Book sellers need an education on bindings…

[zindigna45]

I am a book collector and I have had the most terrible time buying books on eBay. Most of the big name book sellers use stock images which I hate because you can buy a book thinking you will get the edition that is in the picture but you end up with a completely different edition or a book covered in mold, or missing a dust jacket, etc. I want to see the actual book you will be sending me!!

But that’s not what I created this topic to rant about. There are several different bindings that a book can have. Everyone knows the difference between a hardcover and a softcover (except for some eBay booksellers who seem to think the word hardcover = mass market paperback. But a mass market paperback, a trade paperback, a hardcover and a library binding cover all different things. If you know what turtleback library binding means you should not be listing books on eBay as turtleback library binding editions. Yet time and time again I have bought books listed as turtleback library binding and received… a mass market paperback! I’m frustrated to no end. I have been searching for a library binding edition of a certain book forever and I now have 6 paperbacks of that same book that were sent to me when I bought “library binding” editions on eBay. Sellers, you need to do your research and pay attention to what you are sending out! And stop using stock images! Do you know how many returns you could avoid if you put an actual image of the book on your listings? End of rant…

[zindigna45]

 

 

 

These are library binding books!

[zindigna45]

The books pictured are library binding books.

[zindigna45]

 This is a mass market paperback!

[wastingtime101]

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@zindigna45 wrote:

I have been searching for a library binding edition of a certain book forever and I now have 6 paperbacks of that same book that were sent to me when I bought “library binding” editions on eBay. Sellers, you need to do your research and pay attention to what you are sending out! 

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For what it's worth, when I sell books I include photos of the actual book and never use stock photos.

The issue you're describing about a specific book sounds like a problem with eBay's product catalogue. Back when the catalogue was created, eBay tied info sellers entered to the ISBN, so now every seller that lists with that ISBN is tied to the catalog that has wrong binding info because of that first seller's listing from which the catalog page was created. eBay prefills the catalog info on listings.

If you're buying from a small seller you should message them to ask about the binding. If you're buying from a mega seller, expect the item to be wrong as you had 6 failed attempts already.

[zindigna45]

I buy from a few different sellers and all are huge name sellers. But there is one in particular that I have had issues with. I’m not going to buy from them any longer. I kept giving them chance after chance because they have many books I want listed at a reasonable price and I have received a few good books from them, but I can no longer risk a 4 out of ten chance that I will get the book that I actually ordered per the listing.

Is there a way to block sellers from showing up in your search results the way that sellers can block certain buyers they don’t want to deal with?

[gator08041971]

Not sure.  I have also sold books in the past, multiple times.  But I always use my own photos, clear descriptions and don't always auto-fill the details, because often they are wrong.

Here is my most recent example of how I list them:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186178913944?epid=1916459&itmmeta=01HR0WSZCZRJW67T55GXXWMWAQ&hash=item2b592...

I sold all of those in less than 30 days with how I had that setup.  And no one was unhappy.

But I don't do a lot of books.  Though I have debated on doing more with books, working with a local library that has been clearing out some, to split profit with them for doing so.

[wastingtime101]

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@zindigna45 wrote:

Is there a way to block sellers from showing up in your search results the way that sellers can block certain buyers they don’t want to deal with?

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There is. You have to use Advanced Search and there's an option near the bottom to block results from specific sellers. Hope that helps.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch

You can save or bookmark your search results and work off of that each time so you don't have to keep re-entering the block in advanced search.

[zindigna45]

Oh, thank you! This is very helpful!

[evry1nositswindy]

I sell books and include photos of all four corners.  Using the isbn number and catalog is the problem.  The mega book sellers utilize these options because it is quick and easy.  Accuracy doesn't seem to matter to them.  I don't buy from them either.  

[1786davycrockett]

@wastingtime101 

Speaking of that abomination of an eBay catalogue. . .

My 50 year old son has become fascinated with both utopian and dystopian literature, and I have been sending him some of the classics, of which he was not aware, including WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES, by H. G. Wells.

A seller had advertised an edition, claiming that it was the Tuttle Edition of the Everyman Series from 1995, with an introduction and comprehensive notes regarding the text.  The seller also stated that the book was a "trade paperback," although from  the photo which the seller had provided, it certainly was hard to determine.

It was only an auction item, so I placed the low bid, which I won a few days later.  I paid, and a few days later, I received the notification that the package was waiting in my mailbox.

But -- waiting inside the mailbox was a USPS Priority Small Flat Rate  box -- with a USPS Media mailing label attached.

Not a good beginning, right?

Fortunately, my USPS carrier had decided not to dun me for another $10.40 for "postage due," caused by the seller using a Priority box with a non-Priority label; and I sent the seller an angry email regarding the seller's abuse of USPS Priority boxes.

But wait -- there's more.

Upon opening the box, there was a mass market paperback (not a trade paperback) of the Ace edition from 1972 -- which of course is NOT the 1995 Tuttle Edition of the Everyman Series, and contains neither an introduction nor comprehensive notes regarding the text.

Apparently the seller is book ignorant, and doesn't know the difference between a mass market paperback and a trade paperback (but eBay doesn't know the difference, either; so what's the use?)

But the seller had obviously just downloaded the spurious information from the eBay book catalogue, and had never bothered to check whether or not the information was correct, or even applicable to the book that he was selling.

But -- one NAD later -- now he knows -- and, when his ears stop ringing, and his eyes stop popping out, maybe he will have learned a few things about selling books -- as well as a few things about NOT selling books.

[lux.ra_14]

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@zindigna45 wrote:

I am a book collector ... Sellers, you need to do your research and pay attention to what you are sending out! And stop using stock images!

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You're buying from sellers that are never going to provide what you want. You call them "big name sellers," but they're more commonly known as megasellers -- and that's not a compliment. They deal in quantity, not quality, and tend to have high error rates (wrong binding, wrong grade, wrong book sent, etc.)

If your primary motivation as a book buyer is cheap prices and free shipping, you're getting exactly what you're paying for with the megalisters. That also means accepting generic descriptions, no images of the actual book for sale, and flimsy packaging that often results in shipping damage.

As a collector, you should be willing to pay more to get more. Buy from real booksellers with real descriptions and photos. A good seller will also answer any questions before you buy, unlike the megalisters who will just say (if they reply at all) that the book is in one of their warehouses and can't be inspected. It shoudn't take, by your own account, six or more tries to get the book you want. Stop defeating yourself!

[taylor_memorial]

eBay Catalog issues:
cataloging the hardcover as an audio book, which prevents the seller from correcting the binding type
cataloging a mmpb as a trade paperback
cataloging a comfort paperback (the industry term for the taller mmpb) as a trade paperback
cataloging a comfort paperback as a mmpb
cataloging an mmpb as a Type A British paperback (whatever that is).

Those sellers who offer the lowest prices do so because they don't pay for the time it takes to correct the catalog. Keep buy from them, you'll keep being disappointed. 

Solution: if there is only one picture, find another copy.