Order a book on Half.com - looked it up by ISBN

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
I receive a different book by the same authors with a DIFFERENT ISBN than the one listed on half.com

I write the seller and say

Hey you listed the wrong book - I searched by ISBN XXXX and your book came up - when I got the book its ISBN was YYYY - please advise

I get back:


Don,

I understand that the ISBN is different; however, as advertised I said it was the international addition. Please see below for the description I listed.


Notes: INTERNATION 5th EDITION!!!! Only highlightinng in chapter 2. Other than that the book is in great shape. I rated this book acceptable for the fact that is it the 5th edition and it's the international edition. I used it all semester and didn't see any differences from the people who paid full price for it from the bookstore. The cover is also orange. If you have any questions feel free to ask before your buy. Happy Shopping.
If you are not satisfied you can send it back to me and I will refund you the money less commission ebay took. I feel that shipping should also be your cost because of the extra money to get it to you sooner via priority mail.

I am sorry you are not satisfied, I also bought this book off of ebay and it was listed under this ISBN number.

Let me know what I can do

Deepest Regrets,

PersonSelling

The professor gave me the book title and the ISBN.

I figured this will help with all different editions, since each edition has a separate ISBN. This person obviously "misrepresented" the book by posting it under this ISBN - now they expect me to (out of my pocket) ship the book back - and i will be refunded the money less half.com/ebay fees.

Tell me this isn't BS?

I wrote back:

No. You sent me the wrong book. Please refund me everything + the cost of shipping back or I will be forced to open up a dispute.

Next time please list the proper ISBN # per the rules of half.com.

what other recourse can I take?

Update seller wrote back below. They obviously know they are in the wrong by this email - and i refuse to ship it back on my dime. I called the seller and we'll see what happens. I still wonder what "reasearch" and "comission" are but I think you can make an assumption.

Don,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you I wanted to reasearch what you said in the last e-mail about listing books on half.com by ISBN numbers. I have located that and this will not happen again.

I am sorry you are unhappy with the book. I have refunded what you paid for the book and the comission e-bay took for the book. If you are still unhappy then you are more than welcomed to dispute my decision about not refunding shipping.

Here is my address for returning the book

SELLER McSELLERSON
123 Fake St.
Springfield, NT 11111

Thanks,

SELLER

 

BrokenVisage

Lifer
Jan 29, 2005
24,771
14
81
Wait.. so do you know for sure this book can't be used in your class? I've used different editions of books throughout my college career, ask your professor if this one can be referred to.
 

ChaoZ

Diamond Member
Apr 5, 2000
8,906
1
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He said it was the international edition. It's the exact same book but maybe a different cover. What's the big deal? You saved some money from buying it too.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Wait.. so do you know for sure this book can't be used in your class? I've used different editions of books throughout my college career, ask your professor if this one can be referred to.

Yeah

these books are similar - but the one I got has chapters double to triple the size and do not focus on the areas that the professor really wants to cover.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: ChaoZ
He said it was the international edition. It's the exact same book but maybe a different cover. What's the big deal? You saved some money from buying it too.

I didn't save anything.

It was about the average price of the correct book
 

panipoori

Senior member
Aug 18, 2005
460
0
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International editions are the exact same as regular editions, the thing about international editions is if you list them by isbn number they never show up on search.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: panipoori
International editions are the exact same as regular editions, the thing about international editions is if you list them by isbn number they never show up on search.

OK, but

posting a book by an incorrect ISBN is quite misleading.
 

Born2bwire

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2005
9,840
6
71
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: ChaoZ
He said it was the international edition. It's the exact same book but maybe a different cover. What's the big deal? You saved some money from buying it too.

I didn't save anything.

It was about the average price of the correct book

I would feel somewhat cheated too. International editions are generally the exact same as the regular edition with the exception that I find them to be of inferior build quality. The paper is generally much thinner, soft covers, and usually cheaper bindings. The reason to buy them though is that they're incredibly cheaper than the regular editions. If I had thought that I was purchasing the regular edition then I would come into the deal with a different price bracket in mind than with an international edition. But the seller did advertise that it was the international edition, and if you were purchasing a used book you should have paid attention to the description. I would eat the shipping but I don't see why you should pay the listing fees.
 

Nitemare

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
35,461
4
81
Originally posted by: panipoori
International editions are the exact same as regular editions, the thing about international editions is if you list them by isbn number they never show up on search.

that's what I thought as well
 

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
13
81
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
It probably was in the description, you just over-looked it (you should always read it). And it probably is the same exact book with a different cover. most books you find now on ebay and half.com are the international edition. They do not put the regular ISBN because no one will know to search for it.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: amdskip
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.

The professor gave:

Book Title
ISBN


I put ISBN into Half.com

ordered the book

Along comes a book with a different ISBN to my doorstep.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: amdskip
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.

The professor gave:

Book Title
ISBN


I put ISBN into Half.com

ordered the book

Along comes a book with a different ISBN to my doorstep.


And it is your fault for not reading the description.
 

sjwaste

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
8,757
12
81
Yeah, the international edition is often just in paperback and the print quality's usually not as good, but its the same text. It's usually for markets that arent going to pay $100 for a book.

Just use it, I bet it was really cheap.
 

Ramma2

Platinum Member
Jul 29, 2002
2,710
1
0
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: amdskip
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.

The professor gave:

Book Title
ISBN


I put ISBN into Half.com

ordered the book

Along comes a book with a different ISBN to my doorstep.

Isn't that basically the same as buying something off of ebay - because it has what you're looking for in the auction title - without reading the description? Madness!
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: Gibson486
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: amdskip
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.

The professor gave:

Book Title
ISBN


I put ISBN into Half.com

ordered the book

Along comes a book with a different ISBN to my doorstep.


And it is your fault for not reading the description.


Right because I should know that because I was told:

ISBN, Title of Book, Author

no edition, no nothing

:roll:
 

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
13
81
Did you not read what I posted? I said maybe the seller posted by the Title and Edition and half.com inserted the ISBN. Just because you searched by the ISBN DOES NOT mean that is how the seller listed it. Stop your crying and use the cheap book.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: Gibson486
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: amdskip
How do you know he listed it by the ISBN? He could have gone with title and edition and half just inserts the ISBN. I've used international editions with no problems at all.

The professor gave:

Book Title
ISBN


I put ISBN into Half.com

ordered the book

Along comes a book with a different ISBN to my doorstep.


And it is your fault for not reading the description.


Right because I should know that because I was told:

ISBN, Title of Book, Author

no edition, no nothing

:roll:

save your self the trouble and just use this.

http://www.campusi.com/

you obviously do not have the strength to do 2 seconds worth of research or even go to your book store to look at the book.

 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: amdskip
Did you not read what I posted? I said maybe the seller posted by the Title and Edition and half.com inserted the ISBN. Just because you searched by the ISBN DOES NOT mean that is how the seller listed it. Stop your crying and use the cheap book.

LOL!
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,444
5,850
146
Originally posted by: amdskip
Did you not read what I posted? I said maybe the seller posted by the Title and Edition and half.com inserted the ISBN. Just because you searched by the ISBN DOES NOT mean that is how the seller listed it. Stop your crying and use the cheap book.

Not to mention, that if you search by ISBN, I wouldn't be surprised if it automatically queries the title/author to show other versions as well.

OP, go look at the person's listing and see how they described it (have you even done that at this point?), which should tell you if they mis-represented it or if you just didn't look at the description. What did you do anyways, have the list of all the books that it brought up and then just randomly clicked one of them and bought it?
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
BTW:

amdskip:

Did you read anything I posted? :roll:

The sender admitted that they listed as the wrong ISBN "I also bought this book off of ebay and it was listed under this ISBN number. "

 

josh0099

Senior member
Aug 8, 2004
543
0
76
You realize a lot of people like buying the international edition cause you can save a ton of money buying these editions it quiet normal....Though I agree the seller should refund your money probably not shipping cause its pretty obvious that you made the mistake of not reading the description....
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,396
8,559
126
Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Wait.. so do you know for sure this book can't be used in your class? I've used different editions of books throughout my college career, ask your professor if this one can be referred to.

Yeah

these books are similar - but the one I got has chapters double to triple the size and do not focus on the areas that the professor really wants to cover.

i'm glad that everyone reading this thread saw this so that they didn't post that the books are the same.
 

venkman

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2007
4,950
11
81
Originally posted by: panipoori
International editions are the exact same as regular editions, the thing about international editions is if you list them by isbn number they never show up on search.

Not always true especially in the business and finance realms.