If you look at the vendors of the lowest priced copies, it immediately becomes apparent why they are not really the cheapest sources, at least if you are an American buyer. The cheapest copies are offered by Amazon Canada. The book is just a penny, but the typical shipping cost to the U.S. is $8.77. Add that up and the total comes to $8.78. No wonder their copies don't compete in terms of actual price with those from Elephant Books, which sell for $3.73 including delivery.

The difference is even greater with the next group of books, from Amazon UK. They cost only two cents, but shipping from the UK to the US is $14.69. So, this "cheaper" copy costs $14.71 delivered, compared to $3.73 for Elephant Books.

Again, we caution that the shipping prices aren't perfect, and this will not be a significant factor for most rare and antiquarian books. However, for the typical used book, shipping is a significant part of the cost, and including it in the charge is the more accurate way of displaying price. This is a useful and truthful service BookFinder is providing, and we wish them well in tweaking the formula to get the most accurate shipping costs possible.