On-Line Dealers to Avoid

We do buy on line, as do some of our colleagues. Here's some people to avoid unless you will settle for only a reading copy at a bargain price, Read their response-to-questions statements:

Cat's Curiosities

Our friends and colleagues Vin & Amy - I prefer Amy & Vin -  have a retail operation that is unique in the Las Vegas Valley: Amy, who is the one with exquisite taste owns a vintage clothing business that's quartered in one of the collectible malls; Vin, who has an excellent eye for and knowledge of books, sells, strangely enough, books in the same mall. He also sells and buys books on the Internet. Here's one of his recent electronic exchanges with an II:

Completely Useless Bookseller Alert !

On August 3rd, I ordered a book from Boardman Sales in Ohio. Today, after 10 e-mails to and from the Selling Site - in this case, Biblio - I received a refund, because, although the sale had been confirmed, and the book shown as sent, the book was "out-of-stock". It was a pricey book that I ordered at a quite advantageous price. This leads me to believe several things: 1) they never had the book; 2) they realized that it had been mispriced; 3) both.  Given all the aggravation, and the fact that Biblio has no mechanism to leave feedback on this type of (non) transaction, I feel compelled to let you all know that this dealer is unreliable, and certainly justifies the label on this post.

Ex-Library or Ex Libris ?

The IIs sell huge amounts of former library books, usually at 99 cents each, plus $ 3.99 shipping. There are a few ISs - Internet Scumbags - including several ABAA dealers I know personally that try to make their crap look better by labeling junk as ex libris, i.e. "from the library." Yes, I know, some incompetents use the phrase to denote that the book is from someone's library, but that's not usually the case. Ex-library is ex-library no matter if you speak English or Latin. If you can't afford a proper copy of a book, save your money until you can.

And Another One...

My mom, when she was chewing me out and not just waiting behind the door with her cast iron frying pan, was the mistress of "And, another thing, Philip..." Well, here's another eminently credible dealer trying to sell a $ 1.00 book for
$ 40.00:

Book Description: Subterranean, 2002. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Ed. First Edition thus.Very good/Very good condition. This is a professionally restored library book with little evidence of its former status. Signed limited ed. #497/850. Signed by Author.

A Lesson Learned

No, I didn't learn a lesson, but you might try my kind, gentle approach when dealing with IIs. Follow the electron trail below:

My Recent Internet Experience

From time to time, I buy books on the internet. My purchase arrived, and it was so completely different from what I bought that I sent the following to the "dealer:"

This book was listed, and portrayed, as the signed, limited edition. It is a poor to good copy of the book club edition. Before I leave extremely negative feedback, or contest the sale, what would you like to do ? I do this ONLY as a courtesy to an amateur. I would recommend to you an immediate refund of what I paid, and if you want  this book returned, also credit return postage.
His reply:

It Always Amazes Me..

My Bookstore 103 students are getting to be right little Fascists about book condition. This is as it should be.My colleague Ann DeVere, Plaza Books contributed this from her Internet rooting about:

Decorative red cloth bind. rubbed at extremities; spine base, corners frayed; backstrip lightly sunned; sm. bump to fore-edge of back board; boards soiled; ffep missing; front hinge cracked; owner's stamps, pencilled name & quotations on paste-downs & eps; leaf edges foxed/soiled, else a nice, clean copy.;

 

Not to be outdone, I found this as I was rooting:

Burton, Michigan, U.S.A.: Subterranean, 2002. Ex-Library. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). Limited/Numbered. Excluding removed first blank page and library tape on the spine the book looks like new and unread. Cover in mylar. This is a #555 of 850 numbered and signed copies.

Beware the Internet Idiots.

Regardless of color...

Wonder Bread, the famous Duck Bread from my apprenticeship had red, yellow, and blue balloons  on its wrapper. Perhaps Betsy did her apprenticeship in their bakery so that she could make this listing:

The Printed Book Is DEAD ! Or, is it ?

You can also subscribe to this interesting site. Thanks to Myrna Donato, Amber Unicorn Books, Las Vegas, Nevada, for pointing me towards this article. 

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20101101/45015-how-e-book-sales-compare-to-print--so-far.html

Phil the Idiot & Another Idiot !

I do buy books for my collections, upon occasion, off the Internet. The Internet Idiot below listed a book I wanted, so I tried to buy the book below:
Ghost Brigades First
Edition. Hard Cover. New/As New.

The book arrived, and it was not right.

Here’s the e-mail exchange that I had to go through: