Abebooks is an online network of independent Booksellers. Abebooks does not warehouse book inventory, but rather facilitates the shipment of books directly from the Bookseller to you, the book buyer.

Once you have done a search and found a book you are interested in, click the [Add to Basket] button from the "Search Results" page.

The next page, "Shopping Basket", will display information for all of the books you have added to your basket, including details on:

• Author
• Title
• Bookseller
• Price

You have several options:

a) Purchase the entire contents of your basket using the [Checkout Now] button
b) Return to your recent search results by clicking on the [Return to Search Results] button
c) Start a new search by clicking on the [New Search] button
d) Remove items from the basket by clicking on the [Remove] button

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Once you have added all the books that you want to buy into your Shopping Basket, you can Checkout your Shopping Basket.

1) Click on the [Checkout Now] button. You will be taken to the Checkout page

2) If you have not yet signed on to your book buyer account, you will be prompted for your e-mail address and password and then click [Sign On]. You will be taken to the Shipping Options page

Note: If you do not have an account, you can create one using the [Create Account] button.

3) Select the country to which you want to ship from the first drop-down menu

4) Choose your preferred shipping speed from the available options

5) Click the [Continue] button. You will be taken to the Shipping Information page

6) Complete the Shipping Information form

Note: You may save this information for future purchases by checking [Save as default shipping address] option at the bottom of the page

7) Click the [Proceed with Checkout] button located on the lower-right side of the page. You will be taken to the "Credit Card Information" page

8) Select a stored credit card, enter your credit card information, or select another available purchase option.

Note: More credit card and payment information is located in the Methods of Payment topic.

9) Click the [Complete Purchase] button to finalize your order or you may cancel the order by clicking on the [Cancel Purchase] button

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All books on our Web sites are available for purchase using either Visa or MasterCard. In addition to Visa and MasterCard, each individual Bookseller lists their accepted methods of payment. Once you have found the book you were searching for you can view the Bookseller's accepted payment methods by clicking on the [Order Options] button on the Search Results page or beneath the book information on the Ordering Information page.

Once you have decided to complete your purchase, please proceed through the Checkout and fill in your shipping information, as described in How to Checkout your Shopping Basket.

1) Select your preferred method of payment by clicking on the corresponding radio button

Note: If you have chosen to pay by credit card, you will be asked to provide your card details on our secure server. If you have previously saved a credit card in our database, this card will be listed automatically as a payment option.

2) Click the [Proceed with Checkout] button. You will have the opportunity to look over your purchase details

3) Once you are satisfied, confirm your order by clicking the [Place your Order] button

Your order has been created. If you have chosen a form of payment other than credit card, the Bookseller(s) will contact you directly to arrange payment.

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Credit card purchases with a value (total book price(s) + shipping) greater than $1000US or equivalent in your local currency may be verified by Abebooks BEFORE your order is sent to the Bookseller. This is an added security measure to help protect your credit card information.

Once the credit card information has been verified, you will receive an e-mail stating that verification is complete and that the order has been forwarded to the Bookseller to confirm availability of the book(s).

Please note: if orders were sent to more than one Bookseller, each Bookseller will contact you individually to confirm availability and payment details.

If the credit card verification fails, you will also be notified by e-mail.

Verification Status when Tracking Orders

You can also find out the status of your credit card verification on the Track Your Purchases page, accessed from Your Account menu. The status for orders where the credit card is being verified will be listed as 'Awaiting Verification.'

Once the credit card information has been verified and the order has been sent to the Bookseller, the status is changed to 'Ordered.'

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The Track Your Purchases feature is used to view information about your book orders, including status details and the ability to cancel or return an order. The Track Your Purchases page is accessed from your Your Account.

To view the Track Your Purchases page, ensure that you have signed to the Abebooks Web site.

1) Sign on with your e-mail address and your password at the Sign-On page. This will take you to Your Account

2) Click on [Your Purchases] in the Members Menu.

3) Click on [Track Your Purchases]. This will take you to the Track Your Purchases page

Track Your Purchases Page

Your most recent orders will be displayed automatically. To search for other orders or to modify the way we display your orders, follow these steps:

To view a specific order:

1) Enter the Abebooks order number in the "Sales Order Number" box near the top of the page

2) Select the number of orders to display on a page using the "Orders per page" drop-down box

3) Select the order results as Ascending or Descending

4) Click the [List Orders] button

Purchases

You will see the following columns of information for each order:

• Abebooks PO# - our purchase order number
• Date Ordered - date you placed the order
• Status - present status of your order.
• Author
• Title
• Amount - price of the book plus shipping charge
• Extra Charges - indicates if the Bookseller has specified any additional charges and a link to more details of the Extra Charges
• Details - a link to the Item Details page for each book in your order

If the order you are looking for is not displayed on the page, click the "More Orders" button at the bottom of the page.

Order Status

• Ordered - an e-mail request has been sent to the Bookseller on your behalf to order the book
• Availability Confirmed - the bookseller has confirmed your order and will ship it upon processing or receipt of payment. If payment details need to be arranged, the bookseller will contact you
• Shipped - the book has been shipped to you
• Cancelled - you or the bookseller has cancelled the order
• Item Unavailable - the book was no longer available when the Bookseller received your order
• Awaiting Verification - credit card is being verified

Item Details

The Item Details page displays specific information about each book in an order. There is one Item Details page for each book in an order. You also have access to tools for cancelling your order, sending a question to the Bookseller or requesting a refund.

To Cancel an Order
If the order status is listed as 'Ordered', you can choose to cancel your order. Click the "Item Details" link.

1) Click the [Cancel Order] button at the bottom of the Item Details page.

2) Click in the checkbox beside the book and then click the [Confirm] button.

If you have multiple books in a single order, and you wish to cancel all books in the order, you will have to go the Item Detail page for each book and perform the cancel procedure for each item.

To Return a Book
If the order status is listed as 'Shipped' or 'Availability Confirmed', you can request a refund.

1) Click on [Request to Return Book] button at the bottom of the Item Details page

2) Pick one of the three "Reasons for Return"

3) Click the [Request to Return Book] button at the bottom of the Return page to initiate the return process

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When an order is processed, the Bookseller can request that Extra Charges be added to the total cost. Extra charges might be requested to cover additional shipping costs where a book is very heavy or oversized, applicable taxes or insuring a valuable book.

Should a Bookseller enter a request for Extra Charges you will be notified by e-mail. This e-mail will include a link to our online facility, where you will accept or reject the charges. Your credit card will not be charged until you accept or reject the extra charges.

In addition to using the link in your e-mail notification, you can review and update requests for Extra Charges by signing on to your account and clicking [Your Orders], then [Track Your Purchases]. Once you have located the order in question:

1) Click on the link below the word 'Yes' in the Extra Charge column, to view the details of the charge.

The breakdown of the Extra Charge for each book in the order will be listed on a new page.

2) For each Extra Charge listing, click on the 'Accept' or 'Reject' radio button

3) Click on the [Update Order] button once you have accepted or rejected all Extra Charges. Details of the entire order will be displayed and the total charge will have been adjusted accordingly

If you choose to reject any of the Extra Charges, the Bookseller will have the option to ship you the book at the original shipping charge or cancel that item on the order. We will notify you by e-mail once the order has been processed.

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You can choose to store the information for one or more credit cards securely with your account profile. Storing your credit card information makes your Checkout process quicker.

To view the Track Your Purchases page, ensure that you have signed to the Abebooks Web site.

1) Sign on with your e-mail address and password at the Sign On page. This will take you to the Your Account page

2) Click on [Your Account]. This will take you to the Your Account Information page

3) Click on [Update your Credit Card Information]. This will take you to the Credit Card Information page

Credit card information page

The Credit Card Information page displays the details of the credit cards that you have stored in your profile. This includes:

• Cardholder Name - the name printed on the credit card
  
  
• Expiry Date - the expiry date printed on the credit card
  
  
• Card Type - the type of credit card, Visa, MasterCard etc.
  
  
• Nickname - a name you can assign to your credit card to help distinguish or differentiate it from your other credit cards; e.g. "My Visa"
  

For your security, the credit card number is not displayed on this page.

Add a Credit Card

You can add a new credit card to your profile.

1) Click the [Add a New Card] button. This will take you to the Add Credit Card page

2) Enter a Credit Card Number - type your credit card number without spaces or dashes

3) Enter an Expiry Date - select your card expiry date (month and year) from the drop-down boxes

4) Card Type - select your credit card type from the drop-down box

5) Cardholder Name - type your name as it is printed on the credit card

6) Nickname (optional) - type any name (alias) you want to use for this card

If you are using more than one credit card, you can differentiate them using easily remembered "nicknames" or aliases (e.g. "Corporate card" or "Personal card"). That nickname is then used during the Checkout phase help identify your cards.

7) Click the [Save this Card] button to store the card information in your profile

You will return to the Credit Card Information page and will see the new card has been added to the list.

Edit credit card information

You can choose to modify the information for any credit card stored in your profile.

1) Click the [Edit] button for the credit card you want to modify. This will take you to the Edit Credit Card page

2) Type the last four digits of the credit card. This is done to verify you are the cardholder

3) Click [Edit Credit Card Information]. This will take you to the second Edit Credit Card page

4) Modify the expiry date, card type, name or nickname as required

5) Click the [Save Changes] button to store the updated card information in the profile

Note: you cannot modify the credit card number. To change the card number you must use the Add a New Card function and delete the credit card profile with the old number.

Delete credit card information

You can choose to delete any credit card stored in your profile.

1) Click the [Delete] button for the credit card you want to remove. This will take you to the Delete Credit Card page

2) Review the information on the page to ensure that this is the card you want to delete

3) Click the [Delete] button to permanently delete your card from the profile

4) If you decide that you do not want to delete the card after all, please click the [Cancel] button

The next screen will confirm your action and provide links to either add a new credit card or return to your credit card list.

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Anytime you would like to update the information contained in your account such as your "ship to" address, e-mail address, currency you wish to view listing in, or credit card details, you can:

1) Sign on with your e-mail address and your password. This should take you to the "Your Account" page

2) Click on [Your Account Information]. This should take you to the "Your Account Information" page

3) Click on [Update Account Information]. This should take you to the "Update Your Account" page

Under "Shipping Information", you can verify the information that was sent to us and you can change it if need be.

Under "Billing Information", you can use the [Manage My Cards] button to go to the "Credit Card Information" page to update or delete Credit card information.

Under "Additional Information", you can change the currency in which book listings appear.

To finalize any of your changes in any of the three sections on this page, click [Update Details].

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We respect your privacy! Read our privacy policy here.

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The Currency Conversion table will show a book's price in a number of different currencies based on the current exchange rate. To view the price of an item in the currency of your choice:

1) Search for any book in which you are interested. This will take you to the "Search Results" page

2) Click on the [Convert Currency] link beside each book listing's price on the "Search Results" page or "Book Details" page. This will take you to the "Currency Exchange Rates" page

3) Choose a currency type from the drop-down menu

4) Enter the amount to be converted in the price field. Click on the [Calculate] button

All currencies listed in the table will be updated to display the converted values.

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To find out more about a book prior to purchase, you can use our Ask Bookseller a Question tool to send the Bookseller your inquiry directly.

1) Click on the [Ask Bookseller a Question] link found at the bottom of each book description on the "Search Results" page or "Ordering Information" page

2) Type the text of your inquiry

Your question will be sent to the Bookseller, and you will also receive an e-mail copy of your question. The Bookseller will be able to respond to your question via e-mail.

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If you would like to contact the Bookseller directly, you will find the contact information they have provided us by clicking on the [Bookstore Name] link.

Please note that we can only provide the details Booksellers have provided us with, so if not all the information such as phone number, fax number or address is present, this means the Bookseller has either not provided that information or requested that the information not be made public. Some Booksellers may choose to not have all their contact information be public as they may be an online Bookseller only (i.e. not have a brick and mortar shop).

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When you order a book from Abebooks, it is shipped directly from the Bookseller. Depending on the geographic location of the Bookseller the shipping time and price may vary. For example, a book ordered from a Bookseller in the USA and you are located in the USA, it will cost less money and take less time to be delivered than a book ordered from England. The Bookseller is responsible for packaging and shipping the book to you.

The rates you see on the Shipping page when you Check Out your Shopping Basket are based on the country you entered in the shipping address. For most orders, you will be able to select different shipping speeds - either a priority or economy shipping option. You can choose your desired shipping speed based on your budget and need for the book.

The shipping rates you see when you order a book are based on an average book weight of 1kg or 2.2lbs. If you are buying a heavy book or if you request a method of shipping not offered by the Bookseller, Extra Charges may be added to the total cost of the order to cover the additional cost of shipping. See Extra Charges for more information.

When two or more books are ordered from the same Bookseller, you will be charged a first book shipping rate on the first book and a extra book rate on the second book. When two or more books are ordered from different Booksellers, the first book rate would apply to each book.

Please note: Shipping times cannot be guaranteed. They are only estimates based on the carriers' delivery times, and do not include Customs processing or domestic duties or tax. If your order will pass through Customs, please expect a delay.

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You may request to cancel a book order or return a book within 14 days of receipt of the book. A book may be returned for one of the following reasons:

Item damaged:
The item was damaged during shipping.

Item not as described:
The condition of the book does not match the description on Abebooks.

Incorrect item delivered:
The title, cover or edition of the book is different than the title on the order.

Item not received:
The estimated delivery date has passed and the book has still not arrived.

To cancel a book order or return a book, you need to view the Track your Orders page.

To Cancel an Order

If the order status is listed as 'Ordered', you can choose to cancel your order. Click the "Item Details" link.

1) Click the [Cancel Order] button at the bottom of the Item Details page.

2) Click in the checkbox beside the book and then click the [Confirm] button.

If you have multiple books in a single order, and you wish to cancel all books in the order, you will have to go the Item Detail page for each book and perform the cancel procedure for each item.

To Return a Book

If the order status is listed as 'Shipped' or 'Availability Confirmed', you can request a refund.

1) Click on [Request to Return Book] button at the bottom of the Item Details page

2) Pick one of the three "Reasons for Return"

3) Click the [Request to Return Book] button at the bottom of the Return page to initiate the return process

An e-mail notification will be sent to the bookseller for approval of the return request. Once approved, you will be notified with instructions on how to send the book back to the bookseller.

There are many possibilities as to why the bookseller was unable to provide the book.

The book may have been previously sold and not yet removed from our database, either because the bookseller has not sent the updated information to us or they have sent the information but the file has not yet been processed.

Many of our booksellers have brick and mortar stores so it's quite possible the book sold to a walk-in customer just moments before you placed your online order, or perhaps it was misplaced but the bookseller did not realize it was missing until they tried to locate it.

The bookseller may have had the book on hold at their business. This is a status not presently supported by Abebooks, so the book would have remained available online.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope you will find the book from another bookseller on Abebooks. If another copy is not available, you can leave a "Want" for the book and we will automatically notify you when a copy is added to our system.

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The list of purchases shows the status for each of the books you ordered. The status is an approximation of the status where the book is, but we at Abebooks do not know its location. To get exact details on the books status please contact the Bookseller directly.

To Ask the Bookseller a Question about your order:

1) Locate the book order in question and click [Ordering Information]

2) Click [Ask Bookseller a Question]

3) On the Book Inquiry page, enter the following:

• Your e-mail address in the form text box
• The subject of the e-mail
• Your question to the seller

4) Click the [Inquire About This Book] button

An e-mail is sent to the Bookseller on your behalf, and a copy is saved on your account.

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