AbeBooks Reviews 

I buy books from three different book companies. I compare what is available, I look for pricing and book condition. I find that Abe Books at times has several books to choose from and that helps with decision making. So far, so good!! No problems.

Thieves

Recently I bought ( in February!) three books, paying 130 euro, and I didn't receive any of them! I tried to complaint yet nothing happened! THE TRUE WORLD OF BOOKS is one of the sellers, to whom I paid 45 euros for one book which I have never seen.
Could anybody bring them to justice? Buyer's rights? I should be able to pay AFTER the book is in my hand, that's the online shopping! I should be able to return legally, if the product isn't as it should? Why abebooks became such a "gathering of thieves and deception"?

I’d give them a 0 if I could. I bought a book from them and they sent me the wrong book. Instead of making it right, they demanded that I pay for the shipping to return the book they sent me, which again was the wrong book. So, they expect me to pay extra for their mistake. After several emails attempting to figure out why I’m supposed to pay more in order to get my money back, they then tell me they don’t have the book I ordered at all. Which means they took my money for a product they didn’t even have, sent me the wrong product, and now expect me to pay extra to send it back to them. This is the most ridiculous experience I’ve ever had with an online bookstore. Don’t waste your time or money with them.

I came across a set of the the Encyclopedia Britannica from the 80s for an amazing price (note, I would've paid a lot more here) and ordered it. Note the word "set", which was used in their ad.

I got ONE book from the set. Worthless.

I asked for a refund! They agreed promptly - but are having me ship it back on my dime! Now they've sent me about 5 emails asking me to return it in the last week, as I've been very busy at work, and was trying to make up my mind whether it was worth returning.

Shipping will cost me as much as I spent on the book. Rather than return this so someone else gets screwed, I guess I'll keep it and eat the loss.

Paid almost 20 euro for international delivery (Italy => Poland) for just a single book and they sent it with the cheapest provider, no insurance, no tracking number. The package was lost and I cannot get my money back

Delivery time is way off 5 to 8 days been way over 2 weeks. Good selection but very unreliable

Recently ordered a book from a seller through Abebooks and I never received the book. Contacted the seller and they refunded me the purchase price but not the shipping which they were supposed to under return policy. They refused to refund it and there is no possible way to contact Abebooks directly to let them know about the situation. Would never buy from them again.

The descriptions are misleading. There is no customer service number or way to contact anyone but the direct seller who is rude and disrespectful. I highly recommend NOT using this company.

I will never purchase a book from ABEBOOKS again. I purchased a book that indicated FIFTH edition, and I received FOURTH edition. I wanted to return it as they sent me the wrong book. On their website it states that the seller is responsible for return shipping costs if the wrong book is shipped. It costs me $US 11.99 to return it (I'm from Canada) but ABEBOOKS never refunded me the money spent for returning it even though it's not my fault they shipped a wrong book. So now, I have no book and I'm out of $US 11.99

I used to order some books through AbeBooks, and I can't recollect any issue in terms of the condition/quality of the books or the integrity of the sellers.

However, I became a victim of a fraudulent practice that is increasing on AbeBooks with foreign sellers as well. The seller advertises books as new/sealed, but it sends second-hand/used books. Then, it aims to present the case like the customer is just conventionally dissatisfied with the purchase. As a result, the customer is forced to pay the return shipping fee, which can be more expensive than the ordered book. The legislative trick is that the seller stipulates that the concerned case is just an ordinary return request rather than a fraud or misrepresentation of item is not as described case. The payment method dispute process is the only route to reclaim the loss as AbeBooks backs the dishonest and dodgy seller. Subsequently, AbeBooks is not a modern and democratic platform for purchasing non-low cost books. The risks are high, and mischievous people will use it against innocent buyers by producing a lot of headaches for the sum-zero game.

These people are irreverent, and AbeBooks creates a comfortable echo system for these people. In my case, the concerned seller/merchant is the

Toscana Books
3004 Glen Rae
AUSTIN, TX,
U.S.A.

These people are fraudsters!

I won't use AbeBooks in the future.

The company calling itself dyskolosdaskalos, run by Philo Stefanides (in Alameda, California), sold me a book for $2750.00. It was lacking a 4-page signature. When I called to ask to return the item, he said that I was lying about the missing pages, and he refused to refund my money. He also required payment by check, thus cutting out the service on which I found the book of its cut. He is unreliable, argumentative, and unreasonable.

Ordered a book, delivered from the Thriftbook-Dallas stock, an arthistory study by Albert Boise. The package was swiftly delivere, but its contents was not the book ordered but an older copy of the Chicago Style Manual. I paid 51 dollar to get the study by Boime. To get part my money back I had to return the book at the cost of 25 dollar. No book and yet 38 dollar cost.. Not a good deal. Not a good deal.

Book order arrived late. Notices of expected delivery times were wrong. Seemingly little regard for customer's satisfaction. Advice: steer clear of Abe Books - better to spend a few extra dollars for books on Amazon and save yourself the aggravation.

I've been searching for a place where I can buy rare books online and AbeBooks seemed like the perfect answer. While the selection is wide and the sellers seem promising the actual experience is a different story. Yes, I found the book I wanted but it arrived weeks late and in worse condition than listed. Communication was barely there. There was not much help from customer service. Unfortunately, the inconsistency from seller to seller makes the whole thing feel more like a gamble than a guarantee.

Sent me the wrong book and it wasn’t a great shipping time anyway. Expected me to send the book I ordered but did not receive back before getting a refund. That’s impossible as they sent me the wrong book. I ordered a total of 3 books from this seller before running into this problem. Thriftbooks may not be perfect but they are leaps and bounds above AbeBooks. Do not shop here unless you want to be fleeced of your money.

The book I got was in amazing condition, way better than I expected (at least according to trustpilot reviews) and it showed up earlier than the estimated delivery date.

Five stars. No notes.

Absolutely untrustworthy. Once tried to order a paperback from Canada. Came to the end of the transaction: this crappy company tried to stick in 100 euro of tariffs on a 7-euro book. Thank goodness I didn't hit 'buy'.

I have ordered many, many books thru Abes and been 100% satisfied with the condition and shipments of my orders. But..there is always a but...today because of one very bad experience with just ONE of their sellers I have learned that the seller ratings in Abe have nothing to do with seller competence. We need to look at trust pilot before ordering with an Abe seller. Had I done that I would have known to expect trouble with the seller and look for a different seller/source for the book I needed.