We Need the Book Police!

[intermedia46]

Well, I've been ranting a lot lately!

That's because I keep finding plenty to rant about!

Like all these unscrupulous , unethical chiselers whom could have a proper career if they applied their guiles somewhere else! Maybe I'm being to kind! Methinks they would be beaten black & blue in the real world.

Here they are safe, hiding behind the anonimity of the madding crowd.

I thought I had found one culprit...than yesterday found another, with a different kind of scam.

Now, upon further sleuthing , I think they are both connected or in fact the same identity.

Both guys( or girls ) or whatever gender they wish to be, seem to use a catchphrase on their website!!

Yep! They may use sharp practices, but eventually they are not as sharp as they think.

I'd love to exchange notes with other discerning readers to see if my suspicion is correct.

At any rate, the real reason for this post ( other than to vent ) is the all ethical sellers should band together to observe & divulge any suspected fraud and once reported to the monitors , we will see prompt action (LMAO, see my other post ) Nobody is listening, and the monitors are asleep at the monitor!

I'm reminded of Sysiphus and the boulder...methinks we are doomed!

What say you...share your thoughts on this sad state of affairs! I'm out of here!

Bonne Nuit to all!...crap, it's morning!

[wiggy1-61]

Greetings,

Thanks for the information on people inflating their feedback and now understand the how to of it. That seems like a very poor way to make themselves look better than they actually are, and also it should be a easy way to get caught doing this.

  Otherwise, I bought two books on ebay and the seller had quite a few pictures of them with a small description of the condition of the books. He had a disclaimer stating clearly to study the photos prior to buying because the images showed the condition, discoloration of the pages etc. He also included the date they were published and the year of a reprint if that was the case.

Due to the wight it cost a few bucks for shipping but it was worth every penny of it! I got a 1914 and a 1898 book and they were ten times better than the pictures and the descriptions he wrote on them. I will buy more from this vendor and I wish I could tell his name to help both the book community as well as other ebay buyers to get great books cheaply, even with the weight/shipping issues.

Take care Intermedia,

wiggy1-61

[intermedia46]

First mistake I learned in 2001 on the Big River , was to describe a book  fairly accurately but putting a slight favorable spin on it, or even mention, as in one case , that a collector's paperback had tape-aid at both covers' corners. Than talking to a big time seller , she said every book she bought was brand new from the distributor , but she listed them as " Like New" She claimed they sold just as well and customers heaped praise in her feedback . I'm not sure if I completely subscribe to that policy, but since then I tend to de-emphasize the quality of a book by listing as VG + rather then LIKE NEW or Good + instead of VG. Everybody criteria of what constitute a Like New book differs, I ve seen some ex-library  books listed as Like New, once I received a moldy book described as " well used, but Good " wrapped in a grocery plastic bag, doomed for the trash of course...so in finality, do not be surprised to find books in better conditions than expected, that should be the aim of every seller!

[taylor_memorial]

I've been selling here for a long time. Since 56K modems. 
There were no pictures. EVER. Couldn't be done. Then it could. eBay started figuring out how to store them (meaning decided to invest in the server capacity) about two years later. 

Today, eBay will not allow a book without pictures but it will provide a stock photo of a blank screen if their ISBN catalog doesn't have one. Who you gonna call? Ghost-busters? Your complaint here is not with the seller, but with the venue. Who are the cops, in this case. 

There is a very large FB group: Vintage, Rare, and Antique Books that is visited by booksellers, book makers, book fixers, and book restorers as well as collectors and folks who just inherited a pile of books or a guy cleaning out a storage locker who thinks he might have found something.  

In those pages you will find very specific warnings to buyers of collectible (first printings signed) books about a couple of unscrupulous scam artists.  Naming names. Before Facebook was hatched by DARPA, the same thing was done on these pages: eBay squelched that because it wasn't nice. Shades of Darth Malarkey. 

Mostly I think your rant is one from a guy who isn't new to the business competing against newbies, ignoramuses, the occasional outright scam artists, and people who know what they are doing. And all I can really offer in the way of advice is this:

If you don't want to give up, then get used to it. Slinging stuff on eBay is easy money. Knowing the trade of used bookselling is a long, long process. As you grow into the business, your product knowledge, inventory, and audience will grow with you. You'll make money when the others don't. 

Right now, for example, I have about 3200 items for sale, mostly books. Offered to 320 million Americans and 3.2 billion online shoppers worldwide. Many are price conscious to the penny. I know I am because I am old enough to know when a penny bought a $1.00 candy bar.  Anyway: I can't compete with the megasellers, those who price their books at the bottom of the barrel and change the price by a penny or two when the grade goes down: thriftbooks (and their 47 aunts, uncles and cousins across the country); betterworldbooks, halfprice, and so on. Because my COST to ship a mmpb is $4.13 (today) and their's is less than a buck. Still. 

Just forget about the competition: the market sets the price, they don't. eBay provides a reasonable average sold price for what you offer: take the time to look and remember those pennysellers who leverage their volume sales are at the low end of the range because they have to stay there to keep their volume popping to keep their profit churning.  Take the time to picture the whole book, not use ebAY'S STOck phoTO.

[intermedia46 · Accepted solution]

Good advice for all. newbies and experienced sellers also. I'm sorry my post was perceived as a rant ( although it sounded like it ) 

Methinks I was just looking for kindred spirits! Whenever I encounter mistakes by inexperienced sellers I just ignore them ( except when I think I may be of help ) I recently got such help from another seller here on the forum , he made aware that one of my listings was not as valuable as I thought, I promptly adjusted the listing to reflect that, and lo and behold sold the book within a couple of weeks! 

There are some great sellers here, no doubt about it! It's just when I encounter outright chiselers, and even worse fraudsters, that I lose my cool!

Never used a stock photo...why do that when a cheap digital camera can show the actual object!

Glad I saw your post, it reinforced my faith in humanity...I just came here to post about something else when I saw it! Best regards, Maurizio.

[intermedia46]

Here we go again, I'm not actively looking for transgressers, but it seems as if I'm listing a book I'm always finding glaring mistakes, obvious " I'm going to price myself right out of the market type of offerings" etc...

This last oneleft me laughing but a bit concerned, that is, should I contact the seller and explain that BRAND NEW means just that, a flawless book like you buy at any bookstore ( actually there are exceptions 'cause I've seen some on display at at a large chain I'd have second thoughts about listing as VG ) 

So this vendor not only lists as Brand New but has the temerity to zoom in on a corner of the book that would disqualify it from the Good category...perhaps I'm too harsh a critic, the rest of the book could been in excellent conditions, but that bottom corner was a disaster ( should have taken a pic, but I don't want any sleuth to find the ID of seller. What would be the proper course of action? Give the seller a head-up about his/her flawed appraisal, or just mind by business an open up a Paloma RTD!?

The third option as we well know is futile!