I ordered a new Lord of the Rings box… I ordered a new Lord of the Rings box set from AbeBooks (or one of its many retailers) for a birthday present. I was sent old prints with worn and torn covers (some of them taped back together), lots of underlining and markings and cheaply plastic wrapped. I wish I would have checked Trustpilot prior to ordering. Update as of 4/17/24: I did not have the same result as many of the other reviews I have read on here but I imagine that depends largely on the individual retailer contracted by AbeBooks. The retailer used by AbeBooks corrected my order and shipped me the new copies I had paid for. For that I changed my rating. I will still have to pay to return an incorrect order though so 4 stars seems appropriate.

I would do negative 5 stars if I could I would do negative 5 stars if I could. I was about to buy a book set that was listed at $101.00. I emailed them about a price drop. Within that time frame. AbeBooks went and hiked up the price to $250.00. Then AbeBooks had the nerve to email an explanation “Book prices can fluctuate based on various factors such as their perceived value, rarity, and demand in the market” I watched that book sit at $100 up until the day I emailed them about it. I’m pretty sure that is bait n switch which is illegal. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT PURCHASING FROM ABEBOOKS.com unless you want to get scammed!!!

I ordered 12 books from them I ordered 12 books from abebooks. Four of them never arrived after waiting over three weeks. And despite the sellers assurances that they would arrive by a certain date. Even now I can’t order the books from another seller because Abebooks is insisting on giving their irresponsible sellers another week to cure. I will never do business with abebooks again. They apparently have absolutely no concern for the quality of the booksellers they do business with or for the people that buy them.

Worst experience EVER! Worst experience EVER! Found a book on abebooks, which works just like Amazon (and in fact actually is owned and run by Amazon) meaning, that they are the middle-man for other, smaller bookstores, that can sell their products on their site. The bookstore, which had the book in question, was located in Texas, USA and touted the book as - A NEW PRODUCT - on their account on abebooks and thus, also on the abebooks website. After ordering the book and having it shipped to Europe, the ordeal begins. First, the shipment is taking forever. Then, I have to find out by myself, that the book is stuck for over a week in the local customs service due to "inadequate VAT tax being paid by the sender". The nightmare continues as I now need to contact the national postal service but since there are no more phone numbers, which can be called for this type of customer support, I now have to download and install an app as well as to go through a lengthy account registration in order to be able to communicate with the postal service which - of course - all is done by CHAT! After figuring out the details, I now realize, that abebooks/the store in Texas have charged me the locally required VAT tax but NOT transferred the money to the local postal service, which needs to collect the tax on behalf of the IRS. With the book stuck and in holding for further calculation of the VAT tax that is missing, now a lengthy and cumbersome exchange of emails between me and the abebooks customer support and the store in Texas ensues. Over the course, I am caught in a constant web of a waste of time, energy and explanations in order to fix the mess, that nobody seems to want to take responsibility for in the beginning. As I grow tired of the constant forth and back, I finally draw a line and tell abebooks customer support that I have lost trust in their ability to live up to their end of the deal and that I am cancelling the purchase and want to be reimbursed for all of my expenses including the price of the book, the shipment and the VAT paid, corrected for differences in exchange courses for the different currencies involved. Abebooks support now attempts to offer a discount on the price of the book as well as a discount for a future purchase and promises to transfer the amount for the missing VAT tax plus any fees to my bank account if I am accepting the book delivery and pay the missing VAT tax myself - meaning, I had to just trust in abebook's words and take their word at face value - which I told them after the previous experiences, I wasn't able to and hence, wanted to call it quits. Abebooks support again tries to change my mind but as we talked, I brought up the subject of the book's state, which was touted as new at purchase. I asked for a guarantee, that the book was in fact new and not - like many other identical copies on their website - used or heavily used etc. Abebooks is unable to answer that question and instead, refers me to the seller in Texas. But neither here can I get a clear answer other than, that I could get a discount for the trouble. In fact, the seller now even asks me what VAT is, which immediately raises a red flag. After rejecting the book delivery to my address, support tells me to initiate a "return of item" process on their website which I do plus, that I tell them per email, that I already have rejected the book and that it will be automatically returned. Abebooks, then aks me to "pack it well" and "if I could send it back in the fastest possible way", which I refuse to reply to. After having stressed myself out, wasted OCEANS of time, money and effort on this lunacy over several months, I finally receive the transfer of the full amount to my bank account, which I had requested. I reckoned, that this was the end of this horrible ordeal but to my big surprise, I shortly after receive another email from support, in which I am being asked, how much I paid for the return package, so they can reimburse me for the shipping costs and transfer the amount to my bank account. I couldn't believe the lack of coordination and knowledge (all the correct information was forwarded correctly MULTIPLE times by email) - so I thought, I'd see if abebooks really was that inept and sent them a random figure - it turned out, they were. Took it as a reimbursement for the catastrophic failure and all the time I had to waste, the stress etc. Never shopping here again - and neither should you!

Still waiting for a book I ordered from… Still waiting for a book I ordered from Gold Books Austin Texas in February LAST YEAR to arrive, they just keep saying "I'll check and get back to you" they never do.