Abebooks Reviews

8 Sep 2021 update full refund received following my complaint Only buy from this site if you are confident you ll be able to follow up the delivery and request a refund if it hasn t arrived within 30 days of the estimated delivery date It is nt easy for shippings coming from abroad which have a wide range estimated delivery dates that also does not include any delay clearing customs Order placed in March for a rare architecture book from the US Estimated delivery end of May I followed up with the seller mid May to get tracking information No reply I waited thinking it could be due to Covid extended delivery lengths The seller is still not responsive to follow ups summer holidays have passed and now I am beyond the 30 days deadline to get a refund Terrible terrible service no protection of the buyer at all the seller contact details are not even provided I am not even sure the seller actually exists Stay away from this fradulent service

I have bought many books through abebooks over the years and I have been a happy customer most of the time But recent purchases have been disappointing Damaged books that a few years ago would be for sale for a couple of pounds are now sold as new or described as being in very good condition at a price which is not much less than what you would pay in the high street Some of the booksellers are the same I used before so it is not a question of being unlucky with the dealer rather a general lowering of standards or the disappearance of quality control Sad Abebooks was my first port of call but not anymore

Hit and miss When you re dealing with a straightforward seller there is no issue But sometimes sellers ask for extra charges after you ve placed your order for tracking charges for example This is frustrating they should really include all charges in the offer price In the situation where you have to pay extra charges abebooks hits your credit card not with the stand-alone extra charge amount but with a pending charge for the entire sale amount again PLUS the extra charges As it s a pending charge it will normally be corrected in a few days but it s a totally unacceptable practice Buyers should be told the full amount before they are charged anything I would recommend buying your books directly from a small independent used bookstore wherever possible and only using this site as a last resort Contact the seller before buying the book to ensure they have included all fees as abebooks basically wash their hands of you as soon as you ve placed an order leaving you at the mercy of the seller to play fair

Used to be good what happened I ordered multiple books from five sellers and the first three that arrived all from different sellers were not as described Two books were sold as Very good but arrived dog-eared stained and torn - one with loose pages The third was supposed to be a paperback but a hardback arrived The first two sellers refunded without even asking for photos Fine but I don t need the hassle The third seller - World Of Books - still hasn t responded despite Abe Books 2 business days timeframe to respond having expired This has now meant further emails and extra hassle Will think twice before using again

I ordered book in wrong language Could not return it because it was past the return date It was arriving to me most likely all 30 days if not more Customer service was fine thought no complaints there book was in good condition too hence the 2 stars Not happy to take responsibility for delivery times and not being able to return item because of it thought

Ordered a book which was described as good condition When it arrived pages were loose and torn Overpriced I m still waiting for the second book to arrive It was more expensive might as well have bought new from Waterstones Hooe it s in better condition My first and last order from them

Ordered 3 books 9 days ago 2 came in a timely manner and one still hasn t been dispatched It s unlikely to get here for Christmas now Very disappointing

Overseas purchase Comms from Abebooks was abysmal Surely they can improve how they manage customers after purchase Having read all the negative experiences of others I began to wonder if I d been taken in Thankfully the book arrived after many weeks of uncertainty

I ve had a couple of good experiences items have arrived and in good condition The reason I m rating it so low is because the vast majority of my orders have not arrived been cancelled or arrived not as described damaged and late Overall not a good experience prices aren t fair for quite a few of their products expensive shipping and you never know what s going to arrive it at all

I ve bought two books both described as very good condition but both in very poor condition - ripped pages scribbles on pages etc The returns process is rubbish - for a seller of this scale they should have a centralised returns process in place Instead it relies on the poor buyer having to pay for the return in my case due to seller fault and log all the details in their website I have zero confidence that I m ever to going to get my refund Wish I d looked at these other reviews before purchasing Never had issues like this with any other second hand bookseller