Blue Rocket Books

Blue Rocket Books was founded by former college students and is now based out of Austin, TX.

We offer competitive pricing on all books (not just textbooks), pre-paid mailing label, payment via check or paypal, and what everyone seems to feel is great customer service.

For every book we purchase through our website we donate a book to a local literacy project.

We try and make the experience fun and enjoyable for us, and our clients.

Rating:

Features:

Pays via PayPal
Pays via Check
Vendor Pays Shipping
Provides Shipping Label

Website:
http://www.bluerocketbooks.com/

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Rating	Date	Comments
	Jan 2012	Once again I went with Blue Rocket Books to sell back my textbooks as the first time I used their service it went very well. I have not had any issues with them so far and plan on continuing to use their service.
	Dec 2011	Easy company to work with - their site is well laid out and they offered me the best price for the book I needed to sell. They processed the payment in less than 48 hours and could not have been easier to work with. Glad to have the extra cash - especially around the holidays.
	Dec 2011	Had an old textbook laying around that I didn't need nor want. Found a good price with Blue Rocket and liked the fact they could pay me right into my business PayPal account. As soon as the received the book my payment was sent to my PayPal account. Was really happy with the whole process and the fact that it went so smooth and got me some extra money. Very easy to work with and will use them again if the need arises.
	Oct 2011	http://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/books-used-and-rare/blue-rocket-books-in-austin-tx-90078216 this is a link to the BBB ratings for Blue rocket they say that they did not do anything wrong. After dealing with them over a set of DVDs the said that did not receive, I see why their accreditation was revoked, they say that it was revoked because they dealt with a a customer outside of the BBB agreements that they signed. Any one who has ever dealt with the BBB knows that the person filing the complaint is kept informed about the actions of the company in question and can choose to continue with the investigation or to drop it. If they satisfied the customer then why did they loose their good standing with the BBB when all the customer had to do is say they he or she was satisfied with the company? After them saying that my stuff did not arrive I would not recommend that any one use this company unless you have money to throw away. My roommate tested them and was told that the book that he sent was not in good shape and they blamed it on the post office although the book was brand new. So ultimately seller be cautious with any transaction that you have with them.
	Sep 2011	I sent about $30 worth of books to Blue Rocket and was paid promptly with no issues. Their customer service is friendly and they get back to you right away. I will definitely use them for some bigger sales in the future.
	Aug 2011	Unfortunately, they rejected 3 out of 4 of the books I sent back (the only one they accepted was the one that was worth less than $12 while the rest were priced at over $50) because there was too much highlighting. Instead of sending them back to me, they recycled them when I know another book company would have purchased them. Very upset. I will not use Blue Rocket Books again in the future. Blue Rocket Books Response: If 3 out of your 4 books were rejected for excessive markings doesn't that include the problem lies with you and not our grading guidelines? Our inspectors follow industry standard guidelines and those from Amazon. The following companies also do not send back rejected books: Valore Books: "Any textbooks that violate one or more of our Textbook Sell Back Policies will be recycled." TextbooksRus "If you send a book that we do not buy back, the book will not be returned to you and will be recycled. Some examples of books that we do not buy back are water damaged books; books with damaged bindings (e.g., pages loose, missing, or falling out); defective books; and books wth torn/taped covers, law books or study guides/workbooks with any highlighting/writing." First Class Books "Once you send your books, they cannot be returned for any reason." Powell's, etc, etc, etc Basically, no one in the industry returns a rejected book except Amazon. We are no different than anyone else in the industry in our return policy or grading standards. Your books would have been rejected by any other buyback company and not returned.
	Aug 2011	My experience sounds so similar to others here: the books were 1 year old, in great condition, and packaged with extrap adding. "Unfortunately, the following books were rejected: 9780078682278 -damaged binding" Subsequent email said "we can only assess the book as it arrives after the post office has done their worse." So again, it's always the fault of USPS. I question their "we have to by law recycle rejected books - they are not being resold" This seems to be too common of a theme here for them. I constantly deal with USPS rules, regulations and packaging, and understand how books are to be shipped. My recommendation is to stay away from this company - far away. Blue Rocket Books Response: Everyone that has a book rejected claims it was packaged in concrete and still in new plastic. They also seem to think the Post Office handles their package with white gloves on a winged pony. The truth is the Post Office loses or damages 2-5% of our media mail packages each month. Notice it is not zero to 5%, which means their service is terrible. Even with tracking or delivery confirmation packages can and do get lost all the time. Most people don't mail the amount of packages we receive in a day over their entire life so they never get to see: 1) Packages ripped open by sorting machines 2) Boxes destroyed 3) Packages that have clearly been driven over And much more, but of course, the Post Office can't be at fault, we are obviously a dishonest company. No one tries to research the Post Office whom you can't grade, and has NO information regarding their lost and damage rates - think that is because they do a great job? Their service is also getting worse with their budgetary cut-backs, but again we must be at fault. We can only inspect a book as it arrives in our warehouse. There is no financial incentive for us to reject a book, as we only lose more money by paying to have it recycled after already paying to have it shipped to us. We are often reselling books to a wholesaler with strict condition guidelines which is why we have to have the same condition guidelines. It is clearly stated on our website that rejected books will be recycled - and in very large bold letters on the required packing slip. If people choose to not read the terms and conditions they legally agreed upon when they sell us a book, what can we do? They are allowed to slander us across the internet and we have no recourse. Oh, and for those of you that point to the BBB - they revoked us because we made a customer happy outside their email system. Now they want us to pay to be re-accredited - not a very impartial system, and we are not going to be part of a "pay for the grade" system. There are good articles about how to package textbooks on WikiHow and other places - follow those recommendations and you will be fine. Feel free to ask the owner of BookScouter about his experiences with Media Mail and he will confirm the lost and damage rate.
	May 2011	At first glance this website may seem unpopular to customers because of the rating. I'm here to tell you that this rating is false. Although, it may take a while for books to ship sometimes, the people that work for this company are very customer friendly and will try to work out problems with you the best they can! I know because I was a customer with a problem in selling textbooks myself! I completely recommend this service to anyone who is trying to get rid of textbooks that they don't need.
	Apr 2011	I sent my books back on 2/8/11. It's not 4/11/11 and they say they never received them. Given it was well packaged and I used their PRINTED mailing label and clearly had my return address on it, I just don't believe their statement that the post office "lost it." I think they are just pocketing the $$ if you send a book back media mail (which is untraceable.) Suggest that you find another used book vendor to sell to. Blue Rocket Books Response: The USPS loses millions of pieces of mail sent via First Class every year. Media Mail is treated much worse than First Class, and we typically see a loss rate of 2-5%. We can confirm this because it is the same loss rate we experience when we ship out via Media Mail, even with tracking information. Do an internet search for USPS loss rates and you will find no information - please don't crucify us for the performance of the USPS. Furthermore, you can add your own insurance and tracking or delivery confirmation to a media mail label.
	Mar 2011	I sent in one book 12/29/10 using the label they provided. There was no tracking, just being sent to a Denver sorting center. I waited till 2/15/2011 to contact them and I was told to track through post office. How I don’t know…When I mentioned in one email to Blue Rocket that the reviews of late have not been very good, I got a reply wanting to know where I saw that and how wonderful they are. It’s now 3/18/11 almost 3 months later still not showing book was received and out $65, I should have sold to Amazon for a few bucks less. Think twice before using Blue Rocket Books to sell your old ones. Blue Rocket Books Response: The USPS loses millions of pieces of mail sent via First Class every year. Media Mail is treated much worse than First Class, and we typically see a loss rate of 2-5%. We can confirm this because it is the same loss rate we experience when we ship out via Media Mail, even with tracking information. Do an internet search for USPS loss rates and you will find no information - please don't crucify us for the performance of the USPS.
	Mar 2011	Not satisfied with this company. I have been waiting for 2 months already for my payment and I still haven't got anything. I just emailed them today to see what they will say. Blue Rocket Books Response: Your order was most likely lost. Media Mail typically takes 5-15 business days to arrive, but sometimes as long as 30 days. When we receive and inspect an order an automatic email is sent out. Why did you leave us negative feedback before emailing us?
	Mar 2011	I contacted them about a month after shipping my books and they responded saying the books never arrived and I should contact the Post Office to file a lost mail claim. Researched them a little more and found the BBB revoked their accredidation about a week after I shipped my books. I sold back books to Abesbooks, sellbackyourbooks.com, and bookbyte with fast payment and no issues. Blue Rocket Books Response: Yes, the BBB revoked our accreditation because we solved a customer's issue outside their silly email response system. The customer even emailed them that they were totally satisfied, and the BBB acknowledges that email, but now refuse to answer our emails and calls. In fact, if the BBB was held to the same standards they want businesses to follow they would get a big "F".
	Jan 2011	I sent two books to BlueRocket around Christmas time (Dec. 26th or 27th) And it's now Jan. 29th and they say that they have yet to receive my books. Something's not right about that... Blue Rocket Books Response: The USPS has lost mail to the tune of several million pieces each year, even for First Class. Anyone that deals in large volume of mail pieces can tell you the USPS has terrible service and loses between 2 and 5% especially with Media Mail. If you are worried about it you can add insurance or tracking to your media mail label. Please don't crucify us for the performance of the USPS.
	Oct 2010	I chose blue rocket books due to the high reviews, but I have been far from satisfied. I sent my books to them on 9/22/2010. According to the tracking number on the USPS website my books arrived in Austin 9/28/2010. The USPS website stated, "Your item arrived at the AUSTIN, TX 78746 processing center at 8:56 am on September 28, 2010 and is ready for pickup." I emailed them on 10/4/2010 asking them why they are still showing my books have not been received and I received a response 2 days later on 10/6/2010, stating that they still had not received the books in their warehouse. It now has been 13 days since I mailed them off and 8 days since the post office reported they arrived in Austin. Then all of a sudden 2 days later I check my account and it says that my books were received on 10/6/2010. According to their website payment is issued via paypal 3-10 days after the books are received. Well we are now on day 10 and there is still no money in my paypal account. This has just been a hassle. In 6 days it will be a month since I took my books to the post office and I still have not been paid. I also mailed a larger order of books to TEXTBOOKSRUS.COM on the same day and I received payment from them within 5 days on 9/27/2010. Needless to say I will not be using Blue Rocket Books again. Blue Rocket Books Response: This was when we tried a new service with the USPS and they had an internal error which sent all packages all over Austin instead of to our warehouse. However, their system definitely reported packages as "in Austin", but we didn't receive them till weeks later. This is why we no longer offer the option to purchase tracking or insurance via our website, despite the USPS claiming their systems is fixed. Very sorry your package got caught up in the mess.
	Aug 2010	A very good recent selling experience.
	May 2010	I've been selling books for nearly 4 years now, and have dealt with almost every company on BookScouter.com... Blue Rocket is definitely in my top 3. Fast, prompt at notifying and fixing problems, and most importantly... fast payment! Good job!