It’s a fantastic service for subscribers that you can quickly and conveniently return Audible books. This great feature makes it easy for us listeners 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 trying to exchange a book on Audible!
What You Need to Know Before You Return Audible Books
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 many Audible books can you return?
Audible’s info on how often you can exchange an audiobook is misleading to you as a customer. Many Audible subscribers are let to believe that the audiobook service works like a digital library. They think you can always get several audiobooks for one Audible credit simply by returning audiobooks over and over again.
I have even heard stories of customer service directly encouraging listeners to return an Audible book once finished to get another one! I have seen Audible promoting the exchange service everywhere, all the time.
So, it’s easy to assume that we listeners can just keep returning Audible books and get something new for our Audible credit. But that is wrong!
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 won’t be able to exchange audiobooks 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. If I were to return an Audible book I enjoyed after finishing it, it’s as if I bought a book at my local bookstore, took it home, read it, and then gave it back the next week to get something else.
How many Audiobooks can you return?
The current Audible return limit is probably something around 2 audiobooks per year. They don’t give a specific number in the terms of services. But they say that they actively monitor for abuse!
If you have had bad luck with low-quality audiobooks, you will likely be able to return more than two books, especially if you contact customer support and talk to them directly. But shockingly, I have heard from Audible subscribers who said they received an email informing them that the return policy is blocked after just one return!
Of course, I don’t know whether this is entirely true or what was going on with these accounts. But I’m mentioning it because I want to warn you that it’s not a good idea to make a habit of returning two or more audiobooks every year just to stretch out the credits, thinking it’s one of the membership perks.
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 have already listened to…
What happens when you return a book on Audible?
Audible is a giant company and belongs to Amazon. So, it would be natural for us to assume that it’s part of their service to us as customers to exchange books, something they pay for to get an edge over competitors. But they don’t! (… pay for it, that is.)
The audiobook creators pay for our returns!
When an audiobook is badly produced, and no one can stand listening to it, it seems fair and makes sense that the creator doesn’t get paid. Or when the story doesn’t actually have the promised length. It protects Audible and us subscribers from fraudulent publishers.
But when we listeners finish a book, enjoy it reasonably much, and then this huge company encourages us to make use of the return policy, we could assume the author and narrator would be paid for their work, right? They 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 Audible credit. Until a glitch in their 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 in 2020 and 2021. Don’t forget, audiobooks aren’t only made by big publishers like Penguin RandomHouse, but also by 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 creative work with us.
Creating an audiobook costs thousands of dollars, and if authors don’t make that back, they likely won’t turn more of their books into audio, which hurts us as listeners, too.
As a result of this outcry, Audible has adjusted its rules and now pays royalties for returned titles if they are returned later than 7 days after the original purchase. That’s definitely a win for indie publishers!
And, in a second step, they stopped offering returns for Audible books purchased with money, e.g., Whispersync deals.
But you see why I find it really important that you, as an Audible customer, are aware of the bigger picture and know under which conditions authors and narrators are paid for the audiobooks we listen to!
How to Return a Book on Audible
Now, let’s get to the technical part: How to return an Audible book on desktop and mobile step-by-step.
For a feature Audible promotes so much, I feel like they are hiding it surprisingly deep in the settings. But we can still get there in 3 clicks – even though they aren’t the most intuitive ones.
Returning Audible Books in a Desktop Browser
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. Tap on Purchase History.
Now you will see all the Audible books you have previously purchased. Those that are eligible for return will have a link “Return this title” next to them. Tap return and choose your reason for exchanging it. And that’s it!
You will also be refunded a credit when you cancel a pre-order. But audiobooks bought for money are excluded from returns.
Returning an Audible book on Mobile
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.
Why can’t I return my Audible book?
You can only exchange Audible books that you have purchased with a credit. If you have bought the book with money, e.g., during a sales event or in a deal, you can’t return it.
We also don’t needs to return books that are borrowed from the Plus catalog. These are included in your monthly fee and you can just delete them from your library if you no longer want to see them.
So, audiobooks are only eligible for returns if they were purchased with an Audible credit in the last 365 days!
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 found 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 refunded. Remember, it’s not always Audible that takes the loss!
What to do with finished Audible books?
If you borrowed a book through Audible Plus, you can either just leave it in your library or click on the 3 dots next to the title and tap “Remove from library”.
If you bought the audiobook for an Audible credit or money, it’s yours to keep, and you can just leave it in your library to maybe listen to again in the future.
To save space on your phone, you can remove the audio file by clicking “Remove from device”.
Happy listening, and may all the audiobooks you buy not suck 😉
Eline Blackman (pronouns: she/they) fell in love with books as a child – with being read to and reading herself. 10 years ago, she bought her first Audible book. It was love at first listen! An average of 250 audiobooks per year has become the new normal and you will rarely see Eline without a wireless earbud. Romance and Fantasy are the go-to genres for this audiobook fan.
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