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Alibris has a rating of 4.7 stars from 90,182 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Alibris most frequently mention great prices, good price, and shopping experience. Alibris ranks 1st among Used Books sites.
Proactively asks for customer feedback
This company responds to reviews on average within 2 days
Very impressed w/ orderly arrangement of products for sale, e.g., music, books, movie, etc. Makes sense! Also, the choice of sellers is easy to understand & navigate--I contacted one book seller Solr by email to find out if the used book they were selling was highly dusty (allergies) & they emailed back w/ details & evident concern. Alibris is now my "go-to" source for great prices, selection & quality of sale. Thanks for doing a great job!
Very Difficult to change shipping address. Had to quit internet browser and log back in again. Shipping choices limited. I know from past purchase that independent sellers can take their sweet time shipping items and often do. Why does alibris appear to charge at 1st class parcel rates and deliver at slower and cheaper media mail rate? Delivery window excessively wide.
I was able to purchase five boks all by the same author at very good prices. They were used and in excellent conditions. They arrived promptly. Shopping at Thrift Books was a pleasure and would do it again.
Date of experience: December 5, 2024
No explanation of "May be eligible for free shipping".How? How does one know whether or not this is so? I'd also like more information on condition of a particular item: "may be this", or"'may(or may not)have this or that" isn't particularly helpful...
Pretty good selection
* Alibris attempted to help this customer through the Sitejabber Resolution Center, but the customer did not respond
Date of experience: September 29, 2024
Very pleasant online shopping experience. I actually enjoyed purchasing a text book for college! I honestly have never been able to say that but this web site mad it so easy. I will be ordering again soon.
Date of experience: August 31, 2024
The prices are good, but the "promo"/"coupon" kind of annoyed me, it did basically nothing, as the taxes were more than the promo/coupon itself, which brought my total back up to $89, in fact, raising the price higher than before! If you're going to add a promo/coupon, it should at least actually knock the price down, not just negate the sales tax.
To have a cheaper alternative to other websites.
Date of experience: December 7, 2024
Lots of choices for the book I was searching for. However, the website did a peculiar "loop" when I selected PayPal as my payment method. It made me go back and log in again and I was worried that i might duplicate the order or get charged twice. Everything seems to be OK, but this should be looked into.
Better availability of the title I was looking for
Date of experience: September 3, 2024
Good selection, good prices
Date of experience: February 6, 2022
Alibris consistently has the best selection of books and the best prices. Shipping costs are a little steep, sometimes. Also, I use a password manager, and your site does not accept the automatic population of my username and password. Is that by design, or is some kind of error occurring?
I have been using this site regularly for quite some time, but my visits have increased since Covid shut down my local public library. Glad you guys are there.
Date of experience: February 14, 2021
The item I ordered was clearly identified, per the tracks listing, as a large set (12-disc) with 48 individual musical selections, including several complete symphonies.
The item I received was a two-disc set containing only nine of those selections.
I sent Book trader Cafe two emails detailing my disappointment but have yet to receive a response.
Obviously, I will avoid doing business with them in the future.
After my last experience, I'm not sure to what degree I will continue doing business with Alibris.
Let's just say that I will be a bit more careful in what I order in the future.
Date of experience: October 12, 2024
Alibris is the most fantastic source for books on the planet!
Looking for a specific reference book - which Alibris had at a great price!
Date of experience: July 21, 2024
Excellent - which is why Alibris is my "go-to" place for books and music!
Good price, fantastic selection, decent delivery times
Date of experience: June 6, 2024
Fast and easy, with a fine selection of intriguing products
Searching for recordings of the music of an obscure composer
Date of experience: January 20, 2024
The website is easy to navigate, and I can find inexpensive desired books in a snap! The organization of the site even lets me choose among different editions.
I was looking for inexpensive books about Napoleon.
Date of experience: July 31, 2023
Looking to replace some Francis Poulenc CDs CHEAPLY
Date of experience: April 24, 2023
I always choose Alibris when I want to find a book - quickly and inexpensively.
Date of experience: December 28, 2021
Wanted to buy a couple of books on U.S. Grant - CHEAPLY!
Date of experience: November 3, 2021
Great ease of navigation of site. I could find the books I wanted, and compare condition, price, and source in seconds.
Alibris is always the first place I check for interesting books at really great prices.
Date of experience: February 12, 2021
I've been able to find pretty much any books that I've ever searched for on this site, as long as I could remember the title. So, many rare, odd or out of print books from childhood that got lost along the way that I wanted for my library, etc. Easy to navigate, then select from among available copies by price, condition, seller, etc to suit my needs. Have never had any problems with order fulfillment from any of the sellers. Love this site!
Long time customer from probably soon after the site was created, so at the time it was probably the easiest and possible only source on the web for finding OP books. Other option was to sic a local bookstore on the search, which job I actually had for a while, but even from the inside back in the day pre-internet - I'm old, okay? 😅) the process was lengthy, arduous, and often worked from knowing a guy who knew a guy who knew how to find the type of book being sought. So Alibris was an overnight game changer there, and I've been a customer ever since for any specialty/ rare / OP books.
Date of experience: October 5, 2024
I found what I was looking for almost immediately, along with many other books that I've wanted for quite a while, though I only purchased the book that I initially had my eyes set on getting. I will most certainly be ordering more from them in the near future.
Broad selection👍🏽
Date of experience: November 11, 2024
I kept adding books to get free shipping but it didn't seem to work no matter how many times I tried so I just gave up and placed my order. I don't know if I'll buy from them again. It took so long! I'm very frustrated! I'm usually not.
I tried to find,"Discover Books" but couldn't locate them so, since I was in a hurry I used Alibris.
Date of experience: November 4, 2024
New HC was put in two thin plastic bags without additional protective material like bubble wrap. Fortunately, it made it through without incident. With this kind of packing that seller used, it may very well have arrived with stubbed corners, crushed spine ends, or sharp board dents. Also, it took seventeen days for the book to arrive from the date of ordering. Other that that, okay.
Coincidence. This is where the seller had his listing.
Date of experience: August 31, 2024
One of my favorite things to do is buy used books rather than new. Alibris had the book I wanted, at an excellent price and in very good condition. Everything was so easy. Ordering, prompt shipping, receiving updates via email and, ultimately, the book. I will order again from Alibris!
Date of experience: August 30, 2024
All worked very well. But when I am trying to check on availability of books from a specific bookstore, and they don't have it, it would be nice to see the search parameter returned in the message, so I can know that I really did press "enter" for that search.
Book list from road scholar
Date of experience: September 6, 2024
Nice having the alternate (less expensive) cart option. We'll see how quickly the books arrive... :)
Date of experience: May 13, 2023
I purchased several items in a series of training materials from different sellers. Items from other sellers arrived in expected delivery windows. The two items in this order took two weeks longer than the latest date provided for estimated delivery. The seller was great and Alibris customer service was responsive but indicated it could take up to 30 days for your book to arrive. That is a long time.
Response came within a day and was clear
Price of product
Date of experience: November 18, 2024
The vast library of available titles is a real asset when looking for specialized books that are generally unavailable for sale or even from libraries. Not a regular buyer but when I find a desired title, Alibris is my "go-to" resource
Book availability and pricing
Date of experience: October 19, 2024
Always enjoy finding old classics. Great quality and generally rapid response.
Date of experience: May 6, 2024
Always convenient to browse and shop at Alibris; straightforward ordering process that's user friendly
Used in the past
Date of experience: April 2, 2021
I was interested in rereading this book as it has been many years since I first read it in grade school. I was somewhat precocious at that age. As it is a large book, I thought I would just check it out of the nearby university library. When I looked for it online, I saw that they had removed it, which was disappointing as there has not been an equivalent text or even an updated text appear that I am aware of. If there is a new and improved version by another author, I would like to know.
So I went to Alibris to see what was available, and I found a really nice copy for a mostly reasonable price, considering it is long out of print for reasons unknown. Its condition was even better than what was described, so I'm happy that now I can reread the book at my own pace without having to constantly renew it from a library. It took me a few months to get through it, and I look forward to reading it again.
A good place to look for arcane texts.
Date of experience: November 9, 2024
I had been searching for a copy of How Loathsome since I saw it at my local comic shop 20 years ago, and Alibris had one in great condition for a decent price.
Ordering was easy, and the fulfillment and shipping was prompt. I'm looking forward to ordering from them again.
They have a lot of hard to find graphic novels
Date of experience: November 18, 2024
Found it, ordered it. No problem. Waited o month or longer for order. Contacted Alibris,( by email only). They said wait a few more days. I let them know I still haven't received it. They put in for me to get my money back and two days later, it came in.
They got back with me in a good time. They wanted to help.
Date of experience: November 4, 2024
Nothing special, honestly. And that's the point. What Alibris makes routine and mundane is the most important thing for me: affordable, high quality, new and used books sold and delivered without hassles or surprises.
Please keep doing what you do!
Because y’all are an amazing source and always have the titles I’m looking for.
Date of experience: November 9, 2024
I almost always have an overall very positive experience ordering books with Alibris. I just have the same 2 irritants:
1. There is no review of sellers. The stars displayed only tell about their completion rate on orders. They don't say anything about sellers with inaccurate description of book conditions, or sellers who store and pack books with less care than REI does for socks I order from them.
2. The "Did you get order?" email that brought me here. Is it really too much to ask to be reminded of what that particular order was? What were the books on it? Maybe the current email is sufficient for people who order one or two books per year. I place orders for multiple books, through Alibris or other sellers, and every time I have to scratch my head and search my archives to remember what I ordered on Nov. 3 as opposed to Nov. 8 or 15. A list of books or a link to the order on the site please!
I like being able to buy from independent sellers.
Date of experience: November 25, 2024
Alibris is generally a very good service, with two major problems (in my view):
1. There is no evaluation of sellers (how well book matches description) only a rating of actual delivery of books announced as available. I just received a book that was announced as "Fine/Near Fine" and the one I received had a soiled cover jacket on the weak end of "good" (compared to the literally [small] hundreds of vgood-to-fine used books I have purchased in the past). No way to indicate "I don't trust this seller anymore." And Alibris doesn't include the book's claimed condition in the order summary & invoice, probably to make it impossible to
2. Speaking of delivery rate, I've had just too many canceled orders. As a consequence, sometimes when I really need a book, I prefer to go to Amazon or B&N to be sure to get it.
To get a chance to order from regular bookstores rather than contributing to the maintenance fee on Bezos's yacht.
Date of experience: October 5, 2024
Smooth transaction so far. Now let's wait and see how many orders get canceled (which has been Alibris's Achilles's heel in my experience)
To get a chance to order from regular bookstores rather than contributing to the maintenance fee on Bezos's yacht.
Date of experience: September 13, 2024
Consistently excellent site. I've been shopping here for decades and have never been disappointed. You're buying from independent booksellers through one of the best and most reliable sites on the web.
Date of experience: October 26, 2024
I typed in alibris while looking for a used book, Plato: Complete Works. The first search result require that I sign up for their marketing. I already get way too much of that. Alibris also asked to market to me. However, my data is not a requirement to purchase. It will be interesting to see what kind of shape the book is in as well as finding out if my email will have another message to try to weed out.
Easy to purchase and didn't beat me up with marketing.
Date of experience: November 4, 2024
I ordered and received a copy of J.W. Ehrlich's memoir, "A Life in My Hands." This volume by a noted San Francisco trial attorney was in fine condition and the content was excellent. I have only one small concern--the volume was represented to be signed and inscribed by Mr. Ehrlich but the volume I received had no such signature and inscription. Please know that I received excellent value for my payment but I selected this particular volume because of the signature/inscription. Please note that I will continue to order from Alibris; thank you for receiving and considering my follow-up.
Excellent inventory and pricing.
Date of experience: December 3, 2024
Obscure titles and nearly-forgotten authors are the stock in trade for Alibris. The inventory is huge and easily accessible.
Alibris is my go-to for gently used volumes.
Date of experience: September 1, 2024
Wide inventory
Date of experience: February 22, 2023
Large inventory.
Date of experience: February 15, 2023
Gigantic inventory and a range of attractive prices.
Date of experience: January 10, 2023
Excellent selection; fast ordering system.
Date of experience: January 8, 2023
Incredible selection of volumes
Date of experience: December 14, 2022
You have the volumes I am looking for.
Date of experience: December 5, 2022
Excellent descriptive information for each available volume.
Wide Selection of Materials
Date of experience: July 1, 2022
Alibris has a streamlined approach to searching for and ordering books.
Extensive inventory
Date of experience: April 28, 2022
The Alibris ordering system is alwsts a pleasure to use.
Comprehensive holdings
Date of experience: March 22, 2022
Detailed descriptions of the various volumes truly helps in the selection process.
Incredible inventory
Date of experience: February 10, 2021
The Greatest Salesman in the World is one of my Daddy's very favorite book. Considering I don't have my Daddy anymore, I have begun to build a library that I know would make him happy. Thank you. One copy stays at home, the other goes with me.
On a search, yall had the best reviews and price. Will order again.
Date of experience: October 11, 2024
It would be great if you would include an area for directions to an address. We live on a State Route and it doesn't show that on your form. I realize you use GPS but I still have items returned because the driver can't figure it out.
I've used Alibris before.
Date of experience: September 29, 2024
I've been ordering books and DVDs from Alibris for over 20 years (I think - for a long time anyway). Descriptions of the books are accurate and prices are reasonable. Of course, like everything else, prices for shipping and the books themselves have gone up. Some retailers falsely state the books have been shipped as soon as they receive the order. The only way to accurately check on shipment is to rely on the delivery confirmation number from the post office. Overall, the whole thing was good.
Alibris is a conglomerate of many dealers. It provides a single point to check on all of them.
Date of experience: September 15, 2024
We love browsing books, drinking coffee, and talking with people who love good stories.
Born from Interloc, a database for proffesional booksellers, Alibris has spent over two decades connecting book lovers to book sellers. It's the premier marketplace for textbooks, used books and rare, out-of-print books and supports countless small booksellers across the country. With over 270 million books, Alibris has something for you.
