eBay

emmbook · ‎07-08-2015

Probably not news to most here, but a good summary of how Bookjackers operate:

http://www.zubalbooks.com/article-bookjacking.jsp

bookthink · ‎07-08-2015

Arbitrage unchained!

chagrinbooks · ‎07-08-2015

Wow! A gosh-darned list, even. No one around these parts ever said that John & Co. don't have cajones. Good for them.

rockmaple · ‎07-08-2015

@emmbook wrote:
Probably not news to most here, but a good summary of how Bookjackers operate:

http://www.zubalbooks.com/article-bookjacking.jsp

I posted this back in March but it may be useful here:

Your photos may be used by Ebay as their stock photos. You have the choice to opt in or out of this feature. In "My Account" under "Site Preferences" you can make your selection.

fine.books · ‎07-09-2015

@bookthink wrote:
Arbitrage unchained!

I LOVE that melody!

.

taylor_memorial · ‎07-09-2015

@chagrinbooks wrote:
Wow! A gosh-darned list, even. No one around these parts ever said that John & Co. don't have cajones. Good for them.

A partial list, I'm sure.

Missing are A-1 Books and Better World Books, who take book-jacking to a whole new level by creating their own webistes to offer their jacked wares and accept feeds from sellers like Zubal and me (if we opt in) and then put us competing with ourselves on Amazon, etc.

And no doubt a new jacker pops up every week or two.

Listing on all the sites is one sure defense against the described behavior. I don't list on ABE, but I do list on Amazon. I don't list on Alibris, but I do list on half.

Once the playing field has been leveled by these bulldozers, and ABE becomes fee-free to list and Alibris returns to that model there will be little room for the bookjackers who search the book sites.

There will always be the strays selling on etsy and bonanza and the like.

oldmagazines · ‎07-09-2015

Sorry I dont quite understand. In the example described by OP, bookjacker #1 buys an uncommon book for $25. Presumably he re-lists that book for $90. Why do bookjackers 2, 3, and 4 also list the book for a high price? They dont own the book so how can they profit from listing it?

emmbook · ‎07-09-2015

@oldmagazines wrote:
Sorry I dont quite understand. In the example described by OP, bookjacker #1 buys an uncommon book for $25. Presumably he re-lists that book for $90. Why do bookjackers 2, 3, and 4 also list the book for a high price? They dont own the book so how can they profit from listing it?

Bookjackers don't actually have their own stock. They list books they don't have.

In your example, the bookjacker lists someone else's book for $90. He snags a buyer who didn't shop around, and then orders the $25 book and has it sent to the unsuspecting buyer.

Any competing listings in the same price range are other 'jackers who also don't have the book.

lludwig · ‎07-09-2015

chagrinbooks - In providing such a list, I would hope that he is absolutely sure that each one of those named are doing it and not just guessing...imo proof is needed. Wouldn't it be horrible if you looked at the list and saw your name on the list just because you fell into whatever 'standards' another person used to say you were a bookjacker!!

In one of the comments, either on that page or at one of the links provided on the same topic, someone had mentioned another bookseller by name and location as a seller who he said 'bookjacked' based on the fact that the person had sold a number of books to that bookseller and the person listed books at a high price.( which doesn't make the person a bookjacker anyway) However, I have my doubts that person who commented knew what he was talking about. The bookseller has always listed books high in his/her specialty. I first learn about the bookseller in the last century on the original book board from another seller who sold her a book. Both of them sold books in the same area and both had first started selling books long, long ago on the services before ebay and Amazon came along. Within a year or so, I too had sold a book to that seller and it wasn't a drop shipment - not saying that maybe that bookseller didn't already have a buyer based on a clientele list of people wanting the book.

I have a couple of other comments, but time to head out the door to a book sale. It is one where we will pick up our friend who we turned on to booksales and has turned into a good little scout at the small booksales in his area. Recently, he has found us several books that sold for $50! Today I will give him a "lesson" on very aged-toned paper and what that usually means - walk on by! lol

bookthink · ‎07-09-2015

IMO, Keith, the list is libelous. Take one bookseller who has been around for many years - Quality7. Now look at a page of their inventory >>>

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?ie=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DE...

Does this look like bookjacking?

Or mygrandmasgoodies >>>

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?ie=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DE...

It may be that some of the sellers on this list have played around with this approach, but build a business model on it? I don't have time to go through the entire list but doubt creeps in.

I'd pull that list down yesterday and pray that nobody served me papers.

chagrinbooks · ‎07-09-2015

I can't disagree that it's risky, but like I said - cajones. Not only that but Z&Co can afford more litigation than most. I have zero idea whether or not this is a good decision, I just know that it's incredibly bold and JZ is no dummy. I also don't know jack about the legal ramifications and I don't understand how drop shippers maintain operations beyond reproach.

It all seems so needlessly complex. For what it's worth, the Laissez-faire folks out there could simply use caveat emptor/caveat venditor as a completely defensible position on the matter of drop shipping and/or price leveraging in a free market. I'm not one of them. It feels bizarre and ethically unsound, but that's true about so many countless capitalistic endeavors. Why should books be exempt from market exploitation? For goodness' sake, homes are no longer a truly reliable investment.

taylor_memorial · ‎07-09-2015

"beyond reproach" is going well beyond what most "booksellers" (they don't even qualify for bookslinger, to my mind) have for a business model

you may recall somebody posted a video 'lesson" on how to sell volumes of books.

Rule #1: you can't please everybody.

Most of them maintain a 94% level of satisfaction or below on Amazon, and not with feedback levels where 1 negative will put them in that toilet for months (which is where I am).

I've sold quite a bit to New World Archive--I did not see if they were on "the list" or not, but they play that game across the Canadian border parlaying the difference in postage to their profit. (and crossing the border like a commuter).

Dropshippers, as we call them around here, are part of the business.

Many years ago, there were plenty discussions regarding being a "book scout" as opposed to a "book seller": how is a scout different from the same online seller who get's "jacked" in Zubal's terms?

Another question, equally important: two examples.

One: James W Riley illustrated volume, selling for $900 and up, I offer one on consignment for $600 which is 10X more than my consigner woul have sold me the book. I sell it within two weeks to a dude who runs an upscale graphics shop in South Beach, my full price. He can probably get double (or more) for the book to his clientele.

Two: half a dozen portfolios of fine lithos comprising sample books of wallpaper and wall decor from the twenties. All less than complete. I sold these for $500 after about 6 months of asking $90-125 each for them to a gentlemen who sells prints in New Jersey.

In either case have I been jacked?

We'll leave National Book Co out of the discussion. There's no language severe enough to describe them.When Amazon smacks down a company that large there's no question of their ethics. They had none.

bookthink · ‎07-09-2015

I've always called them dropshippers, too. I've done some dropshipping myself in instances where I couldn't find a book that had been purchased or it had been damaged. The consequences of canceling an order are often more punitive. I don't see a moral issue here. It's just a buyer and a seller - two sellers - coming together on a price, albeit an elevated one. All of my books are overpriced, and I sleep pretty good at night.

chagrinbooks · ‎07-09-2015

Craig, that's different. You do what you must. Don't we all? I'm talking about a business model that is based mainly on selling other people's property in a clandestine, dubious manner with intent to deceive. The bookselling world is A tough enough racket without further testing the confidence of the consumer. Overpricing your books is great and I even get to do it now and then, but they're mine - in hand, firsthand, inspected and approved. To me, that's as basic as it gets.