Someone bought an e-book of mine and then returned it
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (52201)
Staten Island, New York
April 19, 2021 5:14pm CST
Someone bought one of my e-books on Google, which gave me some revenue. Very shortly after seems the buyer chose to return the book because I see a negative amount for the same e-book in my sales data.
What I find weird is that the negative amount is not the same as the revenue amount but instead higher. I don't understand why that is. They should take away from me the same amount I made for the sale of the book, not more than that. I guess I will have to contact Lulu to find out.
Returns on books should not be allowed. People can just buy a book, read it, and then return it and get their money back. That means authors won't get paid for those sales. That is unfair.
9 people like this
8 responses
@Deepizzaguy (122232)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
19 Apr 21
I agree with you since all author work very hard to write a book to earn a living.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
19 Apr 21
It's not easy to sell books so when a sale happens the last thing I wanna see is a return.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (122232)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
21 Apr 21
@lovebuglena You are right.
2 people like this
@gamayngbaki (1601)
• Cebu, Philippines
20 Apr 21
I agree. It's most unfair for authors of books.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Apr 21
I wonder why they have this policy that you can return books.
1 person likes this
@popciclecold (40214)
• United States
21 Apr 21
@lovebuglena Someone buying an ebook, and cancelling it.
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Apr 21
@popciclecold Yeah. I had no idea one can even do that. It happened to me some years ago. Someone bought another e-book of mine and then returned it. At that time what they took away from me was exactly the same amount I made from the sale.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (84823)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
19 Apr 21
It might be unfair, but that's how the world works. Sometimes someone buys something they don't intend to buy. So that's why return policies are in place.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
19 Apr 21
I understand that but it's different with books. People can buy a book, read it, and return it just to get their money back, even if they liked the book.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222624)
• United States
20 Apr 21
I agree with you on both counts. Returns shouldn't be allowed; and it should be returned at the same amount. Unless there is a restocking fee?
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Apr 21
Well, in my case, the issue is the money I made when the book was purchased by someone is less than the amount they took away from me. It should be the same. At least from what I understand. As an example, I made say $6.30 for the purchase so if the book was returned they'd have to take away from me $6.30, not more than that.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Apr 21
@LindaOHio Yes. I filled out the form they have. Waiting for their reply. So far all I got is confirmation that it was received and will be forwarded to those that respond to the inquiries. It may be a while though before anyone responds. 
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (222624)
• United States
21 Apr 21
@lovebuglena Have you contacted Lulu?
1 person likes this
@porwest (112864)
• United States
20 Apr 21
It is unfortunate, and I agree with you. It's sort of like buying a hamburger to my mind. You eat it and you don't like it. Is it right to then ask for your money back? Maybe. Maybe not. I have a rule, if I don't like something I just don't go there again, buy another song, buy another book...or whatever it is.
Sorry you lost the sale. But I WOULD find out why the return amount is higher than the amount it was sold for.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Apr 21
I emailed Lulu about it. Will see what they say when they reply. Probably will be a lot time before I get a response from them. If I earn $X for the sale of the book they should take away exactly that amount, not more. And not less either. And the sale happened in the US so there is no foreign currency and exchange rates to deal with. The amount should be the same.
If I earn $X for the sale of the book they should take away exactly that amount, not more. And not less either. And the sale happened in the US so there is no foreign currency and exchange rates to deal with. The amount should be the same.2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Apr 21
@porwest I think it will be a while before I hear back from Lulu about my inquiry.
2 people like this
@porwest (112864)
• United States
21 Apr 21
@lovebuglena I would think so too. Let us know what you find out. It seems something is wrong with how they are calculating the return for sure. Especially since it is an e-book. There's no physical product to restock or discard. It's odd how they came up with the number.
1 person likes this
@everwonderwhy (7355)
•
15 May 21
Wow! Congratulations on your finished book and got published. Good job! I hope Lulu looks well after you on your future book sales. I wish you success, too.
What's the title of your book? Is it on Kindle too?
@lovebuglena (52201)
• Staten Island, New York
15 May 21
I have many books published. The specific book I mention in this discussion is called Treasure.
1 person likes this
