Bookjackers are everywhere on Abebooks, and it's a crime that Amazon has chosen to let it proliferate. A bookjacker is a "company" that doesn't maintain any inventory of books. None. Zero. Zip. They have an algorithm that finds tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of other books that are sold, then lists those books as their own, and sells for a little (sometimes a lot) more than they could buy it for.
A popular example: A single signed book is available on Biblio for $30. It's not being sold on Amazon Marketplace or Abebooks. The bookjacker will list that book on the other two sites for $60, or $100, or whatever they want. If someone buys it, they buy the the book and have it shipped to you.
The big problem starts when you decide to return the book. Book Deals CANCELLED MY RETURN REQUEST when I requested a refund. Abebooks lets this happen. There is nothing I can do -- I'm stuck with the book because I made the mistake of buying from a bookjacker.
You might look at their site and say, they have five starts--can they be that bad? Here's the other part of the scam: Abebooks ratings aren't customer-based, like they are on Amazon. Rather, the rating system on Abebooks is based on the number of returns you get. So no returns, you're a five-star seller. The system literally encourages sellers to cancel return requests so you can a) screw over the customer, b) keep their money, and c) maintain a five-star rating.
Great scam, right? It is when Amazon/Abebooks lets them get away with it.
Beware, there are a ton of bookjackers on Abebooks. There are lists available online, so if you're buying a book on Abebooks, I'd recommend a quick Google search to make sure that you're not buying from one of these scumbag sellers.
I ordered Horngren's Accouting 11th Edition book from Abebooks online (Purchase Order #547628059) on 01-11-20 and paid $48.61 for this book, but I never received this book. I've made numerous attempts at contacting Abebooks, until on 02-08-20, I received an email from Abebooks saying Lowkeybooks (the book seller) has agreed to give you a partial refund of $35.79 and the book should be arriving. Since then I've kept inquiring about of the whereabout of my book; on 02-28-20, I received an email from Maria at Abebooks that I received a refund. They have stolen $12.82 from me and since that email, I've emailed Maria at Abebooks again and again, but no response.
As a consumer, I frown on this type of bad business practices. I would appreciate your assistance in this matter.
Purchased an overpriced book on Abebooks through their vendor Lost Books in Austin Texas and almost 3 weeks after shipping confirmation the book still had not arrived. I contacted seller and they claimed they could not find the book and offered to either keep my money and put me on a list if the should by chance come across the book or refund the purchase.
After some digging I found this seller was trying to resell the book I purchased (the new listing has the EXACT SAME inventory number as my order) for 5x the price I originally paid for it. I contacted Abebooks to dispute this fraud by their seller only to get a generic email saying to contact seller. HUH?? I did some deep searching online for customer support phone number as they do not publicize it on their website to get a recording to call back during business hours, I called well with in their business hours.
Unfortunately I still needed the book so I found another seller selling a new copy of the book for double what I paid for the used book and purchased from ABC Books in Missouri. Four days later this seller sends me an email asking for $30 extra for heavy book shipping, mind you the book only weighs 8oz. Reluctantly I paid the extra processing only to have Abebooks double charge my credit card, cost of the book again plus the $30.
The charge was declined and they canceled my order without being able to contact them on their error. I immediately contacted the seller to let them know of the error on Abe’s part and a week later I still have no response from seller or Abebooks. Do not waste your time or money on Abebooks, Lost Books or ABC Books.
I ordered a book June 28th, was charged $128 and change for the purchase, it is now July 24 and I don't have the book. It was promised to arrive on July 18. I requested a refund on July 20th, I was told in an email that I should wait 14 business days from the point of order and the customer service person sent me a USPS tracking number. When I pulled up the tracking number it stated "USPS Awaiting Package". So it hadn't shipped, I then sent the customer service another email, I was sent a response with another traacking number and they had just shipped it after I requested a refund. I was also told in the chain of emails that it had shipped June 30. Not true, and now they tell me I have to PAY for shipping the book back to them and then they will process a refund. I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BOOK! Yet they have $128 in income for this book I purchased. I agree with previous reviews as scam and horrible shipping service. Please do your research before using this company. I ordered another copy off Amazon after this happened and I already have it during the time I have traded emails back and forth with customer service. Waste of time.
I needed a textbook for a class that just started. On the first day of calls, the professor told us to get a certain book. Like most these days, it cost over a hundred dollars new in the campus bookstore. So, even he advised getting it online. Abebooks said they had several in stock, and the price was much lower. Great. So I ordered it, and I added an extra $6.99 for "priority mail" shipping. And THAT is the problem...
Abebooks has redefined "priority mail" to mean collecting their money fast and then sending the order on to a third party who will do whatever they feel like doing. When I didn't even get a tracking number in 48 hours and complained, they responded with the advice that they would pass my complaint on to the seller and if the book didn't arrive in 12 days, I could make another inquiry. So I complained again that this was unacceptable, and they replied with the same canned response.
The seller finally responded with a "tracking number" - that their shipper says is not valid. I complained AGAIN - and got the same canned response AGAIN.
Six days later - the shipper (USPS) now acknowledges the tracking number, but what it shows is that the seller has printed a label but not yet taken the book to the post office!!! I complained again to Abebooks and got the usual canned response
I hope I get this book before the class is over!! And frankly, now that I have read the reviews, I worry about the condition of what will arrive - assuming it ever does.
IN THE MEANTIME, I have been forced to buy another book from another seller so I have something to work with. So much for "AbeBooks", one of the worse online retailers I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
Buy from Abebooks at your peril. Remember, they are NOT the real seller, but an order taking service that couldn't care less about the honesty of their sellers.
Placed order, never received. I tried to get a refund online and no response. I again went online and requested a refund. Of course, they have no record of either of these attempts. When I reached out this week, they said we only had 30 days to request a refund so my request was denied. What unethical business practices. Completely wrong to do to their customers.
AbeBooks, Inc. Reviews
Bookjackers are everywhere on Abebooks, and it's a crime that Amazon has chosen to let it proliferate. A bookjacker is a "company" that doesn't maintain any inventory of books. None. Zero. Zip. They have an algorithm that finds tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of other books that are sold, then lists those books as their own, and sells for a little (sometimes a lot) more than they could buy it for.
A popular example: A single signed book is available on Biblio for $30. It's not being sold on Amazon Marketplace or Abebooks. The bookjacker will list that book on the other two sites for $60, or $100, or whatever they want. If someone buys it, they buy the the book and have it shipped to you.
The big problem starts when you decide to return the book. Book Deals CANCELLED MY RETURN REQUEST when I requested a refund. Abebooks lets this happen. There is nothing I can do -- I'm stuck with the book because I made the mistake of buying from a bookjacker.
You might look at their site and say, they have five starts--can they be that bad? Here's the other part of the scam: Abebooks ratings aren't customer-based, like they are on Amazon. Rather, the rating system on Abebooks is based on the number of returns you get. So no returns, you're a five-star seller. The system literally encourages sellers to cancel return requests so you can a) screw over the customer, b) keep their money, and c) maintain a five-star rating.
Great scam, right? It is when Amazon/Abebooks lets them get away with it.
Beware, there are a ton of bookjackers on Abebooks. There are lists available online, so if you're buying a book on Abebooks, I'd recommend a quick Google search to make sure that you're not buying from one of these scumbag sellers.
I ordered Horngren's Accouting 11th Edition book from Abebooks online (Purchase Order #547628059) on 01-11-20 and paid $48.61 for this book, but I never received this book. I've made numerous attempts at contacting Abebooks, until on 02-08-20, I received an email from Abebooks saying Lowkeybooks (the book seller) has agreed to give you a partial refund of $35.79 and the book should be arriving. Since then I've kept inquiring about of the whereabout of my book; on 02-28-20, I received an email from Maria at Abebooks that I received a refund. They have stolen $12.82 from me and since that email, I've emailed Maria at Abebooks again and again, but no response.
As a consumer, I frown on this type of bad business practices. I would appreciate your assistance in this matter.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Thank you,
Benita Joe
Purchased an overpriced book on Abebooks through their vendor Lost Books in Austin Texas and almost 3 weeks after shipping confirmation the book still had not arrived. I contacted seller and they claimed they could not find the book and offered to either keep my money and put me on a list if the should by chance come across the book or refund the purchase.
After some digging I found this seller was trying to resell the book I purchased (the new listing has the EXACT SAME inventory number as my order) for 5x the price I originally paid for it. I contacted Abebooks to dispute this fraud by their seller only to get a generic email saying to contact seller. HUH?? I did some deep searching online for customer support phone number as they do not publicize it on their website to get a recording to call back during business hours, I called well with in their business hours.
Unfortunately I still needed the book so I found another seller selling a new copy of the book for double what I paid for the used book and purchased from ABC Books in Missouri. Four days later this seller sends me an email asking for $30 extra for heavy book shipping, mind you the book only weighs 8oz. Reluctantly I paid the extra processing only to have Abebooks double charge my credit card, cost of the book again plus the $30.
The charge was declined and they canceled my order without being able to contact them on their error. I immediately contacted the seller to let them know of the error on Abe’s part and a week later I still have no response from seller or Abebooks. Do not waste your time or money on Abebooks, Lost Books or ABC Books.
I ordered a book June 28th, was charged $128 and change for the purchase, it is now July 24 and I don't have the book. It was promised to arrive on July 18. I requested a refund on July 20th, I was told in an email that I should wait 14 business days from the point of order and the customer service person sent me a USPS tracking number. When I pulled up the tracking number it stated "USPS Awaiting Package". So it hadn't shipped, I then sent the customer service another email, I was sent a response with another traacking number and they had just shipped it after I requested a refund. I was also told in the chain of emails that it had shipped June 30. Not true, and now they tell me I have to PAY for shipping the book back to them and then they will process a refund. I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BOOK! Yet they have $128 in income for this book I purchased. I agree with previous reviews as scam and horrible shipping service. Please do your research before using this company. I ordered another copy off Amazon after this happened and I already have it during the time I have traded emails back and forth with customer service. Waste of time.
I needed a textbook for a class that just started. On the first day of calls, the professor told us to get a certain book. Like most these days, it cost over a hundred dollars new in the campus bookstore. So, even he advised getting it online. Abebooks said they had several in stock, and the price was much lower. Great. So I ordered it, and I added an extra $6.99 for "priority mail" shipping. And THAT is the problem...
Abebooks has redefined "priority mail" to mean collecting their money fast and then sending the order on to a third party who will do whatever they feel like doing. When I didn't even get a tracking number in 48 hours and complained, they responded with the advice that they would pass my complaint on to the seller and if the book didn't arrive in 12 days, I could make another inquiry. So I complained again that this was unacceptable, and they replied with the same canned response.
The seller finally responded with a "tracking number" - that their shipper says is not valid. I complained AGAIN - and got the same canned response AGAIN.
Six days later - the shipper (USPS) now acknowledges the tracking number, but what it shows is that the seller has printed a label but not yet taken the book to the post office!!! I complained again to Abebooks and got the usual canned response
I hope I get this book before the class is over!! And frankly, now that I have read the reviews, I worry about the condition of what will arrive - assuming it ever does.
IN THE MEANTIME, I have been forced to buy another book from another seller so I have something to work with. So much for "AbeBooks", one of the worse online retailers I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
Buy from Abebooks at your peril. Remember, they are NOT the real seller, but an order taking service that couldn't care less about the honesty of their sellers.
Placed order, never received. I tried to get a refund online and no response. I again went online and requested a refund. Of course, they have no record of either of these attempts. When I reached out this week, they said we only had 30 days to request a refund so my request was denied. What unethical business practices. Completely wrong to do to their customers.