Ashlee Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) Do you consider buying from Amazon pretty safe? If familiar with ebay.. how do the two differ? I want to buy a couple text books from Amazon but I'm kind of wary. The listings I'm interested in have no pics and not much of a description. Should I trust that they are new if they are listed as "new"? TIA Edited July 17, 2009 by Ashlee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinRTX Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 We have bought textbook at Amazon for several years now. Are these college texts? It is actually our preferred way to buy college texts. They have always come in the condition described. We don't always go for the cheapest price, but buy from people that have good ratings. We have also bought a few that were from people that had just launched. We only had a problem once when we wre sold an international edition for one that should have been a U.S. version, but we were refunded our money. Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 If buying directly from Amazon itself, it is completely safe. I have bought from them for years. If buying from a seller who happens to be "parked on" Amazon, then it depends upon the reputation of the seller. I think customer feedback is present on the webpage for the seller. Info typically is quite clear as to new versus used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have not bought a textbook from amazon, but have made many marketplace purchases and have never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Do you consider buying from Amazon pretty safe? If familiar with ebay.. how do the two differ? I want to buy a couple text books from Amazon but I'm kind of weary. The listings I'm interested in have no pics and not much of a description. Should I trust that they are new if they are listed as "new"? TIA I've purchased a number of books from Amazon merchants and most were OK. However, you might check and see if these books are available at Abebooks.com (some sellers list on both sites). Abebooks has a 30-day guarantee if the book(s) are not as described and you can send them back and get a refund, including shipping (as long as they weren't a "free shipping" book). I've had to send 2 orders back over the last year - and although it was a little bit of a hassle to repack the books and send them back, I was very glad to have the guarantee and be able to get my money back. I don't know how easy/difficult Amazon's return procedure is with their Marketplace sellers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cslbda Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I've bought several school items used from Amazon and have never had a problem. I just check to make sure the ISBN numbers are the same as the books I want and that the seller has a good reputation. Good luck- the savings can really add up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melis108 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have never had any trouble buying from Amazon and I use them quite often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I buy lots of schoolbooks and other stuff on Amazon. The few times we've had problems they have been very good about correcting it. Like the time I bought dd's new handwriting workbook and it came with scribbles all in it. They replaced it at no charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deidre in GA Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 i've been shopping on Amazon since 1998. it's rock solid safe. i also have had no problems with used purchases from the used sellers of Amazon Marketplace, in fact, i sell on Amazon myself. however, with the Amazon Marketplace sellers, i do pay attention to ratings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prudent Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 As a buyer, Amazon is actually much much safer than ebay. If you have a problem with an Amazon seller, and they will not refund you, you can file an A-Z claim with Amazon and they will refund you very quickly. It's a much easier process than dealing with Paypal. As much as I love ebay for lots of stuff, to me Amazon is the hands down winner for used book purchases. BTW, Amazon owns Abebooks and has the same 30 day return policy. All Amazon sellers must accept returns postmarked within 30 days for ANY reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 BTW, Amazon owns Abebooks and has the same 30 day return policy. All Amazon sellers must accept returns postmarked within 30 days for ANY reason. This is good to know! I haven't had to ask to return anything through Amazon, so I wasn't sure how easy it was. I find Abebooks often better if you want to order more than one book from the same seller, since most sellers have an automatic discount on shipping for additional books, and Amazon doesn't unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashlee Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Thank you all so much! Your awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I have mixed feelings about buying used from sellers on Amazon.com. I've found that the descriptions are often boilerplate and don't actually describe the book you may be receiving accurately - so you may get what you expect, but often I haven't. I have had to send some things back, but it was never at any cost to me and I received a complete refund (including shipping) each time in a relatively brief amount of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 If you're really concerned, contact the seller and ask, for example, "does this have any highlighting?" I didn't realize Amazon acquired Abebooks (according to their website in Dec 2008), but then why is it considered an out-of-country purchase (with 3% surcharge) by my credit card? That's silly. I've had good success using various used book services, because the books that are problems, have had the problem fixed (either refund, partial refund, or send the book back). I have easily gotten refunds, for example, two times for books that never arrived from Abebooks. I appreciated the good customer service. I am so happy to have the opportunity to find out of print or merely cheaper used copies of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I buy lots of schoolbooks and other stuff on Amazon. The few times we've had problems they have been very good about correcting it. Like the time I bought dd's new handwriting workbook and it came with scribbles all in it. They replaced it at no charge. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbalgirl Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I've purchased quite a few used books from merchants on amazon, and have never had a problem with shipping or quality. Usually, they have a star rating so you can see if they are reliable or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I'm addicted to Amazon and purchase from them several times a week. From Amazon themselves, no problem. From Marketplace, make sure they have good reviews before you order. Out of hundreds of Marketplace orders, I've only had one that never sent, and the reviews said it all (I should've checked!) Just a few clicks, and I get it in 2 days to my mountain home, free shipping! Ebay, on the other hand, *I* am leery about, I rarely order stuff from ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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