AbeBooks Reviews

Name: AbeBooks
Rating: 2.08

2.1 Rating 159 Reviews

26 %

of reviewers recommend AbeBooks

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Metrics

2.1

Based on 159 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 30%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 53%
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: Helpful None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I ordered a book on November 19th for a Christmas present. The book never arrived despite a December 9th estimated delivery date. When I contacted the book seller, no tracking number was given despite being asked. Do NOT order from this site.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered a book and picked PayPal as my payment format. I received an email from abebooks saying my purchase was confirmed. Next day I recieved email that PayPal did not pay. After thinking about my purchase I decided not to get the book after all. I sent email apologizing for confusion and asked to cancel my purchase. The email I recieved back was rude " next time make sure your payment will go through ". I replied there will never be a next time due to the rudeness of their tone. I would never recommend anyone using this company. Poor customer service.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Wrong product delivered, and they said for Print on Demand reasons, they can not offer what was originally ordered and I will have to ship the book back in order to receive a refund. I lost money and time on shipping a book back, that wasn't what I ordered.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“No customer service whatsoever from abebooks - no support for customers. IRISH BOOKSELLERS rip off. I specifically emailed confirming a book order to which they replied yes- only then to send out the complete wrong book that was worth nothing next to what I actually purchased. They stopped returning my emails and then ABEBOOKS WOULD NOT SETTLE THE DISPUTE even after I spent more money to return the incorrect book. Booksellers lied about receiving the return and abebooks refused to refund my money. LIARS AND THIEVES.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Received wrong book. Sent multiple emails, nut no answer from abebooks and no answer from the seller.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Abe Books is the WORST! Don't believe their listings as to where a book is coming from! Won't refund return postage EVEN IF it is their mistake or an incorrect listing! They may reply to emails, but then all email communication ceases and you will NEVER hear from them again, even if they say that they will refund you. BEWARE!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I bought a used book from Abe books for my criminal law class. I paid $73.00 for it. The book has a whole chapter missing from it, many orher missing pages, and writing and highlighting all over and all throughout the book! That’s a lot of money to pay for a piece of garbage that I can’t even use. I had to rent the book online in order to keep up in class. I think it’s disgusting that abe books would even allow such a book to be sold. I’m a little surprised to see a high rating on this site, as every other site abebooks has 1 or 2 stars. Please do yourself a favor and don’t by a book through this company, they clearly have no standards and do not look out for their customers. I also emailed the help center, no response of course! I wish you had an option to upload pictures, then you all could see this garbage!!”

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Posted 6 years ago

“They scammed me, they are all scammers, all sellers on Abebooks are scammers and the administration of Abebooks are the leaders of this gang of filthy scammers. I ordered an expensive antiquarian book and they sent me a cheap copy that was reprinted on demand from a scanned E-book in a PDF file that they download for free from the Webarchive. I call upon all arsonists to burn down their warehouses full of books and I appeal to all site hackers of the world to take their sites Abebooks.com and Abebooks.co.uk off the web by means of repeated Brute Force DOS attacks worldwide. They refuse to issue a full refund immediately unless I send them their worthless reprinted book back. All sellers on Abebooks are scammers and the administration of Abebooks are the leaders of this gang of filthy scammers.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

“This merchant is straight up a scam. They don't even hide it. They will take your money. Including money paid for expedited shipping. They will hand over the order to some vendor and they will simply blame the vendor for everything. I thought I would give them a chance (instead of buying from Amazon all the time). Now I know why Amazon is the best - at least they deliver. Abebooks should call themselves I-scam-you.com”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Horrible, they still using and old obselete tactics "Bait and Switcht". I placed an order on your website. The next day you notified me via email that the order was canceled, due to seller didn't have the book available, even thou you had it listed "for sale on your website". I went ahead and searched for another copy of the same book on your website, and found a different seller. I ordered the book. Well, well. I also received the "Defacto" email from ABebooks, "Your order was canceled". Again. I asked myself. How is that possible. I really wanted this book. I went ahead and searched for a more reliable, trustworthy vendor online. I found a copy of the book and placed the order. I tried to contact you via phone, but of course, you are using the "Coronovirus excuse". No phone calls. Ok. So I wrote via email. Instead of received a personalized response, I got a "Boiler Plate" response, repeated the same darn thing. The order was canceled and no charge. Even tho I stated on my email of the 2 separate orders I had placed, and yet both were canceled. I wrote again, and got the same response. Is there an echo on the internet? And that's is when I realized that Abebooks's customer serviced is based in a Developing country/3rd world, where they don't read or answer emails. Instead, you will get a "Boiler Plate". as shown on your Training Manuals. I wrote several times, got the same response. I was dealing with a computer not a human being mind you. I then received an email with a tracking number for a shipment. What shipment? All my orders were canceled. I contacted my bank and indeed there was a charge by Abebooks for the second order. Remember the pseudo "Customer support rep." Kept repeating me "Your order was canceled" because that was the easiest way to deal with a customer. Why bother to read the customer's emails? Then got another emails staying that I need to check my bank statements and dispute the charges with my bank. Come again? Did I read it right?????? I asked to escalate the issue. Again, I got another "Boiler Plate" response " we appreciate your business, we will refer your email to another department." I am still waiting, I guess I need to wait until there is a cure not a Vaccine for COVID19 before a human being will contact me from ABEBOOKS. As you can see, you have screwed up, not once, twice. Many, many times. You have total apathy for the customer and are hoping on the law of average that you will survive in this competitive world. But keep in mind, that every chance I get. I will tell people to STAY AWAY FROM ABEBOOKS, PERIOD !!!! So now I am facing with the extra book that I didn't have to get You are WORTHLESS.........”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered 6 books for our book club. Money went from my account immediately. Almost 4 weeks on and still no books, no refund, no explanation and no apology. Awful company. Will not use again and suggest others don't either.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“AVOID! As others have warned, AbeBooks is a disreputable website. The seller sends you a damaged book or wrong item? Oh, well. They will not refund return shipping for items that are incorrect or damaged. They will stonewall every attempt to make them honor their return policy. There are better options to use.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“BUYER BEWARE!!! Like everyone else I wasted time & money by purchasing from Abe Books/Irish Bookseller. What they sent me wasn't even a book, it was more in line of a magazine. It's clear they make money by jacking up the price of shipping and then send a bogus product. I called my bank immediately to file a claim. It's a pathetic way to make a living this way Abe Books/Irish Booksellers.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“They take your money, your are mailed a tracking with no actual tracking. The delivery is within 45 days therefore you will not get a refund because the time frame has lapsed with the American banking system.Total scam”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Book didn't come, no refund. Far more worst than Amazon.com.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I'm giving AbeBooks a one star because they are difficult to reach if you have a problem. I placed an order, chose expedited shipping, and it took the seller 4 days to actually ship the item. They created a label on day one, it was day 4 before they actually moved the package to USPS. I contacted the seller and Abe Books service asking for a refund on day 3, of which i was denied. I saw another reviewer on here blasting other reviewers for giving AbeBooks a bad review when sellers are the problem, but AbeBooks is the front company for all the sellers. It's like saying the boss is not responsible for those under their leadership. AbeBooks is responsible for their sellers and if they set stronger requirements , their sellers would hold to higher standards and they'd have better reviews. I buy a LOT of books and won't purchasing through Abe again.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Several attempts were made to access my credit card account since I ordered a book from Dieb Antiquariat Wolfgang Rüger. This is a thief, he has stolen money from my credit card and of course I did not receive my order.”

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Posted 8 months ago

“Abebooks has been my WORST book-buying excperience ever. I had ordered several books from various 5-star sellers, I did not receive any books. Once you place an order it is IMPOSSIBLE to obtain a partial refund. Even if you receive a damaged book or no book at all, it is impossible to obtain a replacement from the Customer Support department, which does not seem to exist anymore. It is ABSOLUTELY USELESS trying to contact Customer Support, they simply ignore complaints from buyers, their sellers are always right. AbeBooks won't refund orders even when you provide scam evidence.”

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Posted 11 months ago

“Would give Abe book sellers 0 stars but that does not work. Ordered 6 books through Abe from 5 different sellers as it turns out . Got two books within a week , that's the good. The bad is finally got notice 11 days after paying that one of the others is getting ready to ship their part of the items purchases. Will not be buying anything else from Abe, way too many better places to do my business. The first book received was damaged on the spine and had a sticker over the damage to hide it . It was listed as a new book.”

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Posted 1 year ago

“DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. I ordered a book. I was sent a fake tracking number. Never received the book. I’m still waiting on a refund promised “soon” with no actual date. It’s sad that this kind of business is allowed.”

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Posted 1 year ago

AbeBooks is rated 2.1 based on 159 reviews