Listing an item that is not a presale, but is only available elsewhere for presale?

[brightlightbookseller]

I can't seem to find the answer to this online, so I'm asking here to see if anyone has run into this yet!  We obtained (through a customer, no idea how they got it) a copy of a set of books, still sealed, that is currently only on presale from the manufacturer and not actually available to purchase anywhere else. It's a very valuable set for us, potentially, and we'd like to list and sell it, but I'm not sure if the publisher could issue a VeRO or other takedown based on the fact that it's not officially for sale yet (or at least, it's not shipping from the manufacturer yet).  It's a baffling situation to me!  Anyone run into anything similar before?  It's not an advance copy or anything like that, so far as I can tell, it's just the standard version, but it could be worth $5000 or more, so it's important that we do this right!

[stainlessenginecovers]

I'll assume, just like 'movies' that are 'put out to critics, pre-release watch parties etc. for feedback', they are NOT allowed to 'typically' be sold until they are allowed/released to be sold (and even with movies, they state right on the disc "not for resale"

I would imagine 'books' would be the same. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

@brightlightbookseller 

What do you know about the publication history of this set?

There are consistent situations in which a publisher has decided to reprint a book which they had previously published which went out of print. No changes are being made to the new edition. When the publisher announced the new printing, Amazon made it a pre-release item, and all listings went to pre-release.

It continued to be sold on other sites, including Alibris, Biblio, B&N etc as NEW or used without a hiccup. Amazon just decided to not allow it to be sold until the new printing was available.

If it was previously in print, I would not expect any VeRo issues on Ebay or other crap unless it is a tiny publisher who has set out to get every penny they can in their own pocket.

Needless to say,  there is no guarantee that it is 100% safe, but the more you know about the publication's history, the better you can assess the risk, if any.

[brightlightbookseller]

@stainlessenginecovers, it's not one of those editions, however.  With books, those are pretty much always marked as Advance Readers or Uncorrected Proofs, etc, even for non-fiction (which this is), but there's nothing to indicate that it's a review copy or something like that.  We do get those, and we do sell them after the book has been released typically, though I think we had one situation where we had an ARC that was for a book that hadn't sold yet, and I don't remember what we did with that, I'll have to check since I forgot about it.

@tobaccocardyahoo, It's a new edition of a law book set, so definitely updated. Different from something that was previously in print with very few if any changes.  This ISBN is not on Amazon, Alibris, AbeBooks, anywhere, except the manufacturer and two sites selling it in Hong Kong (very odd, considering it's a specifically American-aimed set). I think we might want to wait on it for now, the publisher could certainly be watching the ISBN and would know if we listed it if so.

Thanks for giving me things to think about!

[kensgiftshop]

You can always contact the manufacture and ask them and make sure there isn't anything fishy going on.

[valueaddedresource]

@brightlightbookseller I would be extremely cautious about the "do not pass go, do not collect $200" possibilities of listing something like that, especially if you don't have rock solid documentation of the provenance of the item and how the person you obtained it from obtained it.

This kind of stuff can happen in many categories...I've heard about a major sneaker seller who had some rare, one off "sample" or "custom" type items from a very well known brand that were supposedly acquired from a collector and long story short, that brand complained to eBay saying those one of a kind items were never meant for public release or sale, the source of those items was not authorized to "dispose" of them that way and that seller was permanently banned from eBay.

I wouldn't touch something like your books with a ten foot pole....at least not until the actual release date.

[onefootflipper1]

If the demand is truly wide then just list them, they should in theory sell in the same day. 

I doubt full sets of legal books are a commonly bootlegged item, so I doubt the publishers are out there combing the web for illicit listings. 

While your source for those books may have broken some agreement, it isn't an agreement that you were a party to. 

[asset_liquidators]

If it is just the normal book (not some special pre-release version) I would seriously be questioning how they received it. If it was obtained through nefarious means I wouldn't want anything to do with it as the liability of even having it in your posession could be ten-fold the value of what you may sell it for.

[chevymontecarlo88]

You should wait until the official release if your going to list it. If this is a popular release and you beat them to the punch, someone will be taking heat for letting it out. Yes you may be able to squeak a few more dollars out of it but probally not worth the risk or headache. If you did want to sell it before the release, offer it to your best clientel privately.

[brightlightbookseller]

@chevymontecarlo88  and the others who mentioned things like this, I do want to add that it says it's the "June 2024" Edition, so I'm not sure why it doesn't appear to actually be available yet, but I think I agree on holding off until the official release.  My manager will make the final decision, but that will be my recommendation to him.