Returning an Audible book seems straightforward; Audible even promotes it constantly. But there are hidden limits that can get your account flagged, and most subscribers don’t know returns can hurt the authors and narrators who created the audiobook. Here’s what you absolutely need to know!
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 led 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?
Audible doesn’t state an exact limit, but it’s shockingly low, possibly as few as 1-2 returns per year. They actively monitor for “abuse” and will flag accounts. Don’t assume returns are unlimited!
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 returns feature 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…
Related article: How does Audible work?
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 return a book within 7 days of purchase – even if we finished and enjoyed it – the audiobook creators don’t get paid at all.
Many people assumed it was Audible taking 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 Random House, but also by many small publishing houses and self-published authors who pay for audiobook creation out of their own pocket!
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.
What’s changed: As a result of this outcry, Audible has made some improvements. They now pay royalties for returned titles if they’re returned later than 7 days after purchase. That’s definitely a win for indie publishers! And they stopped offering returns for Audible books purchased with money, like Whispersync deals.
So the situation is better than it was. But you can 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!
Should You Return This Audiobook?
DO return if:
- Technical issues make it unlistenable
- AI narration wasn’t disclosed
- Significantly shorter than advertised
- Poor audio quality or production errors
- You genuinely can’t finish the book after listening to the first few chapters
If you’re returning because you dislike the book: Consider waiting until after the 7-day window so the creator still gets paid for their work. Yes, you’ll have to wait for your credit for a week, but it means the author and narrator get compensated while you still get your money back.
DON’T return if:
- You finished and enjoyed it (even if just “okay”)
- Just wasn’t your taste in the end, but it was well-made
- You’re trying to “stretch” your credits
Remember: Returns within 7 days mean creators don’t get paid at all. After 7 days, creators keep their royalties even if you return.
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.
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.
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 need to return books that are borrowed from the Audible 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 AI 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!
And if you’re still not satisfied with your Audible experience? No worries, check out how to cancel Audible!
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. 11 years ago, she bought her first Audible book. It was love at first listen! An average of 200 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.
Thanks for talking about the issues with returning books from a small publisher’s perspective! I was only made aware of that quite recently, and it seemed unbelievable that Audible was treating its audiobook creators so poorly. Good to know there’s at least something in place for them now!
Yeah, for a long time I thought that this was simply a loss Audible/Amazon took. Just like when you return an item to Amazon and you know they’ll just put it in the trash. It’s really nasty that such a huge company put all of this on the indie authors. First, they entice them to publish exclusively through ACX/Audible, and then they offer their subscribers a service like this on the back of the same indie authors. I found this honestly shocking!
On top of that, returned Audible books used to stay in your library, making the decision to return another book all the much easier since you could listen to it again regardless. Fortunately, they’ve fixed that too now. When you give it back, it is indeed gone!
Actually, when you return something from Amazon, the seller loses money also. Like the whole amount of the product (it might depend somewhat what the product is), but that was our experience. Amazon is SO corrupt!
now they are rip[ping off customers as well, they banned customers for abusive level of returns. In one case an hearing impaired autistic who loved redial bought the whole series at once and couldn’t hear the dramatized recording and they banned him even though he bought a defective book and a book by accident and keep stonewalling him with the same banned notice over and over and even when he doesn’t ask about returns, they remind him anyways.
this was quite the informative read. I had no idea that authors and narrators lost money when a book was returned on Audible. I have only ever returned a book once on Audible and it’s because there was an issue with the actual file, so they had me return it but then provided me with a new download, so I hope that author and narrator still got paid for that one.
Just to say it again, I don’t think anyone should feel bad for using the Audible returns policy fairly! It makes so many listeners more willing to take chances on a new-to-them narrator or author. And it’s a good protection against low quality publishers who try to game the system. That being said, some indie authors have actually had to *pay* Audible money because of weird tax things. It’s really awful and I can’t believe people have turned it into a TikTok trend to finish books and then return them. It’s fair to call that specific behavior theft.
I’m glad Audible allows returns. I bought a book that looked interesting, but about 20 minutes into it I realized I was not going to enjoy it. I immediately returned it for a credit.
Yes, me too, and that is an absolutely fair use of the Audible returns policy 🙂 That’s how it should be used!