Help Centre

The Government of Canada has announced a Federal Holiday Tax Exempt Program, offering GST/HST relief on select items from December 14, 2024, to February 15, 2025. "Physical books" are included in the list of tax-exempt items during this period. Eligible items will automatically have GST/HST excluded from the tax calculation at checkout, so you won’t be charged for taxes on qualifying items.

For more details on the GST/HST exemption, click here. See below for additional information on qualifying items.

These items qualify as physical books: 

Most published, printed books (hardcover or softcover):

• Updates of printed books 
• Guide books, and atlases that do not mostly contain street or road maps 
• Magazines and periodicals (that have no more than 5% of their printed space devoted to advertising) supplied by subscription, if all the consideration is paid during the relief period and only for those magazines or periodicals that are delivered during the relief period 
• Physical audio recordings of printed books, if 90% or more of the recording is a spoken reading of a printed book, including abridged versions (for example, a cassette, compact disc, or reel-to-reel tape version of a published book) 
• Physical recordings of a performance of a published play 
• Bound or unbound printed versions of scripture of any religion, such as the Quran, the Bible, prayer books, missals, hymn books, and Torah scrolls 
• Illustrated versions of religious scriptures (for example, comic book versions) 
• Printed books that are wrapped or packaged for sale as a single item with a physical read-only medium that is made up of either a reproduction of the printed book or material that makes specific reference to the printed book 

These items would NOT qualify and will be taxed: 

• E-books 
• Books designed primarily for writing on, such as address books, diaries, journals, and notebooks 
• Colouring books, scrapbooks, sticker books, sketchbooks and albums for photographs, stamps or coins 
• Agendas and calendars 
• Cut-out and press-out books 
• CD-ROMs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs with textual or visual information
• Cost of shipping

All orders placed from November 1^st – December 25^th have until January 31^st to be returned.

If you would like to place an order with us, please follow the steps listed below:

• Log into your account

• Browse the site for the book(s) you would like to order

• Once you have clicked on a book, add it to your shopping cart by clicking on the 'Add to Cart' button

• Once you have selected all the books you would like, click the 'View Cart' button in the same book window or the cart icon at the top right of the page

• Verify the books and quantities you have selected

• If you have a coupon code, enter it ‘Coupon Code’ field

• Once your order is complete, select ‘Proceed to Checkout'

• Enter your shipping and payment information

• If all of the information is accurate, click the 'Place Order' button

• Once your order is submitted, you will see an order confirmation message as well as receive an order confirmation email to verify your purchase details.

For your convenience Book Outlet has an American and Canadian website for you to shop on. When placing your order on bookoutlet.ca, your order will be charged in Canadian funds. Should you place your order on the wrong website, you will be charged the current exchange rate by your bank, which will be the full responsibility of the customer and not Book Outlet.

We accept the following payment methods when placing an order: VISA, Master Card, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

When a credit card is used to place an order, Book Outlet will initially process a pre-authorization charge on your credit card. This pre-authorized charge will be pending on your credit card statement until your order is shipped. Once your order is shipped from our warehouse, the pre-authorized payment will be complete and the funds processed.

The most common reasons for a credit card to be declined are listed below:

• If there is a middle initial printed on the card, it needs to be included in the “first name” field. It is important that the name be entered exactly how it appears to be printed on the card.
• The billing information provided on your order must match exactly the address that was used to register your credit card. If you are not sure of this address, please reference a recent credit card statement.
• If you have made several attempts to put the order through, your credit card company may flag your account from purchasing.

If the above steps do not assist in having an order successfully placed, we encourage you to contact your credit card company directly with any further inquiries.

In cases such as this, PayPal has charged your account, but we did not receive your order or payment in our system. The charge on your PayPal account will be reimbursed back to you by PayPal within 1-5 business days, as it is not tied to an order with us.

Order processing times in our warehouse may take 1-3 business days (excluding weekends and holidays). However, during peak seasons with higher volumes, order processing can take 3-5 business days (excluding weekends and holidays).

Once the order is shipped, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number, which will also be posted on your Book Outlet account under Past Orders. 

*Please note: that once the tracking number is assigned, we kindly ask you to allow 3-5 business days for the carrier to begin posting updates on their website. For more information regarding shipping timeframes, please visit our Shipping page. 

To see the current status of an order, please visit your Past Orders page for details. This page lists all of the orders you have placed with us. The last column of the list will inform you of the order's current status. If the order has shipped you may click on the status to view the tracking information regarding the order.

UNF status means that an order was not able to be fulfilled. While a rare occurrence, this means that the items in your order had become unavailable while your order was being processed for shipping. UNF will be cancelled, and the pre-authorized payment on your card will drop within 3-5 business days. 

Once an order is placed, changes to the order cannot be made. However, if your order has not begun processing in our warehouse, you can cancel the current order and place a new one. To cancel an order, please visit your Past Orders.

*Please note: if the order has already begun processing, the order will no longer be able to be canceled. In the event that your order is no longer eligible for cancellation, you can contact our customer experience team within a maximum of 30 days from when the order was delivered to arrange for a Return Authorization Number. Please see Returns for our return policy.

If your order has not begun processing, please contact us and our Customer Experience team would be happy to advise further.

*Please note: if the order has already been shipped, changes can no longer be made. Please see Past Orders to check the status of your order.

As we want to ensure all orders are processed as quickly as possible, you may only cancel your order for a brief period of time before we begin processing it in our warehouse. Once your order has started processing, it is no longer able to be canceled. To cancel an order, please visit your Past Orders. Once an order has been canceled, please allow 1-5 business days for any charges to be reversed.

If you have questions regarding your order, please contact our Customer Experience team.

*Please note: In the event that your order is no longer eligible for cancellation, you can contact us within a maximum of 30 days from when the order was delivered to arrange for a Return Authorization Number. Please see Returns for our return policy.

Due to the nature of our inventory, in rare cases, the cover for a book received might not match the one in the display picture; however, the ISBN will still be the same as listed. Please be assured that the content will always be the same as described.

If you have received the incorrect ISBN or title, please contact our Customer Experience team within a maximum of 30 days from when the order was delivered. Please include your order number, contact information, as well as a brief description of the issue along with the title(s) affected - we will be happy to assist you further.

When you shop on Book Outlet, not only do you save at least 50% off brand new books, you’re also covered by our Cover to Cover Guarantee. As a company of passionate readers, we stand behind our products and can guarantee that our books are in good reading condition. Should you receive a book in a condition that’s unreadable due to damage or defect, please reach out to our Customer Experience team within 30 days of receiving your order and we guarantee we will make it right. 

If your order arrives and you notice a shortage or an error with your order, you must report it within a maximum of 30 days from when the order was expected to be delivered. In some events, a shortage could reflect a short-shipped title. Please be sure to review your shipping details or your Past Orders to confirm if any books had been short-shipped.

As well, larger orders may be shipped in more than one package. In these cases, each package will have its own tracking number. To view the tracking number(s) for your order, please visit your Past Orders page.

Short-shipments: 

As a seller of publisher overstock, our entire inventory is cycled through very rapidly. This means that on a rare occasion there is an update delay for our inventory. While a book may have been available at the time your order was placed, it became unavailable while your order was being processed for shipping. Please be assured that you will not be charged for any items not included in your order. Your pre-authorized payment will be adjusted accordingly to reflect this change and you will only be charged for the items included in the order at the time of shipment.

If you would like to add the short-shipped title(s) to your Book Outlet wishlist, you will get an email notification if/when it becomes available again.

If you have a registered tax exemption certificate and require a tax-exempt status for your account, please contact our Customer Experience team before placing your order so we can provide you with instructions on validation.

Once your certificate has been submitted, you will be notified by email within 1-2 business days once your account is validated for tax exemption. 

Please note: Without a proper tax-exempt validation, prior to an order being placed, taxes will be non-refundable.

Each coupon is identified by a Coupon Code and can have different requirements and rewards. Please check your coupon - all requirements stated on the coupon must be met to receive the discount. The following terms and conditions apply to all coupon codes:

• Coupon values are as specified on the coupon.
• Limit of one coupon use per customer.
• Coupons are redeemable only on Bookoutlet.com and .ca web sites and not the retail store. At times, coupons may be limited to one specific site; please check your coupon to verify which site(s) the coupon applies to.
• A coupon may not be used in conjunction with the purchase of gift cards and certain items may not be eligible for discount. This may include existing sale items or specialty products.
• Coupon codes may not be combined with other offers in the same order. Generally, only one coupon code may be used per order.
• A coupon code cannot be used to pay for taxes, shipping and handling or other charges. If the product in an order is less than the coupon value, the remaining value of the coupon will not be applicable to any additional order costs.
• If your coupon code has a minimum purchase requirement, taxes, shipping and handling and other charges do not apply towards the minimum purchase amount.
• Each coupon is valid for a limited time only and expires on the date specified in the offer.
• Use of any unauthorized coupon code or any abuse of the coupon code will result in the order being cancelled.
• A coupon code has no cash value.

Promotional coupons may be applied by entering the code directly within the coupon section of your cart. It will then determine if your purchase meets the coupon requirement and deduct the appropriate amount from your purchase.

Please note that coupons must be entered at the time the order is placed, discounts cannot be applied retroactively. Coupons will be applied toward the cost of the product only.

Enjoy free shipping on all orders of $50+ (before tax, shipping, and after discounts/coupons). Please note: gift cards do not count towards the free shipping minimum. 

Delivery times for orders vary based on the shipping destination. For more detailed information, please visit our Shipping page.

If your order does not arrive within the estimated shipping time provided on our Shipping page, please contact our Customer Experience team for assistance within a maximum of 10 days from the expected delivery date.

Unfortunately, at this time, we currently only offer standard shipping.

We offer shipping to all locations within Canada and the United States. Unfortunately, at this time we do not ship Internationally.

Once your order has been shipped from our warehouse, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number. Larger orders may be shipped in more than one package. In these cases, each package will have its own tracking number.

All tracking numbers can also be viewed in your Book Outlet account under Past Orders.

*Please note: once the tracking number has been assigned, we kindly ask you to allow 1-3 business days for the carrier to begin posting updates on their website.

Once an order has been shipped from our warehouse, carriers require at least 1-3 business days for tracking posts to begin updating (this does not include weekends). *If your tracking number was assigned at the end of the business week, tracking updates may be delayed to compensate for the weekend closures.

During its journey, it is not uncommon for some gaps to occur between tracking updates of a package. This is especially common during times of higher volumes with the couriers. Despite lapses in tracking, packages will still be in transit to you. However, if your order does not arrive within the estimated shipping time provided on our Shipping page, please contact our Customer Experience team for assistance within a maximum of 10 days from the estimated delivery date.

In a situation such as this, we ask that you first check around your residence as it is possible the mail person left the parcel in an obscure location to avoid the elements and theft. We kindly encourage you to check in with neighbours as it is possible this parcel may have been delivered to their location by accident. In addition, reaching out to the local post office may be beneficial as they will be able to investigate their records of this delivery and hopefully retrieve your package.

Should these efforts not result in your package arriving to you, please contact our Customer Experience team for assistance.

If you don't absolutely love your Book Outlet purchase, contact our Customer Experience team within 30 days of receiving your order, and our team would be happy to assist by providing you with return instructions and a Return Authorization number*.

Upon receiving your return back at our facility, you will be reimbursed. The original shipping charge and the cost associated with sending the item back to us will not be available for refund. We do not accept returns without a Return Authorization Number. 

*If returns should become excessive or unwarranted then Book Outlet has the right to restrict or disallow returns at our discretion. 

Most of our coupons require a minimum purchase (i.e. $5 off an order of $35). If product is returned from an order in which a coupon was used and the new subtotal is below the required minimum for the coupon used, then the refund will be reduced by the value of the coupon redeemed.