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Better World Books

How would you rate Better World Books?
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New Jersey
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow Matt S.
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Terrible Customer Service
December 15, 2022

I purchased 3 books from them via eBay. It was the Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King, in hardcover. The 3 books arrived and all 3 were in large print format. I message the seller to return them. They did accept a return but I had to pay shipping, even after I sent them a screenshot of their listing, which did not indicate these were large print editions. Their broken record reply was "according to the ISBN number, we sent the right items."
They do take a while to respond. If you don't care about the book you're buying, well, I'd still suggest shopping elsewhere; preferably through a service that cares about their customers.

Date of experience: December 15, 2022
Arizona
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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I have ordered from Better World Books many times. They frequently sell used library books. I DESPISE the stickers and stamps all over the books and intentionally order ones NOT marked as previous library books for this reason. In spite of this, I routinely still get them. It's so frustrating that they either don't mark all library books as such or they just don't pay attention when fulfilling orders. For my last order they had several copies of the same book, one marked as previous library and the other simply as "used". I chose the "used" version, and got a book covered in library stickers and tape and stamps on the page ends. And it was sent in this sticky wrapping plastic envelope that made a mess of the dust jacket. I'm done ordering from here.

Date of experience: May 20, 2023
Delaware
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Highly recommend
May 15, 2022

I ordered one book from BetterWorldBooks, which arrived in excellent condition. It looks brand new, and I'm overjoyed. The book arrived within five days after my order. Looking forward to shop more. Thanks!

Date of experience: May 14, 2022
Nevada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Super untrustworthy seller. I purchased a book and after I paid I got an email from them saying their supplier couldn't provide it. It was buying it new so I'm not quite sure why it could not be supplied! I bought it elsewhere. The kicker is almost 2 months later they sent an email wanting a positive review asking about my order! It's like the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. They may have slightly lower prices but you don't know if you're going to get your book, and they had no problem charging me right away. So I think maybe they are some kind of a third party seller and they advertise a certain price and if it can't be met, they just make up something like their supplier can't provide it. Why sell new books with a supplier that can't provide it? Selling a book that is new implies that you are able to fulfill the order. Shady!

Date of experience: October 23, 2022
Oklahoma
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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Books never arrived
November 30, 2023

I bought several books by the same author from BW books. I got part of my order but its been a month now and even though I have a tracking #, once it "leaves" BW books they do not help at all to find your order. The site they direct you to in order to "get help" sends you in circles.
They did not hesitate to help themselves to payment for the books, however. Beware.
I will never order books from this company again.

Date of experience: November 30, 2023
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Not impressed
December 30, 2022

Purchased a book as a gift for my husband. Chose BWB because they indicated that I would receive my order earlier than the other online bookstores (and a few days before Christmas) and advertised the book as in "new" condition. Five days AFTER Christmas the book finally arrives and although it is new, it's a very poorly reproduced "copy". The photos are nothing recognizable because of the poor duplicating process and the Table of Contents is missing a page or two. Shocked that such a poor quality reproduction would be sold by a reputable company. Won't be ordering from BWB again.

Date of experience: December 30, 2022
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow William S.
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From any online book seller though I'd be happy to see comparisons. I read a lot. I've stymied local librarians who could not determine why I couldn't check out books and discovered that the library only allows 50 books at a time to be checked out. I was excited when Amazon released the Kindle app and tablets but subsequently disappointed to see that there was little value unless they were offering something on sale. Most of the used book stores I've tried to use on the internet have multiple sellers and charge shipping individually, some allow one delivery charge if you purchase multiple books from one seller but that takes research.
Each BWB seems to have the best inventory, best prices, and with a very reasonable amount of purchase, free shipping. I rarely write reviews and very rarely write good reviews but I think BWB deserves it.

Date of experience: October 13, 2022
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Everything's better than I expected
September 15, 2022

I've bought 7 books from Better World Books and was surprised that all of them were in perfect condition! They are all library books and I was afraid that they might be damaged or dirty (as other people mentioned here), but they are just perfect.
The only thing is that I couldn't use a promo code on the website, but still the price was good.

Date of experience: September 14, 2022
Massachusetts
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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I have bought a number of books from Better World and I can honestly say I have never been disappointed. I know one person complained that the book arrived damaged due to shipping but I haven't found that to be the case. They are the first folks I look to in order to buy books. Used is the way to go.

Date of experience: May 27, 2022
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Received wrong book
June 7, 2022

I ordered a math book for my 6th grade grandchild, who struggles with math. After several weeks I received the wrong book. I immediately sent an email detailing what I received as opposed to what I ordered. Better World Books did respond and I Followed their instructions but the restrictions on getting what I ordered and returning what I received is ridiculously complicated. The concept of Better Works Books is great but not sure if I would order from them again. I just want what I paid for.

Date of experience: June 6, 2022
North Carolina
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Excellent!
May 17, 2023

I purchased a book from Better World Books through Amazon and it was in better than described condition. It looked as if no one had ever read it even though it was a Library book. The shipping was fast and packaged well. I will definitely purchase another book from them the next time I need a book.

Date of experience: May 17, 2023
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Ordered 3 Harry Potter books and descriptions of their quality reflected actual condition. Very well priced, decent shipping time and cost, especially for international shipping, and good packaging when received—encased in secured, waterproof wrapping. Also appreciate ethical practices, low negative environmental impact and literacy contributions made by this company.

Date of experience: January 15, 2021
Brazil
1 review
3 helpful votes
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I bought two books on Syntax and Semantics from BWB (oder #*******). I waited for several months for them to get here, but they never did.

When I contacted them to say my items seemed to have gotten lost in the mail, they said there was nothing they could do, because over 60 business days had passed - which is an unreasonable excuse, because it is NORMAL for items to take to longer than two months to arrive at international destinations. I explained this to them, and here's the response I got:

"Many thanks for your feedback. We are always trying to improve our business and will certainly look into implementing new practices in order to do so. Our apologies however we stand by our policy."

In other words, they are fully aware that a paying customer has not received his items and have no problem doing nothing about it.

Think long and hard before doing business with this company.

Date of experience: March 19, 2021
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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One of my favourite online used bookstores. Little bit more expensive than others, but I think that's because the price of shipping is worked into the book prices, and they frequently have sales for anywhere from 10-30% off used books – every book also donates a book and proceeds go towards literacy efforts worldwide.

Date of experience: January 10, 2021
New Zealand
1 review
3 helpful votes
Follow Joe J.
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I ordered a bunch of books that were listed as "very good condition" and when they got here they were old ex library books. Not what a I played for. When I bought 1 book it was packaged in just a plastic mail bag with no packaging, of course it arrived severely damaged. Every book comes with a paper based sticker ON THE SPINE which do not come off easy and leave sticker residue behind. I ended up ripping one of the dust covers of my books, can't imagine how horrible buying paperbacks from them would be. Avoid this website

Date of experience: July 19, 2021
Malaysia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Balqis R.
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They have a variety selection of books that come with affordable prices and offer free international shipping which is an absolute bonus! However, you'll have to expect that most of the used books come from the library so the books will have barcode stickers and stamps on them. For international buyers, i know it's stated that it take max 21 days but mine took a month (i personally don't mind), so heads up for any impatient buyers out there! Also, if you select books from different locations your books will be delivered separately so there might be some delay for certain books to get to you.
Pro tip: Always go for Used Very Good' or 'Used Like New'!
Overall, i'm somewhat pleased with the books i purchased and would definitely return for more!

Date of experience: June 10, 2019
Arizona
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Quality used books at great prices, free shipping, what's not to love? They have always been reliable, and the bonus is they support worthy literary causes! Feel good about helping the planet by buying used! BWB is a teacher's best friend for stocking the classroom!

Date of experience: July 17, 2020
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Here you can find a plethora of books in very good or almost new condition, at a reasonable price, and also feel good, since several books are donated to communities of need, based on one's purchase. However, the stickers placed on each book purchased are a pain to remove. I hope there is a good reason for those stickers, since this sours my whole experience with BWB, and deprived them of one star.

Date of experience: December 15, 2021
Missouri
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow Lynne M.
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I've ordered from Better World Books for years. Throughout the last year the quality of my orders has gone way done. I only order books listed as "very good" or "like new" condition but have received books with black marker all over the cover; bent front covers, among other issues. BWB has been responsive and issues refunds but there is something wrong when it happens over and over. The books are sent in packaging with no protection, stuffed into envelops, also causing damage. I don't want to have to spend my time messaging with them over and over after every order. Now the rewards program doesn't work for me and after back and forth messaging with them for a week nothing is resolved. It's just not worth my time anymore. They don't care and the quality continues to go way down. There is no efficient way to deal with problems.

Date of experience: March 10, 2022
Maine
2 reviews
4 helpful votes
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I have received three books in a row from these people that were not as described. These books were mailed in an unprotected plastic mailing sleeve that allowed much damage to occur to the pages as well as bindings. I asked for a return and refund on these books, they then filed a claim against me on eBay stating it was my fault that the books were not as described. The pictures below show one of the books they sold as "very good" which clearly shows the poor condition with brown mold stains. Absolutely disgusting business practices. Never again will I buy from these horrible sellers.

Date of experience: February 4, 2021

Overview

Better World Books has a rating of 2.8 stars from 2,091 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Better World Books most frequently mention customer service, business days and return shipping. Better World Books ranks 5th among Used Books sites.

service
234
value
234
shipping
240
returns
78
quality
233