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What is a credit card pre-authorization?
What is a pre-authorization hold?
When you place an order on AbeBooks, our payment service provider immediately sends a “pre-authorization” request to your credit card to determine whether the charge will be successful. This holds the funds, but does not charge your card. Pre-authorizing allows us notify you as quickly as possible if a credit card charge will be unsuccessful so that any issues can be resolved.
When am I charged?
We only complete the credit card charge when the seller indicates they will ship the order.
Have I been double-charged?
Depending on how your credit card issuer displays pre-authorizations and completed charges to you, this may sometimes look like an additional charge. However you have not been double-charged for your order(s). If you would like confirmation, or if the pre-authorization is still reflected by your next monthly statement, we encourage you to reach out to your credit card provider for more details.