Amazon Refunds: Are they increasing?

[Fuchsia Groan]

Originally Posted by veinglory

IMHO, if you read the whole thing and it is not "defective", you bought it. Otherwise it is a bit like eating the whole apple and wanting a refund because it wasn't as sweet as you expected.

As a reader, I agree. You take a gamble when you buy a book or a movie ticket. It's up to you to read the sample, the reviews, etc. and do the due diligence. When I still end up hating something, I figure, whatever, at least I helped support the publishing industry today. And since it's an e-book, it won't be cluttering up my house.

But in the case of the book where only the sample was properly edited, I can understand feeling like you were the victim of false advertising, and possibly demanding a refund. If you hated Drive because it wasn't the action-packed flick the commercials led you to expect, well, maybe you should have read some reviews rather than demanding a refund afterwards or suing the studio for defrauding you. But with a self-pub book, you may not have anyone to warn you away, until other reviews start trickling in.

[JustJas]

Originally Posted by J. Tanner

This option exists. Turn off "One Click Buying". But people like One Click (me included) and so leave it on. Amazon gives you a hassle free way to take it back if you make a mistake. More good customer service.

Their customer service is pretty fantastic. Most issues are with vendor treatment (the case here) and I think for self-publishers they really do give you a lot of info compared to the alternatives. I wouldn't be opposed to more (useful or not) but this wouldn't be among the top 10 on my personal list of things Amazon could improve upon with KDP.

I didn't realize you could turn one-click buying off. It's not a problem for me as I use a laptop and have never accidentally purchased something I didn't want, but I can see how those with ipads might have this problem.

[JustJas]

Originally Posted by veinglory

It seems to have become okay for a lot of customers to read the whole book and return it because you didn't particularly enjoy it--even if there is not actual defect or error.

I think this attitude does seem to be on the rise especially with romance ebooks based on the authors who are reporting increasing returns.

IMHO, if you read the whole thing and it is not "defective", you bought it. Otherwise it is a bit like eating the whole apple and wanting a refund because it wasn't as sweet as you expected.

I write romance and my return rate for the modest number of books I've sold is a little higher than those shown here, so this makes me feel a little better.

Although those on this thread seem to disagree, I also believe, based on anecdotal evidence, that there is a growing attitude that readers have a right to return books they didn't like. I also read an interesting comment on another forum that Amazon has a generous refund policy to make up for the fact that it publishes pretty much anything. The theory is that readers would turn away in droves from self-published authors if they weren't able to get their money back on books they thought were below standard.

Unfortunately I think this attitude is carrying across to books they just didn't like, but as a self-published author I also want people to take a chance on my books, so at the end of the day I guess you just have to accept that some customers will rort this system. If Amazon starts losing too much money I'm sure they'll crack down, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be a problem for them.

[woodtop255]

Funny thing is I've had a Kindle for years and I didn't know until recently you had up to seven days to return an ebook. I thought your one shot was when the warning screen came up asking if you purchased the book accidentally.

[Fins Left]

Originally Posted by JustJas

I also believe, based on anecdotal evidence, that there is a growing attitude that readers have a right to return books they didn't like. [...]
Unfortunately I think this attitude is carrying across to books they just didn't like

Not liking a product is a legit reason for return at most major retailers. It is not gaming the system.

I've downloaded a couple books that didn't live up to the reviews or the sample. Now, I'm wishing I had returned them. I'd never even thought about that before reading this thread. But I do begrudge the money to the authors of those con-jobs.

If there is a small number of people that buy/return because they're cheap, I'm sure it is no more than the average shoplifting costs to any other retailer (except that they haven't lost any product). Heck, B&N (if they still exist?) used to let you sit in their store and read the book right there.

If more people returned bad books, that would drive the bad writers/publishers into some other line of work.

[fireluxlou]

I always accidentally purchase an item when I am meant to press the 'try a sample' button. I am just a clutz.

[veinglory]

But you can't return ebooks at any other major retailer, and you can't return any other digital item at Amazon (movies, software etc). So it seems a rather uneven principle.

I still think that if the book was good enough to read from start to finish, it's good enough to pay for. i.e. you took the tags off and wore it, you ate it, you used it.

IMHO you can't eat the whole cake and reject it too. That last bite is the point of no return

[BenPanced]

The only times I've ever returned a book at Barnes & Noble were when I'd accidentally bought second copies. I figure life's too short to bitch about a crappy book I've bought when I can just hang on to it and donate it to the United Way book drive at work later in the year. And when buying online, always check out the sample if it's available.

[JustJas]

Originally Posted by Fins Left

Not liking a product is a legit reason for return at most major retailers. It is not gaming the system.

I've downloaded a couple books that didn't live up to the reviews or the sample. Now, I'm wishing I had returned them. I'd never even thought about that before reading this thread. But I do begrudge the money to the authors of those con-jobs.

If there is a small number of people that buy/return because they're cheap, I'm sure it is no more than the average shoplifting costs to any other retailer (except that they haven't lost any product). Heck, B&N (if they still exist?) used to let you sit in their store and read the book right there.

If more people returned bad books, that would drive the bad writers/publishers into some other line of work.

I can understand if there's a major problem with quality, but 'liking' or 'not liking' a book is very subjective. I agree with the principle if it's good enough to read to the end it's good enough to pay for. I've bought plenty of books I didn't end up enjoying as much as I'd hoped but I would never return them for this reason.

[merrihiatt]

If it wasn't for the fact that authors who self-publish through Amazon KDP can check their sales figures (and returns) whenever they like, they'd never know how many e-books were returned. It's only because we can see that someone purchased it, then returned it, that we spend even two seconds worrying about it. Personally, unless the number becomes a significant percentage, it's not even on my radar screen.

[brainstorm77]

I've had a few returns on the shorts I have self-pubbed. I personally don't worry about it TBH. I also know quite a few readers do use Kindle as a library and are proud of the fact they do so.

I agree with what some others have said in regards to returning a book simple because you didn't like it. It's absurd in my opinion. If there are problems with formatting or it's edited terribly, fine. I've returned a couple because of formatting. The ones I did return I didn't finish.

[JustJas]

Originally Posted by merrihiatt

If it wasn't for the fact that authors who self-publish through Amazon KDP can check their sales figures (and returns) whenever they like, they'd never know how many e-books were returned. It's only because we can see that someone purchased it, then returned it, that we spend even two seconds worrying about it. Personally, unless the number becomes a significant percentage, it's not even on my radar screen.

So true! It's especially hard for writers like myself who have obsessive-compulsive tendencies.