What did I order?

July 20, 2005 8:33 AM

Is there a way to tell if one ordered a new or used book from an Amazon Marketplace Seller?

I ordered a book from an Amazon Marketplace Seller. I think the condition of the book I ordered was listed as "New." I'm not positive. The book I received was in good condition but did have writing on one page. Before I start complaining, I'd like to make sure that I had ordered a "New" book. Trouble is, I can't find the advertised condition listed anywhere on any of the emails I received relating to the order, nor anywhere in the record of the order on Amazon. Am I not seeing a button somewhere?

posted by DevilsAdvocate to shopping (15 comments total)

If you look at your Marketplace email receipt it should show the condition. Also, if your seller sent you a shipping notice it will appear in the email.
posted by bshort at 8:41 AM on July 20, 2005

Neither the Marketplace receipt from Amazon nor the seller's shipping notice lists the condition--both for this book and for another one I ordered from a different seller around the same time.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:57 AM on July 20, 2005

An AMP seller may list something as 'new' but as far as I know AMP itself has no definition of 'new.' So new can mean anything. In contrast a site like Abe has pretty particular definitions of 'good,' 'fine,' etc., which are also captured in the book description (see here). I have held Abebooks sellers accountable to their published book descriptions before.

It's possible your seller missed the writing on the one page. They could also have ignored it and hoped to get away with it. Whichever, you could contact the seller by e-mail, and mention the markings and say you want to send it back. However don't expect to be reimbursed either for your original s+h, or additional postage costs. If they balk, you could say you'll post a bad review to their feedback page.

It's a lot of hassle for one marked-up page though. So you could also ignore it and get used to the idea you may have been conned. I'm quite used to this feeling. FWIW I have found Amazon market place sellers to be a pretty flaky bunch; I get the impression they are selling their yard sale finds. My main problem is that they link to items in the Amazon catalogue, but then send you things that are similar but in a different, and often poorer/cheaper, edition (e.g. I have received 1 CD sets in place of a later expanded 2 CD set, or original versions instead of remixed/remastered re-released albums, books with cracked spines/underlining, etc.). I have had offers to refund the purchase price but no offers to refund postage either to me or to send the thing back. I have also had problems getting any of them to answer an e-mail. A snarky post to their seller feedback usually elicits a quick response though.

I only use AMP as a last resort at the moment. It's a pity, because Amazon itself works well. Abe is much better, as the members are usually booksellers listing their inventory, and used book stores will often not buy marked-up copies anyway.
posted by carter at 9:17 AM on July 20, 2005

Carter's experience is the exact opposite of mine - after 30+ AMP orders I have yet to be dissatisfied. On the other hand, I am buying the cheapest one listed and don't care if it's marked up or has an iffy spine so long as it's readable and holds together.
posted by phearlez at 9:47 AM on July 20, 2005

I had a problem with an Amazon Marketplace order a while ago and needed to find out what condition the item I ordered was advetised as. I emailed Amazon customer service to ask how to verify what it was and they sent this:

If you would like to view the original details of your Amazon Marketplace purchase, you may do so online. Please follow the steps below to locate this information.

1. Click the Your Account link in the upper right-hand corner of our web site (http://www.amazon.com/youraccount).
2. Click "Your Auctions & zShops account" in the right-hand margin.
3. Click on "Amazon Payments: View all recent purchases."
4. After logging in, enter the appropriate search dates to find the order you want.

The Listing ID column is the fourth column on the search results page. Click on the listing ID associated with your order, and the link will take you to the item's detail page. This page exists on our zShops platform and includes condition information and any description appearing with the listing when you made your purchase.
posted by schnee at 10:00 AM on July 20, 2005 [2 favorites]

Yes I am picky ;)
posted by carter at 10:12 AM on July 20, 2005

Carter -
Amazon does have a specific definition of "new." They have condition guidelines in the selling section, although the guidelines don't seem to be easily accessible if you are buyer and not a seller.

A book with writing on even one page would not qualify as "new," "like new," or even "very good."
posted by clarissajoy at 11:18 AM on July 20, 2005

If this is a low volume AMP seller (as I am), you can get a lot with a threat of bad feedback. In this instance I would probably return your money AND let you keep the book.
posted by ryanissuper at 11:21 AM on July 20, 2005

I've only had two huge problems with an AMP order, and that was a book where half the pages were blank and the other where pages were noticeably cut wrong. A lot of the time, people are selling remaindered books without looking in them.
posted by drezdn at 11:39 AM on July 20, 2005

Drezdn, a defective book should not be sold as a remainder, and the bookseller should replace it or refund the $.
posted by theora55 at 12:03 PM on July 20, 2005

Can a buyer actually tell the difference between New, Like New, and Very Good? (Very Good is read while Like New is unread but not actually brand New.)

I don't think so, so if I was a seller I would probably list everything as New, and hope I didn't miss any handwritten notes.
posted by smackfu at 12:04 PM on July 20, 2005

I ordered a CD from an AMP about two months ago. It was listed as NEW. Not "Like New", just plain old new.

I guess it was new, if new CDs are now being sold without any plastic shrink wrap on them. The seller had obviously opened it and had burned themselves a copy before they sent it to me. I thought to complain, and then realized that I was going to do the exact same thing - burn it and then take it to the used music shop down the street, to trade it in on something else. Plus it was only 4.50 "new", so it didn't seem worth my time to argue. But new is different things to different people, apparently.
posted by iconomy at 12:25 PM on July 20, 2005

Thanks, schnee, that was exactly what I was looking for, and hardly obvious from Amazon's web pages.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:13 PM on July 20, 2005

Also thanks for the info re. condition, clarrisajoy.
posted by carter at 2:06 PM on July 20, 2005

Theora55, the seller should be willing to refund the money, but it's easy for a book like that to slip by if no one has actually opened it up.
posted by drezdn at 11:12 AM on July 21, 2005