One of the best ways to attract new buyers is to ensure that your Bookseller Rating is kept as high as possible. We encourage all AbeBooks booksellers to work on improving their Bookseller Rating. Fewer rejected and returned orders means more satisfied buyers, which, in turn, attracts new buyers and keeps current buyers returning again and again.
Improvement Opportunities
The first step in improving your rating is to identify the most common reason for your cancellations or returns. If you notice a pattern, you can determine which steps to take to reduce those types of cancelled or returned orders. It is best to try to ensure that the following occur as seldom as possible:
· Returned Items: Follow the tips below to minimize the chance of a buyer returning an order.
· Rejected Orders: Keep track of the reasons why you reject orders and consider ways to reduce these instances.
· Expired Orders: Ensure to process your orders within 2 days of receiving them. We recommend signing on to your account at least 3 times per week to check for new orders. Please do not let orders expire! When going on holiday for 3 consecutive days or more, use the Vacation Tool to temporarily remove your books to prevent unfulfilled orders and disappointed buyers.
You can easily check the reasons for your uncompleted or returned orders through Ratings Tracker:
1. [Sign On] to your AbeBooks.com bookseller account
2. Select [Your Sales] from the Members Menu
3. Click [View Your Completion Rating]
Select the 3, 6 or 12-month rating period from the Order Period drop-down list. Click the order count under [Unfulfilled Items] or [Returned Items] to view the order counts for the uncompleted and return reasons.
Top Tips - Reducing Returns
· Keep up-to-date on what the correct return reasons are to ensure that you not only refund the buyer the correct amount but also do not reduce your Bookseller Rating.
· To avoid unnecessary refunds from being initiated keep in touch with your buyers. Good customer service not only increases buyer confidence in your services, but can also prevent buyers from initiating refunds too early.
· If you send via trackable means, buyers can no longer initiate a refund for ‘Item did not arrive’!
· If you have not received a returned item, you should report a missing shipment to avoid the buyer being refunded until the book has been returned, or a tracking number has been provided.
· “Item did not arrive” Refunds: There are several ways to prevent refunds for this reason. First, ensure your shipping matrix accurately reflects your actual shipping times. In addition, always ship your orders within 2 days of processing them!
· Damaged Item: Pack your books well to prevent damage in the post!
· Item Not As Described: It is especially important to review buyer comments for this reason, and then use their feedback to update and improve your descriptions. We also recommend clicking the [Book Details] link on the order processing page to review your description and make sure it accurately reflects the book you will be shipping.
Top Tips - Keeping your Inventory Updated
Ensuring that your online inventory is up-to-date and accurate will help to keep your Bookseller Rating high. Below you will find our top tips:
· Ensure that your AbeBooks inventory is updated with those titles that you have sold through other channels.
· Upload your complete inventory on a weekly basis to refresh your listings.
· Do a purge and reload on a monthly basis to ensure that any transmission errors are corrected.
· Ensure that you do regular stock checks to ensure that you are listing titles that you can provide.
For more information on managing your inventory, please choose the management system that you use.
We hope these tips are helpful for you! If you are not sure of the correct return reason, or if you are having trouble with your inventory or account, please do let us know so that we can immediately help, and keep the negative affects to your Bookseller Rating to a minimum.
