Dear Booksellers,

Since 1996, AbeBooks has been working hard to remain the leading online marketplace for new, used, rare, and out-of-print books. Our mission is to 'help people find and buy any book from any bookseller anywhere.' While AbeBooks has changed over the years, the initial concept remains the same – AbeBooks connects buyers and sellers. We remain committed to books and to serving the independent bookselling community and we would like to thank everyone who has supported AbeBooks over the years.

Our continued growth has been fuelled by an ever-expanding bookseller-supplied inventory, increasing numbers of buyers, and by the acquisition of other companies. Through all of this, the market has continually become more competitive and more costly. In the last year alone there has been a 13% decline in our purchasing power due to the effects of foreign currency changes; in the past five years, the decline has been 30%. As a result, we now find it necessary to introduce some changes to our fee structure.

Starting April 28 2008, we will implement several changes to our fees. Today, I would like to explain these pricing changes and the timing for each.

Subscription Fees: These will remain unchanged with the exception of a fee increase starting April 28th for sellers with more than 50,000 listings. Managing sellers with very large inventories requires significant time and resources – hence this change.

Commission Fees: Starting April 28th, our 8% commission fee will apply to the total item amount, consisting of the book price + shipping charges + extra charges. This change is for several reasons. Undoubtedly, this will help increase our revenues. These increases will, however, be offset to some extent by escalating infrastructure and online marketing costs. In addition, our customer feedback indicates buyers are unhappy with unusually high shipping costs. We want to avoid the negative buyer experience created by very low book prices that are subsidized by higher shipping charges.

Payment Service Fees: Starting April 28th, orders with a total item value greater than US $500, sold on AbeBooks.com and AbeBooks.co.uk, will be subject to a new, lower credit card processing fee. The first $500 of the order will be subject to current fee of 5.5%; the remaining portion of the order will be subject to a reduced fee of 3.5%. The payment service fee for orders on AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.de and IberLibro.com will remain 3.5% for the entire order.

For instance, if an order worth US $700 is sold through AbeBooks.com or AbeBooks.co.uk, AbeBooks will charge 5.5% on $500 and then 3.5% on $200. If an order worth US $700 is sold through AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.de or IberLibro.com, AbeBooks will charge 3.5% on the full amount.

The goal of this change is to encourage more high-value transactions through AbeBooks and to give high-value booksellers a reduction in fees.

Payment service fees for orders less than $500 in total value will remain unchanged. Booksellers will continue to have the option of offering alternative payment methods, such as check or money order, and no processing fee will apply to these transactions.

Credit Card Processing: In approximately three months (not April 28th) AbeBooks will begin offering a number of new payment card options to buyers, and we will be eliminating the option for all credit card purchases via Seller Direct. As part of the on-going requirements to remain Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliant (PCI DSS), we are now required to discontinue the transmission of all credit card information to our booksellers. We will provide a transition date as soon as the development work for this change has been completed.

We understand there is never a good time to make changes to fees. We also understand that listing with AbeBooks remains an important part of a bookseller's overall business. We hope that despite these changes, you will remain committed to listing your inventory with us. In return, we remain committed to improving the site and to helping you sell more books. Even with these changes to our fee structure, we believe our offer is the best in the industry, and we hope you agree.

In the last year, we introduced a number of key initiatives, including BookHints, Bookseller Ratings, coupons, and we moved our data storage center to a new, world-class facility. This year we've already launched the AbeBooks.it website, we've begun testing HomeBase 3.0 and our new Search Web Services, we've introduced a redesigned homepage, and we're addressing on-going requirements as part of PCI DSS. We will continue to allow sellers to offer flexible shipping rates, engage in direct communication with buyers, and have their store name and contact information clearly listed on the site.

Effective April 28, 2008 (PDT), the AbeBooks Agreement dated April 3, 2006 will be automatically amended by being replaced with a new AbeBooks Agreement dated April 28, 2008. Changes include revisions to the AbeBooks Program Guide and Fee Schedules. The new agreement can be viewed in detail in Bookseller Central. View the New Agreement.

It's not necessary to sign the new Agreement; it will automatically apply to all current AbeBooks booksellers who continue to list their books with AbeBooks after April 28, 2008.

We will address any questions in the next Bookseller Roundtable on Wednesday, April 9 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT (9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. GMT) (7:00am - 9:00am April 10, Sydney, AU), as well as through the 'Ask AbeBooks' folder in the Bookseller Forums. If you prefer, please refer to our FAQ page and feel free to contact our Customer Support Team. They can help explain how these changes will impact you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Hannes Blum | President and C.E.O.