After you choose your favorite Borders store you can search for items and determine if they are available for pickup at the store or for store special order. Please note that we do suggest that you verify the availability first, as recent store sales may not be reflected. We are unable to provide availability information for international stores at this time.
To Search:
Enter a search term in the box marked "For." Keep in mind that if you enter more than one word our search engine will look for items that match all of the words.
Choose the type of item you want to find. Your choices are books, music, movies, or all categories.
Choose the type of search that matches your search term. The options are:
Keyword: Searches across all fields (subject, title, author, artist), generally producing the broadest search results if the search terms are not specific
Title: Searches only for items with the search terms in the title
Author/artist: Searches all contributor categories (author, music artist, illustrator, contributor, editor)
Actor/Director: Looks at both the actor and director fields for the movie category.
Song title: This option can help to identify a song or locate albums containing a specific song
ISBN/UPC: ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is a 10-digit number unique to each book (normally it is located on the copyright page and near the bar code. The UPC is a similar method of identifying music, videos, and DVDs.
Click on the button marked Go.
Please note that while we do carry an extensive selection of magazines in our stores, we are not able to provide availability information for them online.
Search Tips
As a general rule, unless you want to see all titles listed for an entire subject it is best to narrow your search down as much as possible. Choose search terms that best identify the item you want to find, keeping in mind that you can use specific types of search (keyword, author, title) to focus your search. It can also be helpful to avoid using common words like "the" or "and."
Examples:
Choosing ISBN search in the book category and entering 0452264464 finds one specific paperback edition of the book Beloved by Toni Morrison. To see all available editions search on either the title or the author.
If you are searching for a CD and you enter the search term "classical" you will find all CDs containing performances of classical music. On the other hand if you enter the search term "classical violin" you will find only classical music albums that contain classical violin performances.
In a video search, entering the keywords "film noir" will bring up a list of all movies listed with a subject type of "film noir."
If you are searching for audio books or books on CD you have two options. You can search for the item by author, which will bring up a list of all books in all formats (hardcover, paperback, audio, etc.) by that author or you can enter the author's name and the word audio as a keyword search.
Examples:
Enter the keywords "audio grisham," select books from the In drop-down menu, and choose keyword from the By menu. You'll get a list of all books on cassette by authors named Grisham.
Enter the keywords "mystery CD," select books from the In drop-down menu, and choose keyword from the By menu. You'll get a list of all mystery novels available on audio CD.
Looking for a non-English title? Either search by title as it is written in the language (La Casa de los Espiritus) or search by the author. An author search will return all titles by that author.
Search Results
The first thing you'll see on the search results page is a list of the five bestselling titles (those that are most popular at the stores you've selected) which most closely match your search. You can see a longer list of the most popular titles by clicking on the link to “See More Borders Bestsellers”. The full search results are sorted by relevancy so that the items that most closely match your search terms appear first. If you prefer to sort the complete results alphabetically by author, by title, or by publication date you can do so by selecting the appropriate choice from the drop down menu on the right-hand side of the screen.
The search results will show all titles that match your search, including titles that may be available for store special order or that have gone out of print, not just those that are available in your favorite store. You'll see the title, author/artist, format (hardcover, paperback, CD, DVD, cassette), and the publisher's or label's suggested list price. Please note that prices do not reflect any in-store discounts that may be available. Since publishers and labels change prices from time to time, it is possible for different stores to carry the same item at slightly different prices (depending upon the price of the item at the time we purchased it). To view full bibliographic details on any item in the search results list (as well as store availability) click on the title.
We're excited to make shopping at Borders even more convenient by offering the ability to search store inventory using your own computer. Checking the availability of a title at your favorite Borders store is an easy process. We've outlined the steps below.
Tell us which Borders store (or stores) you'd like to search. For more information on locating stores and creating a list of favorites, visit My Stores.
Search for a book, music, or movie title. For more advice on finding your title, read our list of handy search tips.
Choose an entry from the search results, then check the title detail page to see if it is available in your store(s). The availability information is updated daily, and may not reflect store sales within the last 24 hours. We want your experience to be as convenient as possible, so we've provided a team of customer service representatives who can contact your local store for you, verify that the item is still available, and have it placed on hold. We can also reserve a not-yet-published item or special order an item that is not in stock for in-store pickup.
How Do I Know If an Item Is Available?
The title detail page includes information about the author, publisher, number of pages, list price, and status (in print, not yet published, hard to find), as well as any available reviews. On the right-hand side of the page you'll see a box containing a list of your saved stores and a Yes, No, or Order indicator.
"Yes" indicates that, as of 24 hours ago, there were one or more copies of this item in the store available for purchase. Since it is possible that this item is on hold for another customer or that it has been purchased since the last update you may wish to use our availability verification service before making a trip to the store. Simply email us using the contact information on the title detail page. We'll contact the store for you, verify that the item is available, and have it placed on hold. If you make your request within our usual customer service hours, and within the business hours of the store, we'll often be able to get back to you within 1 to 2 hours.
"Order" means that the item is either temporarily out of stock or is normally not stocked. We'll be happy to contact the store for you and place an order for in-store pickup of any item that is temporarily out of stock. It normally takes 1-6 weeks for these items to arrive at the store (you will be contacted by the store when your order has arrived).
"Pre-order" means that the publisher or label has not yet released the item for sale. We can place a reserve request in your name. When the item is released for sale the store will contact you to let you know that it is available for pickup.
Finally, a "No" indicator means that the item is out of print or
is unavailable. If the item is a book, your local Borders store may be
able to locate a used or out of print copy for you. Unfortunately we are
unable to obtain out of print music, DVDs, videos, or audio books.
While a music recording may no longer be available on one label, there is a chance that another label has acquired the rights for current distribution. You may wish to note that videos sometimes cycle through periods of availability as they change distributors or their distributor chooses to remove the products from the market to avoid over-exposure. (This practice is referred to as a moratorium.) We're sorry, but we don't have information about whether an unavailable video title will become available in the future; you may wish to check back with us from time to time to see if the availability of the video has changed.
