AbeBooks UK Seller Help

Bookseller Rating

• What is Bookseller Rating and how is it calculated?
• Where can I view my Bookseller Rating?
• Which orders are included in the Bookseller Rating?
• How can I exclude an order from counting against my Bookseller Rating?
• How To Calculate Your Return Rate
• Best practice tips!

What is a Bookseller Rating & how is it calculated?

Bookseller Ratings are based on your completion rate only which is defined as orders that have been completed without cancellation or return/refund.

 

This is generally calculated in the following manner:

 

 Completion Rate = (Total Number of Order Items – Unfulfilled Order Items – Returned Order Items) / Total Number of Order Items

 

The Completion Rate Percentage is shown as a percentage. So, for example if you had a total of 75 orders, cancelled three of them and had two returns, your completion rate would be 93%.

 

(75 - 3 - 2) / 75 = 93%

 

The completion rate percentages are translated into a 5-star rating system.

     

 

 

Displayed Rating and Ratings History:
The star rating shown on the search results is based on a bookseller's 6 month completion rate.

 

A more detailed Ratings History for the bookseller (previous 1, 3, 6 and 12 month ratings.) is available through the Book Details page.

1. From the search results click on the title of the book you are interested in.

2. Click on the "Bookseller & Payment Information" tab.

3. Click on the "Ratings History" link.

4. A small window pops up displaying the ratings history for the previous 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updates to Bookseller Ratings:

The star ratings for each time period are updated at the beginning and middle of every month to show the most recent order history. 

New Booksellers:
For new booksellers a default 4 star rating is granted until your first 4 orders are processed. Once four or more orders have been established, the star rating will then be based on the calculated completion rate as detailed above.

Which orders are included in the Bookseller Rating?

 We understand that there are certain situations beyond a bookseller's control when it comes to the successful completion of orders. For that reason, we have made exceptions when calculating Bookseller Ratings. The following chart outlines what is included in the calculation and what is not included:

* Extra charges rejected: Once the buyer has rejected the order you will have the opportunity to process the order. We understand if you wish not to ship the book with a loss of postage in which case you can reject the order. Any orders that are rejected after the buyer rejects the extra charges request will not count against your Bookseller Rating.

Note: Please do not let orders expire, even if the buyer has rejected the shipping these will count against your Bookseller Rating.

How can I exclude an order from counting against my Bookseller Rating?

If you have an order that you feel should not be included as part of your Bookseller Rating, you have the ability to exclude it from the calculation. Up to 3 orders within a 12 month time period may be excluded by you.

To exclude an order from your Bookseller Rating:

• From the "My Account stats" Menu, click on [Completion Rate]
• Under the "Unfulfilled Items" or "Returned Items" column, click on the number

 

• Locate the order you want to exclude and click the [Request Status Change] next to it

 

• Complete the Status Change request by entering as many details as possible into the [Comments] box and then click [Submit]. Once you have submitted your request, the exclusion will take place automatically and you don't need to wait for a response from AbeBooks customer service

 

Note: An exclusion does not change the counts against your Bookseller Rating (i.e. It will not increase the number of fulfilled orders.) rather it changes the number of orders used to calculate your Bookseller Rating. For example, if you had 100 orders with 3 unfulfilled orders and submitted an exclusion for one of the unfulfilled orders, your rating would be based on 99 orders and 2 unfulfilled.

Where can I view my Bookseller Rating?

The Ratings Tracker replaced the StatTracker as your tool for viewing your order completion. With the Ratings Tracker you can view your Bookseller Ratings and the orders that make up those ratings by time frame (12, 6, 3 and current months) or by status (ordered, fulfilled, unfulfilled, returned, or excluded), and break them down by reason code.

Viewing Ratings Tracker:

If you are not signed on, sign onto your AbeBooks bookseller account. Your bookseller Rating and Completion Rate are now displayed on the screen in front of you.

Red and Gray Stars:

When looking at your star rating, you will notice that some starts are shown in red while others are grey in colour. The red stars indicate the rating that buyers see on the AbeBooks site (i.e. Your 6 months rating.) The grey stars are your other rating time frames not displayed to buyers.  (e.g. Your previous 12 months rating is shown as grey stars.)

What Can You Do With Ratings Tracker?

• Click an order total to view the individual orders. In some cases, the next page is divided up into further reason codes
• On any page, select a date range from the drop-down list to see the rating or orders from that date
• Click an order number to see the order details page for that order
• View the Ratings Help
• Request a status change (exclusion)

Bookseller Ratings:

Use the Bookseller Ratings tracker to review your ratings and individual orders for any one-month period within the last year:

 

How To Calculate Your Return Rate

The following return reasons are included in your Return Rate calculation:

• Item did not arrive
• Item was damaged
• Item not as described
• Incorrect item delivered
• Bookseller accepted order in error

To Calculate Your Return Rate:

• [Sign on] to your AbeBooks account
• Click on [Completion Rate] in the 'My Account Stats' section at the top of the Menu
• In the 'Seller Ratings Overview' section, select a 3, 6, or 12 month order period
• From the 'Ordered Items' total, subtract the 'Unfulfilled Items' total, to give you your total fulfilled items (including returns)

    Please note: The total fulfilled items count that appears on this page does not include returns, so should not be used to calculate the return rate

• Take the 'Returned Items' total and divide it by the total fulfilled items number you arrived at in step 3 above. The result will be your return rate for the order period selected

  Note: The 'Returned Items' total displayed on this screen only includes the returns as listed above 

For example:

In a 12 month period a bookseller has:

• 140 Ordered Items
• 8 Unfulfilled Items – orders that were rejected as 'Previously Sold'
• 5 Returns - 2 for 'item not as described', 2 for 'incorrect item delivered', and 1 for 'buyer does not want item'
• The return for 'Buyer Does Not Want Item' is excluded, leaving 4 returns
• Therefore the calculation is:
  4 / (140 - 8) = 4 / 132 = .030
• The Return Rate is 3%

If you wish to improve your Return Rate please click here.