AbeBooks

Thought I was getting screwed, just like a lot of other people, based on the review section. But I can honestly say this. If you are dealing with Bookplate as your seller that won't happen. Bookplate were honest and upfront. Did what AbeBooks said they were going to do. Friendly customer service. And delivered the product as described on the website. Bookplate 112 S. Cross St. In Chestertown, MD. I would definitely order from them again. Here's the story. I bought a book for my wife, a Christmas present, so I paid extra for expedited shipping. I received an email from E (not using their full name) a couple days later letting me know my order shipped, but had made a mistake and only sent it out regular mail, This was when I looked at the reviews on Abebooks, and read a bunch of them where basically the same thing happened. I responded to E with my concerns about the mix up in shipping, and they insured me it was just an honest mistake, and that they would refund me back the difference in shipping. I agreed, but after reading all the bad reviews, I figured I wouldn't see the refund, and would be lucky if I ever saw the book I ordered, But E at Bookplate actually refunded me the whole shipping amount, and I still got the book before Christmas. Not all sellers on this site are out to screw their customers.

If I can give zero star I would. Customer service is no existent. The only time AbeBooks would response is when they didn't get paid and wonder why. I dealt with 2 vendors. One vendor was fine but took 4 weeks to receive a textbook. Why that long? The other vendor is horrible. I ordered a NEW textbook but received an USED textbook. The textbook had a sticker clearly stated that the textbook is USED. I reached out to Abebooks and all they did was forward my complaint to the vendor. The vendor stated he sent the USED version by mistake. He tried to get me to take the USED instead of the NEW book. What a bait and switch. I told him I want the NEW textbook I ordered along with a prepaid envelope so I can return the USED book back to him. After multiple emails from me over a week, he stated the book is in the mail. When we opened the 2nd book, it was in WORST shape than the first textbook and clearly not a NEW book. Obviously the vendor lied to my face when he stated he has the NEW textbook. At this point, my cc company has a dispute on this charge and refunded my money so I am not out anything. I told Abebooks if the vendor wants his 2 USED textbooks back, he can send me the prepaid self addressed envelope otherwise the USED textbooks will be collecting dust in my house. So the moral of the story is DO NOT USED Abebooks or the vendors on there.

Given the reviews I had seen on this sight I didn't really want to take the chance and purchase anything from here, but an item was listed that had a great deal. It was a book that typically sells for over $45+ (originally $13 at retail but it was out of print and rare), selling on the site for $11. I thought, "wow, this is a really good deal", and figured I might as well risk it for the biscuit and see what happens.
Surprisingly, the book came and it was actually a copy of the book. HOWEVER, it was an ex-library book that was laminated by that said-library, which was not specified on the purchasing. I am a little disappointed at that fact, but I cannot deny that the price was great and all of the pages seem to be in tact.

I'm not 100% confident this is correct but I'm pretty sure this site is sort of like Amazon - personal sellers have the option to sell their volumes on it, so I think the quality is up to the sellers from there, not AbeBooks themselves
Overall, great deals for what it's worth, and I'm going to keep peeking at their manga collections for good deals!

The Legend of Tallow Manor is an entertaining tale based on the romance between Benjamin Rawlings and Elizabeth Gatcombe. This childhood romance blossomed at Tallow Manor in Britain. Elizabeth was from a family of high ranking and Benjamin was the son of the farrier. AbeBooks literally bumped into each other as children running around the grounds. They immediately liked each other's company. Elizabeth was having a party and personally invited Benjamin to attend. At the party, Benjamin stood up for Elizabeth when she was insulted by another boy, Grant. Unfortunately, Benjamin got beaten up by Grant and his allies. Elizabeth and Benjamin were then separated. They vowed to never forget each other. Elizabeth was sent to Italy to complete her education. They were later reunited as adults. This time around, Benjamin was the owner of Tallow Manor. As a true gentleman, he offered Elizabeth her old home back as a gift.
The Legacy of Tallow Manor is quite intriguing. It spans a few continents as the main characters were physically poles apart in their adult years. I love the fact that author Terence. J. Goodchild was able to trace the issues of war and slavery in a tasteful manner. The contrast between the genteel, aristocratic life and the working class is quite dramatic. This clearly indicates that life can be truly unpredictable. The ironic twist whereby the two main characters switched positions in their social standing is proof of the creative genius of the author. I also appreciate the plot within the plot feature in this story. The language is semi-formal which reflects the Elizabethan (pun intended) time period of the novel. I enjoyed the extra twists in the plot in terms of the true family heritage of the heroine. The language used is both colloquial and formal as the book encompasses personalities from different social strata. In essence, this novel makes you wish that you could find the type of enduring love that the two main characters share. This book is truly a wonderful read!

Purchased an overpriced book on Abebooks through their vendor Lost Books in Austin Texas and almost 3 weeks after shipping confirmation the book still had not arrived. I contacted seller and AbeBooks claimed they could not find the book and offered to either keep my money and put me on a list if the should by chance come across the book or refund the purchase. After some digging I found this seller was trying to resell the book I purchased (the new listing has the EXACT SAME inventory number as my order) for 5x the price I originally paid for it. I contacted Abebooks to dispute this fraud by their seller only to get a generic email saying to contact seller. HUH? I did some deep searching online for customer support phone number as they do not publicize it on their website to get a recording to call back during business hours, I called well with in their business hours. Unfortunately I still needed the book so I found another seller selling a new copy of the book for double what I paid for the used book and purchased from ABC Books in Missouri. Four days later this seller sends me an email asking for $30 extra for heavy book shipping, mind you the book only weighs 8oz. Reluctantly I paid the extra processing only to have Abebooks double charge my credit card, cost of the book again plus the $30. The charge was declined and they canceled my order without being able to contact them on their error. I immediately contacted the seller to let them know of the error on Abe's part and a week later I still have no response from seller or Abebooks. Do not waste your time or money on Abebooks, Lost Books or ABC Books.

The notice said allow extra time, the book failed to arrive, ABE refused refund due to time expired. See email thread below

Dear Mushfeequa P,

The request exceeded the time that YOU allow because YOU have a statement that appears in my orders to allow extra time because of the slow mail. This is absurd. I followed YOUR instructions and then you penalize me for following YOUR instructions by citing YOUR policy that conflicts with YOUR policy. Notice something, it is all YOURS, not mine.

YOU need to put up at warning about bulk buyers and YOU need to include in your notice about slow mail that YOU have conflicting policy. At lease tell your customers that YOU don't care about them.

In disgust, Axel

Axel E. Borg
Distinguished Wine and Food Science Bibliographer Emeritus
University Library
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
*******@ucdavis.edu

"What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels about education." ― Harold Howe
"The most wonderful job in the world would be as a librarian" ― Charles de Gaulle
*******@abebooks.com
Mon 6/28/2021 10:19 AM
Hello Axel,

Thank you for your patience while I followed up with the bookseller regarding your order below:

Abebooks Order No.: 629971369
Author: Ascoli, David
Title: The Mons Star: The British Expeditionary Force 1914
Estimated Delivery Date: May 12,2021

Unfortunately, I haven't received a response from the bookseller. Our Security and Trust team has been made aware and AbeBooks will be working with this bookseller to ensure their future compliance with our Policies.

We would like to acknowledge that this is a bulk-buying account.

I'm very sorry to hear that this order did not arrive as expected. All return and refund requests must be received by AbeBooks within 30 days of the order's estimated delivery date. This includes reports of items that did not arrive. Unfortunately, as your request exceeds this time-frame, we are unable to assist you. In the future, please make to contact us within this period.

You can view the AbeBooks Return Policy here: https://www.abebooks.com/docs/Legal/returnsPolicy.shtml

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely

Mushfeequa P
The AbeBooks Team

Need further assistance?
Help pages: http://help.abebooks.com/
Contact Us Form: https://www.abebooks.com/customer-support/

Security Tip - Please do not send credit card numbers or confidential information via e-mail or other non-secure methods.

www.abebooks.com | www.abebooks.co.uk | www.abebooks.de | www.abebooks.fr | www.abebooks.it | www.iberlibro.com

*******************************
Order: 697941304

# 697941304

I waited additional time since each order had a notice that shipping time was extended. I tried to contact the bookseller and got no reply. I then sent a message to the bookseller to request a refund. Today I tried to initiate a refund and was told that I had waited too long. I followed the guidance on the site.

Please get this guy to refund my money.

Axel

AbeBooks Order No.: 629971369
Sales Order No.: 697941304
Book Title: The Mons Star: The British Expeditionary Force 191
Estimated Delivery Date: Wed. May 12,2021
*******************************

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

This is the worst company ever to deal with. Don't buy OR sell books here! AbeBooks $#*! and flipping don't do anything.

I recently graduated college so I decided to sell all my useless books since I won't be needing them for law school, obviously. I NEVER RECEIVED MY PAYMENT. So I emailed them, like anyone who didn't get a check in the mail after a couple weeks would. They told me I had to wait another 15 days for it to get to me... It had already been 2 weeks. So the 15 days went by with still nothing in the mail, I emailed them again and then they told me that I had to wait 45 days after the check was issued. So YET AGAIN I waited longer. I didn't get a check STILL. And emailed them. At first they were going to send me a new check but then they were all "our records indicate that cashed our check 5/27/14, we can email you the invoice if you'd like." Ummm, yeah, wtf send it.

I checked with my bank after looking at my account online (since I didn't have any deposits to my checking or saving account) and my bank confirmed it. I told them I didn't have any deposits on that day (in fact no activity at all!) and they said they would send the check.

I got the email with the check and it wasn't cashed by my bank and it didn't have my signature! They refused to send me another check. Mother F*****s. The last I checked this wasn't a charity and them not paying me for my books I sold is theft... To which point, since they've been so uncooperative, theft charges will be pending. This is utter bull$#*! and I HIGHLY SUGGEST NEVER. USING THEM. There's a reason their rating is so low.

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, USE THIS COMPANY! YOU WILL REGRET IT.

I'm an Australian, living in Australia and a long-term Abe Books AUSTRALIA Account Customer, who a day ago at midnight purchased (paid using my Bank Credit Card) ~ two (2) second-hand books:

One book from an Australian Abe Book Seller (Tasmania), advertising the Book in Australian Dollars, with Free Shipping (current Abe Books Sale pitch) and,

One book from a New Zealand Abe Book Seller (Auckland, NZ) priced in NZ Dollars. Both said mentioned Abe Books Australia Websites immediately Disappeared upon when ‘Clicking & Sending To' the Abe Books Australia Account "My Basket & Purchase" along with the AUD$ & NZ$ Book Prices ~ Now All in USA Dollar Amounts, including Shipping Costs.

I e-mailed Abe Books Customer Support ~ "Ra'eesah L" from 'The AbeBooks Team' (*******@abebooks.com - mailed-by: amazonses.com. Signed by: abebooks.com) ~ "Ra'eesah L" e-mail replied at 08:28 AM today (08/05/2021) ~ "Ra'eesah L" and ‘Abe Books Customer Service' REPLY is an insult! I quote below from:

"... I'm sorry to hear that your credit card company charged a additional fees for order transactions... You can avoid International Transaction Fees by limiting your purchases to booksellers within your own country... Please be assured that this fee, called a Foreign Transaction Fee, International Transaction Fee, or similar, is not charged by AbeBooks."

During my previous Abe Books (Australia Account) and all O/S Purchases, my Bank Credit Card charged me, just under $2.00c (Australian Dollars) Transaction Fees per individual Abe Books Purchases, immediately following those Payments being completed.

The confusing mystery regarding Abe Books Australia Price Currency Conversion sudden incident where upon purchasing the AUD$ & NZ$ Seller Book Price is changed into USD $ Prices gives *Abe Books (& Jeff Bezos) Price MARKED-UPS Abe Books (Australia) Bill TOTAL: AUD $56.07c (USA $43.10c).

*Todays (2:45PM Friday 7 MAY 2021) Google Search Currency Conversion from AUD$ & NZ$ into USA$ Rates ~ Abe Books (& Jeff Bezos) are making $1.28477c per $1 Australian on the mark-up in Selling price to USA Dollars purchase Invoice to Abe Customers; and I would get a 21% Discount on the NZ Seller Book from Converting NZ$ to AUD$, but not so, as Abe Books instantly converted that NZ $ into the USA $ Exchange Rate. Abe Books CONVERT $ could be a higher rate in marking up to USA $ amount from the Google Search current detail.

'Abe Books' & 'AbeBooks Inquiry ARN - 62591757' & 'Ra'eesah L' & 'Abe Books Customer Service Care' are an "insult" to a now and once loyal consistent Abe Books Australia Account Customer.

I see a lot of reviews bashing on abebooks. Most of the complaints (from what i can tell) have come after ordering a book from outside of the US. In my case, I ordered a book from Better World Books, based in Indiana. It arrived within the estimated timeframe, was in the described condition, and left me completely satisfied. I wish there was a way to review the sellers on the website itself, but it seems to not be possible, currently. I do advise anybody who wishes to purchase from the website to do their research about the seller that offers the book AbeBooks are interested in purchasing. I'm so glad to have found this website. The book i purchased was in Russian, and published in the early 2000's, not even available in the most common russian books retailers. Plus the prices are amazing.

Edit 2019: Since writing this review i have purchased about 10 or more books using abebooks marketplace, from a variety of sellers. The only time something went wrong was when a seller sent me a book they had mislabeled, which was not the book i had ordered. They issued me a refund after contacting them directly. No other issues, deliveries always within estimated time frame. Note: the books i have purchased have been mostly fiction (about $3-$5 per book) and 2 textbooks ($70-$100)

I needed a textbook for a class that just started. On the first day of calls, the professor told us to get a certain book. Like most these days, it cost over a hundred dollars new in the campus bookstore. So, even he advised getting it online. Abebooks said AbeBooks had several in stock, and the price was much lower. Great. So I ordered it, and I added an extra $6.99 for "priority mail" shipping. And THAT is the problem...

Abebooks has redefined "priority mail" to mean collecting their money fast and then sending the order on to a third party who will do whatever they feel like doing. When I didn't even get a tracking number in 48 hours and complained, they responded with the advice that they would pass my complaint on to the seller and if the book didn't arrive in 12 days, I could make another inquiry. So I complained again that this was unacceptable, and they replied with the same canned response.

The seller finally responded with a "tracking number" - that their shipper says is not valid. I complained AGAIN - and got the same canned response AGAIN.

I hope I get this book before the class is over! And frankly, now that I have read the reviews, I worry about the condition of what will arrive - assuming it ever does.

IN THE MEANTIME, I have been forced to buy another book from another seller so I have something to work with. So much for "AbeBooks", one of the worse online retailers I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

Buy from Abebooks at your peril. Remember, they are NOT the real seller, but an order taking service that couldn't care less about the honesty of their sellers.

UPDATE: I finally got the book. It was clearly marked on both front and back covers "SAMPLE EDITION FOR EVALUATION ONLY. NOT FOR SALE OR RESALE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES". I am also now getting SPAM mail from them.

Needed a rare 3rd edition of a book, and I found it on Abebooks. I emailed to confirm it is a 3rd edition (4th editions are worth $0). It was confirmed. After I ordered, I was told my credit card was declined (was just a lie), and to pay via paypal, which I did. Now I have 2 charges for my 3rd edition book. A week later, a box arrives from Amazon, inside a book, 4th edition! The receipt had a much lower price than what I paid, since the 4rd edition is worthless. I was told to return it for a full refund. Then I found out about the double charge. I was promised to have that refunded as well. Nothing happened for 2 weeks. Then another box arrived, another worthless piece of junk 4th edition (I was told for my double payment) Same again, returned it, no refund. Was told AbeBooks never received the books, although I had tracking numbers. I had to start a dispute case with my credit card bank, and with payal in order to have the scammers admit they have received my returned merchandise, and that they were lying about not having received the books. What a waste of my life - all the time I spent communicating, trips to the post office, emailing, disputing... I will file a complain with the BBB. This company is evidently trying to scam people out of their money. I am sure most people just let it go after paying top price for a piece of worthless junk, because it takes too much effort to have their money back. This company needs to be reported to the BBB. I urge anyone else to do the same. If you were tricked into buying a valuable product, and have been mailed something worthless, file a complain with the BBB. Maybe together we can stop this nonsense. If you want to loose your money, please donate it to any charity, instead of buying fraudulent products from this company. Thank you for considering!

Bought a book on Abebooks from CIMELIO BOOKS Portugal. Condition of the book was described as "good" on Abebooks. After receiving the book it appeared that the condition was very poor. Dog ears on all the pages, every page heavily spotted with brown spots. Many pages written on. Spine very loose. This bookseller has been on Abebooks for over 10 years and has more than 23.000 (!) books for on sale at Abebooks. So this is a very, very experienced seller. Actual postage was Euro 1,45. Shipping charged: Euro 12,00. More than 10 times the actual postage. In total I paid 37 Euro ($40) for a worthless piece of junk. Then I tried to settle with Cimelio Books. I asked a partial refund because shipping back gives new troubles (seller claiming item not received back and additional postage costs for me). He offered me 7.50 euro back. No more. I agreed but he never paid the money back and ignored all my e-mails reminding him. There is no easy way to get the money (partially) back directly from Abebooks. Stay away from this particular seller. He is misleading honest buyers like you and me. And Abebooks protection for this kind of malpractice is a travesty.

Last month I ordered four books; a nice good-looking box set of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. This site offered the cheapest price around, so long as I made an account. The arrival was supposed to be within 17-19 days. Around the 22nd day, still no books, so I sent in a ticket to the seller asking if there was a tracking number. Maybe the ETA was just off, y'know? But I don't get an answer from the seller, I get an answer from customer service. I wondered why I got CS and not the seller, so I look back to the seller's account... and it's been labeled a bot... My kinda luck, right?

So CS tells me AbeBooks can reship or refund. I figured I'd give them a chance and asked for a reship. Was told it'll show up on my doorstep in 4-6 days.

Skip over Sunday and Memorial Day for obvious postal service reasons, I waited a few days extra just in case. I sent in another reply asking, "Hey, is there a tracking number this time around for this reshipment? The books still aren't here." The response I got? In a nutshell, the bozo goes: "The item you ordered SUDDENLY WENT OUT OF STOCK. It's available now. Would you like a reship or a refund?"... Why the [bleep] was it out of stock that quickly? Why was I not told it was out of stock? Why not send my money to one of the other listing sellers and ship it from them? I don't know how this is supposed to work out, but I AT LEAST should have been told it wasn't available. Unless each of these listed sellers are all bots too! I get it's a popular book series, but c'mon! "Suddenly out of stock"kiss the darkest part of my backside, buddy...

There's no Third Time's A Charm with me on this. I waited a month, I just want my books, and I'll be going to B&N for them. Might be a tad more expensive, just by a few dollars, but at least I know they'll get it here and it'll get here fast. I'd be surprised if I actually do get my refund, though. It'll be the only honest thing about this site. I'll be cancelling that account immediately afterwards in case they try nicking my card information.

UPDATE: There is a refund policy. It can only happen within 30 days of your purchase. When I got my second e-mail back from them, it was day 31, which I think was intentional on their part since my second e-mail to them was about day 28,29.

I wish I didn't have to give them one star. I notice practically everyone is complaining about them about the same thing. No delivery, no tracking number, no responses. Finally have to get a refund from the credit card company.

I ordered a book from them because it wasn't on Amazon and the book was required for a course that started immediately. It never arrived, and it probably was never shipped. I didn't know when I ordered it that AbeBooks do not ship with tracking numbers. Demands to show me proof that the book was shipped as they kept claiming were met with polite non-responding responses in form-letter fashion, with the fake sincerity saying how important it was to them to respond in a timely fashion -- so how hard is it to look up a tracking number?

I asked for a refund after three weeks of waiting and their promising the shipment would take 4-6 days, but they insisted in making me wait until the last possible deadline. I could not confirm that they had the book or had shipped the book or what delivery time they intended to meet or who they had shipped it with.

I checked on the customer reviews for this store and found there were scores of people having the same problem that finally had to make a claim for a refund to their credit cards. I finally got the charge reversed on my credit card. I pity those that ordered it some other way than by credit card since they were trying to make me "apply" for a refund on their web site. Nuts to that.

Recommend not doing business with these guys. Think it might be a scam, taking orders, collecting money and then banking other people's money for a while until they get it back.

In the past year I have purchased more than 100 books via abebooks.com, and the last bad experience has finally soured me toward ever using this online direct sales venue. I purchased an expensive book (over $50) I knew in advance had a damaged cover. However, I did not know it had been through a fire and was in decayed enough a condition that I had an allergic reaction to it. I went to the trouble to renovate the cover, sat down to read it, and got ill. Sunny Day Books then told me that I would get a full refund if I returned it. I did so, got only a partial refund, and was told that my claim was "unfounded". So I lost lots of time at a very busy moment and lost over $10 for all my extra effort. I did not want to have to send back this book, immediately bought another copy from Germany, and will now have to wait for it until August. When I explained all of this in detail to abebooks, I got merely an acknowledgement that I had received a partial refund. Nothing more. What kind of customer 'service' is that? DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY HERE.

Sales Order # 697610365
Ordered on April 12,2021Order Total: US$ 61.81
Bookseller: Sunny Day Books (Mayer, AZ U.S.A.)
AbeBooks PO No.: 629497052
Printable order summary
Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Volume 1: Structure and Growth of Philosophical Systems from Plato to Spinoza
Wolfson, Harry Austryn

I ordered a book for class through Abe Books. The order actually came from Indoo (whoever AbeBooks are in NJ). When my book arrived it was just a card with a code on it (I knew this when I ordered it) and I scratched off the stuff to get signed up into my class online. It told me the code was for another book. I turned the card over and sure enough IT WAS! Didn't even send me the right one! So I message them like it says to do. Indoo never replied to me for 3 days... HELLOOOO class is starting! So I went through the process through Abe Books to get a refund initiated. They got the order return process going and it said to ship the book back to their address and to enter the tracking number when I did. That means I'm paying for return shipping on a book Indoo messed up the order on right? So I package it up and get the postage to include a tracking number on it because that's what I was instructed to do! When I then emailed Indoo again and told them how much the shipping was, they said, "We only refund for the amount of Media Mail through the USPS!" Like WHAT?! Then why did Abe Books require me to pay for tracking too? So I message Abe Books and go back and forth with them about this only to find out, they aren't paying me for it and I'm out the cost to mail back the order that I didn't mess up on, and I paid them in good faith for, but they screwed up and sent the wrong order on! If they'd have just done it right the first time, I wouldn't have had to return the dang thing! Indoo is some crap company that I'm not worried about, but Abe Books I expected better from! I have been a customer of theirs for a long time and this was my first problem I had with them, and they keep emailing me these smug emails saying they aren't required to pay me back for my shipping costs! Thanks Abe! You just lost me as a customer and anyone else I can convince not to purchase from them!

I have only recently discovered ABE Used Booksellers and found them to be a bit cheaper than Amazon's used books, so in the past month I have placed several orders for used books from several different booksellers who sell via ABE Books. Well, each book I've received is not as I'd expected. I've found that the books "conditions" were exaggerated in the original seller posting - upon receiving the used book, I was very disappointed. Each book I received, in my opinion, was barely "acceptable condition", as opposed to being described by the seller as "good" or "very good". The final straw happened today when I received my copy of Light Between Oceans from Owls Booksellers in Toledo, MD. This book was listed by Owls Books on ABE Books as being "hardback in very good condition". What I received today is a PAPERBACK in only ACCEPTABLE CONDITION. I won't be placing anymore orders via ABE Books. ABE Books is not a dependable seller and part of the problem is that, unlike Amazon, ABE Books does not offer buyers the opportunity to give PUBLIC seller feedback. This is a big problem. If public seller feedback was allowed, book quality would probably ramp up and there would be better HONESTY among seller listings! I am recommending that people stick to AMAZON when purchasing used books online!

I was on ReviewFeeder to review a site I am disgusted with, and ran into AbeBook reviews. I was shocked at the number of one star reviews. I have used AbeBooks for several years now and have ordered dozen and dozens of books. I shop several sites before going to AbeBooks so I know what the current prices are, and almost always end up purchasing from AbeBooks if a used book will fit the bill. I mostly order children's books (I'm a teacher) and I have never been disappointed. The condition has been true to the description. Sometimes I get library bound books and that is a bonus. The vast majority of books are less than four dollars with free shipping, when other online sites have new copies for ten to 16 dollars with additional shipping- I can't beat the price. I know the satisfaction with the sale depends on the actual seller, but I haven't come across a bad one yet. I have also purchased paperback books for myself for pleasure reading- fiction, memoir, humor, scifi, and all have been fine. It seems a lot of the bad reviews are for textbooks and books needed in very quick time, so maybe that is part of the issue. I recommend you give AbeBooks sellers a try if you wish to save big dollars on book purchases- it's worth trying them once on an inexpensive book just for the savings, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I hate to think bad reviews might have stopped me from finding such a great source for the many books I need. AbeBooks is a go-to for me.

Purchased two textbooks on 8/27 from AbeBooks. Paid for expedited shipping to get books ASAP. One book shipped after a few days and I received a shipping confirmation and tracking info and it arrived in 4 business days.

The second book purchase was confirmed but AbeBooks never sent a shipping confirmation. I contacted the seller and they indeed confirmed the book was shipped and that I should be getting the shipping email shortly. After two weeks I tried to call - tried a dozen times and it just goes to a Google number that says nobody is available. Now after about three weeks I just keep calling and emailing and they finally respond saying that it was lodt in transit and they can refund my money. Of course, they don; t care that I spent $1800 for the class and now will fail without a book. At this point, all resellers are either out of the book or they tell me it will be mid-October before it will be shipped. Yeah... that won't help. I al thoroughly convinced that they knew the book was sold out and just took my money hoping they may get another one in. How can you send the shipping confirmation and tracking on one and not the other. And... why did it take me constantly calling and emailing? If this was truly a mistake, I would have been ok with a call or email saying the book was out of stock so I could look elsewhere. Now it's too late for me to do anything...

Amazon.com owns AbeBooks - AbeBooks are a subsidiary company.

AbeBooks then acts as a kind of half.ebay.com for book sellers.

THE PROBLEM HERE is that AbeBooks.com does not back up customers, they simply allow their sellers to do as they wish.

If you have any problem with a seller, AbeBooks "customer service" will simply give you "sweet talk" and pretend to care. In actuality THEY WILL DO NOTHING TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. Nor do they seem to be very discriminate about who they allow to sell through their site, or even REPRIMAND them in any way if they conduct business poorly.

Simply, if you buy a book through AbeBooks you are just BLINDLY BUYING THROUGH A VEIL and you have no real idea of who the actual seller is. AbeBooks is the front, and their suppliers come from across the globe. PROBLEM: AbeBooks.com doesn't care what goes on behind the scenes, and if there is a problem they will not do anything more for you to rectify the situation other than simply passing a message on to the actual seller (which may or may not be a legitimate business in a country that you were/weren't aware you were doing business with).

BEWARE of abebooks.com and the sellers that they represent; and additionally question why Amazon.com would allow their reputation to be tarnished by this company that they own. Essentially then, question the integrity of Amazon.com!

These are the owners (who should all be ashamed) and their partners (who should be even more ashamed): Gail Wills, Darryl Vezina, William Yu (Director), Mariette Bedard, Jeryl Metz, Yung Choi, Sarah Stein, Courtenay Steele, Don Rosick, Charles Purro, Rick Pura (co-founder), Wilfred Eder, Jean Schmetz, John Tribone, Brent James, Jerome Joseph, James Wilson, Joseph Franc, Michael Villancourt, William Thornhill, Dougals Westerberg, Janet Novick, Barry Novick, Brian Hooley, Sue Connors, Judy Hamza, Thomas Nicol, Lilo Eder

Keep in mind that, unlike Walmart.com or Amazon.com, the vast majority of books, et al., purchased on abebooks.com are from third parties. I found the perfect book to gift to a friend, but needed expedited service to get it to her on time, so, I selected that and paid with Paypal, figuring that the vendor would appreciate the speedy payment. No such luck. The way it's set up on AbeBooks is that you have to wait until the vendor sends you an e-mail link to access Paypal, which didn't happen until two days after I submitted the purchase. But, I still had time with the 3-6 day expedited service (n. B., shipping varies widely (and wildly!) across vendors; some have free shipping; some, like the vendor I used, offered two shipping options). TEN days later, I received the book, way too late to send to my friend. Worse, it was sent Media Mail, which, to those unfamiliar with that, is how you can send books and other non-commercial media through the US Postal Service at a heavily discounted rate, but, it takes longer. The book (a paperback) was faded but in good shape, with a lot of bent corners; the book was rated "very good," which, I've discoverd over the years, is totally meaningless, as the grades vary widely between dealers, and even within their own ratings/store! I complained to AbeBooks about the "expedited" shipping, which, it seemed to me, is a great way to ripoff people (i. E., get paid more for faster shipping, but send it the cheapest way). Politely requesting a refund for the difference, but AbeBooks said it was a matter between me and the vendor, who never responded to any of my e-mails asking for the status of the shipment after I paid for it (I also sent them one before payment, asking them to process the order, quickly, but, they never responded to that, either), so, I wasn't about to waste my time attempting to contact them, again. So, I'm out $4 for the "expedited" shipping, and AbeBooks proved that they don't care about customers. If I were in their shoes, I would have requested info from the vendor, then, upon failure to respond or give a decent explanation, would have refunded the customer. Do yourself a favor and go through Amazon.com or any of a myriad of other online booksellers, or, better still, your local, small, book dealer. I'm willing to bet you'll be treated far better.

I guess I'm one of the few 5 stars. I have ordered many books from AbeBooks, including a long lost out of print book that nobody else could help me with. I have never had a bad experience. I must always get the good vendors. I always look for the very good to excellent quality of book, when given the chance, and weigh it against the price, choosing the best price and shipping, and I have never once been disappointed. It's been a while since I ordered from them so for the first time ever, I checked out the reviews and was shocked to see so many unhappy customers. I had already completed a purchase of a book listed in good condition, and for another very hard to find book (found in England----Abe checks all over the world). After reading the reviews I tried to cancel my order the next day but was told by my credit card company I couldn't. I was really disgruntled but to my delight the first book came EXTREMELY well-packaged and in 1/2 the time stated. The second one came from over seas so it took longer, but was well-packaged. Neither had high shipping charges and both were in better condition than I expected. I will continue to order through AbeBooks and highly recommend them until I have a bad experience. I pay close attention to the satisfaction percentage rating for the individual vendors and shop accordingly, as I would expect others to do also.

Delivery was late, more than 200 pages missing and not returning my queries.

Order details below:

Sales Order No. 103710283 has been received and forwarded to the bookseller listed below. We will provide updates as the bookseller processes the order.

View Order Details

Sales Order No.: 103710283
Status: Order Received
Order Date: August 4,2016
Order Total: US$ 27.62
Shipping Address:
Xxxxxx
Perth WA
Australia

Bookseller: US_Superfast_Bookstore
AbeBooks Purchase Order No.: 128082051
Purchase Method: MasterCard
Estimated Delivery Date: August 20,2016
Approximate Shipping Speed: 4 - 8 business days

Title: Corporate Governance: Principles, Policies, And Practices 3Rd Edition
Author:
Quantity: 1
Book Description: This is an International Edition Brand New Paperback Same Title Author and Edition as listed. ISBN and Cover design differs. Similar Contents as U. S Edition. Standard Delivery within 6-14 business days ACROSS THE GLOBE. We can ship to PO Box address in US. International Edition Textbooks may bear a label Not for sale in the U.S. or Canada or For sale in Asia only or similar restrictions- printed only to discourage students from obtaining an af...
ISBN: *******702757
Binding: Soft cover
Book Condition: New
Book Price: US$ 15.63
Shipping Price: US$ 11.99

I paid $60 for a vintage book, limited edition. The "seller" called "Save with Sam" created a tracking number but never shipped the book. Abebooks will not allow me to request a refund because a tracking number was created, even though it is clear that the USPS never received an item with that tracking number. Abebooks' own website shows me that. I paid over a month ago. The seller has been giving me the run-around, offering to ship me a new book when "a new batch" comes in. This was advertised by the seller as a 1978 edition of a book that is no longer in print for that edition. The "new batch" would be a reprint that I am not interested in because the reviews indicate it is much different than the original. I recommend to everyone that you should learn your lesson and purchase your books through a reputable seller with a demonstrated track record of customer service and a real dispute resolution policy that is fair to customers and seller, and not held up in an automated system that can be as easily scammed as the one that Abebooks has.

I parrot the recent reviews of AbeBooks and as many have shared wish I had read the reviews before "attempting" to order. I payed for an "expedited" order which on the website said would be 3-5 business days. Which mean the book should arrive by Christmas Eve. I got the email confirming the order with an estimated delivery of January 4! I contacted customer service and was told I could "pay" extra to have the order expedited. Duh! When I responded that I had already done that a response came a day later saying there would be no way to get the book by Christmas Eve but I would get it by Dec. 30. So given it was a hard book to find I agreed. No wait for it! 2days later I get an email that the book I ordered was "misplaced or sold without record" and I could get another one if I paid an extra $40"! You can't make this up. So how did a book go "misplaced or sold" when you sent me a confirmation and had exchanged emails about the book for almost 5 days? I rejected the offer and cancelled the order and turned around and ordered the book from amazon for almost $100 less. Yes, I won't get it by Christmas but dealing with AbeBooks was ridiculous.

After my experience with AbeBooks, I have closed my account with them. A book I have been searching for for a long time came up in my AbeBooks alerts for a very good price with a reasonable shipping rate (too good to be true!), so I ordered it right away. The seller had a 4 star rating, so I had no reason to worry. I received my order confirmation, which I assumed meant that I had purchased the book. Stupid me, because I hadn't read AbeBooks' terms thoroughly and I hadn't read reviews on the company. I started getting slightly worried when, after about two days, I hadn't received a shipment notice. Finally, I received a message from AbeBooks, but it was a request for more money. Instead of the US$10.95 shipping rate listed, the seller now wanted over US$40 for shipping! This is apparently because the book needed to be shipped as a parcel. I might have been ok with a slight shipping rate adjustment, but quadrupling the rate was not acceptable so I rejected the request right away. This time I didn't hear anything from AbeBooks for 4 days. While I was waiting, the same book coincidentally came up on an auction site as a BIN for a reasonable price, but I didn't purchase it because I didn't want to buy the same book twice. Again, foolish me. Finally, after 4 days, I received an automated message from AbeBooks saying my order had been cancelled because the seller hadn't processed it within the required time period of 96 hours. Of course, by this point the book on the auction site had sold.

I sent a message to customer service just to let them know that I was disappointed that AbeBooks allows such practices and that I had lost my confidence in purchasing through them. I received a response that basically said that sellers on AbeBooks are perfectly within their rights to request more money for shipping, taxes or tracking/signature confirmations after a purchase, and can cancel orders if AbeBooks choose to. They told me that AbeBooks' system only allows sellers to set one shipping rate (for a book that is 1 kg or 2.2 lb), so sellers can request more money for larger books after the fact. I wrote back saying that I understand that this practice is theoretically allowed under AbeBooks' policies, but that it undermines the trust that customers have in AbeBooks and their sellers. I suggested that AbeBooks should really consider developing tiered/variable shipping for their sellers (which almost all e-commerce platforms on the planet come with). And in the meantime while they only have the capability to set one shipping rate, sellers should be encouraged to set a rate that is middle of the road - they make money on shipping sometimes and lose money on shipping at other times, and it all evens out. That certainly beats trying to quadruple a shipping rate after the fact, which is likely to make any customer miffed. It's not as though the book I tried to purchase was outrageously sized - it's an average non-fiction hardcover that's 10" x 12" and weighs under 2 kg. After I sent this message, I received a response from AbeBooks that was truly irritating: "I am afraid we do not ask this of sellers as we cannot expect them to price packages for all of their inventory for all weights to all countries in the world." I'm sorry, did I ask that sellers set individual shipping rates for every single combination of package of every weight to all countries in the world? No. I suggested that they develop tiered or variable shipping for their sellers - similar to the weight-based shipping rates that any modern e-commerce platform allows; or encourage sellers to set an average flat shipping rate that balances out how much they gain and lose on shipping. Quadrupling a shipping rate on a customer after they purchase a slightly oversized book just shouldn't happen. The only saving grace is that my credit card wasn't charged for this so-called order, and I don't have to pursue a refund.

In any case, I don't have time to waste searching AbeBooks or going through their match notifications if orders I place with them aren't guaranteed to actually be processed. I'll stick to searching for used books at local bookshops or on the usual auction sites (which I find unpleasant and normally stay away from, so that says a lot about my opinion of AbeBooks!). At least then I know that when I find a book and buy it, it will actually be coming home with me! My account with AbeBooks is now closed and I am done with them.

I have been going back and forth with them for over a week. I ordered a book, everything looked like it went through, then 15 mins later the transaction was cancelled, so I tried again with another seller, 15 minutes later it was cancelled again, so I figured third time the charm again, AbeBooks cancelled them. I checked the bank card, no problem, the amount never went through. But the card was good I use all the time without a hiccup. So emailed my disgust to customer services, and they apologized said the seller did it, but the email said they did. So they gave be a $15 discount code, so I tried today. Couldn't put the code in anywhere. So I emailed them saying what the heck is going on, so I get this email that says they put in and I should my discount (which now has become 2.20 (what?). So I logged on and there is nothing, no discount no nothing, just what I owe as before. So I give up. This is totally rip off and waste of time. I few years ago, bought a book, because the price was good, but it was torn and sent in cheap packaging. Ive' learn my lesson, I WILL NOT BUY FROM THEM, alibris is much better... Shop at your own risk.

Ok, I am upset so let me try to temper my rage somewhat and try to be as cool headed as I can be.

First time buyer from Abeboooks.com so I was buying some text books for resale. I thought I was purchasing what I clicked on the Hardback cover and the specific ISBN associated with the text I was purchasing. No apparently what I want is not relevant, so AbeBooks sent me international versions of what I ordered with soft covers and different ISBN numbers. I ordered two of the text, and another text for different subject, and I see now on the tracking number they are sending me a international version of the text I ordered from Ireland.

I have to pay for shipping to get a full refund. They will not provide you with return shipping label. You cant get a refund until the books are returned. Then they will ship them back to you in snail mail that takes 5-8 days to receive.

So with that being said I will have to make a decision, attempt to give them another chance and risk more investment of my time in a company that does not have live talk customer service, there is no phone number on their website for customer service line. Its all done via email. Canned responses. And see if they will refund me my money... but based upon my experience there is little confidence they will do right by me.

Or take the text books and sell them on another platform to get my money back, in a month or so. At least in that space I have some control.

I have seen other reviews after the fact of ordering through Abebooks that describe similar scenarios where customers are infuriated by lack of service-and dedication to treating customers right.

Since I started this review, I have again heard from Customer service tech who states I will get a full refund of the original cost of books and shipping charges, plus additional shipping charges to return the books. Which is apparently in the return policies of which I did not read, prior to ordering. I cant say this is totally unreasonable as a policy, my main frustration is that they decided I didn't need the books I ordered but sent me similar books by the same title which are of less value to me than what I ordered.

If I were to order them again I don't think I have any control to ensure I will get the correct books! What a shame!

Do NOT order from this site. AbeBooks are out of Canada and are the middle man for books. I ordered a book that was suppose to take a month to get. I wait the month because the price was so much cheaper, should have been my first clue. After 5 weeks and still not receiving it, I contacted the book seller who only has an email. They wait 2 business days to contact me back only to be told they had no shipping or tracking information and the book should have been there. I called Abe book to find out what was happening, they said they had no customer service phone number for the Irish bookseller that I bought it from and that the only thing i could do was to work through email. Well, if they didn't contact me originally, what makes them believe that every would. I requested a refund through Abe books and they said it would take several business days to do. Ridiculous company and business practices. Not interested in helping you locate the book. Irish bookseller (3rd party) is also buying books from China or any other place that is not reputable and they can't track. I waited a whole month and now I'm stuck buying at full price. Totally illegitimate business... STAY AWAY!

Deceptive sellers and non-existent support - that's what AbeBooks is all about.

It's hard to know if this is by design or if it's just amateur hour in Victoria, BC, CANADA. Either way, it's not good. There's no way of knowing who you're buying from, or where the books are shipping from. Judging by the reviews, it's obvious that seller and book information is often misrepresented, and AbeBooks does nothing about it.

Their claims that books ship directly from the listed bookseller are patently false. I ordered a "good condition, clean book with light amount of wear" from a seller in Lewiston, NY, which took 2 weeks to arrive. During that time, the seller's profile switched from Lewiston, NY to Richmond Hill, Ontario, then back to Lewiston, NY, in an obvious attempt to fool customers into thinking they're transacting within their own borders.

When the book finally arrived, from FRANCE, it was at least 50 years old, tattered, had writing and underlining all throughout, and was so mildewed that I had to pick it up with salad tongs. It had no ISBN as advertised, probably because it pre-dated that system, which made it impossible to verify it was the correct version.

Do yourself a favor: BUY FROM AMAZON, where you'll never be subjected to any of this.