Better World Books

Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than two million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.

We were founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame who started selling textbooks online to earn some money, and ended up forming a pioneering social enterprise — a business with a mission to promote literacy.

We’re not a traditional company with an add-on “cause” component. Social and environmental responsibility at the core of our business. You could say it's in our DNA.

We’re breaking new ground in online bookselling. We believe that education and access to books are basic human rights. That's why books sold on BetterWorld.com help fund high-impact literacy projects in the United States and around the world.

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Features:

Pays via PayPal
Pays via Check
Vendor Pays Shipping
Provides Shipping Label

Website:
http://www.betterworld.com/buyback.aspx

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Rating	Date	Comments
	Jun 2010	I sell to about half of the preferred vendors on the bookscouter site and was hesitant to give better world a try because of a number of bad things I've heard and read about them. I took a chance and sent them two shipments, but now wish I hadn't. Unlike every other site I deal with, there is no place on their site to check the status of my buyback. If the others can do this, why can't they ? It's been over three weeks and no word from them. Many of the other sites pay in less than one week. My advice - go with another company - its not worth the frustration.
	Jun 2010	Great website! They paid exactly what was quoted and I received my check in short amount of time. I would definately use them again!
	Feb 2010	I had a good experience with BetterWorldBooks. They honored their quoted price and paid within two weeks -- not as fast as some other textbook buyback companies, but certainly a reasonable time frame. I'd do business with them again.
	Feb 2010	I only have two words to describe this company: unproffesional and ridiculous. Better World Books has got to be one of the WORST websites I have dealt with out of the several I have used in the past month. I couldn't find any reviews about them when I first needed to sell books back online. I didn't know about bookscouter at the time, and I truly regret sending them anything. I mailed them three books, all in separate packaging (bubble mailers) and I even donated a couple I couldn't do anything with. All three were textbooks as well as my donation pile. I waited three weeks after mailing via media mail, but started to grow concerned when I mailed books to other companies way later and they were already received, yet I never heard a word from Better World Books. I broke down and e-mailed the costumer support, because I felt it was ridiculous. I got an answer to my e-mail within two hours, which was really fast. The man told me they made a mistake and forgot to inform me. The important thing he claimed was that they received all of my orders on the 13th of this month. So, basically they sat on it for two extra weeks without saying squat. I was less than impressed! They are claiming they received the books, but if I hadn't e-mailed them and didn't keep the contract ID #s they could've just claimed they never got them. The man told me they will pay me ASAP through their next paypal mass payout transaction. I was happy to at least hear that I will get paid. Now I am once again pissed off, because that was 6, yes, 6 days ago! I never received ANYTHING from this company payment wise. It says on their website payment is made within 3-5 days of receipt. Technically, I have been waiting 3 weeks for payment and NOTHING. A thank you would have also been nice for my donations. I am below ground level on impressed, because I am anything, but impressed. I think this company should NOT be allowed to run a business, especially in this manner. All other companies I have dealt with, even though they had ridiculous condition guidelines, at least I got paid. Safe to say, if I ever do get paid, I will NOT EVER use Better World Books again.
	Feb 2010	I received my quote from them and sent out my books (including the required packing and shipping labels), only to receive a very beaten and battered package containing all of my books returned to be two weeks later. There was no explanation, no note. And when I called their customer service to find out why they did not accept the books, so that I would know if I should bother trying to sell them to another company, I basically was told "We don't know, it happens"
	Oct 2009	This is a good company. I sold them a few books that were not worth that much, yet they processed and mailed me my check within a week.
	Jun 2009	At first I was relectant because of the feedback, but decided to take a chance because they offer me the best price buyback than any other company. Because I am very patient, I gave them a little extra time regarding the media mail. I contacted them about it, they responding quickly and explained what was happening. As a result, I received a confirmation of the acceptance in a reasonable time thereafter and another when my money was processed. I am glad that it turned about to be a nice experience overall and will use them again.
	May 2009	This company completely ripped me off. Said they did not receive my books (over 150.00 worth) and that I should have paid for insurance. This option of insurance is only mentioned in the FAQ section of the website. Who would know as they advertise they pay for shipping?? Do NOT use if you intend to receive funds for your books.
	Apr 2009	Better World Books is absolute Garbage. I love the counter on their homepage that shows how many books they've saved from landfills... it seems to me that they save a few too many. A few years back I ordered an old out of print book from them and it arrived with the spine taped up, no big deal, it's pretty old and I got it fairly cheap compared to some other places so I didn't think anything of it. Well after reading to page 200 I discovered that the book went from page 200 to page 1123... that's right, 923 pages GONE. By the time I'd read that far and discovered I'd only received 392 pages of a 1315 page book I was about 3 days past the limit for their 30 day return policy but I decided to contact them anyways. You'd think a bookstore with such noble ideals and whatnot would show a bit of compassion and want to take care of such a grievous mistake on their part, but you'd be wrong, I was very polite in my email but the moment they discovered I was past my 30 day return period they simply stopped responding. Maybe I'm a moron for not checking for missing pages in the first place but for Better World Books to ship me only 29% of the book I bought from them and then refuse to respond to my emails (I was never once rude or demanding in any way with them, in fact quite the contrary) is completely unacceptable service to me and I'll never do business with Better World Books again no matter how their price compares to the competition.
	Mar 2009	I wish other sites were this good. They have US Mail labels yet they pay really quick and no ding from paypal and they pay more when you use paypal. I wish they took more books and I would sell to them exclusively
	Mar 2009	WOW Can you say FAST! I sent my books out, blinked and I had my payment in my hands. WOW! You can also donate books instead of driving to a good will store who no longer takes books or recycle them in the trash bin.. Now that is a BETTER WORLD for me!
	Dec 2008	I'm glad to give this site their first review since it was also the first time I was using it. The transaction was painless and successful. I sent my book on November 29 and got my Paypal payment on December 12. The only thing that might concern others is that they send no email whatsoever. All I received was an email from Paypal letting me know my account has been credited. I believe I will do business with them again in the future. Thanks!