Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Avoid GlassFrogBooks on Amazon

Long story short, they sometimes mistakenly list expensive books at very low prices, and then back out of the deal by claiming the book was found to be damaged.

Here's the evidence:

Back in late November, I found a copy of Jane's All the World's Aircraft listed at GlassFrogBooks for the amazingly low price of roughly $30.

As you can see by this chart, the price of that book is, on average, $1,384:



Of course, I jumped on the opportunity, and purchased it for the ~$30 price.

A few weeks later, I received this message:




Ok, fair enough. I have a problem with the fact that I was never given the opportunity to take the book in its damaged state, but I chalked it up to bad luck and took the refund because I had no other option.

Fast forward to April of this year, and I once again find a copy of Jane's All the World's Aircraft, again listed by GlassFrogBooks for the unusually low price of $30.

Again, I jump on the opportunity, since that edition typically sells for $427:



...and once again, I receive a message from GlassFrogBooks, AGAIN claiming the book I want was found to be damaged.

The message was identical to the first, literally copied and pasted word for word:



Again, I was never given the opportunity to take delivery of the damaged book. This is frustrating, as I would have paid the $30 for even a badly damaged copy.

I contacted GlassFrogBooks multiple times. First, I asked for photos of the damaged books. They claimed none exist, and that the book had been discarded.

I then pointed out how suspicious it is that, on two separate occasions:

1) A normally very expensive book was priced at the incredibly low price of $30

2) After purchasing the book, it was mysteriously found to be damaged

3) No evidence existed of the damaged book

All evidence suggests that GlassFrogBooks mistakenly priced a very expensive book at a very low price and then backed out of the deal by lying about it being damaged.

Today, I see that the exact same book I tried to purchase back in November is in stock...and listed for sale at $921.53:


I contacted GlassFrogBooks and asked that they honor their original agreement to sell me that book...that they now claim to have in stock...for $30.

Two hours later, I heard back. They had removed the listing shown above and now claimed it wasn't in stock at all.

So avoid GlassFrogBooks at all costs. They're dishonest, and cannot be trusted to sell the items they have listed as being in stock for the prices they advertise.



50 comments:

  1. GlassFrogBooks is a bookjacker. They list books they don't own (mostly at outrageous prices) then buy and have it drop-shipped from a legit seller -- pocketing the difference.

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  2. Poor business practices
    This seller decided they could get more money than they sold it to me for so after a month of waiting, they cancelled my order and relisted it for more money.

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  3. Poor business practices
    This seller decided they could get more money than they sold it to me for so after a month of waiting, they cancelled my order and relisted it for more money.

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  4. Poor business practices
    This seller decided they could get more money than they sold it to me for so after a month of waiting, they cancelled my order and relisted it for more money.

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  5. I know what you mean, they have been doing the same thing with me... what a pity.

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  6. The same situation happened to me.

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  7. My situation is crazy. Tommy Heinsohn, legendary basketball player/coach/broadcaster died Friday. I ordered his biography from glassfrog pretty much immediately for $30. Got a message that I am to be refunded and now they’re selling it for $164. Absolutely ghouls.

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  8. Just happened to me too. Such a disappointment. Terrible customer service. Basically they just lied and said they canceled because they requested additional funds and I didn’t approve them. Nonsense. I received no request from them. Then! just after they canceled my order I see they re-list the EXACT same book set for 75 dollars more. Then they ignore my request to honor my purchase. Extra disappointing because there were many sets from other sellers for the same price at the time, no more of course. Waste of my time! I needed those books to occupy my child while I teach on-line. Thanks jerks!

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  9. Wow, and it just happened to me! Attractive price on a unusual book, order cancelled. Why doesn't amazon discontinue doing business with them? Oh, what a fool I am. Its all about money. What is happening to our conntry.

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  10. Just had the same problem with them for Goldberg, Jim "Rich and Poor". But for $40

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  11. I just had a transaction with them on Abebooks where I paid US$96.87 (Price US$ 91.38 and Sales Tax US$5.49). The book arrived from Amazon Warehouse with an invoice for US$64.90! I asked them for a refund of US$31.97 since they claimed there was a "clerical error". I think this is the Amazon prime scam where a seller lists items from Amazon and sells them as if they were their own. It's against Amazon's policy, but Amazon does nothing about it.

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  12. Too late, I purchase a book, I am still waiting, they said on 30 Dic
    and don´t give trucking number. Iam worry about.

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  13. Just fell into the same trap. I bought a signed copy of a photography book for $123 and they purchased the book from Amazon and had it shipped to my house. Receipt in packaging shows $75. Time to get on the phone and see what can be done.

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  14. I ordered a book about Tommy Lasorda the day he died, through Amazon from Glass Frog Books. I never got a tracking number and only today, 3 weeks later, did they finally respond and say they have no idea where my order is! They claim they will refund the charges. I suspect I will have to fight them for that, based on what I'm reading here. Do not order from them!

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  15. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I almost bought a book from them. They have over 4 million books listed on AbeBooks.

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    Replies
    1. I was going to purchase a book through them (abebooks/glassfrog) today as well and the price is now different from yesterday in my cart, so no thanks and thanks for these comments.

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    2. I ordered a book by Lou scheiemer Celebrating a Filmation generation on Sept 8 2021. Then recieved a message it was being shipped to me here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. THen the same day SEpt 10, another messaage wa sent in the evening that I was being refunded. After reading all the reviews I will let all people I know in the Canadian Military and all volunteer organizations I work with , about 30 to inform them not to deal with Frogbooks. Also informing the government their name and consumer protection services about their shady dealing. I have a very long web reach and all these contacts will pass on to others not to deal with Frogbooks.

      Delete
  16. Appreciate the warning, thank you!

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  17. Same story, rare book listed for low price, I ordered, order got canceled. Will have to check, whether I got charged...

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  18. I didn't know about their reputation and bought a book through Amazon. Thankfully it arrived (!) earlier than expected (!!) and for the actual price I paid (!!!). I'll keep my eyes open in the future.

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  19. Wow, I wished I had seen this earlier - found a copy of "Dragonfly in Amber" that I have been looking for, purchased it but what I received instead was an audiobook (on cassettes!) version instead...label from a totally different company in a totally different state! At least I got my $ back.

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  20. I just checked my cart and now my price is different meaning it went higher (for a book) and this is just from yesterday, so I will not be ordering from that company glassfrog on abebook website thanks to these comments.

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  21. I just ordered a book from them (through AbeBooks) because they are located in the US (to avoid overseas shipping delays that are common these days). Moments after I placed my order, my credit card notified me that an overseas purchase had been approved. Is Glass Frog Books just an algorithm? I immediately cancelled my order and found another source that will arrive to me in two days.

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  22. GlassFrog books is run by Joshua and Johnathan Boos of Dallas.
    They have at least two dozen accounts on Amazon.
    Google Joshua Boos, and add search terms like 'sellercentral' or 'badbuyerlist'.

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    Replies
    1. Actually. GlassFrogBooks is one of the few bookjacking companies that is NOT run by Boos. It is owned by David T Sadler. You can find more on him - including his picture - on GITHUB.

      Delete
  23. Thanks for the warning, i was about to buy something from them but i've been burned by this specific book several times so i decided to google them.

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  24. Good to know!!! Thank you for the warning! I was about to place a large order with them and after seeing this, I'm going elsewhere! I can't stand these BS companies who pull this shady circus. Talk about no self respect! Abebooks keeps allowing these shady people to do business on their site and I'm about done with them too!

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  25. They just did the same thing to me, hence how I found this thread. The book is still listed at now 5x the price but they refunded my order with no word as to why but it still said shipped, finally got a response that there was a "problem" with the book and it was cancelled. It is a text book for a class I needed asap amd now I'm hoping the other website I found comes quickly before I fall behind 😖.

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  26. Wish I would have found this thread sooner. Sadly bought a book from them almost a week ago, no tracking number was given. After asking them for one they said they would look into it. After reading all these I'm very sure they will not do so and Abe books will probably be no help with getting my money back.

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  27. 09-13-21 still happening off of abe books link . . . they cancelled it, a $40 hard cover when the soft covers were running between $150 to $1000+ USD . They said it was cancelled because someone else bought it before I could order it.

    There was also one not from glassfrog but from knowledgepond off of amazon it was $100 near new book hardcover when the soft covers were running from $100 - $1500, they cancelled it because they couldn't ship to address but usually amazon tells you that before you can place the order. 5 mins later, Amazon said to reorder and use a continental US address, and should work but now I can't find the book from that same seller and that seller doesn't have it listed . . . so I think they realized they could get it at higher pricing and pulled it to sell on collectors market on the side.

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  28. Ditto the same thing happened to me. Interestingly, they are supposed located near my home in Southern California, yet no business license, business address or physical location can be found.

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  29. Ditto. They did the same thing to me. Interestingly enough, they are supposed located near my home in Southern California. No business address or physical location can be found.

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  30. GlassFrogBooks just changed their name on Amazon. They are now 'GF Books'.

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  31. Complete scam artists. I doubt even half the five star reviews are real.

    They claimed they had a rather rare book I was interested in for relatively cheap ($10). I ordered it, got no tracking info, then two “delivery by” dates passed. In the interim id noticed they listed the same book (rare, as I said) for 7 times the price. $70. They refunded their bogus order.

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  32. Correction: I initiated a successful refund after they said it had been “lost in the mail” when I complained I hadn’t received the book in 6 weeks (four days after the second delivery by date.
    Complete scammers.

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  33. They are now GF BOOKS on Amazon

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  34. I ordered from them and then was given a refund with no explanation. But the order showed it had been shipped. It was scheduled to be delivered today and now shows late. I am unable to contact GF Books. I was not charged, but am hesitant to reorder from another vender until I get verification it is not coming.

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  35. GlassFrogBooks are scammers and the support system is null, they say "No, we can't do this" or "I don't know" to everything you ask, and they refuse to send pictures of the items saying that they have the warehouse in another building (yeah bullshit), also their item descriptions are always the same for every article, copy-paste for all of them. Avoid buying from this seller, is not worth.

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  36. Never recieved my book and refused to provide a refund or resend it. They are 100% scammers.

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  37. Ordered 2 books from GF Books on Abe Books. Got a confirmation with a single tracking number for both books. First delivery, from Amazon Fulfillment in Monee, IL, contained only one book and packing slip from Amazon showing it was purchased "Paid via credit/debit" for $40.90, that's $47.14 less than what I was billed for the book. I asked about the second book and got this response from GlassFrogBooks
    "After reviewing your order and speaking with our warehouse staff I was told that your order was shipped in separate packages.
    Shipping items in separate packages can reduce a packages weight which keeps shipping costs low. It also increases our warehouses dispatch time since employees can package an item without having to coordinate with another employee. These methods are used to keep our costs low and expedite dispatch time.
    I am still waiting to hear back from the warehouse for your remaining items tracking information. However, I can confirm all your items have definitely left the warehouse"
    Two days later still no tracking number for the other book.
    (Maybe they can tell me where to find a shipper which will ship two books in separate packages for less than two books in one package.)

    This confirms to me the first comment above "GrassFrogBooks is a bookjacker"

    Abe Books shows more than 4,770,000 book listings from GL Books in Hawthorne CA. Google shows no GL Books in Hawthorne. Amazon says GL Books is at 154 Grand Street, 5th floor, NY, NY. That floor was recently a WeWork space. I will not order from GL Books, nor from Abe Books, an Amazon subsidiary, again.

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  38. I made typos in the post above. All references are to GF Books NOT GL Books.

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  39. GFBooks on AbeBooks, GlassFrogBooks, etc... Whatever this scammer calls himself.... They significantly overcharge, total bookjacker, and respond if you do not include a site's customer service. Once you involve customer service, they go completely silent, like a child in trouble. The owner should be embarrassed and barred from every site. They send damaged products and expect us to be stupid enough to return the items and "hope" we get our money returned. My order was shipped directly to me with the details from GF buying the item and having it shipped to me from another company. I reported it all to AbeBooks and followed up every single day until something was done. I'll continue to report and share the details everywhere until this guy gives up and quits. He wanted to waste my time? Now he will see how much time I have to dedicate to exposing his bullshit.

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  40. I just had a bad experience with GF Books. I ordered a book for $92 including shipping and received it from Amazon with an invoice for $49. I contacted GF Books and asked for a refund of $43 since it turned out the book didn't cost nearly as much as what I paid for it. Steven of GF Books wrote back that there was a mistake in the invoice. I scanned the invoice from Amazon and emailed it to him to prove that there was no mistake - the book was right and my address was right. Steven wrote back saying I need to return the book and he will refund my money. I wrote that I want the book, but I don't want to pay a $43 mark-up for him to buy the book from Amazon, which I could have done myself, except that I was trying to support an independent bookseller. Then Steven wrote that he won't refund me any money. What a crummy company.

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  41. There is no Stephen. The guy who you are corresponding with is probably David T Sadler

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  42. They actually managed to send me the rare book I was looking for, but it came very damaged despite being advertised as "New." At least I got a refund though.

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  43. They don't 'sell' books so much as algorithmically parasitize other sellers' listings for as many titles as they possibly can. Their bots are simply adding $x Their sources are legion; it's usually a good bet that if they (rather suspiciously) have the cheapest offer on, say, Amazon, it's probably because they can get it for at least $15 cheaper on eBay, Biblio, etc.


    When you buy from GF / Glass Frog, it always, always means that GF has to turn around and buy it somewhere else. And it often happens that the copy their bots based their offer on has already sold to someone else. They don't want to tell you this, because it sounds relatively less scammy to claim they had condition problems at their 'warehouse.'

    In their defense (ho ho), it's unlikely that they're *deliberately* re-listing the book you ordered for $30 at $900. They simply never had it in the first place, and could not acquire it at a profit from any third parties. The $900+ is just the bots automatically recalibrating their bookjacking price after cancellation.

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  44. Oh no, I just ordered a Power Rangers Omnibus from them for my sons birthday because it was cheaper ($87 from them vs $200-$500) than what I could find on eBay and had kind of side eyed it because of how cheap it was but figured it might have been a one off were someone was just wanting to get rid of it. No I’m worried it’ll never show especially since no tracking was provided.

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  45. Ordered a book this past weekend, advertised as $36.05 with free shipping. Tax was added by Abebooks. The charge was posted to my card on Monday, and the same day, an additional charge for a small amount was also posted, payee Abebooks. My bank said it was a "service charge/International fee". Abe books insists there was only the one charge, amounting to the bookprice and tax. I did receive a tracking number from GF Books, but I'm wondering if I will actually receive the item (it probably won't be in the advertised condition, if one does arrive). I became suspicious when that second unexplained fee appeared in my list of bank transactions and I had to contact the bank to find out what it was. I found this disturbing thread too late. I don't understand why this fraud has been going on for several years and Abebooks has done NOTHING about it. To me, Abebooks is complicit in this scam. I will be very cautious in the future, and will avoid buying through Abebooks.

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  46. Thought I better make a followup post, further to the one immediately above. My book actually arrived today, Wednesday, having been ordered on Sunday. It happily, is in even better condition than advertised (was listed as "very good").It is a long-out-of-print book, and it is in superb, like-new condition! While Abebooks is looking into the strange service charge/international fee, I thought it was interesting that the item arrived in a blue Amazon Prime shipping envelope, there was a packing slip from Amazon tucked in the envelope that had a different Purchase order and Order ID#. (yes I am aware that Amazon "owns" Abebooks) Also, rather strangely, there was a printed insert with "A gift for you--Enjoy your gift". So this seems to support claims of "flipping" books--GF Books bought the item from another seller, and had it sent to me, thus the "gift" note. I feel like I've been played, but on the other hand I did get what I wanted, and it is a perfect specimen. All of a sudden, the mystery fee doesn't outrage me; but it is the principle of the matter, it was a charge that I was not advised/notified about, I discovered it during my usual daily review of banking activity. Based on the ~50 comments above, I will still be vigilant if I order from Abebooks again; I guess I was lucky and dodged a bullet on this one, as they say...

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