is a fantastic service for subscribers that can easily and conveniently return a book to audible. this great feature makes it easy for us to take chances with audiobooks from authors and narrators we don’t know yet. But there are two things you absolutely must know before you decide to return an Audible book!
what you need to know before returning a book to audible
There are two big problems with the audible return policy, one affects you directly as a subscriber and the other affects you indirectly because it’s so bad for audiobook creators. And that’s also something you, as an avid listener and maybe even a fan, should be aware of!
You are reading: How to return books on audible
how often can you return a book on audible?
audible’s information about how often you can exchange an audiobook is misleading to you as a customer. Many Audible subscribers think that the audiobook service works like a digital library, that you can always get multiple audiobooks for one Audible credit, just by returning audiobooks over and over again. Sometimes customer service even directly encourages you to return an audiobook once you’ve finished it and get another one! audible promotes the exchange service everywhere all the time. so it’s easy to assume you can keep returning titles and get something new to your audible credit. this is pretty misleading!
Because it can be a really nasty surprise when one day you get an email from audible saying that you’ve “abused the rules” and won’t be able to trade titles anymore. I don’t know about you, but an email like that would definitely freak me out!
audible credit system is not a library. when you return audible books after finishing them, it’s like buying a book at your local bookstore, taking it home, reading it, and then returning it for something else.
Somewhere in the smallest print, Audible talks about two exchanges per year. you may be able to return more books, either directly on their website or through customer service. but they definitely won’t let you get more than one audiobook for every audible credit! And that brings us to the second issue you need to be aware of every time you want to return a book on Audible that you’ve already listened to…
what happens when you return a book in audible?
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audible is a giant company and belongs to amazon. so one could assume that it is part of their service to you as a customer to trade audiobooks, something they pay for to gain an edge over their competitors. but they don’t! (… pay for it, that is). trade-in is paid in full by the creators of the audiobook!
That seems fair and makes sense when an audiobook is poorly produced and no one can bear to listen to it. or when the story doesn’t really have the promised duration. protects Audible and American subscribers from fraudulent publishers.
but when listeners finish a book, reasonably enjoy it, and then audible encourages them to return the audiobook anyway, you assume the author and narrator will be paid for their work, right? they definitely deserve it!
Many people thought it was Audible who took the loss by trading, paying royalties to audiobook creators and giving them their money back or Audible credit. until a glitch in audible’s royalty statements allowed creators to see how unexpectedly high the rate of return was and how much money they lost.
this caused protests among the creators of audiobooks. Don’t forget that audiobooks are not only created by large publishers like penguin random house, but also by many smaller publishers and self-published authors who pay to create audiobooks out of their own pockets.
So what Audible offers you as a seemingly elegant service, it actually didn’t cost you a dime! they just didn’t pay royalties to the creators of audiobooks, many of whom are small businesses or just one person trying to share their work with us. Creating an audiobook costs thousands of dollars, and if they don’t get it back, authors probably won’t turn more of their books into audiobooks, which hurts us as listeners too!
As a result of this protest, audible has adjusted its rules and will now pay royalties on returned titles if they are returned more than 7 days after original purchase. that’s definitely a win for independent publishers!
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but it’s still very important that you, as an audible subscriber, know the big picture and know under what conditions authors and narrators are paid for the audiobook you listen to.
how to return a book in audible
now, let’s get to the technical part of returning an audible book! Please note that you cannot make audible feedback in the app. you have to use a browser yourself to return a book to audible or contact customer service.
for a feature that audible touts so much, they’ve surprisingly buried it deep in the settings. but you can get there with 3 clicks, although they are not the most intuitive.
It’s perfectly fair and understandable to trade books you don’t like and can’t finish, or can’t listen to due to technical issues. or because you discover that your audiobook is read by a.i. and not narrated by an actual voice actor. but consider carefully which titles really deserve to be traded. remember, it’s not always audible who takes the loss!
how to get cheaper audiobooks
If you’ve “repurposed” audible credits before because audiobooks are so expensive, there are many better options for more affordable audiobook listening that will ensure you can listen to as many audiobooks as you want, legally, while the authors and narrators get paid fairly. fair.
One option is to sign up for an unlimited audiobook subscription, like Audible Plus from Audi (it’s actually free for you as an Audible Premium Plus subscriber), Kindle Unlimited from Amazon, which includes thousands of audiobooks, services like Scribd or digital libraries like riot that you can use with your local library card. Another option is to buy cheap audiobooks that cost much less than audible credit, like amazon whisper deals or chirp audiobooks.
Check out my guide to binge listening to affordable audiobooks to find the best audiobook service for you!
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