ABEBooks Introduces a Star Seller Rating System
ABE books are launching a system for rating the booksellers on the site.
Fiasco would be the word that springs to my mind next … well, let’s see
The system is based on stars, 5 being the best and 1 being the worst.
Abebooks have rolled the system out but it appears, at the time of writing, only on the .com site.
And, importantly, only visible to other book dealers, as yet, buyers cannot see the stars.
This presumably is a move meant to placate sellers on the site and give it something of a soft start.
Why would abebooks want to placate sellers (good point they never bothered before) but seriously many seem to have misgivings.
Why should good sellers be scared of being rated I hear you say ?
Well indeed, but how are they rated ?
Needless to say, given the people doing it, it’s half-baked !
The stars you will see are not relative to anyone’s opinion or experience but simply fulfilment rates - here are the statistics
***** - 95 - 100% Completion Rate
**** - 85 - 94% Completion Rate
*** - 70 - 84% Completion Rate
** - 60 - 69% Completion Rate
* - 0 - 59% Completion Rate
Basically, if a seller cannot fill an order there is a strike against them. So very simplistic.
Add to that the problem that if a buyer refuses a request for additional postage etc then that also counts as an unfulfilled order.
Personally I think buyers will not realise this simply look at the number of stars and assume it’s some kind of Amazon-ebay type system
Here are a couple of sellers at different ends of the scale - I have removed the names !
I suspect this soft-start by ABEbooks is a precursor to a fully fledged buyers feedback system in the same vein as ebay and Amazon.
I may flesh this out a little later and make it more comprehensive.
Best
Rod
PS: shhhh don’t tell anyone I think it’s meant to be secret 
Nigel said,
June 21, 2008 @ 7:52 am
This will show I’m maybe not as smart as I thought, but I’ve been afraid to admit that I couldn’t work out how to rate my sellers. Now I know why, there is no way to rate them! :lol As you say, the rating system as it is, is rather weak, though it does rate efficiency and organisation. However, I think the Amazon Marketplace system is better, although it’s far from perfect, as all such systems inherently are.
Rod said,
June 21, 2008 @ 9:13 am
Nigel
there are problems with this type of system as it only reflects completion of sales.
For example on Biblio I am a 1 star seller !
Makes me look terrible to the uneducated buyer as they presume it’s like Amazon or eBay and customers hate my books and service.
In fact I’ve had 3 order in 6 months on Biblio, yes it’s that dead a site, and all were sold !
Hence they allocate me 1 star.
Rod
Bob said,
October 24, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
The rating system is very weak and i find abebooks does not have a very good contact system.
I have tried to order books 2 times and have had 2 bad experiences.
The first time they only shipped 2 of the 3 books and only sent the 3rd a month later with no compensation.
The second time I ordered books from the seller bestukbooks , never ever use this seller they dont ship anything and charge you for it . The seller offers express shipping but still send you nothing. I am trying to get my money back but fear i have been scammed.
I will never use abebooks.com again they are useless
Rod said,
October 24, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
Hi Bob
thanks for taking the time to comment and welcome to the site.
Your story is a sad reflection on what has happened to abe. So many customers have had bad experiences they are leaving the site in droves.
One problem as well which you may have encountered are ‘relisters’ - they don’t actually have any books !
The list other people’s or generic copies and when they get an order they in turn order it from another seller !
All I would say Bob is that there are still some very good sellers on abe - if you find somebody professional you may pay a little more but the quality and service should be there.
All the best
Rod