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Just venting an age old complaint.

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  • Just venting an age old complaint.

    I'm at one of the few remaining used book stores in town (or the world, for that matter). One problem we have is people calling and asking if we will buy their books. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS tell them that we can't make a buying decision without having the books in our hands.

    In spite of this people still insist on telling me what they have, and it is always in "excellent" or "mint" condition. The later term is especially annoying because books aren't minted. It's almost as bad as when they say that they are "vintage".

    Enough digression. Yesterday, a woman calls telling me that she has a bunch of Large Print books. Great, I ask the subject. She tells me "all kinds". This tells me that she is alliterate (if not illiterate). I respond by asking if they are novels. She says yes, but some of them are non-fiction. At this point I reach for that thing on the wall that they had in the evil universe Star Trek that kills people with the push of a button. Sadly the boss has yet to install one. For fucks sake lady, A novel is fiction by definition.

    After stating again that I can't promise anything I tell her that I might be interested in the non-romance large print books and some of the others depending on title and condition.

    Today her sister and some guy come in. What's in the boxes? Romance novels and beat to hell junk. I find one book that I can pay U$2.00 for.

    Guy gets pissy, grabs it, throws it in one of the boxes, grabs the boxes and storms out, mumbling something.

    I sarcastically shout to his back as he leaves "I guess using th judgement I've developed over 14 years in the business makes me a dick.".

    Why do people think misrepresenting books on the phone is a good idea?

    Jeez, I'm done venting for a while.

  • #2
    I did a year managing a used book store, and exactly as you say I would get calls for people telling me they had so and so books and I would always tell them, "I can not discuss any money until the books are seen and evaluated." they would always tell me that they were in perfect condition and I would still say the same thing.

    One of the better ones was the time that this couple came in and told me that the manager(me) had told them that they could get a specific price on a book if it was in a specific condition, which is what I have been known to say. But I also always ask what was the final thing the manager said about that book in that condition, and they could never remember the part about "all purchases are depended upon condition at the time it is brought in".

    I have no problem if someone wants to try and get a price on what a book might be worth. Not problem at all, but dont come in and tell me it was an offer. In the state of Misery, a verbal offer is only worth the paper it was printed on, LOL.

    Some of the other stuff that comes to mind is the piles of books I have seen that have had cat or dog piss on them...YUCK! and you would be amazed how shocked people are when you dont take them.

    And oddly enough like some used book stores, we had an adult section, it account for about 40% of our business. You would be amazed how many little old ladies used to love to come in and tell me if they ran the place, they would have no adult materials. I would just shrug and tell them that they would either have to stop eating 1 of their 3 meals a day or they would have to work everyday 7 days a week to make up for the shortfall. I frequently was told I didnt understand business.

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    • #3
      YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY for used book stores! We have several in our city and I love poking around in them.

      Also, the old ladies...yeah, right. Next time invite the lady to check out the "adult" section, who knows, she might find something she likes
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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      • #4
        I wish we had the option of refusing items at the library - I know I've griped about this on here before, but it never fails to amaze me that people assume we can use outdated encyclopedia sets, dirty/torn books,...etc.

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        • #5
          Quoth MoonCat View Post
          Also, the old ladies...yeah, right. Next time invite the lady to check out the "adult" section, who knows, she might find something she likes
          Yeah, like 50 Shades of Gray...
          Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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          • #6
            This has been an eye-opener, LOL. I've always thought that someday I'd like to open a used bookstore ... if I can avoid getting rid of any of my current collection, I've got my initial stock right here ...

            One of the few surviving used bookstores in My Hometown has a firm rule about NEVER accepting hardcovers. Your posts have left me wondering how often somebody comes in and tries to push hardcovers off on her ... possibly telling her that "the owner said he'd take them!!!"

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            • #7
              Value and cost are two different things. Unfortunately that means the "prized books" in your collection may not be worth very much at a store. Fortunately that means that I'm able to provide my father with a constant supply of new "light reading" westerns at a very reasonable cost.

              And I grew up enjoying way too many of those Star Trek branded novels. Even the ones that didn't make sense.
              Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart!

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              • #8
                Quoth Pixilated View Post
                One of the few surviving used bookstores in My Hometown has a firm rule about NEVER accepting hardcovers.
                Did they say why? As long as the book is in good condition, wouldn't it be kind of silly not to take it?

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                • #9
                  Quoth Silent-Hunter View Post
                  Did they say why? As long as the book is in good condition, wouldn't it be kind of silly not to take it?
                  I'd guess that hardcovers take up more space, and if your client base is just reading and reselling, then the hardcovers won't move. Also, people probably think their hardcovers are platinum plated gold, and get even less reasonable about the pricing.
                  Life: Reality TV for deities. - dalesys

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                  • #10
                    Manager tells person on the phone that he can pay $X for (specified book) in (specified condition). Customer comes in with (specified book) in grubby, falling-apart condition, expecting to be paid $X because that's what manager offered.

                    "I'm sorry, but he didn't offer $X for this book. Please come back with your other copy that's in (specified condition) - the one he made the offer on - and we can buy THAT one for $X."
                    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Silent-Hunter View Post
                      Did they say why? As long as the book is in good condition, wouldn't it be kind of silly not to take it?
                      It's what we call a paperback exchange. The business is a little different than a normal used book store. They are really about the quick turnaround of popular titles. You'll usually find them in more expensive spaces with cheaper inventory.

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                      • #12
                        "You told me this book was in mint condition! It's been beat to hell and the pages are stuck together!"
                        "Well, I spilled a jar of mint jelly on it, don't that count as mint condition?"

                        While it's not the same field, we used to work for a coin and stamp shop. People were always phoning in, wanting to know what their coins were worth. For the same reasons as you, we never told them prices over the phone and ALWAYS told them that we needed to see the item in question before we could give them a price.

                        Naturally, said coins were never in as good of condition as they claimed, and they always demanded that we buy their rubbed-smooth, bent, hammered, been-through-the-laundry and banged-against-keys-thousands-of-times common date Peace Dollar for the same price as we're selling the mint-condition, Uncirculated rare date Peace Dollar for.
                        I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                        My LiveJournal
                        A page we can all agree with!

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Juggler View Post
                          In spite of this people still insist on telling me what they have, and it is always in "excellent" or "mint" condition. The later term is especially annoying because books aren't minted. It's almost as bad as when they say that they are "vintage".
                          I work for a thrift store and sometimes sit at a remote donation site. As soon as the donator makes any comment on the supposed condition of an item, the alarms go off. After 15 years of doing this, I can say that 99 times out of 100, the item will be nowhere near as good as they are claiming.

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