To ensure the satisfaction of both booksellers and book buyers on our website AbeBooks has issued some guidelines. Upon registration, all booksellers declare that they accept these guidelines and policies. Being familiar with our policies will assist you in making your AbeBooks experience and that of your customers a successful one.
- Your Bookstore Information
- Your AbeBooks Inventory
- Your Customer Service
- Order Processing & Refunds
- Bookseller Ratings
Your Bookstore Information
AbeBooks offers several fields to enter key information that will assist with your book sales. We ask that all information listed in these fields be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. All information should be included only in the designated fields and all booksellers should refrain from redirecting buyers to other websites or any alternative means of placing their orders.
AbeBooks reserves the right to review and edit any information fields to remove unacceptable content. Should any restricted information be found, the bookseller will be notified. If the issue persists the bookseller account may be suspended or even closed. For further details on the above, see the full policy online.
- Bookstore Name – Your bookstore name is the name you will trade under on AbeBooks. It is not permitted to use an email address, URL or any reference to a web site as your bookstore name.
- 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. Return/refund policies cannot conflict with the terms outlined in the AbeBooks Bookseller Agreement.
- 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.
- Inappropriate Use of Information Fields - All information must be provided only in the fields designated for it; information about shipping and returns cannot appear in a book's description. No fields can contain information contradictory to AbeBooks' policies. AbeBooks will, at our discretion, review and edit these fields to remove HTML code and any unacceptable text.
Contact information must only be included in the specified contact information fields. AbeBooks provides designated fields for the following information:- Email address
- Phone and fax number
- Web site URL
- Terms of Sale
- Shipping Terms
- Redirection - Booksellers may not redirect buyers by any means to another web site or alternative sales channel as an alternative to AbeBooks for making their purchases. Any bookseller found to be redirecting customers to another web site or alternate sales channel is subject to a warning and possible removal from the AbeBooks web sites, at the discretion of AbeBooks.
In addition, booksellers may not include email addresses or web site URLs in any field other than those specifically intended for them.
Examples of redirection include, but are not limited to, the following:- Bookstore name: MyBookstore.com ~OR~ MyBookstoreDotCom ~OR~ www.MyBookstore ~OR~ wwwDotMyBookstore.
- Terms of Sale: We guarantee all books as described or money refunded through MyBookstore.com.
- Shipping Terms: Reduced shipping available on smaller items with prior contact at sales@mybookstore.com ~OR~ salesATmybookstore.com.
- Image Watermark
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 the mandatory requirements for listing your books, a summary of the listings that are only permitted when certain conditions are met, as well as unacceptable listings.
Listing Requirements:
- File formats – AbeBooks can work with a number of different file formats and software. Booksellers can also take advantage of our free HomeBase inventory management software, or upload their listings manually online.
- Technical requirements – When uploading a book file, it is required that the file be sent in a tab or tilde (~) delimited file, saved in a .txt format. Each subsequent file uploaded must be arranged in the same order, containing the exact same fields, as the original file.
- Mandatory fields – All listings are required to have a unique Listing ID, Title, Author, Price and Condition in order to be listed on AbeBooks.
- Book descriptions – Only information about the specific book may be included in the book descriptions. Details about shipping, bookstore information, etc. are not permitted.
Acceptable Listings and Conditions:
- 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 are allowed.
- Photocopies, Scanned Copies or Printed Copies – Are only permitted when they are free of copyright restrictions or when the copyright holder has provided written permission to reproduce. The bookseller must be able to provide documented permission when requested. The description must clearly state, "This is a photocopy" Or, "This is a scanned copy", Or "This is a printed copy of digital content available at [name of source, (i.e. Wikipedia)]". All such listings must be listed with the current year as the publication date, or with the publication date left blank, not the original date of publication.
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.
- Computer Games – Computer and video games should not be listed.
- Multiple Listings – A bookseller may only list a maximum of one (1) of the same new book or two (2) of the same used book. A quantity field should be used to list many copies of the same title. It is not permitted for booksellers to manipulate the book prices and/or descriptions without justification in order to list more books.
- In Copyright Violation – This includes listings whereby another bookseller's description has been directly copied.
We reserve the right, at our discretion, to remove any listing, which includes requests from rights holders and items deemed defamatory or illegal.
Your Customer Service
Providing the best customer service possible is the key to ensuring that buyers return 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:
- 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 notifications will be treated with a high priority and be answered within 2 business days. All complaint notifications will be tracked on your account and a high amount of complaints may result in a suspension.
Order Processing, Shipping & Refunds:
- Shipping Orders – Be sure to check for any special requests from the buyer before shipping the order.All orders should be shipped within 2 days of processing and the buyer should be informed that their order has been processed and shipped. Booksellers are required to ship books using a method intended to deliver the book in the timeframe quoted to the buyer. Responsibility for undelivered items lies with the bookseller; therefore we recommend shipping with a carrier that provides signature confirmation whenever it is available for the buyer's country.
- Ensuring Safe Delivery of Orders – We recommend that booksellers package orders securely to avoid damage. The bookseller is responsible for the condition of the book when it is delivered to the buyer. Insuring orders protects the bookseller id the item is lost or damaged in transit. Signature delivery confirmation protects the bookseller should an order fail to arrive. 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. We also recommend including a sales invoice with your shipment. Trackable shipping is also highly recommended and any tracking information should be added online.
- Processing refunds for the buyer – AbeBooks supports refunds for any reason as we feel this builds buyer trust, results in a positive buyer experience, and encourages repeat purchases.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, 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 as quickly as possible. 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 we expect that you will work toward a mutual resolution that is also in agreement with our policies.
- 'Item Did Not Arrive' Refunds – Booksellers are responsible for the item until the buyer receives it. Buyers are entitled to a full refund of the book price and shipping in the event that an item does not arrive. Buyers can initiate a refund for 'Item did not arrive' between 7 and 30 days after their order's estimated delivery date. Refunds for this reason cannot be initiated if the bookseller has entered valid tracking information online.
The following chart outlines the various return reasons available to buyers and booksellers as well as the compensation amounts based on the situation.
|
Return Reason |
Description |
Reimbursement |
|
Item did not Arrive |
The order did not arrive and is past the estimated delivery date |
Full refund = Book price + shipping charged
|
|
Order Accepted in Error |
The seller agreed to send a book, but then found the book condition was not as described on AbeBooks, or that the book had been previously sold |
Full refund = Book price + shipping charged |
|
Buyer Cancelled before Shipping |
The seller agreed to send a book but was contacted by the buyer prior to shipping. Buyer requested order cancellation |
Full refund = Book price + shipping charged
|
|
Item was Damaged |
Item was damaged in transit For advice on packaging click here |
If initiated by buyer: Full refund + return shipping = Book price + shipping charged + return shipping equal to original shipping If initiated by seller: Seller can choose whether to refund the return shipping costs. For instance if the buyer is to keep the book as well as a full refund
|
|
Incorrect Item Delivered |
The book sent to the buyer was not the item the buyer ordered |
If initiated by buyer: Full refund + return shipping = Book price + shipping charged + return shipping equal to original shipping If initiated by seller: Seller can choose whether to refund the return shipping costs. For instance if the buyer is to keep the book as well as a full refund
|
|
Item not as Described |
The book is shipped to the buyer and buyer claims it does not match the description on AbeBooks. If the seller does not agree that the item was "not as described" they are not required to refund Return shipping, but must accept the Return. |
If seller agrees: Full refund + return shipping = Book price + shipping charged + return shipping equal to original shipping If seller disagrees: Full refund = Book price + shipping charged
|
|
Partial refund* |
The buyer and bookseller have agreed to a partial refund amount. The buyer is refunded only the amount specified |
Specified by bookseller
|
|
Buyer does not want item** |
Buyer received item, but does not want the item |
Full refund = Book price + shipping charged Credit Card Payment |
|
Incomplete Sale*** |
Buyer failed to pay for item |
Refunds commissions charged to bookseller
|
Reimbursement amounts are for Ecommerce orders only.
For Bookseller Direct orders, the buyer must be refunded directly.
*Orders where payment is processed by our external payment service provider (Credit Card) only
**Orders placed on AbeBooks.com will be refunded only the book price
*** Orders where payment is processed by the bookseller only
Once a refund for 'Item did not arrive' has been initiated, the bookseller is notified and encouraged to contact the buyer to resolve the issue. Once a resolution has been reached, only the buyer can cancel the refund request. If no resolution is reached and the buyer does not cancel the refund request, the refund will automatically complete 7 days after being initiated. AbeBooks reserves the right to refund buyers immediately in cases where the bookseller fails to respond and delivery confirmation has not been provided, or does not confirm delivery. To prevent such refunds, booksellers are encouraged to purchase tracking that includes signature delivery confirmation, and to enter the details online.
Bookseller Ratings
The aim of AbeBooks Bookseller Ratings is to help 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 90-100% and therefore a Bookseller Rating of 4-5 stars.
Completion Rating - All booksellers are encouraged to work on keeping the highest Bookseller Rating possible. Completion rate is measured by the number of ordered items minus the number rejected and returned, divided by the total number of ordered items.
The minimum required standards for completion are:
- Sellers with 1 million or more listings online: 96%
- Sellers with less than 1 million listings online: 90%
We do require that booksellers maintain the required minimum completion rating, over a 6 month period. Booksellers who fall below this minimum requirement will be contacted by our Sales and Account Management Team.
Tips for improving your completion rating:
- Update your Inventory – Be sure to update your inventory at least once per week, ensuring to remove any sold books. Conduct regular stock checks and purge and reload your listings several times per year to keep your inventory up to date.
- Vacation Tool – Expired orders count against your completion rating. Should you be away for more than 3 days and unable to process orders, use the Vacation Tool to temporarily remove your inventory from the website until you return. Should we notice that many orders are expiring on your account and are unable to reach you, we may put your account on vacation for you.
Return Rate - Booksellers are also required to keep returns below 5% of orders. Booksellers whose return rates go above 5% will be contacted and will be required to improve their service to buyers. Click here for a full overview of returns which affect your bookseller rating.
Tips for improving your return rate:
- Trackable shipping – Using trackable shipping can reduce unnecessary refunds for the reason 'item did not arrive'. We recommend shipping with a carrier that provides signature confirmation whenever it is available for the buyer's country.
- Update your Shipping Matrix – Update your shipping matrix to ensure your shipping speeds are accurate and realistic to avoid returns for the reason 'item did not arrive'.
- Proper packaging – Be sure to pack your books well to avoid returns for the reason 'item damaged'.
- Accurate descriptions – Be sure to clearly and accurately describe your items to avoid returns for the reason 'item not as described'. Uploading images will also help to augment your descriptions.
Click here to see more Top Tips on how to improve your Bookseller Rating.
For further information on the above policies, see the full policy online or visit our full help pages here.
