Barnes & Noble.com

Full review
I routinely switch between B&N and Amazon for book orders based on price. I have found that Barnes & Noble has a slightly better selection of books, particularly with regard to academic titles. Amazon seems to focus more on high-volume sales. While Amazon will special order anything, B&N generally already has it in stock. I've suspected for years that B&N treats every last store they have as part of a decentralised warehouse, giving them more flexibility with inventory and shipping. I can't confirm this though.

While shipments from both Amazon and B&N both tend to not arrive on the due date, B&N generally shows up a day early. It's always a nice surprise. Finding a human being at B&N is not the easiest process, but unlike Amazon, it's actually possible. They seem to have the LLBean theory on customer service, and are eager to rush replacements out as soon as possible. In the one case where I received damaged merchandise, they actually overnighted the replacement at their cost, and included a call ticket for the damaged item. I was stunned.

In one instance, I ordered 3 books at one time - 1 from Amazon and 2 from B&N. I chose express shipping from Amazon because I needed the books for class, and B&N offered the same service at no cost. The B&N books arrived in 2 days. The Amazon books were nearly a week. I paid less and got more at B&N.

I eventually closed my Amazon account and now shop exclusively with B&N.