Audible Continue Listening to Your Library Has a Book Returned
It's a fantastic service for subscribers that you can easily and conveniently return a book on Audible. This great feature makes it easier for us to take chances on audiobooks by authors and narrators we don't know yet. But there are two things you absolutely need to know before you decide to return an Audible book!
- What You Need to Know Before You Return a Book on Audible
- How often can you return a book on Audible?
- What happens when you return a book on Audible?
- How to Return a Book on Audible
- How to Get Audiobooks Cheaper
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What You Need to Know Before You Return a Book on Audible
There are two big issues with the Audible return policy, one affects you directly as a subscriber, and the other affects you indirectly because it is very bad for audiobook creators. And that's also something you as an avid listener and maybe even fan need to be aware of!
How often can you return a book on Audible?
Audible's info on how often you can exchange an audiobook is misleading to you as a customer. Many Audible subscribers think the audiobook service works like a digital library, that you can always get several audiobooks for one Audible credit, simply 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 just keep returning titles and get something new for your Audible credit. This is rather misleading!
Because it can make for a really nasty surprise when one day, you get an email from Audible stating that you have "abused the rules" and wouldn't be able to exchange titles again. I don't know about you, but an email like that would definitely freak me out!
The Audible credit system is not a library. When you return Audible books after finishing them, it's as if you bought a book at your local bookstore, took it home, read it, then gave it back to get something else.
Somewhere in the smaller print, Audible talks about two exchanges per year. It's likely that you'll 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 that you have to be aware of whenever you want to return a book on Audible that you already listened to…
What happens when you return a book on Audible?
Audible is a giant company and belongs to Amazon. So one could assume that it's part of their service to you as a customer to exchange audiobooks, something they pay for to get an edge over competitors. But they don't! (… pay for it, that is.) The exchange is paid for entirely by the audiobook creators!
That seems fair and makes sense when an audiobook is badly produced and no one can stand listening to it. Or when the story doesn't actually have the promised length. It protects Audible and us subscribers from fraudulent publishers.
But when listeners finish a book, enjoy it reasonably much, and then Audible encourages them to return the audiobook anyway, you do assume the author and narrator would be paid for their work, right? They definitely deserve to be!
Many people thought it was indeed Audible that took the loss for exchanges, paying royalties to the audiobook creators while giving you back your money or Audible credit. Until a glitch in Audible's royalty statements allowed creators to see how unexpectedly high the return rate actually was and what a huge amount of money they lost.
This led to an outcry among audiobook creators. Don't forget, audiobooks aren't only made by big publishers like Penguin Random House, but also many small publishing houses and self-published authors who pay for audiobook creation out of their own pocket!
So, what Audible offers you as a seemingly gracious service actually didn't cost Audible a dime! They simply didn't pay royalties to the audiobook creators, 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 make that back, authors likely won't turn more of their books into audiobooks, which hurts us as listeners, too!
As a result of this outcry, Audible has adjusted its rules and will now pay royalties for returned titles if they are returned later than 7 days after the original purchase. That's definitely a win for indie publishers!
But it's still really important that you as an Audible subscriber are aware of the bigger picture and know under which conditions authors and narrators are paid for the audiobook you listened to!
How to Return a Book on Audible
Now, let's get to the technical part of returning an Audible book! Please be aware that you can't do Audible returns in the app. You either have to use a browser to return a book on Audible yourself or contact customer support.
For a feature Audible promotes so much, they have burrowed it surprisingly deep in the settings. But you can get there in 3 clicks – even though they aren't the most intuitive ones.
First, you go to your Audible Account Details in the upper right corner. Click on your name to get to the dropdown menu, Account Details will be the first item in the menu that opens up.
On the new page, you will see a menu on the left-hand side with your Membership details. Click on Purchase History.
Now you will see all the Audible books you have previously purchased and those that are eligible for return will have a button next to them. Click return and choose your reason for exchanging the Audible book. And that's it!
In the past, Audible books used to stay in your library after returning them but this has been fixed. Once you exchange an audiobook, you will get your refund and the book will disappear from your app.
It's perfectly fair and understandable to exchange books you don't like and can't finish, or that you can't listen to because of technical issues. Or because you find out that your audiobook is read by A.I. and not narrated by a real voice actor. But please consider carefully which titles really deserve to be exchanged. Remember, it's not always Audible that takes the loss!
How to Get Audiobooks Cheaper
If you've "re-used" Audible credits before because audiobooks are so expensive, there are many better options for more affordable audiobook-listening that will ensure that you can listen to as many audiobooks as you want – legally – while authors and narrators are paid fairly.
One option is signing up for an unlimited audiobook subscription like Audible's own Audible Plus (this is actually free for you as an Audible Premium Plus subscriber), Amazon's Kindle Unlimited which includes thousands of audiobooks, services like Scribd, or digital libraries like Hoopla that you can use with your local library card. Another option is to buy cheap audiobooks that cost significantly less than an Audible credit, like Amazon's Whispersync deals or Chirp audiobooks.
Check out my guide on affordable audiobook binge-listening to find the best audiobook service for you!
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Source: https://lovelyaudiobooks.info/return-a-book-on-audible/
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