Beware of used books on Amazon

[Greyhaunt]

I am so pissed off today. I treated myself to a whole bunch of books the other day and was really looking forward to them. Mind you they were all second-hand books and I was buying them through Amazon. I particularly bought ones that were being sold THROUGH Amazon so I wouldn't have to pay shipping (I'm doing a free Prime tryout). I was very careful picking each book because the one thing I did NOT want was any ex library books. Nothing wrong with them, I have many in my non-fiction collection, but since these are fiction and I don't plan on keeping them I wanted copies that would be easy to resell.

Then I opened the box. THREE of the seven books I bought were EX LIBRARY!!!! One of them was in HORRIBLE condition (not even remotely the "good" they called it in their listing). They are covered in stickers and stamps - I'm so pissed off. Sure, I can read them - but I'll NEVER get a fraction of what I paid back on them given the conditions and the ex-library marks all over them. Had I known I would have NEVER bought them. My only hope is that since I will have a complete set now of a series someone on ebay, who just wants to read them, will buy the set despite how crappy some editions are >< I sure can't take them to my local bookstore (which was my intent) and trade them in.

So if you buy used books off of Amazon, be wary of anything that THEY are shipping on behalf of the dealer because the descriptions cannot be relied on.

[SetsunaKou]

I am so pissed off today. I treated myself to a whole bunch of books the other day and was really looking forward to them. Mind you they were all second-hand books and I was buying them through Amazon. I particularly bought ones that were being sold THROUGH Amazon so I wouldn't have to pay shipping (I'm doing a free Prime tryout). I was very careful picking each book because the one thing I did NOT want was any ex library books. Nothing wrong with them, I have many in my non-fiction collection, but since these are fiction and I don't plan on keeping them I wanted copies that would be easy to resell.

Then I opened the box. THREE of the seven books I bought were EX LIBRARY!!!! One of them was in HORRIBLE condition (not even remotely the "good" they called it in their listing). They are covered in stickers and stamps - I'm so pissed off. Sure, I can read them - but I'll NEVER get a fraction of what I paid back on them given the conditions and the ex-library marks all over them. Had I known I would have NEVER bought them. My only hope is that since I will have a complete set now of a series someone on ebay, who just wants to read them, will buy the set despite how crappy some editions are >< I sure can't take them to my local bookstore (which was my intent) and trade them in.

So if you buy used books off of Amazon, be wary of anything that THEY are shipping on behalf of the dealer because the descriptions cannot be relied on.

Yes, that's actually happened to me several times, too, on Amazon.com Marketplace, but you can just write the sellers and tell them the condition is not even remotely as they described. Every time, the seller gave me a full refund and told me to just keep the book, too.

It even happened with a used video game! And the seller told me to just keep it while they gave a full refund.
Not saying that will happen this time with you, but it might and worse comes to worst, they will give a refund and ask you to ship back the book at their cost.

You should try that and try again to find the book in the condition you're looking for. ^^

[Stormlight]

Yeah, contact the sellers about it. I've found most sellers are very accommodating, because any negative feedback left to them affects their ratings. Similar to Ebay in that respect.

[DollyKim]

I buy a lot of used on Amazon from sellers and where they sell for someone so I can get free shipping. Maybe one used DVD was really messed up but it was a kids show. As for the secondary market I've had one seller never send, Amazon took care of him and gave me a refund, one book arrive with with a bit of water damage like the corner soaked up something but I still have the book, one video tape in the wrong case which the seller refunded the money, and only one DVD with surface scratches that pushed the "good" rating and I said so but the DVD plays. I also have a can of Lemon Pledge

When I'm generally paying more for shipping than the book or DVD I'm prepared for a gamble. Then again I'm not a book collector. I'll buy the water damaged copy of a hard to find book because I want to read it. I'll take that loose page manga because it's the last volume I need. I've discovered Goodwill resurfaces all their used DVDs so they'll play.

And if something goes wrong I agree with contacting the seller. I would want to know ahead of time if it is a library copy because those can be missing pages or be marked up.

[kenaiqueen]

By all means, contact the seller! I buy from Amazon a lot and buy quite a bit used. It is a crap shoot, but you can get your money back if you aren't satisfied.

[Tealove]

That's awful! I would contact the seller too.

The worst incident I've had with amazon was with a new book. The very last page was missing and the entire ending was on that page. Did she live or did she die? I'll never know.

[maywong]

I agree with everyone about contacting the seller.

[Trethowan]

I make a motion that she contact the seller and demand recompense! DEMAND IT I SAY! *bangs gavel*

[Lamia of the Dark]

Leave horrible feedback, that always gets a reaction from the seller.

[cirquemom]

You might try Alibris- they specialize in used books and I have found their descriptions to always be right on.

http://www.alibris.com/