To ensure that both booksellers and book buyers can trade on our website to their satisfaction AbeBooks has issued some guidelines. Being familiar with our policies will assist you in making your AbeBooks experience and that of your customers a successful one.
v Your Bookstore Information
AbeBooks offers you several locations to enter key information that will assist with book sales. We ask that all information listed in these fields be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. We ask that all contact information be included only in the designated fields and that all booksellers refrain from redirecting buyers to other websites or any alternative means of placing their orders.
Ø Bookstore Name – your bookstore name, which is the name you will trade under on AbeBooks may be any name you choose. It is also allowed to be a website name only if that is your registered business name.
Ø Terms of Sale – you may use this field to state your business policies such as payment options, Return policies, and other important information potential buyers should know. The terms of sale are viewable on the book details pages and on your AbeBooks Storefront.
Ø Shipping Terms – you may use this field to communicate your shipping information to buyers throughout the checkout process. This can include average weight of a book, how items are packaged, if pricing includes insurance, etc.
AbeBooks reserves the right to review and edit any information fields to remove unacceptable content.
For further details on the above, see the full policy online.
v Your AbeBooks Inventory
AbeBooks is a global marketplace for books; however, booksellers may also offer ephemera such as maps, sheet music, greeting cards, bookmarks, letters, posters, and other such printed collectables. Below you will find a summary of the listings that are only permitted when certain conditions are met and also unacceptable listings.
Ø Acceptable Listings on Condition:
§ Print on Demand Items – should clearly state, "this item is printed on demand" in the description and have the current year as the publication date. Your shipping matrix should be adjusted to reflect the actual shipping times to give an accurate estimated delivery date.
§ Ebooks – should clearly state the actual file format in the description along with having "this is an ebook" clearly written in the description.
§ Audio Books - should clearly state the format in the description and have "this is an audio book" written in the description.
§ International Editions – must be clearly identified with “International Edition” in the description, no abbreviations of this are allowed.
Ø Unacceptable Listings:
§ Pre-listings - items for sale may not be listed if they have not yet been made available to the public.
§ DVD’s & VHS Films – Films and movies should not be listed.
§ Music CD’s – Music CD’s should not be listed.
§ Multiple Listings – up to 2 copies of the same exact listing are allowed. A quantity field should be used to list many copies of the same title.
§ In Copyright Violation – this includes listings whereby another bookseller’s description has been directly copied.
We reserve the right, at discretion, to remove any listing, which include requests from rights holders and items deemed defamatory or illegal.
For further information on the above, see the full policy online.
v Your Completion Rating – Bookseller Ratings
The aim of AbeBooks Bookseller Ratings is to help to increase customer satisfaction and in turn increase the number of repeat buyers, which generate more sales for you. A large majority of booksellers have an excellent completion rating, between 85 - 100% and therefore a Bookseller Rating of 4 - 5 stars.
Ø Minimum Requirement
§ All booksellers are encouraged to work on keeping the highest Bookseller Rating possible.
§ We do have a minimum requirement of 85% for a 6 month period.
§ Booksellers who fall below this minimum requirement are contacted by our Sales and Account Management Team.
Click here to see our Top Tips on how to improve your Bookseller Rating.
v Your Customer Service
Providing the best customer service possible is key in ensuring that buyers return to you again and again. It is also a great source for word-of-mouth business growth. As a minimum requirement, we ask that you follow our Customer Service guidelines:
Ø Responding to Enquiries: Simply responding to buyers greatly helps build buyer trust. If you use an email service such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Mail, you can filter or search your AbeBooks emails to help differentiate between order emails and buyer enquiries.
§ Buyer Enquiries – we ask that you respond to all buyer pre- and post-order enquiries in a polite and professional manner within 2 business days.
§ AbeBooks Complaints – if we receive a complaint from a buyer, we will send you an AbeBooks Complaint notification email, we expect that these will be treated with a high priority and be answered within 2 business days.
Ø Order Processing & Refunds:
§ Shipping Orders – all orders should be shipped within 2 days of processing the order. If the order is for a Print on Demand item you should ensure the shipping method you choose corresponds to the shipping speeds shown during checkout.
§ Processing refunds for the buyer – you have up to 90 days past the order processing date to refund a buyer. If a buyer contacts you regarding a refund, you can simply process the refund. If the order is more than 90 days old, simply contact us and we will process the refund on your behalf.
§ Completing Returns – When you receive a book back, ensure to complete the return so the buyer is refunded. If you leave the refund to automatically complete, it can take up to 77 days to refund the buyer.
§ Disputes – If a disagreement arises with a buyer occurs, we expect that you will work toward a mutual resolution that is also in agreement with our policies.
