Have you seen all the discussions on Twitter about people returning ebooks to Amazon? Apparently, there is a phenomenon where people buy ebooks, read them, and then return them back to Amazon and get their money back. I was talking to a friend about this and got real fired up, so here are my thoughts:
First off, I have never returned an ebook. In fact, I didn’t know you could return ebooks. I have returned physical books before, mainly because of the below reasons:
1. I wasn’t loving the book and knew I wouldn’t finish reading it
2. I bought the book and then found it at a used bookstore for cheaper
3. Before even starting a book, I changed my mind and knew that I would probably never read
In all the cases where I’ve started to read a physical book and then returned it, I’ve never read more than a few chapters. But like I said, I’ve never returned an ebook.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with returning a book if you are not loving it and know you will not finish reading it. But I think there has to be a threshold for returning a book. Like if you’ve read more than 30 or 40% of the book, then you shouldn’t be able to return it. I definitely don’t think you should be able to read through a whole book and then return it. I mean, isn’t that a little like people who buy clothes and wear them with the tags still on and then return them? Not cool. You basically got the use and wear of an object for free. Or think of it as going to a restaurant, eating all of your meal, and then asking for a refund. You shouldn’t be able to get a refund on something you have consumed and books are the same.
This is what the library is for! If you want to read a book and then return it, you should check it out from the library.
I just think returning a book after you’ve read it is kind of shady. I read Amazon’s policy that allows readers to return an “accidental book order” up to 7 days after purchase. The policy makes no mention of whether the ebook has been read or not. Amazon tracks so many things and I know they can see the furthest you’ve read on an ebook. Shouldn’t they be able to implement some policy that says if you’ve read past a certain point you can’t return an ebook, even if it is within that 7-day window?
There’s also a lot of talk about the monetary ramifications as some authors were claiming that they end up owing money to Amazon when their ebook is returned. I have no knowledge about how Amazon’s royalty system works so I won’t comment on that. But, from what I’ve gathered from reading the discussions on Twitter is that most people think you should be able to return an ebook if you’ve started reading it and then change your mind or you don’t like it, as long as you haven’t read the whole book.
tldr: If you are reading an ebook and decide it’s not for you, you should be able to return it. But you shouldn’t be able to return an ebook after you’ve read it from start to finish.
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