Buying Used Books on Amazon...

[Cornerstone Classical]

I have never purchased from Amazon. I was interested in some out of print/used books. All with different buying sources. Can anyone talk me through it? How does it work? How trust worthy is this?

 

TIA:001_smile:

[Chris in VA]

I've had great success with Amazon. I look for a source with a good rep and lots of experience. Amazon sets you up with an account, using your credit card. It's very trustworthy, imo.

[gardening momma]

I've bought several used books through Amazon. I usually buy ones described as Used-Very Good, or Used-Like New. Sometimes there is a description of the exact condition of the book. I also look for high feedback ratings. Shipping on books from Amazon sellers is $3.99 per book. There's no way around this that I know of. Each book you buy is $3.99, even if you buy multiple books from one seller.

 

I've never had a problem with any books I've bought this way from Amazon.

[MommyX8]

I won't buy from a book seller business. I've gotten BURNED several times by these large book warehouses. Disgusting books that shouldn't even be considered fit for sale are passing as very good condition. :glare:

[Deidre in GA]

I won't buy from a book seller business. I've gotten BURNED several times by these large book warehouses. Disgusting books that shouldn't even be considered fit for sale are passing as very good condition. :glare:

 

i agree with this. i buy and sell used books on Amazon Marketplace. the large booksellers have very generic descriptions of the book's condition like may have some highlighting. if the description doesn't speak specifically to the condition of the actual book i'm buying, i don't choose that seller. sometimes it means paying more but i've found that generic descriptions more often than not yield a crappy book. with that in mind, i've found some very good deals there especially on textbooks.

[kalanamak]

Amazon wants happy customers, and has backed up any beef I've had. Every little seller but one was very eager for no neg rep and refunded etc at my first sniffle.

 

As for the "big sellers", thrift books lists them correctly and atheneum often "underrates" them.

 

I've had more trouble with the DVD's, CD's and VCR's than the books, but still not a lot of trouble. I'm much happier with my Amazon experience than with my eBay ones.

[djkapp]

I'm a bit of an Amazon junkie--buy most of my new books through them and also many of the used ones. I have had very few problems with the used book sales. As someone else mentioned, I stick with used books that are "like new", "excellent", or sometimes "very good." I'm also very particular about customer ratings and length of history. I typically do not buy from someone who is relatively new. I believe it is also possible to contact a seller and ask a question about the product before you buy. The shipping charges are pretty inflexible--$3.99, but if I save enough on the book, I don't mind that.

 

Yvonne

[Julie in CA]

I've had nothing but good buying experiences there. As others have said, stick with sellers who have excellent ratings, and with books that are listed as new/excellent. The only times I've had small problems, such as wrong edition, the sellers were extremely eager to make things right. I also look for sellers who are located in my state, because I like to get my books quickly for my $3.99 and media rate from far away sometimes takes a bit longer.

[3lilreds in NC]

You could check ABEbooks.com - a lot of times people list their books in both places, and ABE allows you to combine shipping. The sellers can also charge more for shipping, though, so you have to pay attention.

 

I've had great success through ABE and through Amazon. I've also ordered books through Barnes & Noble's used book service with no trouble at all.

[gardening momma]

I've also ordered from Abe Books and have had success. You can check the seller's shipping fees--it'll say how much the first book is, and how much each additional book is. The only problem is finding several books you need from one seller! :glare:

[KidsHappen]

I always consider the price of the book plus shipping though. Sometimes the prices are very close and if you order enough new then you can free shipping.

 

I always look at feedback rating and how many books they have sold. I agree that you need to look for a description of the actual book you will be receiving. Many dealers list generic desricptions that may not apply to the copy you will be getting. I go with like new, excellent or very good. Always read the description though because sometime an inexperienced person will misrated but state the real condition in the description. I have been ordering used for at least seven years and I have only once gotten a book that I was not satisfied with, it was a textbook from a large dealer. I complained and they sent me another copy in the exact smae condition. On the other hand I have gotten brand new textbooks for $5. Always check the used prices on textbooks.

[melmac]

I've bought many, many times from Amazon dealers and have always had good experiences.

[Peela]

I have bought from Amazon 2nd hand maybe 20 times at least, and was only burned once- the book had so much highlighting in it I just coulnd't read it, it hurt my eyes. The rest of the time, I have been very happy with them. And it is a bigger deal for me because I have to pay $13 or $14 postage every time, even if the book is only 50 cents. I do read the advertisers blurb pretty carefully though.

[gandpsmommy]

I've had great luck buying used books from Amazon sellers. I just do what most of the other posters already mentioned: I check for sellers with high feedback ratings and lots of experience, I try not to buy from sellers whose descriptions are generic (may have some highlighting, etc.) and I try to buy only books listed in very good or like new condition.

[RoughCollie]

We sell books on Amazon. We have infrequent problems due to dishonest customers and Amazon's software.

 

Amazon's software will rarely change a book format (from print to audio), always rates the books oddly (what is used-acceptable?), sometimes changes prices (the $17 new book sold as an $858 used book - which hasn't happened to us), and sometimes lists a book which has been sold. Amazon's software assigns an ISBN number to books listed, and messes up when it assigns an ISBN to a book that never had one or assigns the wrong ISBN number. When a book was published before ISBN numbers were assigned, weird things happen: We have such a book listed, and Amazon says it has a leather binding, even though it doesn't. Their software cannot (will not?) be changed to fix our listing, and we are not the only seller with the problem.

 

A large bookseller cannot check every listing on a site to see if the online store's software has messed it up. We have 45,000 books listed and there is no way we can check each book's listing every time we upload our inventory to them.

 

You can contact the bookseller if you need assurances about a book's condition. You can also ask them what their return policy is. I particularly recommend this when you are buying textbooks (re highlighting).

 

If you have a problem, make sure you resolve it with the bookseller right away. There is no way a bookseller is going to believe that you received a problem book six months after it was delivered to you. This is not because they think *you*, in particular, are dishonest. It's because of all the experience they have with dishonest customers and their tricks to get free books.

 

The booksellers have nothing to do with the shipping prices. Amazon keeps some of it for themselves, and sends $2.65 to the bookseller, in addition to taking a hefty commission.

 

I don't buy many used books because we have so many of them. When I do, I usually look for the book at both ABE and Amazon and buy the one that is cheapest. Most large booksellers sell books at http://www.abebooks.com, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.tomfolio.com, http://www.biblio.com, and http://www.alibris.com, and B&N (via Alibris). Tom Folio is the only one of those places that is owned by the booksellers.

 

Using a credit card will protect you, if all else fails. At Amazon, I check the seller's feedback rating and read the comments, and I buy books only in new or like new condition. I have never been burned. At ABE, the feedback rating is for book order fulfillment rate.

 

Also, if you are buying an expensive book (from your point of view) pay for priority mail shipping instead of taking a chance on media mail(a/k/a standard shipping). Media mail is supposed to arrive within 4 weeks, but it sometimes takes much longer than that -- and the longer the postal service has your book, the more bad things can happen to it. Once the book is mailed, the seller has no control over it.

 

This may come as a surprising bit of advice: Be sure you put in the correct shipping address. You would not believe how many people do not do that, and the book is delivered to the wrong address, or is not delivered at all.

 

The large book warehouses mentioned by another poster -- I guess those are the resellers of remaindered books. We have one of the largest out of print children's online bookstores in the world, and I don't consider us to be a large book warehouse. I wouldn't refuse to order from us just because we have a successful business.

 

RC

Edited October 7, 2008 by RoughCollie

[Cornerstone Classical]

Thank you so much for letting me know your experiences! That helps a bunch!

[Beth in Central TX]

I have had great success purchasing used books from Amazon.com's Marketplace sellers. I always purchase items that are described as very good, like new, or new. According to their description guidelines, these books should not have any writing in them. In addition, I only order from a seller with a 96% rating or higher.

 

I have purchased a few of the older books I was looking for with a 'good condition' description, but I make sure the seller description includes phrases such as "clean pages" or "no marking".

 

I have had one Marketplace seller send me a book that was not what they described. The seller would not respond, so I filed a claim under Amazon.com's 'A to Z Guarantee'. I had to mail the book back at my expense, but Amazon credited my account for $3.99 to use the next time I ordered. In addition, the claim took less than a week to resolve, and the full purchase price was credited back to my card. It was quick and painless. I have been consistenly purchasing new & used items with Amazon since 2002, and this is the first time I've had an issue that couldn't be resolved in my favor without their assistance. In my experience, Amazon is very customer oriented.

 

Ebay is a different story though. I purchased a used book last month. It's not what the seller advertised, and he doesn't even have the book he advertised. Ebay has been no help at all in getting this resolved. Paypal is working on it, but they want me to return the book at my expense. Honestly, I don't think that they have the authority to reimburse more than what I paid. It's been 3 1/2 weeks now, and I still don't have a refund, and the seller is no longer responding. Once this is settled, I will be closing my Ebay and Paypal accounts.

 

My Ebay experience has made me a lifelong Amazon customer. In my experience Amazon protects the customer, but regardless of their slogans, Ebay and Paypal protect the seller.

 

HTH!

[abbeyej]

I've ordered many times. I had a problem once, and Amazon refunded my money. It was a pain not to get the book I had ordered, but at least I wasn't out any money.

 

I will only buy used through Amazon Marketplace for items that are OOP and I can't *get* otherwise, or items with a really *significant* price difference (like a college-level textbook).