Alibris
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy as a shopper hunting cheap used books, manga, or textbooks . Reddit buyers vouch for the prices and legitimacy.
New check
Comparison
Alibris vs Ebay
Alibris and Ebay both land on Depends.
Ebay
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it as an individual selling used, rare, or collectible goods . reach is unmatched and startup cost is zero.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Bargain used-book hunters | Casual sellers of used goods |
| Who it's not for | Sellers . fees and pricing rules squeeze margins | Low-margin, high-volume new-goods sellers |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. | Mature platform with real breach history: 145M users notified in 2014; recent CVEs mostly hit third-party integrations. |
| Support quality | BBB, PissedConsumer, scam-thread complaints | Users hunt for real human support |
| Public sentiment | Reddit buyers vouch for Alibris's low prices and legitimacy, while Trustpilot, BBB, PissedConsumer, and a scam-forum thread carry steady complaints about sellers, refunds, and fees.¹ | Sellers complain about stacking fees and buyer-favoring disputes, while buyers praise reach and bargains but find support hard to reach.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | Seller commissions stack on top of per-item fees, crushing margins on cheap books10 | Per-sale final value fees stack; cheap items can lose margin after fees and shipping |
Pick Alibris when
- Bargain used-book hunters
- Manga and out-of-print collectors
- Students buying cheap textbooks
- Casual music and DVD buyers
When Alibris is not a fit
- Sellers . fees and pricing rules squeeze margins
- Collectors needing strict condition grading
- Buyers who want strong refund dispute support
- High-volume bookstores picking one best marketplace
Pick Ebay when
- Casual sellers of used goods
- Collectors hunting rare items
- Hobby resellers and flippers
- Buyers wanting auction deals
When Ebay is not a fit
- Low-margin, high-volume new-goods sellers
- Brands wanting direct customer relationships
- Anyone needing guaranteed human support
- Privacy-sensitive users wary of breach history
Sources
- Alibris Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- Is Alibris legit? (r/MangaCollectors)reddit.comreview
review
- Bought a Book from Alibris (r/Scams)reddit.comreview
- Alibris BBB complaintsbbb.orgreview
- Alibris PissedConsumer complaintsalibris.pissedconsumer.comreview
- Selling at Alibris: why it's pointlessjkkelley.orgreview
- Alibris seller fees threadtapatalk.comreview
review
- Alibris seller program feesalibris.comofficial
- Alibris seller help (fees)alibris.comofficial
- Alibris gets $30 million in fundingzdnet.comnews
- Trustpilot reviews of ebay.comtrustpilot.comreview
- eBay on G2g2.comreview
- eBay Reviews & Complaints . ConsumerAffairsconsumeraffairs.comreview