ValoreBooks

Full review
In the interest of saving money on the outrageous cost of college textbooks, we gave Valorebooks a try last semester (Spring 08). For the most part, we were satisfied with our experience, but some caveats are in order.

1. Check seller reviews before buying from them. We had a bad experience with one of them - the book never arrived and our money was not refunded. The seller never replied to my emails (no phone no supplied). Valore was no help, which brings me to Number ...

2. Customer service is just awful. Three of the four merchants we bought from provided exemplary service. The books arrived in the condition we expected, and they arrived promptly. Perfect. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Valore. After an initial flurry of three or so emails between customer service and the seller (to which I was privy), there was no communication whatsoever. My emails requesting information/resolution went unanswered. The phone number I was able to find only gave a recording that promised to get back to me via email. So, if you experience any difficulty with a seller, you are on your own.

3. Be sure to order early - obvious, but bears mentioning. Of course, the earlier you shop, the more likely you are to find the book(s) you need. Also, make sure you leave enough time to reorder books should the need arise. Sometimes a book that's listed as in stock is actually sold - most likely due to the book being sold and my order "crossing paths". If this is the case, you will find out within 48 hours of your order. This happened with one book, and we were able to find it with another seller right away. If you get stiffed (see #1), you will, of course, have to reorder. In our case, so much time was spent trying to resolve the issue with them, we ended up having to buy it from the campus bookstore, so going through Valore ended up costing us $13 over the expensive bookstore price.

4. Shipping is expensive. The majority of books we purchased cost $6.95 to ship. If we purchased multiple books from one vendor, we had to pay $6.95 per book - no way to combine shipping on the books. For the most part, books are so inexpensive that they were still considerably cheaper than buying them from the campus bookstore.

If it weren't for that one seller, the only thing I would have taken exception to would be the shipping - and that wasn't too bad, considering how inexpensive the books were. Books cost from $1.50 to $7.75 each. We're hoping the experience with that one seller was an anomaly and will give them another go next semester.

You can save a bundle patronizing Valore.com, and their pricing/selection are better than e-bay or Amazon. If all their sellers were honest and they had dependable customer service, they would have gotten a perfect 5. Since they severely dropped the ball and allowed the seller rip us off, I am giving them a generous 3. I am still recommending them, but with reservations. If my next experience is better, I will come back and review/rate to reflect that.