Buying on Half.com

Be an informed consumer. This is especially true online, where you cannot see the seller or item beforehand, even more so on sites where used items are sold.

Half.com is not eBay. It shares feedback (and the Profile page) with eBay and is eBay-owned but works differently. Half.com is a buy-it-now site with no auctions, does not accept PayPal directly, and has its own rules for settling disputes.

Half.com’s Help Pages:
Read the Help pages on Buying. They’re excellent (Link).

1. Getting Started covers: Becoming a Buyer, Making a Purchase, Buying Textbooks, the Shopping Cart, and Shipping Charges.

2. After You Buy Your Stuff covers Order Information and Problems as well as Feedback.

3. Buying Tools covers the Wish List, Search Tips, and Gift Certificates.

4. Understand the Buyer Protection Policy in case problems arise with your order (Link)

Evaluating a Seller Before Making a Purchase:

Check seller feedback, understand listing policies and quality guidelines, and email sellers if necessary with presale questions. Also, be suspicious of oddly low prices—if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

1. Check Feedback: Review information in the Feedback Forum (Link).

If more than one seller has the item you need, look for one who (1) has a proven track record (say, at least 98% positive feedback, one year of membership, and/or at least 100 feedbacks) and (2) ships from a single location (and thus will have his inventory on hand).

Also check positive feedback, to see if slow shipping or lack of communication is a recurring problem. Finally, review feedback your seller has left for others, which will indicate how he communicates with buyers.

Possible Warning Signs: Especially on expensive items, you may want to avoid sellers who
(1) have recently become members or have little feedback,
(2) have less than 98% positive, and/or
(3) ship from multiple locations (ML).

Note: Shipping from multiple locations is not necessarily bad, but combined with a generalized description like “may have”, is an indication that the seller does not have the item on hand and may not see it before shipping.

2. READ The Item Descriptions:

Make sure the ISBN/UPC and edition is correct. Items may only be offered with the correct catalog number and description.

Review the guidelines for Item Quality (Link), since much of what is sold here is used.

Review Half.com Listing Policies (Link), so you know what cannot be sold here.

Warning Signs: You may want to avoid sellers who
(1) provide no or poor item descriptions,
(2) request email confirmation of you, or
(3) offer items forbidden by Half.com policy, such as International Edition (IE) textbooks, Book Club Editions (BCEs), or “burned” CDs or DVDs.

3. Email Presale Questions (especially if buying textbooks):

Click on a seller’s feedback number to go to his Ebay Profile page; then use the Contact Member link. Confirm, for example, the ISBN/UPC, edition number, hardcover versus soft, inclusion of CDs/DVDs, remaster or bonus tracks on CDs, widescreen on DVDs. If it is important to you, ask about it.

Warning Signs:
You may want to avoid sellers who don’t respond to presale questions. Sellers who do not respond prior to a sale may not respond to problems after a sale.

4. Shipping—Do You Need Expedited?

Standard shipping is by Media Mail, which can be very slow, but many sellers offer Expedited (USPS Priority) as well. If you need your item within two weeks, pay a little extra for Expedited. Remember, the estimated time for delivery is in business days. That excludes holidays and weekends.

After Your Purchase

1. If you change your mind, email the seller. Only sellers can cancel a transaction. Good sellers will do this if they haven’t shipped already. Please keep in mind that good sellers ship quickly.

2. If you are unhappy with the item, because it is materially different (different category or quality than represented), email the seller and negotiate. He may provide a partial or full refund, or explain why he thinks he is correct.

3. Leave feedback on your transaction. Accurate feedback gives other discerning buyers important information about good and poor sellers alike.

Other Issues:

The Discussion board

A quick read through of the first two pages of the discussion board may help you discover current problems and technical issues that may affect your purchase. When looking at a particularly long discussion thread, we suggest start at the end and read forward to understand current problems. More on discussion boards later

A Word on International Edition (IE) Textbooks:

IEs are low-cost softcover versions of U.S. hardcover produced in other countries for students in other parts of the world. Though some are better than others, they all are of greatly inferior quality to U.S. textbooks.
IEs may NOT be sold on Half.com, though they can be offered on eBay. Along with game consoles, textbook sales are where most misrepresentation or outright fraud occurs on the site. Unscrupulous sellers can list these products for free on Half.com, absent the fees and competition they would encounter on eBay.

Do NOT buy an IE on Half.com. If you see one, click More Info in the listing and use the Report violation link on the left of the page that comes up. This helps all half.com users, buyers and sellers, to ensure a buying site that is as safe as possible for all.

Warning Signs: All the signs mentioned above apply here. If you order a hardcover textbook but receive an IE, it is “materially different" from what you ordered. Report the seller and file a claim for a refund.

The Difference Between Megasellers and Smaller Ones:

All Sellers (1) have three business days to ship your item, (2) have the option to Mark as Shipped to generate an email to let you know your item is on the way, (3) have no penalty for not shipping on time, (4) can cancel your order for any reason, (5) are not required to answer buyer emails.

Megasellers (Feedback scores above 5000) generally (there are exceptions) have the greatest product selection, often at the lowest price, but they provide minimal customer service and are often absent when problems arise. Their book listings will have little specific description, as they often have multiple copies for sale. There are many excellent megasellers on the site; however, it’s important to review their feedback to make that determination.

Smaller sellers most often distinguish themselves through high-quality customer service. They have significantly better feedback than the “megas” because they do ship on time, mark as shipped, answer emails, make every effort to fill your order, provide Delivery Tracking, and offer refunds when problems arise rather than force buyers to go through the Buyer Protection process. They are also more likely to give feedback to the buyer. There is no guarantee that a small seller will always give you the best service, as with megasellers it’s important to review feedback and communicate prior to an expensive purchase.

Contribute to the Half.com Discussion Board.

All members are welcome to contribute to the board. If you have a question, it has probably been asked before -- use the Search Box to uncover a wealth of information. If you find you have a new topic to post or insight to contribute -- post them! They will be welcomed. In addition to the Half discussion board, eBay provides various specialized discussion boards. They can be reached by clicking on the Community link at the top of the page. Be aware that they are eBay boards and specific questions about issues will be answered from an eBay perspective.

NARU

NARU stands for No longer A Registered User. There are several reasons for a seller being NARU. If you are able to buy from them, it may only indicate that they are a new seller who is registered on Half.com, but not on eBay. If the seller has removed his inventory and closed his account or if Half.com has closed the seller’s account, they will show up as NARU. A quick way to evaluate the situation is to click on the seller feedback number and look at the ID history. If it says “present” for an end date, this is an active account.

Major exception to the NARU rule: a newly registered buyer to half.com (even an ebay id in good standing) will show up as NARU when they first register.

Regarding Book Club Editions

There are a number of different types of book clubs that produce hardcover books. Generally, book club editions of popular fiction are not the same quality as retail edition and are NOT to be sold on half.com. It is acceptable to list and sell these on eBay. However, there are some specialty book clubs that produce the only hardcover copy of certain books previously only available in paperback. Some of these are available on half.com as they are listed in the catalog as an exact ISBN match. For example, the Science Fiction Book Club often publishes these hardcover editions. Many of them are available on half.com.

~~This post was written with input from present and former Half.com boardies who buy and/or sell on half.com. None are employees of eBay. It by no means covers everything you need to know, but will hopefully help buyers have succesful transactions on the site~~


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Some eBay Guides that might be of interest to Half.com Users

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Smart Book Buying Tips
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