Skip to main content

View Post [edit]

Poster: Prince-Of-Dorkness Date: May 15, 2024 9:16am
Forum: general Subject: Re: Better World Books

I agree that Archive partnering with any giant corporation is troubling.

However, I have bought a boatload (a shipload? – say it out loud to get the joke) of used books from Better World Books (BWB). They appear to be a HUGE corporation with vast warehouses of old books, especially ex-library. Given how cheaply library systems are selling old books, I can see how BWB has managed to acquire such mass quantities. The last local library system sale near me saw all the old books going for 25¢.

Given the low profit margins on reselling old books, BWB obviously has to employ low-cost labor, and you can probably blame one of those Dane-bred peons for overlooking the condition of your book purchased from BWB.

I had a professor (from waaay back when) who used to say, “never jump to conclusions based on limited data.” That is, don’t judge a bookseller of vast numbers of used books based on one book purchase, or on one customer rep experience. That’s lacking in scientific accuracy.

If you’re worried about being able to return a used book bought from BWB, then buy it on eBay as BWB has a vast number of old books listed there, typically at the cheapest price of any seller on eBay. eBay stands behind purchases a bit better. Granted, they are a pain to deal sometimes in that shove automated systems down your throat before they’ll allow you the privilege of actually speaking to a real human, and then that human will barely speak your language (welcome to the 21st century).

Just my 2¢.


Reply [edit]

Poster: TomSFO Date: May 15, 2024 11:35pm
Forum: general Subject: Re: Better World Books

Thank you for your opinion, I appreciate it. My intent was to warn others of my experience. When buying books online we can only rely on the description given. Obviously, no one even scanned the pages, so I presume they based their condition on the external appearance. You can't judge a book by its cover as they say. In all cases there must be a matter of trust. And to have a policy not to provide any customer satisfaction, is an added negative. Internet Archive's partnering with this company is a bad choice. Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me.