<p>My school just released the textbooks required for the summer courses beginning this next week. I decided to order from Amazon.com for the first time and I'm sort of concerned. I absolutely have to have 1 textbook by June 5, so I chose the expedited shipping (I didn't see the 1 day option they mentioned), yet my estimated date I should expect them is June 3-10. </p>
<p>What should I do? This is my first experience so I'm sort of lost. Should I email the sender? Would I be able to buy it at my school bookstore and return it the next day without penalty if I don't recieve my book in time?</p>
<p>Check with your school. The schools I know of the policy is that you can return the books during the add/drop period. In the regular semester this would be 2 weeks at these schools, don’t know about summer sessions. I bought my Spanish book and CDs, and Math book through Amazon saving almost $200 compared to the school bookstore.</p>
<p>hopefully you made sure that your seller had good ratings. i used amazon for the 1st time recently and bought from a seller w/super good ratings. i ordered it around 1pm and it apparently shipped around 3pm because i got the package the next morning. of course, that was good timing on my part and excellent service on their part… hopefully you get the same!</p>
<p>I’ve had really good experiences with Amazon. Buy from top-rated sellers, read their comments, choose a more expensive book if you have to. I buy “good” condition or higher and nearly always get “like new.” Most orders arrive before Amazon’s listed delivery window. For some books you can compare the required edition to the one before it with the table of contents. I had a book this quarter that, page for page, was IDENTICAL but $115 cheaper. Usually, you can sell back to your school’s bookstore and make money off of Amazon books or at least break even.</p>
<p>As for needing your books now, buy them at the school’s bookstore and return them when your Amazon order arrives. This way, if the orders get delayed or aren’t shipped or something is terribly wrong with the book you ordered, you have a fallback. Search using ISBN numbers if you can. Buying at off-peak times (i.e. NOT September) usually yields the best deals. Honestly, I’ve had amazing luck with Amazon and highly recommend shopping for textbooks this way.</p>
<p>I buy most of my books through Amazon and have not had any problems. That being said, if I needed something in a few days I would NOT have used Amazon marketplace. Expedited just means that they will mail the package within 3 days but it doesn’t means they will use a faster shipping method. </p>
<p>In the future check out ebay for international editions. They have the same content but are half the cost. You can also check the Amazon stores for different countries. Sometimes the exact same book in new condition directly from Amazon is half the price in Canada or elsewhere.</p>
<p>I got the book I was worried about within 3 days of ordering it. Now my problem is that one of the people I bought my book from is “really back up” and shipping might take a while. I think that since I only need that book for homework I can just go to the library until it arrives.</p>
<p>I think I will order my books for the fall a whole lot sooner! I found that my department lists the books way sooner than the bookstore. I wish I would have known that for the summer.</p>
<p>^ That’s not supposed to happen. As a seller on Amazon, I know that they require two days after ordering to ship a book.
Even though they’ll set the “last day to receive before you can complain” date to like a month after ordering.</p>
<p>If you really need it now, make a fuss and Amazon should help you. That’s why I prefer it over eBay. I don’t feel like I’m always on the verge of being scammed like I do on eBay.</p>
<p>I recently bought a book that was from a seller listed as “like new,” I got it and was in horrible condition. Contacted Amazon about it, I had only asked for 5% back and got a full refund and kept the book. Love them.</p>
<p>I ordered the book on May 31 and chose expedited shipping. The seller told me today that because of delays, it was shipped on June 3 and they would try to get a tracking number for me and refund the shipping cost. Today (June 5), I got the email from Amazon saying it shipped. I don’t know which to believe or what to do about it.</p>
<p>OKgirl it maybe be that the seller just now checked the shipped button on the amazon order…(i used to sell items on half.com and i sometimes would ship next day, but forget to check the shipped button till couple days after…they still get their books on time)</p>
<p>that is of course unless you actually got a tracking number that claims shipping on the 5th not the 3rd.</p>
<p>I got my book today. The expected delivery date was the 7-10. I got it today. Even though they emailed me and said that they would provide me a shipping number, I never got one. It was supposed to be in “very good” condition, which I assume means that there is hardly any marking/highlighting. There is highlighting all over the place and then things are underlined in pen and there is writing on pages and everything. If I would have known that the book was going to take this long to ship and then be in this condition, I would have bought from a different seller. What do you think I should do about this?</p>
<p>I just had that problem about a week ago with a calc book I received. I filed an Amazon A-Z claim and got a full refund and got to keep the book.</p>
<p>I am both a buyer and a seller. I had a horrendous experience in 2008 as a buyer - of the 10 books I purchased, 9 were the wrong edition/year of printing/etc. I spent close to $1,000 and received nothing my kids could use. Amazon does not have a way for buyers to contact the seller prior to purchase to confirm important details. I am selling this year’s textbooks through Amazon (and including important details) but will NOT use this service in the future to buy textbooks. Steer clear of Amazon if you’re the buyer!</p>
<p>I’ve ordered numerous books online through both amazon and half.com and the only problem I ever had was timing, which did not happen often…in fact it came earlier more often than later. (actually there was 1 solutions manual I did buy that originally came out in 1979 but was being REPRINTED still today, it was not mentioned that the copy i would be receiving was an original print…lmao it was ancient but it was cheap and it did its job)</p>
<p>always check to make sure you are buying from someone with high feedback, it is always possible on amazon to get best price or 2nd best from a high seller…as for half.com, they might sometimes have the lowest price but most of time there are only 8 or 9 sellers and lower prices might be from new sellers.</p>
<p>another thing to consider if you are buying right before the semester and need books quickly is to always weigh in the distance the seller is shipping from, for example I would rather pay 3 dollars more for someone elses book if he is located in my state.</p>
<p>I’m both a buyer and seller and have never had problems. I’ve saved quite a bit of money by using amazon through buying and selling. The commission that they take always seems like quite a bit but I think it is reasonable considering the market that you reach and the buyer confidence. </p>
<p>Is anyone here a user of both amazon.com and half.com and recommend half.com? I’d like to keep them in mind for future purchases.</p>
<p>I am also gonna use amazon for my books because my brother always use to use amazon and he is totally satisfied their service and never complaint about anything.</p>