8. Fees, Charges, Payments

a. Subscription Charges
AbeBooks charges a subscription fee for listing books. Subscription fees are billed in advance and are based upon the book count for the previous month. For example, statements received in September cover the period between September 1st and September 30th for subscription fees, which are calculated from the average number of books listed in August.

Bookseller accounts in vacation status are subject to the minimum monthly fee for 0 to 500 books. If an account is in vacation status for less than a month, the book count is averaged for the entire month and booksellers who normally list more than 500 books will see a reduction in their fees for the following month.

New booksellers are charged subscription fees from the moment their application is processed, even if they do not list books immediately. New booksellers are encouraged to have their inventory ready for upload so as to avoid being charged for 0 books online.

b. Commission and Payment Service Fee
AbeBooks collects commission and payment service fee. These are applied to bookseller accounts when an order is processed.

  i.  Commissions
     

All sales completed through the AbeBooks shopping basket are subject to an 8% commission. The commission is charged on the total item amount, consisting of the list price of the book plus shipping and any extra charges. There is a minimum commission fee of US $0.50 per item and a maximum commission fee of US $40.00 per item.

For example: if a bookseller receives an order for one book listed at US $10.00 plus US $3.00 shipping, there is an 8% commission fee calculated on US $13.00 for the one book. If a bookseller receives an order for three books, (all from the same buyer), the 8% commission fee, (or the minimum of US $0.50), is applied to the total item amount of each item in the order.
       
  ii.   Payment Service Fees
     

All books offered for sale on AbeBooks are available for purchase by Visa and MasterCard, and AbeBooks accepts these payments and forwards them to the bookseller. There is a 5.5% payment service fee calculated based on the list price plus shipping for orders placed on AbeBooks.com and AbeBooks.co.uk. The fee is 3.5% for orders placed on AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.fr, and Iberlibro.com The minimum payment service fee is based on the buyer's currency and is applied to each order as follows: US$ Purchase: US $0.50; € Purchase: US $0.90; £ Purchase: US $0.90 per order.

For example: if a bookseller receives an order on Abebooks.com for one book, there is a 5.5% payment service fee calculated (or the US $0.50 minimum) on the one book plus shipping. If a bookseller receives an order for three books (all from the same buyer), the 5.5% payment service fee (or the US $0.50 minimum) is applied to the total of the whole order, shipping included.
       
  iii.   Refund of Commission or Payment Service Fees
      Commission and Payment Service Fees are only charged when an order is processed. Fees are refunded for any order that does not result in a sale. In order for the fees to be refunded, booksellers are required to initiate a refund through the AbeBooks system, using the "Incomplete Sale" return status.


c. Statements and Acceptable Payment Methods
Monthly statements are generated on the first Friday of each month, and payment of the full account balance is due upon receipt. Payment can be made with Visa or MasterCard using the [Add a credit card payment] link on the Members Menu. See our online help for more information on Payment options.

Please note NSF Cheques and declined credit cards are subject to a US$25 charge. AbeBooks reserves the right to require an alternate payment method other than personal cheque for payment of all outstanding balances.

d. Late Payments
Any account in arrears is subject to offset billing and subsequent closure for overdue balance. Offset billing allows AbeBooks to withhold any bookseller payments for AbeBooks or Bookseller Program orders and apply the payment against the outstanding account balance. AbeBooks reserves the right to close accounts that are in arrears.