Better World Books

Ordered 3 Harry Potter books and descriptions of their quality reflected actual condition. Very well priced, decent shipping time and cost, especially for international shipping, and good packaging when received—encased in secured, waterproof wrapping. Also appreciate ethical practices, low negative environmental impact and literacy contributions made by this company.

I bought two books on Syntax and Semantics from BWB (oder #*******). I waited for several months for them to get here, but they never did.

When I contacted them to say my items seemed to have gotten lost in the mail, they said there was nothing they could do, because over 60 business days had passed - which is an unreasonable excuse, because it is NORMAL for items to take to longer than two months to arrive at international destinations. I explained this to them, and here's the response I got:

"Many thanks for your feedback. We are always trying to improve our business and will certainly look into implementing new practices in order to do so. Our apologies however we stand by our policy."

In other words, they are fully aware that a paying customer has not received his items and have no problem doing nothing about it.

Think long and hard before doing business with this company.

I am pleased to note that my order of 8 books arrived in great condition even more quickly than the projected deliver date. I am a collector with a curated archive of 7,000+ cookbook volumes I continually comb through numerous websites for tracking and comparison and must rely on the accuracy of listings when choosing between, potentially, dozens of copies. The volumes were well packed and in the condition as listed which is important to me. Unfortunately, the website lacks filtering and sorting capabilities beyond basic Categories making it extremely difficult to work with the price and condition tags already present. Sub-categories or topics would also be beneficial.

I place dozens of orders and purchase hundreds of books annually but, as much as I am impressed with the BetterWorldBooks contents and delivery, I will not be able to use the website without these additions to their UI tool set.

They have a variety selection of books that come with affordable prices and offer free international shipping which is an absolute bonus! However, you'll have to expect that most of the used books come from the library so the books will have barcode stickers and stamps on them. For international buyers, i know it's stated that it take max 21 days but mine took a month (i personally don't mind), so heads up for any impatient buyers out there! Also, if you select books from different locations your books will be delivered separately so there might be some delay for certain books to get to you.
Pro tip: Always go for Used Very Good' or 'Used Like New'!
Overall, i'm somewhat pleased with the books i purchased and would definitely return for more!

One of my favourite online used bookstores. Little bit more expensive than others, but I think that's because the price of shipping is worked into the book prices, and they frequently have sales for anywhere from 10-30% off used books – every book also donates a book and proceeds go towards literacy efforts worldwide.

I ordered a bunch of books that were listed as "very good condition" and when they got here they were old ex library books. Not what a I played for. When I bought 1 book it was packaged in just a plastic mail bag with no packaging, of course it arrived severely damaged. Every book comes with a paper based sticker ON THE SPINE which do not come off easy and leave sticker residue behind. I ended up ripping one of the dust covers of my books, can't imagine how horrible buying paperbacks from them would be. Avoid this website

BetterWorldBooks is an interesting store to browse, I always find something decent to buy at a reasonable price. Both my orders have been processed rapidly and delivered in just a few days, the books were in good condition. Good for midnight shopping!

Huge selection that is easily searchable, incredible prices. Although most of the books I've received are library cast-offs, they've been in excellent condition The shipping has been quicker than expected and I've been recommending this to everyone. You're my new Amazon replacement!

Just received my order from UK. Very fast. I got some packages undelivered and got refunded by Better World Books right away after informing them. Appreciate their customer service very much. Will order more certainly!

I've ordered from Better World Books for years. Throughout the last year the quality of my orders has gone way done. I only order books listed as "very good" or "like new" condition but have received books with black marker all over the cover; bent front covers, among other issues. BWB has been responsive and issues refunds but there is something wrong when it happens over and over. The books are sent in packaging with no protection, stuffed into envelops, also causing damage. I don't want to have to spend my time messaging with them over and over after every order. Now the rewards program doesn't work for me and after back and forth messaging with them for a week nothing is resolved. It's just not worth my time anymore. They don't care and the quality continues to go way down. There is no efficient way to deal with problems.

I purchased 3 books from them via eBay. It was the Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King, in hardcover. The 3 books arrived and all 3 were in large print format. I message the seller to return them. They did accept a return but I had to pay shipping, even after I sent them a screenshot of their listing, which did not indicate these were large print editions. Their broken record reply was "according to the ISBN number, we sent the right items."
They do take a while to respond. If you don't care about the book you're buying, well, I'd still suggest shopping elsewhere; preferably through a service that cares about their customers.

I have received three books in a row from these people that were not as described. These books were mailed in an unprotected plastic mailing sleeve that allowed much damage to occur to the pages as well as bindings. I asked for a return and refund on these books, they then filed a claim against me on eBay stating it was my fault that the books were not as described. The pictures below show one of the books they sold as "very good" which clearly shows the poor condition with brown mold stains. Absolutely disgusting business practices. Never again will I buy from these horrible sellers.

I bought several books by the same author from BW books. I got part of my order but its been a month now and even though I have a tracking #, once it "leaves" BW books they do not help at all to find your order. The site they direct you to in order to "get help" sends you in circles.
They did not hesitate to help themselves to payment for the books, however. Beware.
I will never order books from this company again.

My order of three books arrived after a long wait.

I was dismayed to see the condition of Elbow Room - no dust jacket, sun damaged cover, stamps and cross out on all three faces of pages. The spine was cracked in two areas.

How do I get a replacement in appropriate condition?

I have ordered from Better World Books many times. They frequently sell used library books. I DESPISE the stickers and stamps all over the books and intentionally order ones NOT marked as previous library books for this reason. In spite of this, I routinely still get them. It's so frustrating that they either don't mark all library books as such or they just don't pay attention when fulfilling orders. For my last order they had several copies of the same book, one marked as previous library and the other simply as "used". I chose the "used" version, and got a book covered in library stickers and tape and stamps on the page ends. And it was sent in this sticky wrapping plastic envelope that made a mess of the dust jacket. I'm done ordering from here.

Ordered a hardcover book from Better World Books off Abe.com. The item description was for "very good condition, in good shape" but no mention as former library copy or that the cover/sleeve was missing. Advertised quick shipping but I received it over 2 weeks later. Won't buy from again.

I get an email asking if my order arrived and then am prompted for this review. But if the answer is No then you do not click the link to review. Sounds like a way to filter out the bad reviews that would follow when the books didn't arrive. Also, a recent book advertised in "Very Good" condition was not.

Bought a book on eBay. Three days later I'm told it's out of stock and to wait a couple days for a refund. I pointed out the obvious, and "Leah" responded by arguing semantics with me. No apology, but they cancelled the sale on eBay to avoid my feedback, so I'll leave it here. Not an ideal seller on multiple levels. Avoid if you're reading.

BetterWorldBooks sent me the wrong book. Since the book was worth less than return shipping, they let me keep the book and returned my money. Just now I received a survey that would be used for posting reviews. Only positive experiences get posted on review sites. That is why BetterWorldBooks has a far higher rating than it deserves.

Super untrustworthy seller. I purchased a book and after I paid I got an email from them saying their supplier couldn't provide it. It was buying it new so I'm not quite sure why it could not be supplied! I bought it elsewhere. The kicker is almost 2 months later they sent an email wanting a positive review asking about my order! It's like the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. They may have slightly lower prices but you don't know if you're going to get your book, and they had no problem charging me right away. So I think maybe they are some kind of a third party seller and they advertise a certain price and if it can't be met, they just make up something like their supplier can't provide it. Why sell new books with a supplier that can't provide it? Selling a book that is new implies that you are able to fulfill the order. Shady!

Bought collectible books and they steal them and sell on their antique book site on eBay. Not happy at all. They also raise prices on items in my cart. Greedy creeps! Selling free donations for outrageous price

I bought three books on the 1st October 2021 and have still not receives my order after two months two weeks down the line. I say they are a scam because their website does not offer tracking numbers for their orders. And what is the reason for no tracking details and just the order number. How does one go to the Post Office and ask for shipment without a tracking number?

As matters stand now, my status of the books I ordered reflects that I only ordered two books and not three as before. Initially, one book was to have been shipped from USA and others from UK. However, the one from UK does not reflect anymore and its just those from USA.

I still have email communication I had with them as proof to all this. What I don't like about the reviews appearing currently on their website is that they are on their webpage, and not from an independent one. This rings a bell, isn't it?

I've been waiting my order for more than a month and Better World Books refuses to refund me. They've kept changing the delivery date again and again (I've been choosing them over other seller because of the delivery dates) and ask me to wait until an undefined date to ask for refund. At the end of the day, I've lost 55$ and a lot of time dealing with their consumers' service. Oh, and by the way they were pretty unpleasant with me since they told me that, "[i]f this delivery time did not meet [my] needs, [I was] not obligated to place the order", which is inadmissible as they are unable to give me a delivery date!

I've made a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (I'm not the first!) and I hope I could get refund. Nevertheless, I've spent a lot of time demanding that the Internet Order Merchandise Rule be honoured, and time is money.

Hope this review will help you, don't go with them, they are fraudster!