Publishers and Booksellers I Hate

"Evelyn C. Leeper" <eleeper.TakeThisOut@optonline.net> wrote in message news:<0Z3ld.68358$fF6.32281077@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...
 > Haunted River wrote:
 >
  > > I'm getting heartily sick of wading through acres of book match emails
  > > and book search results which list the following annoying and useless
  > > info:
  > >
  > > 1. New reprints of every book ever printed e.g. catch-all companies
  > > who offer practically every book in their local library, individually
  > > photocopied and stuck together with sellotape, just for you. Worst
  > > offender appears to be A1 Books who offer new books by a variety of
  > > dodgy looking publishers. Extremely scant book info, no indication of
  > > print run size etc etc. Might be acceptable at Amazon but not at ABE.
  > >
  > > 2. Sellers who only sell photocopied pages from old periodicals.
  > >
  > > These people should have been strangled at birth. Their book listings
  > > are spam. I hope they get their ties caught in the office paper
  > > shredder and that they die a slow tortuous death.
 >
 > The ones I hate are those who have a listing which sounds reasonably
 > priced, and then turns out to be just the dustjacket (or worse, a
 > photocopy of the dustjacket!).


You're right, I forgot those cheapskates. Rack 'em up and we'll shred them all....<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

"Evelyn C. Leeper" <eleeper.DeleteThis@optonline.net> wrote in message news:<0Z3ld.68358$fF6.32281077@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...
 > Haunted River wrote:


  >
  > > 2. Sellers who only sell photocopied pages from old periodicals.

I agree that such sellers are rubbish-dealing scrounges.
In my mind's eye I can almost see some grubby, near-sighted
SCROUNGE living in a cockroach-infested shed and doing
something like that, as much to annoy others as to eke
out a living. He or she probably has a can of
cold Campbell's soup for lunch, too.

There is another sort of seller I find suspicious, though,
and I wonder if others have had experiences with them.

Ever price out a book and, for instance, find a dozen or
so offered at prices ranging between thirty and sixty
dollars depending on condition -- except for one dealer
who offers a "fine copy" for $3.95? (That sort of
thing, I mean.) I suppose I should play detective
one time and order something like that, just to see
what I would get. On the other hand, keeping in
mind that it can be just as galling to be swindled out
of $3.95 as $396, I have never followed up on that sort
of phony-looking pitch. After all, if the other
fine copies (continuing with my hypothetical example)
were in the fifty-to-sixty dollar range, a legitimate
seller could probably sell a genuinely fine copy for
$35 - $40 easily. So why $3.95? My guess is either
the seller has no book or -- if he is not an out and
out crook -- has perhaps fooled himself into thinking
that a less than fine (perhaps far less!) is in
fine condition.


Mr. Palmer
Room 314<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

Another pet peeve: "booksellers" who can't distinguish a book club edition,
even when asked. I had the unpleasant experience recently of asking a seller
before I bought a book to make sure it was not a BC edition. Said seller
reassured me, but when I received the book--lo and behold, it was a book club
edition!

I complained to the seller to get a refund, but said seller refused on the
grounds that it wasn't actually a book club edition, even when I provided them
with the specific points which marked it as such!

So far I've just ignored the matter. As collectors, would you push harder for
a refund or just boycott the seller from then on?


--
"Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang, as when
single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang."

--Benjamin Franklin
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

Courtney Love wrote:

 > I complained to the seller to get a refund, but said seller
 > refused on the grounds that it wasn't actually a book club
 > edition, even when I provided them with the specific points
 > which marked it as such!
 >
 > So far I've just ignored the matter. As collectors, would you
 > push harder for a refund or just boycott the seller from
 > then on?

You should push for a full refund, including postage both ways. If the
seller doesn't comply, step up the pressure. If you bought via ABE or
similar, complain to them. If that doesn't work, name 'em and shame 'em in
every forum you can find (including this one!).

--
John
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://rarebooksinjapan.com" target="_blank">http://rarebooksinjapan.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

Both?

But I do want to add on the pricing/grading message at the start of this
thread. I know someone who buys books at prices I can never believe (low I
mean) and resells them at a modest mark up because he expects dealers to buy
them and leaves room for them to make some money from it too. He says the
volume he does makes up for the lower % of markup.

So I'd email the seller you found and question him. Request additional
pictures of the book before buying. If he's legit, he won't mind and if he's
not, he'll tell you to buzz off. (I'm saying he but it can be either he or
she...LOL).
ebay id = efc999.DeleteThis@aol.com
Billpoint accepted. References available
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

cloveclone RemoveThis @aol.comdotcom (Courtney Love) wrote in message news:<20041113232850.16189.00000606 RemoveThis @mb-m02.aol.com>...
 > Another pet peeve: "booksellers" who can't distinguish a book club edition,
 > even when asked.

I had that one on eBay a while back. When I wrote the guy, he wouldn't
admit he'd been wrong, but he grudgingly agreed to give me a refund.
Sometimes it's not worth the fight, and it wasn't (in this case) worth
the postage to return the book for the small amount I'd paid.

Jim<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

"John Yamamoto-Wilson" johndeletethis.RemoveThis@rarebooksinjapan.com wrote:

 >You should push for a full refund, including postage both ways. If the
 >seller doesn't comply, step up the pressure. If you bought via ABE or
 >similar, complain to them. If that doesn't work, name 'em and shame 'em in
 >every forum you can find (including this one!).

I did indeed buy through ABE. To whom on ABE should I complain?


--
"Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang, as when
single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang."

--Benjamin Franklin<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

palmer.william DeleteThis @sbcglobal.net (Bill Palmer) wrote in message news:<13ea6e3a.0411122105.17d1f59 DeleteThis @posting.google.com>...
 > "Evelyn C. Leeper" <eleeper DeleteThis @optonline.net> wrote in message news:<0Z3ld.68358$fF6.32281077@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...
  > > Haunted River wrote:
 >
 >
  > >
   > > > 2. Sellers who only sell photocopied pages from old periodicals.
 >
 > I agree that such sellers are rubbish-dealing scrounges.
 > In my mind's eye I can almost see some grubby, near-sighted
 > SCROUNGE living in a cockroach-infested shed and doing
 > something like that, as much to annoy others as to eke
 > out a living. He or she probably has a can of
 > cold Campbell's soup for lunch, too.
 >
 > There is another sort of seller I find suspicious, though,
 > and I wonder if others have had experiences with them.
 >
 > Ever price out a book and, for instance, find a dozen or
 > so offered at prices ranging between thirty and sixty
 > dollars depending on condition -- except for one dealer
 > who offers a "fine copy" for $3.95? (That sort of
 > thing, I mean.) I suppose I should play detective
 > one time and order something like that, just to see
 > what I would get. On the other hand, keeping in
 > mind that it can be just as galling to be swindled out
 > of $3.95 as $396, I have never followed up on that sort
 > of phony-looking pitch. After all, if the other
 > fine copies (continuing with my hypothetical example)
 > were in the fifty-to-sixty dollar range, a legitimate
 > seller could probably sell a genuinely fine copy for
 > $35 - $40 easily. So why $3.95? My guess is either
 > the seller has no book or -- if he is not an out and
 > out crook -- has perhaps fooled himself into thinking
 > that a less than fine (perhaps far less!) is in
 > fine condition.
 >
 >
 > Mr. Palmer
 > Room 314

I ordered a book through Alibris at $4.94 plus shipping, but Alibris
had to refund to my credit card (posted by my financial institution on
October 13). Now it is November 14 and Alibris still lists the book.
I wonder why.

David Ames<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

Courtney Love wrote:

 > I did indeed buy through ABE. To whom on ABE
 > should I complain?

Well, to contact them directly go to:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/ActionRequestInsert" target="_blank">http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/ActionRequestInsert</a>

But before doing that it would probably be as well to check out the "refunds
and returns" links here:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://dogbert.abebooks.com/docs/HelpCentral/RoboHelp/bookbuyerhelp/bookbuye" target="_blank">http://dogbert.abebooks.com/docs/HelpCentral/RoboHelp/bookbuyerhelp/bookbuye</a>
rhelp.htm

Or, if that doesn't wrap properly:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://tinyurl.com/6c5sj" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/6c5sj</a>

--
John
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://rarebooksinjapan.com" target="_blank">http://rarebooksinjapan.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate 

You've been a great help John. Thanks!


--
"Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang, as when
single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang."

--Benjamin Franklin
 >> Stay informed about: Publishers and Booksellers I Hate