AbeBooks Reviews

Name: AbeBooks
Rating: 2.04

2.0 Rating 164 Reviews

26 %

of reviewers recommend AbeBooks

Company Reviews

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Metrics

2.0

Based on 164 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 29%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 55%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

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AbeBooks 1 star review on 5th March 2025

Anonymous

AbeBooks 1 star review on 8th November 2024

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Im still waiting on a Order I placed at the beginning of January with the expected date being the 10th February. No word or tracking number has been sent. It would seem i haven’t learnt as I placed another book order and it said due in 3-10 days. Waiting waiting. Very disappointing”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I was mislead by a seller "MonsterBooks" into buying a book that i didn't want. When i contacted the seller they were not responsive. Abebooks support was also of no use, so i got cheated into buying something that i didn't want. Stay away from abebooks if you don't want to get cheated.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I ordered a chalice hymnal. 1 book was $89.00 when I received it, it had coffee stains on it and a torn front page. I contacted the company that sent it and mailed it back to them. I sent them the tracking number 2 times, the post Ofc said it was delivered but not picked up and if they did t pick it up within 5days it would be sent back to me. They must have picked it up because it was never returned. So now they have my money and the book. They don’t respond to my inquiries. NOT reliable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I had ordered a book from Abebooks, they stated that it would arrive on December 21, or before (2022). It is now December 30 (2022) and I still have not received my book. I have sent two emails to the company and they have not responded.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I was needing to purchase several books now & a lot more in the future but there is no way to contact them in person! Very unprofessional!! For a very one who may read this review, I highly recommend purchasing your books through Better World Books. I will be plastering Abe Books as a complete failure on every social media platform & highly recommending Better World Books for any & all book purchases. You've completely missed the mark Abe Books!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I ordered 4 of the same books and requested that I get a discount on shipping or ship them in separate packages as I would be paying for shipping 4 times which was over $10, I received 1 book and the other 3 were in the same package and it shows it was delivered, hmmmmm I never got them..... ridiculous. What a scam. I contacted the company by email numerous times and each one of their responses states "Thank you for reaching out to us about this issue, great customer service is our top priority. We were very concerned that you did not receive your order, and when we check the delivery confirmation number via INSERT CARRIER NAME, your order does show that it was delivered." A GREAT copy paste verbiage, this shows you DON'T care about your customers!!!! Because I paid you more than the average person the smart thing would be to have someone sign for it. Oh but wait that didn't happen!!!! And now I'm out over $35, It would be nice to get the books I paid for.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Just awful. Every bit as painful and untrustworthy as Amazon and not worth bothering with. Books are badly described, often deliberately misdescribed, photos are terrible (or non-existent) and prices seem to just be pulled out of the air - they definitely don't reflect current market values. Anyone buying through Abebooks is getting ripped off and there's no customer protection or customer service at all.”

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Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered 3 books that showed as available. They where ordered as a set. Abe canceled one of the book orders, failed to notify me until after the other 2 shipped. I should have been notified BEFORE the others where shipped so I could cancel. Waiting to see what they are going to do. I don't want the other 2 books. WILL NEVER PURCHASE FROM ABES AGAIN”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Said they were a publisher on the website and it turned out they weren't..........😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered a University textbook for my son (to be shipped form the UK to South Africa) , because I could not find it locally anywhere. Less than an hour after ordering though - on a SUNDAY - my son found a second hand version via a friend. I immediately tried to cancel my order, via 3 different channels (email, web form and , return function). On Monday mid morning I was finally responded to and told my order could not be cancelled as it had already been picked - not SENT mind you, just selected form a shelf. So I should wait for it to arrive and then I could send it back... again it was getting sent half way around the world to South Africa, that makes no sense. It was still right there!! Now over 2 months later it has not arrived, and their only comment is, 'oh well let us know if you want to order another one, it must be lost in the mail...'. No tracking number, no details, no interest, no nothing. Wow fabulous customer service all around. NOT. Thanks for literally nothing Abe books, except costing me money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Purchased a children's book for my grandaughters school library as a donation. The book arrived falling apart separated from the spine completely in several large clumps and shreds. The pages were falling out and it basically just completely fell a part in my hands as I tried to open it. I must say I was more than a little disappointed. But lesson learned. I will no longer be buying anything from AbeBooks!”

AbeBooks 1 star review on 12th April 2022

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“A company that doesn't value their customer at all!!! They only buy book from another bookstore and sell it again to customers. They are not direct book company so shipping will take FOREVER!!. DO NOT BUY FROM ABEBOOKS.COM specifically GF Books, Inc (Lakewood, NJ)”

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Posted 3 years ago

“Very bad service! I ordered 14 volumes of an architeture magazine, the seller send me 11 volumes of another magazine. I spend a lot of money to make a devolution when there was not my fault. I will never buy again from Abebooks. I'm big consumer of books but with Abebooks It was definitively the last time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Horrible platform. Most of their books sellers don't clean up their listings so after you spent hours looking for that one special book and you think you found it - guess what? you get an email a couple days later stating that the order has been cancelled because keeping track of their inventory is too hard :(”

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Posted 3 years ago

“Tell me why I ordered a book from this site to intentionally not buy from Amazon and it arrived in an Amazon package, fulfilled by Amazon. I paid $15 and change and the slip is for $9 and change. If I wanted to buy it from Amazon, I would have bought it directly for myself.”

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Posted 3 years ago

“I waited for the book for more than two months, it still hasn't arrived and when I asked for a refound, they replied, that there is nothing they can do about it.”

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Posted 3 years ago

“Almost no customer service or screening of its sellers. Avoid at all costs. If, as I read, this website is based in Victoria, BC, it's a dark stain on one of North America's most beautiful cities. Competitors need to step up and put this disgrace out of business.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I was given an invoice with the total price of the book I ordered. I was charged $7.65 more than price on the invoice.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“I ordered a book on August 4th 2020. They emailed me a day later to advise the book seller was asking for an additional postage charge, which I paid, which also rendered the postage more than the price of the book. They emailed me to advise it was dispatched on August 7th. It was was mid-pandemic and all my mail was arriving at least 1 to 3 months late, so I gave Abe a bit of breathing space. Also, I suffer from anxiety which also prevented me from wanting to cause a fuss. I email Abe late 2020. No response other than an auto reply. I email again Jan 2021, no response, and again Feb 2021, no response. I do a search on their site for a complaints email address and see that I should contact the seller direct. I do, and the seller says that they never asked for an extra postage charge, and never received one from Abe either. The said they'd follow it up. It has now been 326 Days since it was despatched. No book, no refund (yet they took an extra postage charge and no news. I have never, and will never order another thing from Abe. The book seller is Wildside Books, by the way.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“This was my first time shopping with Abebooks... AND I WILL NEVER SHOP WITH THEM AGAIN. I ordered a total of three books, all at the same time. One was a gift and it came when it said. The second said it was delivered--it was not. The post office lost it, said it had been delivered, and just today I got an email notifying a refund. The third one I saw no update for 14 days (the longest it said it would take). I sent a response asking if it had even been dropped off and I got no response other than, asking for information for who I was, what the book was, and where it was going. I responded again, and have not received any reply. I checked the USPS today, and surprisingly my package should be here by Thursday (from Maryland to Nevada, over the Memorial day weekend... wth). I am a grad student, I need books for my classes regularly. This has been such a disappointment. I will probably never shop from Abe's again. I will stick to Barnes & Noble and Thrift Books.”

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Posted 4 years ago

AbeBooks is rated 2.0 based on 164 reviews