website thubmnail of ThriftBooks
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North Carolina
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Aj V.
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I ordered a book that was labeled as "Like New," so I expected …. Like new. I was disappointed when it showed up late, was bent and had smudges/stains on the front. I'm really disappointed. I won't be ordering from this company again!

+1
Date of experience: December 2, 2021
Virginia
2 reviews
14 helpful votes
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Constantly Getting Damaged Books
February 28, 2023

Books are consistently misrepresented as in a better condition than what they arrive in. Customer service team does not respond, they just refund or replace with yet another damaged book. Getting a refund is required, so I'm not giving any more than 1 star for doing what they SHOULD do. But FCC needs to know about the false advertising of these filthy, damaged books.

Date of experience: February 28, 2023
Maine
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Between book conditions being nowhere near as described (like new being filthy and penned notes on all the pages, dog eared, bent covers you name it…) to waiting two weeks for delivery only to find out they mailed me someone else's books and didn't have any replacements for mine that were mailed to the other person. And now to have pre paid for a long anticipated book that I've been counting down the days for that was sold as "arrives within 1-2 days from release date only to be emailed as shipped via mail innovations and will arrive within 15 days. This place is not worth ordering from there are so many good used and new bookstores that aren't lying about quality or shipping times to get more money. Capitalism at its finest.

Date of experience: October 19, 2021
Pennsylvania
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Not willing to assist
September 15, 2020

Had difficulty creating an account. When help was requested so I could pay for & complete, some wacky statement was forthcoming. When books were bought from them via ebay all went well. Direct purchase no good.

Date of experience: September 15, 2020
Ohio
1 review
7 helpful votes
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A Cheap Gamble
August 5, 2020

While this site offers cheap books and free shipping, it seems their system for book rating isn't always true. The books aren't individually described and I believe that's why I had an issue with quality. Some books were very much worth the money: a cheap book that was essentially new. Unfortunately, I'd rather just spend a little more money on either the book itself or shipping to get what I know is a decent book versus a gamble. Attached is an image of my "Like New" book. While clearly used, it is not as their website states a "Like New" book should be: "An apparently unread copy in perfect condition. Dust cover is intact; pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind." Clearly, this book has been marred and is far from "perfect condition." In fact, it's a library copy, too.

Date of experience: August 5, 2020
California
1 review
12 helpful votes
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Prices are no better than if I had bought at amazon or target. Shipping was extremely careless. Items are not as described on the site. Products that should have been in new condition are all damaged. They try to switch and bait people (offer new book-send an old book) hoping they won't pay out of pocket to sent back. Do yourself a favor and go to a reputable store with good shipping and return policies or you'll just be wasting time and money shipping these guys their damaged products back.

Date of experience: September 26, 2020
New Jersey
1 review
9 helpful votes
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Stay away
December 7, 2015

I ordered a Randall the Reindeer book that was to include the reindeer and naughty and nice list. I basically just wanted the reindeer as my grandson, 6 lost his when the pipes burst in our home last winter.

All that arrived, after nearly a week, even though i paid an extra $14 to have expedited service was the book.

Having a difficult time getting any answers as to why all of the false promises.

I would not recommend this company to anyone.

Wish it would allow only giving one star. Stay far far away. There are so many honest companies to deal with. Too bad no one else had my product.

Date of experience: December 7, 2015
New Mexico
2 reviews
5 helpful votes
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Don't Trust Book Condition Ratings
August 22, 2022

Have bought several books and the one thing that seems to be a common gripe. Is that sellers over rate their Books. My recent purchase said like new and when it arrived it had creases and dog eared pages. The copy of this book I checked out from the library was in significantly better condition. Don't mind paying a little bit more to get like new condition but I do mind when ThriftBooks over rates to sell books. Customer service in the past has also been pretty dismissive. Would recommend looking elsewhere for your used books.

Date of experience: August 22, 2022
Alabama
4 reviews
3 helpful votes
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I'm old fashioned
March 31, 2016

I'm old fashioned and like real books you can hold in your hand. My kindle is a nice space saver, but from time to time I do like real books. This site has great prices on used books. I've purchased several and not had much of a problem. Selection isn't always the best, but many to choose from.

Date of experience: March 31, 2016
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Ordered a book from them. Got here in fine time, and "correct" book was received but... wrong *edition*. So... kinda entirely wrong book. So buyer beware, you need to check the very very fine print to ensure that what you're getting is the correct book AND edition, as they lump all of them into the same entry, and don't split seperate editions into their own entry.
Edit: within 10 minutes of me contacting customer response, they completely resolved my issue. So, the caveat above still stands, but also know that they are on top of things, and you really do just need to be Very Discerning. But, for the prices available, you could stand to save a lot of money if all it means is inspecting your purchase for an extra 30 seconds. I will be checking thriftbooks.com again for whenever I need a hardcopy book. Just, I'll be a bit more cautious.

Date of experience: September 4, 2020
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I purchased Genki volume 1 textbook for my Japanese studies and the front two pages were ripped out. If a book is damaged, Thriftbooks should alert the customers and let them decide whether or not they would like to purchase the item. It comes off as misleading and we as customers prefer not to do business with a deceptive company!

Date of experience: June 27, 2024
Georgia
3 reviews
0 helpful votes
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YES, CAVEAT EMPTOR!
January 21, 2024

Like reviewer Sage L., I suggest only buying books from Thriftbooks that are marked as very good or new. I also have bought some "good" condition books I would throw in the trash or donate. Shipping seems slow, as well. I also find their Customer Service difficult to reach. I'd rather buy more costly books from Amazon or try Better World Books.

Date of experience: January 20, 2024
Colorado
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I've ordered from thriftbooks a few times, each time making sure to select ones that are in "very good" or " like new" condition, and each time without fail, they have pages upon pages written in, or worse... Unfortunately I will not be ordering again from them any time soon.

Date of experience: January 27, 2024
Iowa
1 review
2 helpful votes
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I have ordered many books from ThriftBooks and have been very happy. I just received three books. A book called There's a pest in my garden, was rated as good. There was water damage to the first two pages and food crusted to the page. I was very disappointed with my order. This should've been rated poorly and I never would've bought it. Pat.

Date of experience: February 2, 2024
Washington
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Not enough info given
January 21, 2024

I received a book without a jacket cover and would never have ordered it that way. One of the others was library binding. I wouldn't have ordered it either. I know this info was not in the descriptions. Was do disappointed.

Date of experience: January 21, 2024
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Happy customer
April 7, 2022

I've ordered twice now from Canada. Books arrived earlier than expected, and in the condition promised. Unique titles of spiritual books that I can't get at our libraries and have to pay top dollar for at specialized stores. I'll keep ordering and hopefully won't have a negative experience like some have reviewed.

Date of experience: April 6, 2022
North Dakota
3 reviews
1 helpful vote
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Terrific Used Books!
April 17, 2023

I have been using them either on their site alone or through their site on eBay. They have terrific discounts and terrific prices. Their merchandise comes in great condition. Looks like it's right off of the bookstore shelf. Shipping is very quick too.

Date of experience: April 16, 2023
Maryland
1 review
19 helpful votes
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Great so Far
August 24, 2020

I have ordered 20 books so far. Extremely happy. Really good for finding older out of print books. And even some newer books at a great price. Stop complaing you're buying used books they're not going to be perfect.

Date of experience: August 23, 2020
Virginia
1 review
6 helpful votes
Follow Deborah C.
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Paid $16.84 for a book that was given a "very good" for its condition. Every page is scribbled on with a pen. I honestly believe Thriftbooks paid someone to go through it and mark each page to look like it had been read. There are even underline marks in spaces, not underlining a single typed word! These marks have made reading this devotion very distracting and not enjoyable at all.

Date of experience: March 8, 2023
Missouri
1 review
1 helpful vote
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I've always had a pretty good experience ordering books from ThriftBooks. You get what they advertise with respect to quality. They are also pretty fast in filling orders and getting the book to you. However, be careful of how you order, because they don't always let you make returns. Their policy is not clear about what they won't accept back--their site says something vague about "qualified returns" (obviously covering their backside). I got stuck with over $50 in books that I didn't want. So to summarize: buying books from them is good, but their after-sale customer service policies are not in your favor.

Date of experience: November 17, 2023

Overview

ThriftBooks has a rating of 2 stars from 375 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with ThriftBooks most frequently mention customer service, good condition and dust jacket. ThriftBooks ranks 38th among Used Books sites.

service
153
value
153
shipping
156
returns
90
quality
152
+158