Is a book refund a "bribe"?

So here’s an experience I had with an Amazon used book seller named “Booxygen”. I had ordered a book from him and the book arrived on time. However the book’s spine was detached about halfway down the middle. Problems with the spine constitute probably the most serious problems you can encounter with a book. So I wrote a lukewarm review on Amazon in the “seller feedback” section complaining about the spine.

About two days later I get an email from Booxygen. While they apologize for the problem, they also make me an intriguing offer. They say that they will refund the price of the book if I take back my negative review and either write a positive review or no review at all.

Now I know this sounds reasonable and is probably the norm for most book sellers, but in my view, such an offer clearly constitutes a “bribe” for a simple reason. Reviews are supposed to attest to the quality of a particular bookseller. Consider what happens if I accept Booxygen’s offer. While my money is refunded, because I don’t write a negative review, future buyers like me who are planning to buy from Booxygen never get to know that I was shipped a defective item. The whole purpose of reviews is to accurately represent the quality of a bookseller’s service, warts and all. A failure to write an unfavorable review or the misrepresentation of such a review clearly misleads future buyers.

Thus, while it sounded reasonable, I regarded Booxygen’s offer as a bribe. My reply somehow got buried in the drafts section of my email. I discovered it three months later and emailed Booxygen a deal which to me sounds much more honest; mail me a good copy of the same book and I will gladly take back my review and write a new favorable review for the book. Regrettably, Booxygen sent me a very rude reply saying that they refuse my suggestion and that I should not do business with them again. I am glad they said this themselves because I am pretty sure I won’t feel the need to buy from them again. In addition I am quite sure I am not going to accept such a bribe from other booksellers; if you want good reviews, sell me good quality products. It’s that simple.

BUYING USED BOOKS ON AMAZON

As a book-hungry graduate student whose money is a precious commodity, it’s not surprising that I am loathe to walk into Borders and buy a brand new book. If the book is older I would rather haunt used book stores, comb through the hundreds of sometimes boring titles, and pick the one gem ensconced among them which others’ eyes have not noticed. Needless to say, this gnaws away at another one of a graduate student’s precious commodity- time.

However, another option is Amazon’s used books service. I was hesitant to use this but was finally egged on to try out a few titles. My conditions were simple: spines should be intact, and there should be absolutely no underlining or highlighting inside. The rules are pretty simple too: go for sellers offering books whose condition is marked “very good” or better, who have at least a 97% rating and who have been selling at least for a year or so. Most importantly, buy ex-library books if they are available; the seller will usually indicate this explicitly. These books get you the biggest bang for your buck. They are usually wrapped in plastic with the tender loving care characteristic of many public libraries, their dust jackets are usually firm and intact, and they may have some library stamps on the first page or on the sides.

But if these simple rules are satisfied, then ex-lib books can be better than even brand new books. Consider that hardbacks usually cost no less than 18-20$. So if I do end up buying new books, I buy paperbacks whenever they are available. Paperbacks cost between 10-15$. Now consider ex-lib books which I have gotten for about 3$ on average. Even with the shipping it comes to 7-8$. A well-protected hardcover ex-lib book warmly clasped with a plastic-covered dust jacket beats a brand new paperback even if the hardcover is a few years older.

Until now I have had a great experience ordering these ex-lib hardcovers from Amazon. Starting about six months ago, I have already ordered about 30 of these and have been satisfied 99% of the time. There may have been one or two which looked none the worse for wear, but in their defence, they were selling for 20 cents apiece. There’s a limit to what you can expect.