To ensure that your transition into Abebooks Payment Services in April runs smoothly, we have compiled some useful tips for you to follow.

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Order Processing
  • All orders must be processed online within 4 days to ensure they don't expire. Just sign on to your Abebooks account and click the [Process Your Orders] link in the Quicklinks menu. Click [Shipped] if you have the book available, and if the credit card is processed successfully, you can print off the shipping manifest from the next screen. [Read full instructions.]
  • If you need to request extra charges to cover insurance, taxes, or postage for a heavy book, just click [Request Extra Charges] instead of [Shipped]. We'll send an e-mail to the buyer asking them to come online and confirm the charges to their credit card. You can follow up with a personal e-mail as well if you'd like.
  • If the buyer's credit card is declined, you'll be notified when you process the order. We send the buyer a note to let them know, and ask them to come online and update their credit card details. Often, there's just a typo in their number, or the card has recently expired. You can follow up with a personal e-mail to let them know that the book is still online for them to purchase, too.
  • As soon as you mark a book as "Shipped," you can send out the parcel. No more waiting for payments to go through!
  • Make sure to enter your tracking information onto the website to prevent returns for the reason "Item Did Not Arrive."
Payments
  • Abebooks forwards payments to you by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for your sales once a week. Remember that although it will take 2 weeks for your first payment to go through, all subsequent payments will be made every week. To avoid payment delays, make sure to update your banking details online.
  • We use offset billing to subtract your fees and subscription from your sales. As long as your sales are more than your fees, we never need to charge your credit card. We recommend that all of our booksellers add a credit card to their account set to "recurring" status so that your account is always up to date, even when you're on vacation.
  • We send payment notification e-mails every Friday, and a statement on the first Friday of each month. You can also review your account details online. [View the payment schedule.] [Learn more about the online reports.]
Returns
  • If you're not familiar with them already, be sure to review the Returns section of the Bookseller Policy, and the Returns Policy for buyers.
  • If you use tracking information, make sure to enter it online soon after you ship the book. If a book hasn't arrived 15 days after the estimated delivery date, the buyer's return will complete if there's no tracking online.
  • When a buyer ships a book back to you, we allow 28 days for domestic orders to be returned to you. If you still haven't received the book after 21 days, notify us of the missing shipment and we'll ask the buyer for tracking information. If they can't provide it, the return is cancelled.
  • If a buyer initiates a return for the reason "Item not as described," you're required to accept it; however, if you disagree with the reason, you don't have to refund the return shipping costs.
  • You aren't required to accept returns for the reason "Buyer changed mind," but we recommend that you do in the interest of good customer service.
Customer Contact
  • When you receive an order notification from us, the buyer's contact information is included on the order processing page. If you want to send your own e-mails in addition to the automated ones we send throughout the order process, please do so! Buyers appreciate the extra service.
  • Make sure that your e-mail program isn't filtering e-mail from buyers. The Bookseller Policy requires buyers receive responses to their questions within 2 days. If you think you might be missing e-mails, just check the [Your E-mail] section of the Members Menu.