I placed an order on Abebook with book seller - booksdeck, Westlake Village, CA U.S.A. It turned out to be a scam. I placed order while also paying for express delivery. Expected delivery was 2 - 6 business days. Its been 2 weeks and I still have not received the item. They gave me a fake tracking number that till date just shows label created. It's not been handed over to USPS yet. I contacted the seller before placing an order to confirm if they have the book in stock. I was also informed that the book has been shipped. I also tried contacting AbeBooks and they do not have any contact number or email to talk to. That is the reason, even AbeBooks is also a scam website and now a platform. Tip for consumers:Just don't buy from there as they are fraud website Products used:Did not receive the delivery Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: January 22, 2025I bought some books from Abebooks, but decided to cancel my order with one of the sellers Books Unplugged. I know that I pressed cancel but Abebooks processed the order anyway. I did contact them, but never received a response from them. After waiting two days I contacted them again and again I didn't receive a reply. They are supposed to respond after 24 hours. I messaged Books Unplugged but they refused to take back the book once it was delivered. Abebooks is responsible for what happened. Both Abebooks and Books Unplugged put profit ahead of their customers satisfaction. They have a narrow focus on the bottom line. With things getting more and more expensive hopefully it will be unprofitable for Books Unplugged to sell on Abebooks and other sites like Abebooks or even Amazon which owns Abebooks. Tip for consumers:Since I did my review of Abebooks it's come to my attention that there is the unfortunate and all to common practice of something called bookjacking, which is described on zubal.com which lists bookjackers. It's involved but essentially it involves scanning books from sources (book stores etc.) then writing up descriptions and jacking up the price for the book. Books Unplugged and Book Deals being two sellers I've bought from. I suggest that anyone buying from anyone on the list read article. Products used:Books Date of experience: November 21, 2024I purchased a number of books at one time from AbeBooks. I ordered only those books listed as in Excellent or Very Good condition. Most of the books were in average condition. Two were in a condition that didn't rise to the level of poor. Their customer service was almost impossible to reach, and two weeks too late. My advice: buy your books anywhere else! Tip for consumers:AbeBooks does not collect and inspect the books you buy from them. Although you don't find out until after you have placed your order, they use other online booksellers. For that reason, they tend not to know anything about the quality of the books you actually receive, despite what their condition is listed as being. I could have guaranteed the condition of the books I wanted by buying directly from the booksellers they came from. Shame on AbeBooks. Products used:Some of the books from an order for numerous books. Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: November 11, 2024I purchased children's book, Door Bell, for my grandchild listed as New. Book is a pop uo book with working doorbell. I contacted them to make sure book had working doorbell minutes after ordering. The response the following day was, "the doorbell doesn't work but book has already shipped." I tried calling the same day I ordered book but was unable to speak to a human. They said they will not accept return. When listing a book as NEW, you would expect everything about book would be in working order. Products used:None Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: November 16, 2024Here is what I wrote to them directly: I ordered a book set from your site recently. It was Prince Valiant by Hal Foster. Since then, any time I have tried to log into your website, my screen is inundated with books you seem to think I would be interested in and they all have book covers with female nudity, or titles that are sexually suggestive. I will therefore no longer be patronizing your company. I don't need to see, neither do I have the minutest interest in seeing, dirty books you have for sale. I am at a loss to know why on earth your sales algorithms connect a Sunday newspaper comic strip with filth such as you are now attempting to shove in my face, but I'm ending it right here, right now. My business relationship with your company is over. What a disgrace. Date of experience: April 7, 2024I have written incessantly to Customer Service to ask where all of my books are that I ordered from Hippo Books. There are about 12 pending purchases with incorrect shipping information on the orders. I have asked repeatedly for updated tracking information to no avail. This website was my go-to site for hard to find books or great deals. Ever since Amazon bought them, they get away with false advertising the state of the used books, overpricing on second hands books and they lie about having shipped items so they can get away with not refunding your money. Seems like Amazon is intentionally bringing down the used-book industry to force people to go back to Amazon to buy these books at full price. Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: April 1, 2024AbeBooks is an amateur website with no oversight and incompetent staff. I was shipped a $200 book via the cheapest possible method, resulting in the book being thrown on the ground in front of my house and lost/stolen. AbeBooks made no effort to use signature-on-delivery. When I contacted them, the representative was indignant and uncooperative. Tip for consumers:Do not use this website for any reason. There is a high likelihood you will lose your money. Products used:Paid money for a book that was not delivered. Service Shipping Returns Date of experience: March 31, 2024My wife was scammed out of $1200 by someone using this site. They made it look like four $300.19 purchases. We have never even heard of this site much less bought anything from it. But apparently its an easy way to steal money. There should be some way to identify the seller. Tip for consumers:A purchase confirmation before funds a transferred would help deter scammers. Products used:None Date of experience: March 3, 2024I contacted customer service through email to get help with finding out where my package is and they were completely useless. They refused to help and said it showed delivered even though I never received anything. Do not buy your textbook from this website it's a scam! Date of experience: December 19, 2023I ordered a book from a seller that has a five star rating, later I find out it has everything to do with registered reviews and I find out when the package does arrive the label is a completely different store name on it with a horrible review. After three weeks of waiting for my order I ask where is my book and they state it was sent already. It had not been and the post master was a liar. ABE books does not give any help and wont even allow closing your account. To sum it up the book arrived today, June 20th, and with a broken binding, ripped cover, and the last two pages missing. AVOID ABE BOOKS! Tip for consumers:One of the sellers was excellent. I received my book in excellent shape. Products used:Book Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: June 20, 2024Ordered a "new" Ken Follett book for a holiday gift that is not in production anymore. With a lengthy delay I received a damaged book; pages torn and bent. Packaged poorly but book was clearly damaged previous to shipping and used. Poor packaging probably added some corner damages. The rep "Shannon" that was in touch with me seemed really concerned and was responsive. Asked what discount I would like or should they send another. We wanted the book! With a huge delay another book was sent and received. Packaged well but damaged and used? A red stamp with a date was on inside of back cover. Dust jacket for both books used and pages damaged. Received too close to the holiday to be able take advantage of pricing and new books elsewhere plus those books at this point were gone. They gave me $7 off and Shannon wasn't quite as supportive anymore. She was always quick to respond each time though. So I paid an hugely inflated price for a "new" and at this point used book. Never again! Service Value Shipping Date of experience: January 1, 2024AbeBooks is just fine with its sellers shipping a different book than was ordered.The listing was for a 'New!' book in unused condition. When the seller realized the book wasn't actually in stock, she ordered one from Amazon and had it delivered to me. Needless to say, it was not 'New!'. And it cost me twice as much as if I'd ordered it from Amazon myself. When I emailed "customer service", they replied - "Occasionally, when you order an item from an AbeBooks seller and they no longer have it in stock, they will locate and ship the item from an alternate source rather than cancel the order." Really? How is that OK? Because cancellations reflect poorly on a seller's star rating, based on the percentage of successful (non-cancelled) orders. Cant have those sellers looking bad! So now I get to return the thing at my expense, along with two weeks I'll never get back. BTW I never have these issues with Biblio.com, who I recommend highly. Good luck! Tip for consumers:Shop somewhere else. Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: November 11, 2023I placed an order for 2 of the same books for a class. One of AbeBooks seller's, GreatBookPrices, sent me the wrong books for which I paid over $50. This is after I waited 13 days for them to arrive. I contacted them the day they arrived and they refused to give me a refund, send out the correct books, or send me a prepaid return label until I send the books back. So, now I have to send the books back at my own expense. If I send them via media mail, which is how they came, I'll have to wait a total of at least a month from the time I ordered before I get my refund. This is horrific customer service. I will NEVER order from AbeBooks or their seller, GreatBookPrices again. This was totally their mistake and it is unconscionable that I'll be out this much money for their mistake. Beware before you purchase. Products used:They claim they will give me a full refund after I return the books at my own expense which they incorrectly sent to me. Also, unless I can wait another 3 plus weeks to get my refund I will have to pay a lot more to send the books back. The books were sent to me via media mail which takes forever. Out of total carelessness this company sent me the wrong books. It's wrong and horrific customer service that I won't get a refund for over a month because of their mistake. Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: May 21, 2024Made a purchase. After purchase, I was told by AbeBooks that the seller wanted more money (additional money) than what was agreed upon. I asked questions to AbeBooks in return. My questions were unanswered and my order was canceled because they sold the books from under me even though I had an active order. At the time of this review, they have 700 reviews and a 1.8 rating. No wonder. Tip for consumers:They need to up their quality of service real quick. Products used:Books Date of experience: December 27, 2023The site offers a wide array of books and the prices are typically competitive with other sites. The site is also fairly easy to navigate with the usual search tools and a fairly intuitive interface. My issue with the site is that when I did purchase a book and an entirely different book was sent to me, and I attempted to return the said book for a refund, I discovered I would have to package, label, and ship the item back to the seller entirely at my own expense. When a buyer receives an incorrect item, every effort should be made to make the return process as easy as possible, and the buyer should absolutely not incur expenses. Products used:Books Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: January 21, 2024I ordered a book from AbeBooks via Thiftbooks. This was an out of print music book and was to be a Christmas gift. A book arrived and was placed under the tree. On Christmas, it was discovered that Thiftbooks has mailed a children's novel rather than the book ordered. That day, emails were sent to both companies explaining the error and asking for the correct book to be sent. A week later, I still have not gotten anywhere with either company, although Thiftbooks says they do still have the book I paid AbeBooks for. Almost daily I hear from a different person at AbeBooks who seems to not understand that the wrong book was delivered. It is impossible to actually speak to a person to solve the issue. I work in sales and if I treated my customers this way, then I would be out of business. This is dreadful customer service. Products used:Used book Service Shipping Returns Date of experience: December 31, 2023I have never had an issue with ABE Books! My latest order was made on the 28th of January and I received it on the 6th of February. It has always been this way with this company. I guess I've been lucky! Tip for consumers:The website is easy to navigate and check out was very easy and fast. Products used:I bought a book from this company...a textbook. Service Value Shipping Quality Date of experience: February 19, 2024I have had the experience now two times of ordering a textbook on AbeBooks, but receiving the wrong edition. In the first instance I ordered a calculus textbook but received the solutions manual for it instead. In the second instance, I ordered the 4th and most current edition of a biology textbook, but received the 3rd instead. With the calculus book, it cost more money to ship it back for a return than I paid for it, so essentially I just lost my money. I am sending back the biology book and hoping I will get my refund as it cost me almost $170 with the postage and tax, but I will only get back what I paid for the book. I strongly advise against trying to save money on textbooks by using AbeBooks instead of your school bookstore/publisher. The sad part is, AbeBooks used to be a very reliable place for buying books (I was a customer for years), and I can only think it went downhill after being taken over by Amazon. Tip for consumers:You have to be careful about ordering books from AbeBooks vendors. The customer ratings for a vendor do not necessarily reflect whether you will receive the correct product or what you ordered. I have started buying from Thriftbooks or from Powell's instead, as they are more reliable. After this last experience with the biology book, I will delete my account with AbeBooks. Products used:I did not end up using the books I ordered. The calculus book I received was not what I ordered but it cost more to return it for a refund than I had paid, so I donated it. The biology book I received was not what I ordered, and since it cost a ton I have sent it back for a refund. The refund amount does not include postage and tax paid. Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: December 28, 2023I've ordered already ~ 20 books, just one was not as described, but refund was issued the next day. I'd recommend this website. I saw bad reviews here, but experience is opposite to that, maybe Abebooks become better. Products used:Books Service Value Shipping Returns Quality Date of experience: July 23, 2022Ordered book and never received. Seller said via email sent it day after ordered. This is the only item not received during pandemic, via abebooks. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time or money! Awaiting word on refund as can't get anyone on phone. Will call credit card company if don't get rapid response. Products used:Book - Never received. Service Value Shipping Quality Date of experience: March 31, 2021This most incompetent company I've ever dealt with. I purchased a test book from a seller named Book Deals. Do not buy from this person he is a scammer. I returned the book 2 months ago still have not received a refund. Contacted Abe books keep getting the run around. Find someone else to buy a book from. Horrible customer service no way to contact by phone only emails. Every time u have to explain the citation over again because they never go back and look at the prior emails to know hats going on. Date of experience: December 15, 2020First of all, I have been a long-time customer to AbeBooks, and have spent hundreds of dollars on their site. I requested a refund from AbeBooks for an item that was advertised as new. However, the book I got was used, with a damaged cover and writing inside. For some unknown reason, AbeBooks cancelled my return/refund request. Unlike Amazon, they no longer have a working customer service number so you can talk to a live representative. This is a real negative. Until this problem, I had no idea how much their rating had plunged. I wrote them back stating how can customers feel secure if you don't guarantee that items are in the condition as advertised on their site. Thus far, I've have gotten no reply. Don't say books are new, or "as new" and then send a book in "acceptable" condition, at best. This is very bad business. I am waiting to see if the seller responds, but the customer service at AbeBooks at this point leaves much to be desired, sad to say. Tip for consumers:I was always pleased with AbeBooks until recently. Not having a regular customer service phone number is a definite negative. I used to be able to talk with customer service on the phone. Products used:The book I ordered was not new, or as new. If they don't refund me or send me a newer copy, I will donate it to the library sale. Service Returns Quality Date of experience: November 30, 2022After check out, estimated delivery date is 20 days instead of 5-10 as stated. Contacted customer service immediately to stop the order since I need it sooner. They suddenly say it has already shipped, but the delivery date hasn't changed. I live in the middle of the country in a large city, nothing takes 20 days to get here. Spend an extra buck and skip Abe! Service