AbeBooks

I purchased a book for my niece within the U.S. The seller did not indicate that the language of the particular book we bought was in German, not English. The seller is refusing to cover return shipping costs even though the item description is not what was indicated in the Order. Whenever I try to respond, the automatic customer service goes in circles. Terrible Customer Service. They are clearly banking on me not wanting to cover shipping costs for a small book so they still get the sale. Will never buy here again.

This merchant is straight up a scam. They don't even hide it. They will take your money. Including money paid for expedited shipping. They will hand over the order to some vendor and they will simply blame the vendor for everything. I thought I would give them a chance (instead of buying from Amazon all the time). Now I know why Amazon is the best - at least they deliver. Abebooks should call themselves I-scam-you.com

Ordered a book described as "good condition"

Hardly! Writing throughout the book! I would say not even fair condition. I tried to contact and was told I could return for refund. It would have have cost me the amount of the refund to send it back. And the responses were much less than helpful, as well as very delayed.

Won't be using Abebooks again. Going with Thriftbooks! Do recommend them! I have had a great experience with Thriftbooks.

AbeBooks has been a blessing for many, many years. I've acquired numerous out-of-publication books that nobody else could find. The caveat is in how you choose the book seller. I've never bought from a seller with less than a five star rating. As a result I've never [and I mean never] experienced problems -- always received the right books in the condition advertised in the time frame the seller stated. No problems with credit/debit cards either. I'm convinced the "secret" is in choosing the seller. I may, however, seek elsewhere now that AbeBooks has been bought by Amazon.

I was surprised to find a book on AbeBooks for $30 that was selling on Amazon for $80. A couple of weeks after placing the order, I checked in and noticed that it had been shipped. However, on further investigation, I learned that it had NOT been shipped--but my American Express had been charged! The explanation provided by the bookseller (Books Express) was that, when they went to fill the order, another book was in this book's place. I am suspicious, however. I think they realized that the book could sell for more and sold it out
From under me. Furthermore, I was never sent a notification that anything had changed in
The status of my order. I've been trying to talk with someone about this, but all they will tell me is that they have now credited my American Express card. As far as I can see, there is no way to talk with an actual person. I'd rate customer service as very poor.

I can't speak on behalf of Abe regarding purchasing books, as I've never ordered anything from them, however I did recently place an order with them to sell my old textbooks, and having never done so before, I was hesitant especially after reading so many bad reviews. I don't normally take time to write reviews, but in this case I felt the need to because out of three companies (Abe, eCampus, sellbackyourbook.com) I placed sell back orders with, all of which I shipped out and placed on the same day, Abe was by far the best in terms of keeping me updated throughout the entire process, the promptness of shipping and processing, and issuing payment in a timely manner. I placed my order and shipped out my books on March 28,2018 and I received my payment April 9,2018, which is great as far as I'm concerned! The check is issued through textbookrush.com. If in the future I have textbooks to sell, I would definitely go through Abe again based on my experience with this transaction.

After seeing the low ratings on Abe, I was nervous about ordering my book, "Representing the Invisible" even though it was a huge savings. I am so happy with the book which arrived two weeks early and in mint condition. I will be using Abe Books again!

I ordered a textbook from them which took over a month to be delivered, and I had to buy a replacement before I ever received it. Was trying to save money, ended up paying double. I thought, surely I can't blame the shipping time on the seller, right? So, I ordered another book the following semester. Same story. Now they won't refund my money, even though I followed all the instructions when returning the book, and they received it. Never. Again.

I have been using Abebooks for years, NEVER an issue. I see negative reviews posted... do buyers look at book condition which is usually listed? As they say, you get what you pay for. Books that are in better condition (listed as "like new, very good, good") cost more than a book listed as "acceptable". If buyers purchase a book that costs less, it may be listed as "acceptable" condition. Not sure if buyers are aware of the small print which lists book condition. Just my 5 cents worth :)

I have also used abebooks.com trying to find older titles from some favorite authors. For the most part I have been very pleased with the selection, the prices, and the speed of shipping.

One complaint though, one of the providers from a previous order was Canadian and this was not disclosed during the order process -- for every book shipped and charged I was charged an international money conversion fee. Let the buyer beware and make sure you're choosing a US supplier unless you are ok with the additional fees.