At the request of many of our booksellers, we implemented Offset Billing. Offset Billing works so that what you owe AbeBooks is subtracted from the payments owed to you by AbeBooks. The remaining balance will be paid to you if it is a credit and if it is a debit balance, you will be billed that amount.
For example:
You start December with a zero balance. The first week you sell a book priced at USD 10.00 with applied shipping of USD 3.50 . The commission fee for the order is USD 0.50 and because AbeBooks processed the credit card payment on your behalf, a processing fee of USD 0.74 is also applied. The total payable to you for your order is USD 13.50 (credit) while the total charges to you are USD 1.24 (debit). Your new account balance is USD -12.26 (credit) payable to you. So for the first week of December, you would receive a payment of USD 12.26.
Another example:
Accounts are settled each week which means, if AbeBooks owes you money, you will be paid on a weekly basis. Each Friday morning, accounts will be settled, creating a payment record. An email is sent to you as advanced notice of your payment. Previously, we did not send out an email until the payment had been issued. Under the new Billing and Payment System, you will be notified of the payment approximately two weeks before you will see the deposit in your account. (The date of actual receipt depends upon your bank.) Please note: AbeBooks has not delayed our payments to you – we are informing you earlier of pending payments. Click to view a comparison of our "old” payment schedule and the “new” payment schedule.
For example:
With the new billing and payment system, you will receive an email each Friday, informing you of your upcoming payment for the present week’s total due. (The orders will no longer have to be in “shipped” status for up to 14 days.) Each Friday, a payment file is created and forwarded to the banks. After a short processing delay, the payment is deposited to the individual booksellers’ bank accounts. (We ask that you wait approximately 2 weeks for this process to complete.)
An example of the new payment schedule:
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Orders in “Shipped” status: Sunday 1 – Thursday 5
The first Friday in the month. Offset billing applied and payment total calculated. Email of payment amount sent. Friday 6
Funds released by your bank – Friday 13
Payment sent via EFT. Processing period before deposit finalized. Approximately, Saturday 7 – Thursday 19. (Varies depending on your financial institution.)
Friday
20: Maximum date of deposit to your bank account
View Comparison of the “old” payment schedule and the “new” schedule.
The notification of your pending payment sent on Fridays looks like this:
If a payment would be below USD 1.00, GBP 1.00 or EUR 1.00, payment will not be issued. Rather this amount will be carried forward in your balance.
If you reside in an area where AbeBooks cannot forward payment by means of Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT), a check will be sent to you once a month, on the first Friday of each calendar month.
EFT is available for booksellers with bank accounts in the following countries:
Under the AbeBooks North American Agreement
Canada
The United States
Australia
New Zealand
Under the AbeBooks European Agreement
Germany
France
Austria
Belgium
Spain
The Netherlands
The United Kingdom
Ireland
Adding or Updating Bank Account Information
If you receive payments from AbeBooks in a currency other than USD, GBP or EUR, payment to you will be converted at the time the payment file is created. Payment will not be converted at the time the order is placed, rather the total due to you will be converted in one transaction.
The conversion rate used will be the currency conversion rate on the day the payment file is created – the Friday of the payment.
For example, if a buyer purchases a book in USD from a seller who uploads listing prices in CAD and is paid in CAD, the sale will not be converted from USD to CAD until the day the payment is forwarded to the bookseller. If the buyer made the purchase on a Monday, the sales record would be stored in USD amounts until Friday when the payment file is created.
