AbeBooks Help Center

What is Description Parsing?

Description Parsing is the process by which AbeBooks will parse your book descriptions for attributes buyers look for when searching through the Advanced Search screen. Buyers also use these attributes to refine their search results after performing a basic title, author, or ISBN search.

We will parse your descriptions for the following:

  • Binding
  • Publisher
  • Edition
  • Dust Jacket
  • Signed

The attributes and their various abbreviations, as well as how Description Parsing interprets them, are listed below.

Using a dedicated field to provide book attributes is always more reliable than Description Parsing.

If you would prefer to have parsing turned off, simply contact Customer Support with your request.

If you do not use dedicated fields to provide your book attributes and you choose to turn Description Parsing off to correct incorrectly parsed data, you will need to re-send your entire inventory in order for the changes to be reflected online. Note that by turning parsing off, you risk making your inventory un-searchable by these attributes.

Note: Please provide attributes in only the description field or only dedicated attributes fields. Please use one or the other but not both. Adding information to both places can cause the attributes to be omitted from your listings, or cause them to appear twice in the description.

Description Parsing will check the description field of you book listings for the following terms:

First Editions

A book will be flagged as a First Edition if the description contains one of the following terms:

  • 1st Ed and none of: Reprint, Not 1st, Not a 1st, or 1st Thus
  • First Ed and none of: Reprint, Not First, or Not a First
  • First edition and none of: Reprint, Not First, or Not a First
  • 1st edition and none of: Reprint, Not 1st, Not a 1st, or 1st Thus
  • 1st and none of: Reprint, Not 1st, Not a 1st, or 1st Thus

Dust Jacket

A book will be flagged as including a dust jacket if the description contains one of the following terms:

  • JACKET and not the term NO DUST or NO JACKET or WITHOUT DUST or WITHOUT JACKET
  • DJ and not the term NO DJ or W/O DJ or NDJ
  • D/J and not the term NO D/J or W/O D/J
  • D-J and not the term NO D-J or W/O D-J
  • D.J. and not the term NO D.J. or W/O D.J.
  • D.W. and not the term NO D.W.
  • DW and not the term NO DW
  • D/W and not the term NO D/W
  • DUST WRAPPER and not the term NO DUST WRAPPER
  • DUSTWRAPPER and not the term NO DUSTWRAPPER

A book will also be flagged as including a dust jacket if the description contains:

  • A slash mark (/) and the slash mark is followed by a condition term, such as Fair, Good, Near Fine, etc., or letters indicative of a condition term, such as F, G, P, V, NF or AN. (For example a book with “/Fair” or “/NF” in its description would be flagged as including a dust jacket.)

Hard Cover

A book will be flagged as hard cover if the description contains one of the following terms:

  • HB
  • HC
  • HBK
  • HARD
  • HARDCOVER or HARD COVER
  • HARDBOUND or HARD BOUND
  • CLOTH
  • LEATHER
  • EMBOSSED
  • HINGE
  • H BACK
  • HARDBACK or HARD BACK
  • BOARDS
  • GILT
  • EX-LIB or EX LIB
  • BRODART
  • MYLAR
  • BUCKRAM

If a book is flagged as hard cover, AbeBooks will assume it has a dust jacket as well, unless the description specifically states that there is no dust jacket.

Soft Cover

A book will be flagged as soft cover if the description contains one of the following terms:

  • PAPERBACK or PAPER BACK
  • PAPERBOUND or PAPER BOUND
  • SOFTCOVER or SOFT COVER
  • SOFTBOUND or SOFT BOUND
  • PBK
  • PB
  • WRAPS
  • WRAPPERS
  • PROOF

Signed

A book will be flagged as signed if the description contains one of the following terms:

  • SIGNED
  • AUTOGRAPHED
  • PRESENTATION COPY

If any of the following phrases are used, the book will not be considered signed: INSCRIPTION IN INK, NAME IN INK, NOT SIGNED, UNSIGNED, DESIGNED, ASSIGNED, GIFT or OWNER.