I have been using Amazon Marketplace as both a buyer and a seller for several years. I have always been happy in the past with my purchases. Now my last three transactions have all been negative. In all three cases I ordered books that when they arrived were no where near the condition described by the seller. In one case the seller did not even bother to package the book in any kind of protection, they just threw it in a manila envelope and sent it off to me. You can imagine the lovely condition that the book is now in. Hint, it looks like a dog chewed the corners.
As a seller I try very hard to grade the books I sell as accurately as I can. I am not an expert at book grading and I always err on the side of caution. I also go to some length to describe any anomalies that the book has (remainder marks, bumped corners, folds/tears, foxing, etc…). If I grade something as Used:Like New then I mean that it is really Like New, not that it is a remainder with ugly black remainder marks all over it, or that it has a cracked spine and a tear on the boards, etc…
I have another order from Alibris, that is lost in transit. The seller has been super responsive and is working on getting me a replacement so no complaints there, other than that the post office sucks.
This is all so frustrating, especially with the continued death of local used bookstores.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.