What is the POINT of pre-ordering?!?

By Rachel

2015-Discussion-ChallengeHere’s the backstory – I hadn’t pre-ordered a book for years until I got back into reading again in 2012. I read and loved Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth, and was lucky to have found the series just before the release of the third and final book, Allegiant. I was so excited that books were capturing my imagination again, as I’d thought I’d lost the reading bug throughout my late teens and University years. So, of course, upon rediscovering this passion – I immediately pre-ordered Allegiant.

Well, the release day came and went, and no Allegiant landed through my letterbox. Three weeks (!) later, I was shopping in town and stumbled upon a copy that taunted me from the shelves. I bought it there and then, went home and canceled my pre-order. EPIC FAIL.

My second experience of pre-ordering was much better. I won a giveaway hosted by Aimee for a copy of City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. I got home from work on the release day, and there it was waiting for me. This was a pleasant surprise, but because of it I assumed my first pre-ordering experience had just been a case of bad luck.

Anyone who follows this blog will know I have become a die hard fan of Colleen Hoover, who I affectionately call CoHo (I’m sure she’d be cool with it, we have a mutual love for diet Pepsi). When I heard she was writing a new book that would be mixed media and feature a ridiculously original story-line, I squealed with excitement. When the cover was released I posted about it on my blog and hounded Atria/Simon & Schuster to beg inquire if the UK cover would be the same as the released cover (the UK usually gets the raw end of the deal when it comes to CoHo covers). I sadly didn’t receive a response to the multiple perfectly acceptable number of times I made contact.

Never-the-less, my excitement grew, and with it my desire to try pre-ordering again, especially with Amazon’s price guarantee. I took the plunge in January, and I waited with baited breath for the release of one of my most anticipated books of 2015 (Confess, in case you weren’t sure). The release date was March 10th, and guess what? My precious STILL isn’t here.

face palm gif

What I want to know from you guys is this – what do you think of pre-ordering and do you do it? And more importantly, do your pre-orders actually arrive on time? 

About Rachel

Avid reader & #bookblogger. Lover of all things business. A fan of drinks & dancing. Ever optimistic. Feminist.

75 Responses

  1. M | BACKLIST BOOKS

    I think I have maybe received a pre-order on release day twice. Possibly three times. I do pre-order a lot, but I know I’ll often get it later than if I just purchased it in store. So why bother? Because then I don’t have to keep a list of upcoming books and their release dates so I won’t forget. This way I just order the book, and I know that, sooner or later, it’ll show up. However if there’s a book I am really dying to get my hands on, I’ll wait until it’s released and order it then, because I know it’ll be faster. I really wish pre-orders had some sort of release-day arrival guarantee, though! Wouldn’t that be fun?

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    1. Rachel

      If you preorder a lot then I guess that makes sense, whereas I only do it a handful of times a year because I need the book in my life immediately! Lol That would be fabulous and should be the norm!! R x

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  2. Emalie

    I always pre-order and I’ve made the experience that some actually arrived before the publication date Oo, but otherwise they all arrived on time – till now *knocks on wood*

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  3. HOLLY

    I used to pre-order books I was really excited about in middle school, but after a while I realized that it’s just not worth it. Unless there’s some bonus for doing so (getting it signed, a discount, etc.) then it’s usually easier for me to just pick it up on release day if it’s something I really want to read right away. I wish there was a better way to get books sooner!

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  4. Selah at A Bibliophile's Style

    I’ve pre-ordered from Amazon several times (books and movies) and always received my order on or before the official release day. I have Amazon Prime – maybe that makes a difference? Or maybe Amazon has better service in the US? I’m sorry your book hasn’t arrived. 😦

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    1. Rachel

      Prime seems to be the secret weapon – I have a “fight the system” urge coming on, because I don’t think delivery by release day should be a perk for Prime only members – Amazon have the capabilities to fulfill their orders on time and should do so. Le sigh… R x

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      1. Selah at A Bibliophile's Style

        According to Amazon’s verbiage, release day shipment is available to everyone, and is free for Prime members (because we already paid up front). So, you should be getting release day shipment, if you paid for it.

        I also happen to live in a city with an Amazon fulfillment center and there is another fulfillment center about an hour south, so I’ve gotten orders (not pre-orders, just regular) in 12 hours before.

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      2. Rachel

        Thanks for checking that, Selah! I was just about to, to see if I’d missed something in the T&Cs.

        12 hours?!?! You make me so jealous! 😉 R x

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  5. Brandie

    I mostly only pre-order eBooks so I know I’m getting it that day. It’s been awhile since I’ve pre-ordered a paperback, but it would never take that long to get it from Amazon. I usually received it the same week as the release. I don’t understand what is taking so long!! I actually decided to cancel my Confess pre-order because the amount of shipping would have cost the same as me going to my local bookstore and buying it. I knew I was going there on Friday night, so I cancelled my order. Normally, I’m lazy and don’t get to the bookstores often enough. I’ve always loved Amazon and have received all my orders really fast. I’m sorry!! This sucks!!

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    1. Rachel

      I don’t understand it either. Especially because Slammed arrived today, and according to Amazon they were holding off delivering that to me because they were sending both in the same order. When I click “Track My Parcel” there’s not even any tracking information because it hasn’t been processed yet. My only assumption is that there’s no stock in the warehouse? But it’s available to buy at the minute, so that makes no sense. This SUCKS so bad, and there are other preorders I want to place this year (November Nine by CoHo and two books by Sarah J Maas, and to be honest I might just call into my local Waterstones instead and pay full price to get it in my hands on release day instead of saving a pound or two by ordering from Amazon. I’m beginning to think it’s a marketing ploy, as people are commenting saying they get their books on release day with Prime. I’m sorry, but I’m not paying that amount per year for the privilege of receiving my books on the day of release when my local bookstores have them sitting on the shelves. Books should arrive on or close to release day for all unless there is a specific reason why it can’t be – like a delayed delivery of the books to the warehouse or stock running out. I’m so MAD lol R x

      Liked by 1 person

  6. pennma05

    I pre-order if it’s something I really really can’t wait to have. I have Amazon Prime so I usually receive any pre-ordered item the day of it’s release which is awesome! Before I got Prime it always seemed to take forever to get anything pre-ordered so I didn’t do it as often.

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    1. Rachel

      Prime seems to be the secret! Which I can see is a selling point of Prime, but I think all preorders should be delivered on or close to release day. As you say, you preorder because it’s something you want to have as soon as it comes out. Unless preordering a signed item, or a book that comes with preorder freebies, I don’t understand the delay – why would we bother preordering if it’s quicker to call into a physical bookstore? Pft. R x

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      1. pennma05

        I agree 100%! It’s almost worth it just to drive to a store on the day of it’s release rather than preordering and having to wait. It would be interesting (and possibly infuriating) to see if people who ordered the book the day of it’s release get it before those who have pre-ordered it… that would be super messed up!

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  7. Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense

    I preorder, but only with Amazon Prime because they deliver the day the book is released. If I preorder from elsewhere, I’m lucky if they ship it the day before the release date but I still end up waiting a week for it to be delivered.

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    1. Rachel

      So it is actually possible then?! Lol I assumed maybe it can’t be delivered on release day due to it not being in their warehouse or something. I don’t have Prime 😦 It’s a bit cruel I think – if you are preordering, it obviously means you’re a fan/excited for the release and you would think release day is the logical time to receive it, otherwise why bother preordering?! Ugh. I’m so sad. Lol R x

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      1. Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense

        I agree, if you preorder a book, you should receive it the day of or at least close to the release date. What makes me mad is when you’ve preordered a book but see it on the shelves at a bookstore a couple of days early. What’s up with that? Are they even allowed to sell it before the official release date? I hope you get your book soon!

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      2. Rachel

        I contacted Amazon out of curiosity – the response I received was that the book was back-ordered (which I’m assuming means they weren’t prepared for high volume sales and it is out of stock?). To this, I think fair do’s – however, as the pre-orders mount up, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to see that you won’t have enough stock to fulfil the order. My estimated delivery date was 18-20th March, but now they’ve said that’s an estimate and not a guarantee, and it’s on order, so I could be waiting God knows how long now. I’m going into town this weekend and if my local Waterstones have it I’m buying it and cancelling my order. I get where Amazon are coming from, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. Also, well done CoHo for making Amazon go out of stock before release day!! R x

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense

        I’d do the same thing and you shouldn’t have a problem canceling your order, I heard Amazon has great customer service. I recently tried to cancel an order from Barnes & Noble that was going to take forever to ship and had all kind of issues.

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      4. Rachel

        SORTED! I hope – I bought the US edition off Book Depository and it should be here next week, and I cancelled my Amazon order. Fingers’ crossed! R x

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Kathy

    I only pre-order from a select few authors because I almost never get to the book on release day. When I have pre-ordered (again, only from two or three special authors), my books have always been on my Kindle at midnight as promised. I’m in the US, so I’m not sure if it is a UK thing or not. Whatever the reason, I’m sorry you’re not getting your books, and I would have Amazon on the phone so quickly, they would shiver in their boots.

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    1. Rachel

      I only preorder for my faves when I’m DYING to read the book too, but I assumed the book would be with you on release day or shortly after. These are paperback physical copies though, I’ve never heard of an eBook arriving late, so I guess there’s always that option. I’m going to contact them today. I ordered Slammed and Confess in January, and because Confess was a preorder they held off on delivering Slammed too (I put them through as one order to benefit from free shipping). I got home from work today and Slammed was waiting on me, but no Confess. If they’re sending them separately anyway, why make me wait two months on Slammed?! Argh!!! Amazon are destroying me!! Lol Thanks for commenting. R x

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  9. karen

    I pre-order books for my Nook at times–mainly because I get a better price but they have always been delivered (available for download) on the release date. I order movies through VUDU and get them before they are available in stores on blu-ray. Never had a problem with that either. I read some of the other comments and I believe you should check your order out a little more closely to see if you are missing an important detail. That is frustrating to want a book somuch you pre-order it and then still end up waiting. So unfair!!

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    1. Rachel

      Ahhh, see these are physical books I’m preordering. The title was backordered by 6 weeks plus, even with Amazon knowing how many preorders they had, they didn’t have enough stock to fulfil the order. People were actually ordering the book after the release date and getting a shorter delivery time than me even though I preordered it in January. I’m definitely put off preordering physical books with Amazon. R x

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  10. Jackie G.

    I pre-ordered a CD once, and it was KIND OF worth it. I didn’t get it until a week or two after the release, but it did have extra songs on it that were not on the CDs being sold in the stores. And honestly, that’s the only reason why I pre-ordered it. But, I can’t imagine you get the same perks with books. I guess I could be mistaken because I’ve never pre-ordered a book before. But, really I can’t justify pre-ordering a book. Hard covers are expensive and I won’t end up reading the book until a year after the purchase anyway!

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    1. Rachel

      You can sometimes get a perk with preordering a book from certain stores, but in this case the only perk was I perordered it for £6 and when it was released it was £8, but I get it at the price I preordered it at. I received an email from Amazon to say the expected shipment date is MAY! So I went to Book Depository and bought the US edition (£9) and cancelled my preorder. Hopefully, it will be here next week! No other UK stores seem to have it in stock. The preorder is paperback too (CoHo doesn’t seem to do hardcovers?) so that’s a bonus, because I don’t really hardbacks unless they’re on sale either. R x

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  11. Trish @ Between My Lines

    That’s just so disappointing 😦 And it really defeats the whole purpose. To be honest, I don’t preorder, mostly because I’m happy with ebooks so I just download from Amazon on the day when it’s one of my few auto buy authors. Boo to Atria for ignoring you!

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    1. Rachel

      I KNOW! You’ve read it, Brandie has read it. I need this in my life so much it’s beginning to HURT. I’m assuming the UK cover is the delicious one we’ve seen?! I ended up ordering the US cover off The Book Depository anyways because the Amazon one wasn’t going to get to me until May. MAY!!! R x

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  12. Lola

    I think it depends on the reason why you pre-order. I pre-order books when I get some money to spare and pre-order the book I am most excited about. That means I know I will get those books and don’t have to think about buying them anymore and they will arrive about half a month after the release date (or 10 days if I am lucky). I don’t expect my pre-orders to arrive on time as I pre-order from the bookdepository and their usual shipping time is 10 days. I mostly pre-order books by favourite authors.

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    1. Rachel

      I don’t preorder often, and when I do it’s because I want to get my hands on the book as soon as is possible. My preorders are books I will drop everything for in order to read, so it sucks that in this case the book was released March 10th and I finally received an email to tell me it would be with me in May. I can’t cope with that lol I’ve since ordered it elsewhere. Preordering if I’m not DYING to own the book would actually be OK, but I’ve found even with Waterstones, which has stores and online shopping, that if I preorder online (even if I pick “collect from store”) it will STILL be on the shelves before my preorder gets in. I don’t understand this! R x

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  13. Amber (YA Indulgences)

    I’ve only just started pre-ordering books and they’re Kindle books at that. I want to know I’ll have the book at midnight as soon as they’re released. It’s awful that you still haven’t gotten your book yet. I hope it comes soon. 😦 If it hasn’t come by now.

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    1. Rachel

      Hi Amber, thanks for commenting! I received an email from Amazon to tell me that the book is backordered, and would be with me by May. So I cancelled my preorder and chose to spend the extra couple of pounds to get it from The Book Depository – I hope it’s here soon because everyone I trust with CoHo reviews is giving it rave ratings!! R x

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Amber (YA Indulgences)

        You’re welcome! 🙂 Wow, I can’t believe it’s so, er, backordered, that’s long. Hopefully Book depository is better for you! I’ve ordered from their once and the books came in a reasonable time.

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  18. Ula

    For me, pre-ordering was always a disaster. I pre-ordered Insurgent and Allegiant both, and got them in a month’s time. I pre-ordered a bunch of others and waited forever to get them as well. The only surprise was Indigo Spell that I got a day after release I think? Not sure. I was so shocked… I just got used to waiting longer.
    Last pre-order was actually canceled and I was refunded because the book went out of stock. ON A PRE-ORDER. I don’t even know anymore. I think I am done with pre-orders. :L

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    1. Rachel

      That’s what happened with my order of Confess, it was backordered by 6 weeks, and I think HOW, HOW can it be out of stock if they knew how many to have instock with preorders?! I feel the same way, Ula. Apparently, The Book Depository deliver within a week of release date. I’m going to persevere for a wee while yet, but it isn’t looking hopeful! R x

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  19. Dita the Squirrel

    My preordering experience has definitely been better. Until now, I’ve preordered 3 books, I think. The latest preorder was for Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost, which came out in the first half of 2014 (don’t remember a more exact time and I’m feeling too lazy to check, lol).
    All three times I preordered through The Book Depository, because it has free worldwide shipping, which includes Latvia. And, as far as I can remember, all the books arrived a week (more or less) after the release date, pretty much as stated in Book Depository’s delivery policy or whatnot.
    I hope your preordering experience with The Book Depository is better than with Amazon. 🙂

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    1. Rachel

      Hi! Thanks for commenting! I think I’ll definitely be avoiding Amazon for preorders from now on. I placed my order for Confess with The Book Depository and it arrived within good time, so if I’m desperate for a book in the future I’ll use them. Amazon was particularly appealing to me because of their price guarantee, but it’s not worth it for a book I NEED to get my hands on as soon as it comes out. I did go on to preorder Queen of Shadows with Amazon, and they now have a price for delivery on preorders to guarantee you get it the day after release. I might give it one last go and pay this fee to see if that changes anything. Le sigh, the things us Book Geeks go through! 😀 R x

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      1. Dita the Squirrel

        Ah, yes. Who needs sleep or money, or food. Books are love, books are life 😀
        Anyway, there is something weird about Amazon. I’ve never ordered or preordered anything with them, except for ‘buying’ free e-books for PC Kindle app, but they still (it’s been a week or so) haven’t replied to my support e-mail on where/how to find/get send-to-kindle e-mail address, so I’m not entirely happy with them either. 😀

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      2. Rachel

        I like your thinking!

        Do you need the kindle email address for NetGalley? Go to your account dropdown menu and click on Manage Your Content and Devices, then scroll down for a while, and the email addresses for your kindle and any apps you have registered to the account are there.

        I’ve ordered with them quite a bit and it’s usually fine… although I do have another rant to go up soon about them, but it’s more their marketplace sellers as opposed to them… Lol R x

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      3. Dita the Squirrel

        Yup, for NetGalley. I can live with Adobe Digital Edition, but Kindle requires less effort from me (at least so it seems from the description). Except for the part of finding that e-mail address. That I totally can’t find, I can scroll down wherever and as much as I want. There is no e-mail address. All I have in the manage devices part is that I have a PC Kindle app and that I can change it’s name (‘device name’) and I can deregister it. No e-mail. I just looked, just to be sure. Nope. Sad 😀 Or is an app not cool enough to get an e-mail address? (I don’t own a physical Kindle) Though from what I’ve read, it’s not so. But I’ll keep on looking for it, I guess.

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      4. Rachel

        Ahhh – see I have the app on my phone and tablet, so I’m not sure if the PC version works the same way? I’ve done some Googling and apparently PC apps don’t have an email address. Someone suggested right clicking the file and choosing “Open with Kindle”, or downloading Calibre (which is free and awesome) and converting it to a .mobi in it to open it on PC app?? R x

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      5. Dita the Squirrel

        Adobe Digital Editions is also free and supported by NetGalley, so I’m using that until I can find that e-mail address, which, obviously, might never happen. Oh well, will live with Adobe. I was using it even before NetGalley and everything. It’s just that with Kindle there would be less things to do, but ok. Ain’t that bad. At least Kindle isn’t the only option, now that would be sad.

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  24. Taylor

    The first book I preorder came 3 days before the release date so I thought that was what usually happens when you preorder a book. I made a preorder on the new Harry Potter book assuming I will get the book ahead of time but I was so wrong!! No only the book still hasn’t arrived (okay it’s only been 2 days), the price I paid for is also $10 (from book depository) more than the current retail price in the bookstore! I don’t think I will be preordering books anytime soon.

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    1. Rachel

      That was definitely a one-off! It happens sometimes when a book releases early, but it is rare. Amazon and other companies now charge you extra for it to be delivered on release day. I realised this after my last pre-order wait. I’m still waiting on my new Harry Potter book from Amazon too, and it was meant to be here today. I ended up in Waterstones on release day (wasn’t intending to be there, but ended up in town and obviously I couldn’t not go into the book store), and there they all were staring at me. I went on to my Amazon account to cancel my preorder so I could just buy it there and then, but it had already shipped. Apparently. It’s SO frustrating! I don’t pre-order often because of the delays. I’m waiting on the new Colleen Hoover pre-order, and I pre-ordered the next Sarah J Maas for Throne of Glass because pre-orders were signed. Signed editions may be my only exception! R xx

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    1. Rachel

      Thanks for commenting! I never really preordered much until I started blogging, probably because I became aware of new releases. It’s not something I do a lot, because I love finding a bargain, and preorders are usually RRP, but I do preorder maybe 3 books or so per year. I got an Amazon Prime trial, and now have half price student membership, and the delivery time has improved considerably! Don’t think I’d pay full price for Prime though unless you’re a big Amazon user… R xx

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  37. Jessica @ Breathe and Read

    I’ve never pre-ordered a book but that’s awful that you’d such bad luck with them! I’ve actually never bought a book on release date (although I’ll be setting money aside for Louise O’Neill’s next one so I can definitely afford it on release day). I know the prices are better online, but if I really seriously wanted a book on release day I think I’d just pay the extra for it from a shop.

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    1. Rachel

      Is there a publishing date or title for O’Neill’s new book?! Have I missed the memo?! I’d be all over that too!

      I only really started pre-ordering when I started blogging, except for Harry Potter back in the day. There’s nothing worse than waiting for the delivery of your pre-order and you spot the book on the shelf already! R xx

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