Malaysia’s Best Online Book Store

Malaysia’s Best Online Book Store - Kinokuniya

Dec 14th, 2006 by AhYap

Surprise, surprise. Many of us doesn’t know that we can actually search and order all Kinokuniya books online!

Ordering books from Kinokuniya is very fast and shipping cost is only RM6 flat (RM30 for east Malaysia). If your total order is above RM300, shipping is FREE! However, I do not recommend you to order RM300 of books just because you wanna save the RM6! I did that once with 7 books, and end up that I am only able to finish 4 of them, leaving 3 untouched in my book shelf. The theory is that if you buy a lot of books at the same time, you won’t appreciate them and thus won’t be able to finish all of them. You will also feel overwhelmed having to read so many books at once (especially if the book has 1,000 words per page and it is as thick as YellowPages!)

I usually order a book at night. They will processed and shipped my order the next day. So I usually got my book the very next day!

I have to rely on Kinokuniya a lot because in Ipoh, the availability of books are very limited. There are only 2 mini Popular Book Store and 1 tiny MPH. Unless the books you need are very popular (like Rich Dad’s series that take up a whole cupboard), you don’t have a lot of choice. And that’s why Kinokuniya online comes to rescue!

While RM6 of shipping looks like an extra, I am happy to pay for it because of the speed and convenience to someone who is not in KL! Even if you live in KL and you can go to Kinokuniya KLCC directly, you still need to pay for petrol, tol and KLCC per-hour-based car park fee. That will be more than RM6.

How do you pay for your oder?

Credit card.

What about Amazon?

I ordered twice from Amazon. They give big discount on books (usually over 30%). Unfortunately with the shipping fee (cheapest option), it end up being the same as non discounted price. This is not the problem. The problem is for Amazon to ship the books from US to Malaysia, it takes a few weeks! When the books arrived, you might not have to mode to read it already. hahaha. You may choose more expensive shipping options (where shipping will be more expensive than your books!) and it still need to wait minimum 10 days although they say 5 days. Why? Because it takes them another 5 days to prepare and pack your books.

What if a book you need is not available in Kinokuniya but Amazon?

This should be rare with the size of Kinokuniya, but it happened to me last month. On Nov 19, I searched for the book The New Buffettology and it is not available in their database. So I emailed them. They replied the next day and told me that they can actually order the book for me. I ask them to go ahead and I got my book yesterday (1 month)! I am very happy with their service

What about MPH and Popular book store online?

Popular have removed their online search and order system few months ago. ~~MPH do keep it until today. However, popular books takes 1-2 weeks to ship and unpopular books take 4-6 weeks! Do you want to order from them?~~

Update: Pelf commented that you can order book from MPH Online for RM4 postage (Free if order above RM80) and delivery only takes 1 day! Making MPH a very good choice if the book is available.

—

At last, if you know any other online book store that is good for us, please kindly share it here so I can give it a try. Now, check out their website here.

Posted in Books | 45 Comments

45 Responses to “Malaysia’s Best Online Book Store - Kinokuniya”

on 14 Dec 2006 at 7:08 pm1pelf

I buy my books from MPH Online and no, they don’t take 1-2 weeks to arrive. They normally arrive the next day. And with MPH, I can pay via Maybank2u (coz I don’t have a credit card - I’m a poor student)

And, postage is about RM 4, and if you buy more than RM 80 worth of books, postage is free. And you get to collect points too
on 16 Dec 2006 at 6:51 pm2ahyap

Hi Pelf,

Thanks for this previous information. The RM4 postage (free for RM80) make MPH online and incredibly better choice then Kinokuniya if the book is available at MPH. I will definitely give it a try for my next order!
on 01 Apr 2007 at 6:31 pm3khwateoh

If you intend to buy any used books pls try my website.
Thank you
Teoh K H
on 21 Aug 2007 at 10:10 am4philosophy

haha, incidently found out a good blog, i feel very upset as i cant order chinese book online from kinokuniya
on 10 Sep 2007 at 3:53 pm5yong

Check out:

(Advance Book Station) http://www.bookstat.com

(Acma Mall) http://www.acmamall.com
on 12 Sep 2007 at 6:20 pm6Whimsy

I ordered from Acmamall before but due to some problems with some overzealous custom’s people I decided to stop ordering online from Acma. The funny thing is alot of books that are ‘banned’ in their website, and they do actually get confiscated (I had two of my orders confiscated 2 separate times), I had no problems getting the same titles from MPH, Popular, Borders…Makes you wonder if Acmamall pissed anyone off to warrant that kind of treatment.

MPH and Kinokuniya is pretty good though although some books take longer to arrive…I don’t mind as long as they do. I’ve special ordered books from MPH before and it’s nice that they were able to tell me which books was banned.
on 12 Sep 2007 at 6:22 pm7ahyap

Can you list a few book tiles that are ‘banned’? I am sort of curious on what books can be banned. Please feed my curiosity. Thanks.
on 05 Oct 2007 at 1:21 pm8hELMI

I’d ordered from Kinokuniya about 10 books since last year, and their services are reliable and excellent. I recommend.
on 06 Oct 2007 at 7:25 am9Wardah

For Malay books especially limited-circulation-books, you may want to try http://www.ujanailmu.com.my. I heard their service is equally outstanding.
on 18 Nov 2007 at 7:55 pm10sukkimi

I have ordered from Betterwolrd.com i order last month- still waitng for my order. Compare to Amazon, their shipping cost only US$2.95 flat per book.
on 23 Nov 2007 at 1:53 pm11June

I would like to find a book named ” The Power Of Now ” in chinese translation. Please give me a call to notify me that the book is available. 012-345 0488
on 29 Nov 2007 at 5:58 pm12idrus

i found a book ‘malay folklore: a contemporary retelling’ by d. ruse at kinokuniya ngee ann city singapore, but it is not available at kinokuniya stores in malaysia. any plan to stock it here?
on 29 Nov 2007 at 11:40 pm13ahyap

If a book is not available from Kinokuniya database, you can always email them and ask them to order the book for you. I did that once. No deposit required.
on 27 Dec 2007 at 9:43 pm14aiyoh

Wow! Thanks for all this information! Just what I was looking for
on 03 Feb 2008 at 12:01 pm15britney93

can anyone tell me where to buy this book
Britney Spears’ heart to heart
i wan the new one and let me know the price
becoz i checked MPHonline but dun hav
thxthx
on 03 Feb 2008 at 12:01 pm16britney93

can anyone tell me where to buy this book
Britney Spears’ heart to heart
i wan the new one and let me know the price
becoz i checked MPHonline but dun hav
thxthx
on 20 Feb 2008 at 4:38 pm17AniseK

Yes, Kinokuniya does have an excellent online search facility. But I am disappointed to find out that most of the Japanese books I wanted is only availbale from Japan, not Malaysia. So, Amazon Japan is still the best website for Japanese books. For English books, Kinokuniya does offer a lot more books compared to Popular and MPH. But my favourite online bookstore is fictionwise.com This bookstore specialized in eBooks, so for those who like eBooks, I really recommend this store. I only use Amazon and Kinokuniya to get the books that is not yet converted to eBooks. Next stop, Borders….
on 03 Mar 2008 at 12:49 am18sue

do we have to pay after the book is delivered can we just type our credit card details while purchasing online? wat if im buying the book for a friend? i wanna have the book delivered to his house..
on 04 Mar 2008 at 9:36 pm19ahyap

@sue: You enter your credit card details on the online order form and they will charge directly to that card. So no payment is collected by the delivery man and you can send a book as gift to your friend.
on 24 Mar 2008 at 1:08 pm20nadia

MPH book prices are definitely chaper than you would find at Kino. IF you can find the book you want at MPH. Boasting the largest bookstores around KL, i still find it extremely hard to get the books i want from them, and i usually have to wait 6-8 weeks for them just to confirm whether they have the book available or not. if i’m dying to get hold of the book, i think Kino is def a better choice, even if it’s going to cost you a few more ringgit to get hold of it. Kino is def more reliable and offers better service to serious book lovers.
on 24 Mar 2008 at 2:23 pm21ariel lee

Hi,

I would like to know whether amazon.com is a reliable source in delivering books? and by the way is there any difference in the estimated shipment date and estimated delivery date at the checkout counter at amazon.com, do both mean the same thing?

thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

rgds
on 26 Mar 2008 at 2:15 pm22AniseK

Hi Ariel Lee,
Yes, Amazon.com is reliable in delivering books - depending on which shipping method you choose, the books can be delivered to you within a week, or within 4 - 6 weeks. Usually, when you choose the cheapest method, it will take longer.

As for the estimated shipment date, it is the earliest date possible for them to ship the books to you. Some books are not is stock, so they usually have to wait for the books first. Estimated delivery date is the date you are likely to receive your books.

Hope the above explaination answers your questions.
Anise
on 27 Mar 2008 at 1:54 am23ahyap

Amazon has recently reduce the shipping cost and is very cheap now. It takes only US5 per shipment + US5 per book in that shipment. So if you buy 2 books, you pay US15 for shipment only. I have ordered books from Amazon few times before. The recent experience is very good even I use the cheapest shipping method. Books ship out in 1 day after order and I receive it in around 3 weeks. Remember, the less book you order in 1 shipment, the quickest they can ship them out. And they do hire special shipping agent to ship the books from America to Malaysia, before it is distribute by Pos Malaysia. So changes of losing the package is mild. But there is a different story 2 years ago, where my Amazon package is lost and they have to send me a replacement, ended up I have 2 packages receive on the same day 2 months later.
on 27 Mar 2008 at 9:54 am24ariel lee

thanks for the feedback guys…really appreciate it.
on 11 Apr 2008 at 4:45 pm25ks

Hi, Can tell me how to buy a book from Amazon.com? i try to click on the “Proceed to Checkout” and fill up the form with my adds (Malaysia) , but i saw this: *** We’re sorry. This item can’t be shipped to the country you selected. You can enter a different shipping address above, or you can remove the item from your order by changing its quantity to 0, then clicking the Update button. *** i looking for a 20years old book (Executive Japanese Volume 1: Beginners Guide to Corporate Communications - Hajime Takamizawa), and only found in Amazon.com. do u have any other suggestion to looking for this old book? (this is very important to me), hope to hear u soon and thank you.
on 11 Apr 2008 at 5:22 pm26AniseK

Hi,
OK, you are not buying this book from Amazon directly, but from one of their resellers. Some of these resellers do not ship internationally, so you need you choose one that do ship internationally. Alternatively, you can try this link. http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9784870320017-0
Their shipping rate is higher than Amazon.com though.
Good luck.
BTW, is this book a good book on learning Japanese?
on 13 Apr 2008 at 10:42 am27ks

Thanks a lot! i will try the link. actually, this is library book, i lost it and have to find the same book to replace, if not i cn’t gradute! thanks!
on 08 May 2008 at 10:32 am28rizal

I am a regular at MPH, Kinokuniya,Amazon and Acmamall too.
Usually my process of buying books — read the review and get the ISBN from Amazon and then try to check at MPH (since I like to collect points with my MRC card) by calling them via phone. Reason — their online stock availability is not reliable so I check first if any of their branch have any copy of the books. IF yes I will proceed to order online (I think there is no postage fee for KL..) if NO I will try Kinokuniya.
Kinokuniya online stock availability is very reliable (maybe because they have only 1 store in MY!) so if your search came out with output meant 99% the book is in store and you can order immediately ask them to ship or kept in store to be pick up. They charge RM for delivery.
Since now I live abroad in a country where English books are rare + late to arricve at thelocal book store — I used a lot of Amazon services. Amazon is very efficient + safe, usually books will be received as early as a week and max at 5 weeks. I had one experience where my book was lost and they replaced a new one FOC. The only drawback — shipping will cost you $$ but they are the biggest bookstore in the world and you can even pre-order unreleased books with a good price.
Acmabooks is OK but shipping is slow.. I think they send all their books to their office in Taman Melawati first before sending out to the customers. I had once pick up the book at their office just to get the book faster.
Other than that I also buy 2nd hand books from Ebay. Do check with Ebay especially children books/rare books can be bought at a cheaper price — they sell in bundle.
on 01 Jun 2008 at 3:55 pm29Yasha

Kinokuniya is the best bookstore in Malaysia by far. I order from them 1-2 book per month on average. The RM 6 delivery fee is reasonably cheap and it usually takes less than 48 hr for me to get it (I live in Ipoh), which is incredibly fast imo. I had ordered books from Amazon once or twice before. The shipping fee was USD 12 + 5 (per book), which was more expensive than the book itself and it took a hell of a long time for me to receive it. So nowadays I only use Amazon reviews to decide whether a book is worthy or not and I pick up the books I want from Kinokuniya. Probably the only things you can complain about Kinokuniya are the incompleteness of their collection compared to Amazon (though they’re still easily the one with the largest collection of English as well as Chinese books in Malaysia and I give a rate of 7/10 meaning I can usually find 7 out of 10 books I’m looking for from there) and also you can’t order Chinese books online which is a shame because they’ve a larger market in Malaysia compared to English books imo.
on 01 Jun 2008 at 4:03 pm30Yasha

@ks: Is the book second-hand? The used books on Amazon are only available within US iirc.
on 08 Jun 2008 at 10:51 pm31ks

@Yasha: oic! thanks for telling me about this! anyway, i found back the book already! Thanks 4 ur guy helping ……..
on 03 Jul 2008 at 1:50 pm32sara

im pregnant now after 6 year of marriage. can anybody advice me what book is suitable to read and buy. Thank you
on 16 Jul 2008 at 2:29 pm33Dee

Wow!!! This blog not just save me time and money. Imagine need to drive and pay for petrol, toll and parking. Most of all, you waste your time which you can’t buy back…hehehe.

I wonder why all this store not really promoting this extra service. I don’t know about Kinokuniya, but everytime I’m looking for books I will call MPH. If the book in their stock they just mentioned to me which store I can go to purchase it. They not even giving suggestion buying through their online store…Hmmm
on 16 Jul 2008 at 11:34 pm34woonsing

For pregnancy, highly recommended:

Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth (Paperback)
by Peggy O’Mara (Author), Wendy Ponte (Contributor), Jackie Facciolo(Illustrator)
on 04 Aug 2008 at 12:13 am35Josette

This is a great and informative post! I love buying books online, mainly because I love receiving books by mail. Anyway, I can’t order books from Kinokuniya since I don’t own a credit card, with me being only a student, it’s illogical to have one.

So far, I’ve purchased books from MPH Online, Acmamall, 1ChildrenBooks.com, and AliceInWonderland.com.my. I wanted to know the shipping rates on Amazon.com and that’s how I came across your blog (via Google).

I’m so glad I found this post of yours! One of your commenters mentioned about a Betterworld.com and I’ve just placed an order for a book. I couldn’t believe my eyes because buying from them would be much cheaper than buying from Kinokuniya or Acmamall! I read everything on the screen over and over again to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Oooh, I can’t wait for the book to arrive!

Once again, thanks for writing this post!
on 10 Aug 2008 at 12:48 pm36Arumugam Senthil

Here’s the comparison for a recent order I placed on Amazon:
—————————–
First the Amazon order
—————————–
Items Ordered Price
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions [Hardcover] By: Dan Ariely (Author) $17.13
Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore [Hardcover] By: Neale Martin (Author) $16.49
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking [Paperback] By: Malcolm Gladwell (Author) $10.87
Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today’s Consumer-Driven World [Hardcover] By: Pete Blackshaw (Author) $14.93
Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are [Hardcover] By: Rob Walker (Author) $16.50
The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style [Hardcover]By: Editors of The American Heritage Dictionaries (Editor) $13.57
Item(s) Subtotal: $89.49
Shipping & Handling: $34.93
Total Before Tax: $124.42
Sales tax: $0.00
Total for this Shipment: $124.42 (RM 415 including shipping)
———————
Next, I searched for the same books on Kinokuniya BookWeb:
———————
ISBN Title Author Publisher Price
9780007263585 PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL MYR64.90
9780141022048 Blink. Gladwell, Malcolm Penguin Books Ltd MYR32.95
9780131357952 Habit : The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore Martin, Neale Financial Times Management MYR91.50
9780385522724 Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000 : Running a Business in Today’s Consumer-Driven World Blackshaw, Pete Currency MYR85.90
9781400063918 Buying in : The Secret Dialogue between What We Buy and Who We Are Walker, Rob Random House Inc MYR89.73
9780618604999 The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style Houghton Mifflin MYR80.45
Total MYR445.43
————————
Conclusion from Amazon Perspective
Pros: 1. Amazon cheaper than Kinokuniya if ordering multiple books even with the shipping costs (On book cost alone Amazon is about 33% cheaper than Kinokuniya)
2. Easy search facility with suggestions. On Kinokuniya a number of times, just typing the book name did not produce anything and had to copy and paste the ISBN number from Amazon
3. Suggestions of other books based on the books you are searching for.
Cons: 1. Delivery time about 3-4 weeks compared with 3-4 days for Kinokuniya. Many people would find this unbearable.
Overall: I will be shopping at Kinokuniya.com in future! Others may prefer Amazon for the pros stated above
on 13 Aug 2008 at 9:12 pm37Josette

But if it’s cheaper to buy from Amazon, then it’s worth the wait. The excitement after placing the order will only last temporarily. I was really excited too after my order and felt like I couldn’t wait. But as time went by, I cooled down. So, if anything, I’ll try to go for the cheaper ones albeit longer waiting time!
on 03 Sep 2008 at 6:42 pm38Winnie

I am currently living in UK, hence buying from Amazon is really a good choice. I only buy second hand “chick lit” which is not worth to pay for a brand new one. Guess what, the shipping fee is 275 times the book price :p. The shipping fee is flat - 2.75 pound per book and per order, so it does not save the shipping fee if you order several books from the same seller. And most importantly, I received the books the second day the book was sent! Lost shipment happened once, which I ordered from the seller in US (betterworld.com), they refunded me when I put a bad comment regarding the order. Now I only order from UK seller.
on 05 Sep 2008 at 2:56 pm39Jane

I am interested to get some second hand books online too.. anywhere to get those beside ebay?
on 07 Oct 2008 at 5:52 pm40Dhinnesh

Buying from Amazon might be cheaper but please be aware of customs (kastam). They have the right to tax you anything you buy from overseas which of course includes books.

If you order multiple books..your package will look bigger and heavier which will attract custom’s attention. Then, you’ll have to drive all the way to KLIA, pay your tax & collect your items which take time and costs money. After you pay tax + fuel price for KLIA trip..in the end you might be paying more then you think.

Moreover what happens if the books you ordered are damaged during shipment? I don’t think that you would want to pay extra cash to send back the book to Amazon

Buying locally is always safer. You can avoid customs and you can select the book which are in good condition.

The above are my experiences after purchasing online for years..but I may be wrong since I have not ordered any books from Amazon.com, so far only 1 DVD. But I’ve ordered some books from HongKong (Play-Asia.com) and they arrive in super bad condition ie. dents sides & torn pages.

How does Amazon ship out books? Do they use bubblewrap envelops or they ship using hard boxes?

Thanks!
on 07 Oct 2008 at 7:56 pm41AhYap

@Dhinnesh,
Amazon is the expert in packing and shipping books. I have ordered with them 3 times and received 4 packages (1 late arrival and they resent again so I received 2). All in superb conditions wrap with a lot of bubble-pops or polystyrene. Not very environment friendly buy yes, your books will still smell good and look good. And feel safe to order books from Amazon as books are tax free in Malaysia. Make sure the whole shipment contains only books and nothing else. NOTE: DVDs, even unrelated CDs are taxable if the declared value is high (Malaysia standard over hundred is already high). For taxable items, if they shipped via reputable courier like Fedex or UPS, they will help you to pay the tax first and collect the items so you don’t need to go to KLIA. For normal post, be prepared for a journey to KLIA!
on 07 Oct 2008 at 9:12 pm42Dhinnesh

Wow!

Books are tax free in Malaysia? Good then ^^. Now wonder you guys are not afraid of getting books from overseas and its good to hear that Amazon wraps books properly!

Btw, great topic ^^
on 15 Oct 2008 at 12:43 pm43Arumugam Senthil

I wanted to provide an update on Comment 36 (which I had placed on 10 August). The books from Amazon actually arrived exactly a week after I placed the order - even though the delivery estimate was 3-4 weeks. The books were very nicely packed in a box additional outer plastic coverage.
on 18 Oct 2008 at 9:07 pm44Dhinnesh

@AhYap

I need an advice.

I would like to order a set of books from Amazon.com. Which shipping method you recommend? Is the shipping method good enough to protect my books from being damaged or should I choose the second cheapest?

Thanks!
on 19 Oct 2008 at 10:57 pm45AhYap

I will use the cheapest rate myself.