The Latest Incarnation of a Company I Have Used for Years
I don't quite know when my family first learned about
Christian Book Distributors, but they had been around for a long time before
then. This was back in the days before
the internet, and I used to pour over their mail catalogues every other month
when they arrived in the mail. And
several times a year, I would place an order.
When I got on the internet and started doing serious
shopping, I quickly found their internet presence, Christianbook.com. I was delighted to see that everything in the
catalogues was there plus so much more.
While I don't order from them like I once did, I still find myself
searching their site several times a year and placing orders every so often.
Products
If it is targeted toward the Christian market, you can find
it at Christianbook.com. They've got
Bibles, Bible study aids, scholarly works, apologetics, Christian living, even
Christian fiction. But they are so much
more than books. They've got Christian
music (including mp3's) and movies, gifts, T-shirts, and homeschool materials
to name a few. Basically, if you think
you might find it in a Christian bookstore, you'll find it here.
While the main focus is Christian products for the Christian
market, you will find family friendly products that aren't explicitly Christian
here. For example, they have season sets
of The Andy Griffith Show and Little House on the Prairie.
Layout and Search
The site has gone through various layouts over the
years. The current one borrows quite a
bit from Amazon. You'll see current
specials highlighted on the front page while various categories you can browse
through are off to the left hand side.
It might be a bit overwhelming at first, but it doesn't take too long to
find what you want.
There is a search box at the top of the page. It has also improved greatly over the years,
becoming much better at finding what you are looking for from a few key words. The results can be further narrowed down. For example, if you search for an artist by
name, you can then narrow those results to mp3's, accompaniment tracks, or full
studio releases as you so desire.
Since they only sell new items, if something goes out of
print, it drops off their page. Frankly,
I do find it helpful to know something is no longer available and not find a
listing, get excited, then realize I can't really order it. If something is backordered, they'll tell you
when they expect it. And those estimates
are usually pretty accurate.
Prices
It used to be you could find a great price on anything you
were looking for at Christianbook.com.
Now, their prices are still good, but they aren't outstanding. This is one big reason I don't patronize them
as much as I used to. I get enough
coupons from my local Christian bookstore I can usually get what I want for
about the same price without having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Still, I will give them a look when I want to
get something, and if they've got a good price, I will place the order.
Shipping Rates and Times
Christianbook.com is willing to ship internationally as well
as domestically. Naturally, you do pay
more for those orders. While they rarely
offer free shipping no matter how much or little you order (another reason I
don't order from them as much as I used to), their rates are still fairly
reasonable. Rates are based not on
weight but dollar amount of the order.
An order under $20 is $3.99 for standard shipping, for example. Over $100, and you're adding 8% for the same
service.
I'm cheap, so I have rarely used the more expensive (and
faster) shipping methods, so I can't comment on them for speed. However, I do feel qualified to comment on
their shipping. They are nothing if not
consistent. In the old days where I had
to mail in an order, I knew I would have my items in two weeks. Now that the internet is around, I know I
will get an order in exactly one week.
Since standard shipping is supposed to take one to two weeks, and I live
on the other side of the country from their Massachusetts office, I'm pretty happy about
that.
With all the orders I have placed over the years, I honestly
can't remember a time when I didn't get my order correctly with the items in
great shape. That may not give me any
customer service stories to tell, but I still consider that great customer
service.
Conclusion
I may not order from them very often, but it isn't because
the company has gone downhill. If you
are looking for family friendly products in general and Christian products in
particular, be sure to check out Chrstianbook.com
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