There numerous ways to sell something marked not for resale. I suppose if the book was complimentary then you are buying the box it gets shipped in. Maybe you are buying the air that's in the box that the 'free' book in traveling in?
Funny how manufacturers used to get away with selling imported Chinese junk with tags that said "Made in U.S.A.". But how is that possible? Did they lie? No, the TAG was made and printed in some Los Angeles after hours sweat shop and sewed on the imported products. If no one asked specifically where the product was made after reading the "Made in U.S.A. tag how would the manufacturer be caught?
Another example would be the case boxes of xyz product that has "Not for individual sale" printed right on the package. The corner bodegas or grocery stores sell that stuff loose all the time. You're not buying the item out of the case. You are buying the 'experience' of watching the cashier ring up the item and push it back across the counter toward you. The item is 'free'.
Last example and this is a true story from a place where I worked for eleven long years. I was the branch manager and sworn to secrecy when I discovered that there was a long-standing practice across the country for imported hardware to be removed from the Made in China / Taiwan cartons and put in a larger box labeled labeled with a sharpie Made in U.S.A. I was floored that the company I planned to spend the next twenty years was intentionally breaking the law regarding only using domestic products on government jobsites to gain a competitive advantage. They also opened a factory in Mexico and lied about the location stating it was in San Diego which was actually just a transfer loading dock.
Out.
