tidak lagi selektif dalam memilih pemain untuk disokong. Semua mereka sama di mata saya. Kriteria 'saudara seIslam' sudah tidak ada, sebaliknya saya melebihkan cara dan skil permainan. Jika pemain itu juga 'cute', ianya bonus.

Budak Katolik