www.abebooks.co.uk
Now 10 years old, this online bookshop is a massive clearing house for second-hand sellers, as well as stocking plenty of new titles. Dedicated users rate it for its ability to come up with rare or out-of-print works; put it to the test with an obscure request.
Amazon
www.amazon.co.uk
With its bargain prices, fast (sometimes free) delivery and unbeatable stock range, this is the devil incarnate to many small booksellers. Yet it's hard to argue with the way that Amazon has made buying books online (as well as electronics, DVDs and lots of other things) a doddle.
Art Republic
www.artrepublic.com
Living in a white-walled box? This is the place to visit if you want to add a bit of cheap chic to your living space. The online branch of this Brighton-based art emporium stocks a good collection of contemporary, limited-edition prints and posters. Delivery is free.
08456 445 334
The Bookshop
www.the-bookshop.com
This enthusiastically run second-hand bookshop operates from Wigtown, Scotland's answer to Hay-on-Wye. Its constantly updated range includes some interesting collections, and its stock is set to grow - a new warehouse means the internet shop will soon hold 20,000 titles, all trackable on its search page.
01988 402 499
CD Wow
www.cd-wow.com
MP3 players are all very well - until your computer crashes and anything you've downloaded from the internet disappears. If you tend to think safety first and buy CDs to upload from, start here. This internet music shop sells all the main releases at discounted prices and wings them to your door with miraculous speed.
Design Museum Shop
www.designmuseumshop.com
For designer gifts with a sense of fun, look no further. This online shop sells a great collection of quirky homeware, books and office supplies. Anyone for a pack of fly-shaped drawing pins?
020-7940 8753
DJ Friendly Records
www.djfriendly.co.uk
If only vinyl will do, this is a great online depot for all styles of music. And the staff are as friendly to music-loving civilians as they are to DJs.
01273 389 427
DVD
www.dvd.co.uk
A flipside version of Amazon, as the name suggests this is best-known for its well-priced range of DVDs. But it also sells books, CDs, games and other electronic paraphernalia online. Delivery is free within the UK.
Edinburgh Printmakers
www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk
Whether you're looking for a big-name work by Callum Innes or David Shrigley, or you've only got £30 to spend, you should find something from this wide range of limited-edition prints. The site has pictures and prices for most of its stock but you have to call up or e-mail to buy.
0131-557 2479
Eyestorm
www.eyestorm.com
If you have a bit more to invest, try this online contemporary art and photography gallery. With Marc Quinn, Richard Billingham and even Vic Reeves on its books, you'll need to dig deep.
020-7928 8877
Flashback music
www.flashback.co.uk
This no-nonsense online music store isdesigned for collectors looking for rare CDs or vinyl. You type in an artist, title or genre, wait for the record you want to come up then buy it. Simple.
020-7354 9356
Fopp
www.fopp.co.uk
For cult fiction, art-house DVDs and the best new music, you could do a lot worse than log on to the online store of this growing, independently owned chain. Good prices and easy to navigate.
Hidden Art
www.hiddenartshop.com
A membership organisation whose brief is to support and promote designer-makers, Hidden Art's online store gives you easy access to work you won't find in the more globally oriented design shops.
020-7729 3800
The Lighthouse
www.formshop.co.uk
The online version of the Lighthouse shop is linked to Scotland's National Centre for Architecture and Design, so the products it sells are creative. Bestsellers include sophisticated wooden digital clocks and display-your-own-slide lights.
0141-225 8422
London Graphics
www.londongraphics.co.uk
As well as an excellent stock of art supplies and craft materials, the online shop of the London Graphics Centre does a nice line in designer gadgets.
020-7759 4500
Magma books
www.magmabooks.com
Some people make art, others just like to read up on it. If you fall into the latter category, Magma makes for essential browsing. Titles available online cover graphics, book design, illustration, architecture, animation and advertising.
020-7242 9503
Movie Mail
www.moviemail-online.co.uk
If this online film store were a cinema it would be arthouse. If you look hard, you can get most of its classic and contemporary movies at HMV, but why bother trawling through all the other guff?
08702 649 000
Persephone Books
www.persephonebooks.co.uk
The real charm of Persephone Books has nothing to do with its cannily chosen reprints of forgotten 20th-century classics (mostly by or for women). It's the way its books are packaged, with plain grey jackets and brightly coloured end-papers.
020-7242 9292
Phaidon
www.phaidon.com
No discerning homeowner's coffee table is complete without a Phaidon book or two weighing it down. This visual arts and travel publisher produces some of the glossiest tomes around.
020 7843 1000
Pictures On Walls
www.picturesonwalls.com
Describing itself as a record label for artists, Pictures On Walls nurtures purveyors of street art and sells their work. There's substance behind the painfully hip style, with a catalogue that covers Banksy, David Shrigley and D*Face.
020-7739 6444
Play
www.play.com
Another good all-rounder, Play sells all the usual book, DVD, CD, game and electronics suspects.
RD Franks
www.rdfranks.co.uk
With its huge range of fashion books, textile titles and design and interiors mags, this is a reference heaven for style-setters.
020-7636 1244
Shipley
www.artbook.co.uk
A godsend for arty bibliophiles, Ian Shipley's 20,000-strong online stock of old, new, rare and out-of-print books runs through the full spectrum from photography, art, architecture, fashion and graphics to rare exhibition catalogues. 020-7836 4872
Travel bookshop
www.thetravelbookshop.co.uk
Until Daunt Books gets its online act together, this shop will carry on cleaning up among travel bookworms. The online stock covers popular travel literature, guides and maps. For more unusual titles, head to its Notting Hill branch.
020-7229 5260
V&A Shop
www.vandashop.com
Setting the standard for museum shops, the V&A's online store stocks more than 2,000 products from jewellery to furniture, books, toys and fashion. Some are inspired by the V&A's collections, others are one-off vintage pieces or commissions.
020-7942 2696
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