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!

[soh.maryl]

Is your complaint about book sellers who don't understand what they are selling?

If so, and you received an item that's not as described, you know you can open an NAD case.

If your complaint is about the fact that magazines are not media mail because they have advertising, then your complaint should be lodged with the USPS since it's their rule.  

[soh.maryl]

How does one "inflate feedback"? Am probably not the only one who'd be interested in that little tip.

[wiggy1-61]

Great points! I got completely lost on the different post about calling the book polive!

One issue for catch my attention was the statement of a seller inflating their ratings, which to me is like fraud regardless of the category Of that is possible I would support calling the eBay police!

Best regards,

wiggy1/61

[intermedia46]

They could not write a citation for a book.

They could not identify an edition.

They have no ability to grade the condition.

They have no rationale for how they price.

Pretty much covers it , although I could think of couple more , but you said it very succinctly...must have studied some Latin, it was terse an to the point. I agree with some that said I should contain my emotions, when I said I was on a rant I was merely joshing...and yet I can't help to wonder if anybody at e-bay cares...when I was on the Big river in 2001 even the smallest mistake/infraction would draw the ire of ssomeone or other. This place reminds of Deadwood before Timothy Olyphant showed up!

I will not even try to defend my position on shipping mags via Media Mail , when I'm wrong I'll be the first to admit it, something that very few people are able to do. It will be hard for me to insitute a new Shipping Rule , last time I tried I made a mess of things, but with some help from e-bay I can do that...see I always liked the idea to offer Free Shipping on every item in the inventory , it just simplified thing, no equivocation, trying to weigh each item et.al.

Well , looks like I'm gonna have to get busy or the police going to come for me!...boy! I'm such a scalawag!

[intermedia46]

I don't think I should mention the name, in fact I will not even under duress...:-)

I encountered the same underhanded was to inflate your feedak years ago when I was on the Big river platform...during a chat with another seller he mentioned to me and others it's fairly simple and not really too sophisticated...now I wonder if by disclosing this little trick I might encourage other to follow suit...I'm not being coy , but I'm not accustomed to receive much criticism ( yes, I'm thin skinned ) but when you try to be ethical ,correct, honest etc...I need to be careful. I don't fully know all the rules of the Forum and common sense tells me that I should never use a name of a business in conjunction with sharp practices.

If you think about it , it'll come to you how to inflate the feedback, all you need is a circle of friends as unethical as you and voila'...the deed is done.

IF you really need more explanations you could contact privately , like on Facebook perhaps ...right now I wish I'd never started this post! 😞

[tobaccocardyahoo]

The River has had the same mix of bookseller quality for at least 20 years. It is more complex because Amazon grading allows more defects in a high grade than any traditional book grades.

The highest volume booksellers on that site do not provide any detail on condition and deliberately undergrade. They never use the offer-specific image capability. They differ from many of the Ebay sellers in they are a business, are run like a business, and intend to survive as a business.

In 2008 Amazon removed its metric for returns. Returns have no penalty and many sellers on Amazon avoid any accountability by accepting returns if called on the problem. Most Amazon buyers never leave FB positive or negative.

A substantial portion of the used books sold on Amazon are what used to be called penny books. Which I call read and throwaway books. As long as they are relatively clean and readable, no one cares. The numbers of these books is down thanks to kindle, but some people want their dead tree books to read.

The same mixture of sellers exists on ABEbooks, where it is quite possible to receive a Like New book which is actually Ex-library.

I rarely buy books for my collection on online marketplaces unless I know the seller. I do buy books for my collection from Live Auction sites.

[intermedia46]

***The same mixture of sellers exists on ABEbooks, **

That's a sad state of affairs, right there! I recall a fairly serious collector ( husband & wife actually ) who once told me" I only buy from ABE " which worked out fine for me as he left me his whole collection, which I'm still trying to curate after 2 years went by ( I was Non Compo Mentis for a while ) lots of 1st printings, lots of signed copies  most of them  not worth much, all in Fine to superb condition kept in BroDart protective sleeves

Were you to tell me which is your favorite genre I would gladly send one , free of charge, so you could judge for yourself on the quality. I've been selling many of those books for sometimes just a quarter of their value, becqause I'm a terrible business man, I was never meant to exploit that piece of good luck, so I try to pass it on to some appreciative reader. Let me know if there something on your wish list!

[intermedia46]

O.K. had a nice little chat with e-bay  he was kind-a helpful until the moment when he dropped the line ( never called back either )

At any rate, I had a sudde thought, why bother making different Shipping Rules just for the mags, when I can just ship 'em USPS Ground and not have to make any changes! Someone suggested this, don't recall who, but what the heck, it's fine the way I set it up, why change for the sake of a couple of dollars!?

Now, I can start to throw stones at glass house again! ( just kidding, my man ) that was never my intention, I was just astonished at the lassitude of whoever monitors these affairs!

[1786davycrockett]

@intermedia46 

When the great USPS "change First Class Package to Ground Advantage" fiasco occurred not too long ago, I wasted over 1 month (at eBay's insistence!) changing all my magazine listings from USPS First Class Package, to USPS Ground Advantage -- over 1200 individual listings.

And, no, I couldn't do "bulk edit," since they were all divided into three categories, based upon the weight of each magazine (for which bulk editing was not included as a factor).  

So now I have 3 separate USPS Ground Advantage sales points, for low, regular and bulky magazines.

And, yes, I could have lost patience with the entire project, and priced ALL the shipping at the high end -- but my conscience won out (again), and I opted to break it down into 3 categories, to give my buyers a break on shipping charges.

But, knowing the dependability of USPS to regularly raise shipping charges, I'm not so sure in the future that I wouldn't just surrender to the inevitable, and choose the high end pricing for all my magazine shipments, rather than to change the shipping on over 1200 individual items for a second time.

As it is, I'm gradually raising my USPS Media rates (again), since the post office jacked them up again last month.  

If this were not an industry in which I have enjoyed participating for nearly 60 years, I'd pull up stakes and move on.

But I guess I'm either too goldurn stubborn -- or just too goldurn stupid.

Good luck.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

@intermedia46 

Thanks for your offer but we all have our idiosyncracies.

I loath and detest Brodart covers. There are none in my personal library.

I hate them so much that when I acquire one in my inventory, I leave it on because I do not wish to handle them. But I lower my grading to allow for possibly hidden dust jacket defects.

I have long time relationships with many booksellers in my area, having been respectful competitors at auctions for several decades. Most were ABEbooks sellers as well as B&M or shows. Most are no longer selling on ABE. When they sell on a marketplace, it is Ebay. But many have found different ways to sell online. One who is a voracious buyer is relying on a monthly catalog to his own email list. Others are running their own website.

I have declined to buy several collections I helped build for their owners when offered them by their estates. It is too depressing to see what has happened to the pricing on too many genres and titles. In part, a result of the sellers you complain about, but also due to changing tastes and interests.

With more effort than I would have expected, I have been able to donate one of my collections to a college library.

The new reality is that the old time bookman and his customers are relics of the past. My children are going to have to bear the burden I am going to be leaving behind.

[intermedia46]

** My children are going to have to bear the burden I am going to be leaving behind.**

Haven't phrased quite like that, but should have...the riposte I get when I make the same inquiry is a shrug off of the shoulder from the boy, a smart ass reply from the girl, and wifey is prompt with her answer..." burn 'em all! "

She a sassy one, that one! I guess I failed to either pass on my genes or ( like my father did) instill respect and love for reading! 

[intermedia46]

**But I guess I'm either too goldurn stubborn -- or just too goldurn stupid.**

LMAO! You just described me with a masterstroke! Thanks for the chuckle!

[lux.ra_14]

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@intermedia46 wrote:What chafes my hide is that 90% od these folks never bothere to learn the terminology, aqnd I don't mean that you should know what a "yawp" or a French cuff" is, but you should have a small degree of understanding...what say you! Just my humble opinion ...and should be yours too!  

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Neither of those are book terms.

This is a posting ID, by the way. I've been a bookseller for some decades -- long enough anyway to know that you meant yap and French fold.

Most eBay booklisters don't know their elbow from the ESTC, so you would be quite busy playing biblio-cop here. And it would be a fool's errand, since eBay lacks any real way to report incompetency, let alone intentional fraud.

[1786davycrockett]

@lux.ra_14 

"This is a posting ID, by the way. I've been a bookseller for some decades -- long enough anyway to know that you meant yap and French fold."

Just so long as it's not a "French letter."

(Talk about eso-erotica. . ."

[intermedia46]

I've heard it called , yap, yapp & and even yawp, for some reason that stuck in my mind the most , it was such astrange word I though I would find it in Balderdash ( my favorite board game ) 

Also during a discussion on the Big River board , someone asked if I ever hear the term French Cuff aplied to a book and I remembered having a few Trade Paperbacks with an extra fold, kind-a like an hardcover jacket, so I ventured to guess that that was the term for such a book...but I defer to ypur experience and even though I never had to use those terms, I will use them correctly!

P.S. Someday I would like to have a discussion on what experienced sellers do ( if at all ) to make their books more attractive, e.g does anyone here clean the grime from old book( or newer sometimes )  what method, what products , if any...and so on!