Articles | Shopping Online for eBooks: Advisory on Different Formats and Merchants

The Internet overflows with reading resources as free material, for sale or subscription. At the end of the day, however, many people would like to sit or lie on the couch away from the computer and read a good book. For people on the go , dropping by the bookstore to purchase a new book may be a luxury of time which they can not afford . Hence, busy people consider online shopping for books as a better option. The only disadvantage of ordering for books and other reading materials in print form is the lead time required for shipment or delivery, which takes three days on the average. The utility of shopping online for eBooks, therefore, makes a difference for people in the information age.

Sales trends from one of the top online book merchants revealed that within six months, sales of electronic books increased by 36.5% in January, 2011. Additionally, during the same period, eBooks outsold paperbacks. By the end of the first quarter of 2011, digital books outsold both hardbacks and paperbacks combined. Publishing experts claim that the size of the eBook market can not be taken lightly . Thus, it is a good time that the rest of the world prepares to accept the emerging trend of purchasing electronic books through online shopping.

Even with different readers being generally compatible with a unique format of digital book, there have been no problems along this aspect, grounded on the availability of the eBooks in various formats when shopping. Fortunately, online merchants of electronic books exert considerable effort in being transparent about the book formats they carry. Among the more popular electronic book formats include portable document format (PDF), EPUB, eReader (formerly known as PDB), Kindle (which was previously known as MOBI), Microsoft LIT, etc. In shopping for electronic books, it is important that consumers check that their purchases are compatible with the reader they have. Furthermore, consumers also need to be aware that different online merchants have practically the same download procedures, but different service perks and policies.

While there are a multitude of online merchants offering eBooks, consumers should be vigilant in selecting which site to buy from. Merchants offer more or less the same purchase procedure for their digital books. The usual method is: consumers choose a device where the purchase is to be delivered, click the buy button, and the purchase is automatically delivered. Consumers have to be wary with device selection and make sure that they have registered a new device or reader before making the selection. Generally, buying may be requested for the seller's standard reader, an equivalent iPhone, Mac, iPad or Blackberry reader, or a PC reader. Delivery is usually made through Wi-Fi connectivity, but is also possible via a PC.