Check out our latest communities fighting
AI scams on Reddit and Facebook
On SmartCustomer, businesses may not offer incentives or pay to remove reviews. Learn more about our Review Guidelines.
The overall reputation of Better World Books is mixed, with notable strengths in their extensive selection and competitive pricing, often praised for delivering books in excellent condition. However, significant concerns arise regarding customer service, particularly related to shipping delays, fulfillment errors, and inadequate packaging that often leads to damaged items. Many customers express frustration over the return process and a perceived lack of responsiveness from the company. While some customers remain loyal due to the ethical practices and commitment to literacy, recurring issues with order accuracy and support hinder a consistently positive experience.
This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews
We monitor reviews for authenticity
My book orders from Betterworld have arrive sooner than anticipated and in perfect condition. I greatly appreciate this company's effort to make the world better.
This service is very good. I like to buy here. Compré el libro desde EE. UU con destino a Chile y llegó en el plazo estimado. El libro está en perfectas condiciones, me gustó mucho comprar en Better World Books.
The book was full of highlights and ink underllines. It wasnt in perfect condition and it took 2 weeks to come so lmma have to give it a 1
I show photo of a page with underline. It is like this throughout most of the pages
Very good, I received my order as expected. I waited a bit longer to receive it though, I believe because it was shipped via Media mail.
Given the era of Ebooks I was searching for a particular old publication, other online bookstores were out of it or either wanted full price of the newer paperback version. Ran across this website per the 5 star reviews and got what I wanted for less and an excellent used condition. Book received sooner than expected estimate despite the disclaimer of possible delays due to COVID.
I received my book promptly, and it was very affordable. I will absolutely be ordering books through betterworldbooks.com again!
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 love this site. I do care about it - a great source of the book's world. The last order completely came as planned. Sometimes the books are missing during the shipping process however this company is always stands by its obligations.
A pleasure to buy from this website, great customer service. They donate a book to to a developing country for each sale.
I ordered 6 books using a bithday coupon I received from my sister.
The first delivery didn't arrive so I contacted the customer service a gor e refund.
I made a second order of the same books and they arrived on time and in good condition.
I ordered a book from betterworldbooks.com in February 2021. Delivery took quite some time, like 5 weeks, but now the book is in front of me, good quality as advertized and I am happy. Thank you!
My discovery of this company is marvelous, but discovering shipping is always free, all becomes magical.
I've bought books from BWB many times. Their range of stock is amazing. Pricing excellent and international shipping is free! The books have always arrived in good order. On one occasion time passed and the book (an obscure scientific journal in which I had a paper) had not arrived. I queried BWB and since more than 60 dsys had passed, without my asking, assumed the order was lost and refunded my credit card. Needless to say the book arrived several days later. Now that is service. For me BWB is my first choice for books.
The turn around time on receiving my book was VERY FAST! Book was in perfect condition and the even sent me a email about a month later making sure that I had received my book. I thought that was wonderful because you wait and wait and wait to receive things from other companies and sometimes they NEVER show. I will order again from this company!
Overall, I am pleased to find used books at a decent price including unique, out of print, and sometimes challenging to find ones. My only beef is that at least with 1-3 books I order in a group of them, a "very good" book is not what I called "very good" but "roughly used" with bent corners, folds, and creases on the front and back covers. It looks more like a book that has been at the bottom of a middle schooler's locker for half the year and found. I would like the wear of the books to be more accurate.
The books were both labeled the same but are not in the small category to me. The Missing Diary picture looks better than in real life including the small food stain on the bottom left at the binding. Just not quite sure how they can both be "used very good". You just have to know it can happen.
Received my order super fast and books in great condition! Have used them for years and will continue to do so!
Good! I am very very pleased with my order, it did arrive a bit later but covid is no joke so no hard feelings.
Package was delivered in a timely manner and packaged very well. I will definitely use Better World again and I've already started a wish list.
Answer: You can probably, maybe able to see them on line somewhere, on an American government site for universities as they are out of the University of Indiana... that's my guess anyway.
Answer: I have only ever had one order go astray and they refunded the purchase as soon as I reported it If you still haven't received your order you should notify them. They will probably refund your purchase as it may have been lost.
Answer: It's a non-profit run by volunteers at several sites around the U.S. Many of their books are from public libraries & in good condition often. They also get donations from the public & some of those are in only Fair or Good condition, though lots are in Very Good/Like New or New condition. My favorite thing about BWB is their free book donations to very poor countries! I've bought from BWB for over 4 years & have bought close to a 100 books. Great non-profit!
Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.
Claim your free account
Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.
Claim your free account