AbeBooks is your source for Used, New, Rare and Out of print books. Find classic collectibles, rare signed editions, used textbooks, and inexpensive bestsellers from independent booksellers worldwide.
AbeBooks (www.abebooks.com) has a 1.6 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 102 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Hobbies & Crafts and its reputation is poor. 79% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has not yet replied to negative reviews; Reviews mostly discuss Product, Price. Last updated 2026-08-11.
Most reviewers were consistently let down by their negative experience overall. Customers expressed deep frustration over receiving heavily damaged products, incorrect book titles, and unexpected extra fees charged after completing their purchases. People also encountered severe delivery delays, with several orders failing to arrive entirely, lacking proper tracking, or being mistakenly sent to wrong addresses. Some reviewers were happy with finding hard-to-find reference books at very reasonable prices and receiving them quickly in pristine condition without issues. Consumers additionally appreciated surprisingly prompt shipping times and completely flawless items that wonderfully satisfied all their specific personal reading and academic needs.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.Out of 7 books I ordered, 3 were not available. Is it that hard to keep the website updated? Then on top of that, I went through my purchases and compared them to the charges on my card and found an additional charge that did not match any of my purchases! Leaving an email for their customer service isn't easy and then they say to wait over 24 hours for an answer. I will be going back to Thriftbooks.....never a problem there.
Ordered a book 02-08-26. It's now 04-07-26. No book received. They have no customer service phone or email. I had to contact my credit card for a chargeback. Avoid at all costs!
Where do I begin. I ordered a book for my 86 year old mother who is in hospital dying from cancer. It was a book from her childhood and she desperately wanted to read it again before she died. She was so looking forward to receiving the book. Her days are filled with intense pain and I was hoping the book would give her some joy and relief from the cancer eating away at her. She gave me hundreds of dollars to pay for this book, which I did. The book never arrived. I sent emails, that went unanswered. I tried to contact the courier company using the tracking number. Fake company, fake tracking number. I have tried everything to contact someone about my dying mother's book. Just keep hitting a brick wall. My mother has no book she desperately wanted, no money and nothing to show for it. Abe books are a despicable and fraudulent company. DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM THEM. THEY WILL DO THE SAME TO YOU. The doctors told me yesterday that because of Abe books taking my dying mother's money and not sending her the book she so looked forward to, she has given up fighting the cancer, refuses all medication, and treatment. The doctors told me she now has only a few days left to live. THE DOCTORS TOLD ME, AFTER I TOLD THEM WHAT ABE BOOKS DID TO MY MOTHER, THAT ABE BOOKS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MY MOTHER'S DEATH AND HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS. I have called in the Police and my lawyer for what they have done. They have committed fraud, lied, cheated, and continue to do so. Also my son works in Washington for the government. He will be putting the crimes Abe Books have committed and still are before the Grand Jury. He will see that Abe Books are put out of business. I will be taking them to court to get my mother's money back and for causing her death and distress. The Police are now going to investigate Abe Books and all their employees who have lied and committed fraud. Abe Books will soon be hauled in front of the Grand Jury and those responsible jailed. My mother's doctor's are behind me and will testify that the fraud Abe Books committed against my mother, speeded up her death as they could have prolonged her life by months had Abe Books sent the book my dying mother paid for. I have one word for the scum who work at Abe Books and who cheat their customers out of their money. That word is KARMA!!! All of you at Abe Books who have committed fraud, KARMA IS NOW COMING AFTER YOU! NOBODY CAN STOP THE KARMA THAT YOU HAVE UNLEASHED. YOU WILL NOW SEE YOUR LOVED ONES AND CHILDREN DYING FROM THE DESPICABLE WRONGS YOU HAVE COMMITTED AGAINT INNOCENT PEOPLE YOU DEFRAUD. ONE OF THEM MY MOTHER WHO IS DYING AND COULD HAVE LIVED LONGER HAD YOU SENT HER BOOK SHE PAID FOR. DO NOT ORDER FROM ABE BOOKS AS THEY WILL CHEAT YOU LIKE THEY DID MY POOR MOTHER. KARMA IS COMING FOR ALL WHO WORK AT ABE BOOKS.
My account history makes it look like I kept a book for free "I am extremely frustrated with AbeBooks' technical system. After a shipping delay, I received a refund. When the book finally arrived, I contacted customer service to be recharged because I wanted to be honest and pay the seller. They took the money, but my order history still incorrectly says 'Refunded'. When clicking the tracking link, it clearly shows the book was 'Delivered', yet the site status says 'Refunded'. This makes it look like I kept the item for free, which is an insult to an honest customer who reached out to pay. Support told me their system 'does not have the ability' to update the status to 'Paid'. It is ridiculous that a company of this size cannot fix a simple database discrepancy. My honesty is being met with technical incompetence.
Wrong 2 books sent. Irequested the book , not 2 study guides to teach a class. No response. I am willing to send workbooks back. This is after multiple attempts to have this remedied
I ordered a used book (trumpet music) that is supposed to have online accompaniment. When I received it, it had a CD for the accompaniment, Then I contacted customer service and was told they had so much inventory they couldn't verify that this book has online accompaniment, and that when you buy used books, they might not have all the included items that are advertised.
They allow the vendor to increase the price of shipping days after you already paid.
Bad experience over all. Tracking number provided does not exist. After three months, the products have still not arrived. Mails are not responded to. Do not use this company!
DO NOT BUY INTERNATIONAL. I requested via email confirmation that my international order would have tracking #. They reassured me that all shipment has tracking. Then made my purchase and never received a tracking number and despite paying more money for shipping than the book itself, Abe books refuse to give me tracking # or any proof of shipping my book, or inform me which courrier they use. It's been now 21 days, still no proof my book was sent. DO NOT BUY INTERNATIONAL . I request refund for failure to provide evidence. No refund.
Ordered. Tracking provided. Never received then went to check tracking at it was invalid because shipper didn't receive item. Abe Books will do nothing to help you and you have to contact the seller directly and they will do nothing as well. It's a scam.
I had a very unsatisfactory experience with this company. I placed an order on the evening of February 13. When I checked my email the next morning, I noticed that my credit card was charged four times for the merchandise. In my more than 50 years of having a credit card, I never had such an experience. (The credit card company later removed the duplicate charges). Nevertheless, I immediately tried to cancel the order. That's when I found out that this outfit has no customer service phone number. As such,I navigated through their rather cumbersome "customer help" process to stop the transaction. Shortly thereafter, I received an email from the actual book seller, the proprietor of Abacus Book Shop, who I found to be both arrogant and condescending. I made him fully aware of my desire to cancel the order. However, my credit card was charged for the merchandise, thereby, requiring me to file a dispute. This has been one aggrevating transaction!!
Sellers for Abe Books use OSM, a carrier that takes FOREVER to move the package through their network. Once shipped the order typically takes 2 full weeks to arrive. Abe Books and their sellers respond to inquiries with one size fits all answers that do not help one bit.
1.7 stars. That figures. The website repeatedly showed me groups of pics. Id get one correct just to have to get yet another correct. Again & again! Gave up! Lost a sale! Fix your website!
I ordered a book last June, to be delivered to a Swedish address, and it still hasn't arrived. Just try finding an address/phone number to complain to on this site! Impossible!
USPS has been "awaiting item" for over a month. Three efforts to contact seller (Half Price Books) failed. Abe Books refused (via automatic reply) to initiate refund saying "the seller says it shipped, so talk to them". No way to contact Abe Books, no way to get refund, no book, and I am out $15. Lesson learned: never buy through Abe Books
Abe books has saved me so much money, helping me find great primary and secondary sources for research while building my own library. I'm fine with books being used, or slightly marked up. And at least in the US, shipping and honesty of sellers has not been a problem for me.
I had a very unpleasant experience using AbeBooks. I found a product advertised through AbeBooks on Google and purchased it for $300. Two weeks later, I received a completely different item that was in no way related to what I had ordered and paid for. It took numerous attempts to contact the third-party seller, Pages of Boston, to resolve the mistake on their end. After nearly two months, I finally received a return shipping label. However, I was later informed that the book did not arrive back to Pages of Boston in satisfactory condition. As a result, AbeBooks did not issue a refund of my $300, and I was not allowed to keep the incorrect book that had been sent to me. This entire experience was a complete nightmare and a significant waste of my time, energy, and money. I will not be using Abebooks again.
Do NOT use this company! NO Customer Service to speak of, and no way to get a hold of anyone at Abebooks. They have the wrong address for me, even though it shows the correct one u der my name. So, my orders go to the wrong address. It is beyond frustrating and inexcusable that they do not fix this issue, or even let you contact them to let them know there is an issue.
Abe Books is a terrible system. You can no rate the sellers for lying about the book condition. If you request a refund they want you to mail it back, even though the seller did not describe the book properly. It is 100% hit or miss if you will get something in the condition it's labeled, and there is nothing you can do about it... Buy books elsewhere, where they protect the buyer.
Terrible service I have been chasing them for weeks for a refund but they just sent a generic email. Avoid!
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