Page 49 - Journal of Antiques and Collectibles June 2019
P. 49
Tales from the Dark Side of the Web
E veryone has heard of Hamma Zone Marketplace (name changed for reasons she wrote. She was actually mad that I didn’t have any used copies of her probably
that I don’t want to get sued by their legions of lawyers) and practically unreadable books for sale.
Bob said that Amazon Marketplace is really two businesses acting as one.
everyone has bought from them and seen their grinning boxes. Including
One business is like a real estate owner leasing space to sellers. The other Amazon
me. I’ve never had a bad experience buying from them as they go out of their way
to protect the buyer, so the buyers love them. But using them to sell is quite a business sells products right alongside the businesses they “rent” to. Amazon makes
different story which, of course, no one who has just bought through them would the rules about what other businesses can and cannot do on their “property.”
However, since they own the property, apparently Amazon doesn’t have to
believe. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but generally the larger the
corporation, the more bullying behavior you will see. Sooner or later, bigger is not follow those rules themselves.
always better for the consumer and certainly not for the sellers. Bob forwarded to me a typical description of some of the books being sold on
My bookseller friend Bob sent me an email about someone he’d sold a book to Amazon. “Used-Acceptable. A used item that may have some cosmetic wear
on Amazon (oops! I let the name slip out! Now I’m done for!). I am not clear if (i.e. shelf-wear, slightly torn or missing dust jacket, broken spine, creases, dented
this actually happened to him personally, or if he read about it. Anyway, it turns corner, pages may include limited notes and highlighting, liquid damage). All text
out the book was written by a friend of the buyer who informed Bob that his in great shape! Will ship best condition whenever available. Accessories such as
friend, the author, had not received a CD, codes, and dust jackets, etc. may not
contract for reprints and that there be included.”
shouldn’t be any. The buyer wanted to This is a one-size-fits-all book descrip-
know why, then, had he sold the book tion by a seller who apparently can not
when it shouldn’t have been available. be bothered by actually taking a minute or
And since it was sold when would his two to actually look at the book being sold
friend the author receive his share of and actually writing up the description of
the money which he was entitled to for that actual book instead of a catch-all
writing the book. description that would fit almost any
The book was a hardcover copy, secondhand book being sold online no
factory sealed, purchased at an matter how good (or bad) the condition of
estate sale. that book actually is.
The buyer’s email showed that he or Can you imagine buying a used car or
she was somewhat confused about sales anything for that matter with a similar
of secondhand books online and also description? That might be something like
the author’s royalties. Royalties are the this “Used-Acceptable. Make, year, and
percentage of the sale price of the book color of vehicle uncertain. Vehicle might
that the author gets from the publisher have some small cosmetic wear or possibly
whenever the publisher sells a copy. It have been involved in a head-on collision
is often 5 or 10 percent unless the with a semi-tractor trailer. May have gone
author is a really big name. off of a cliff or possibly have had a tree fall
But royalties only apply to a first- on it at various times. Warning: vehicle
time sale of the book from the publisher to bookshops and do not go on infinitum may be inhabited by a family of raccoons. Or snakes. Snakes may or may not be
to the end of time whenever the book is sold on the secondhand market by book- poisonous. Caution: car may not run. Engine may or may not be present. Some
sellers, or at yard sales or wherever. This was obviously an unopened secondhand doors may be missing. Interior may have been gutted by one or more small or large
or remainder copy. Books that don’t sell are often remaindered – that is when fires. Wheels may all be different sizes.”
a book doesn’t sell and the publisher dumps them on a second part seller to It is also interesting that a book that is potentially in that poor a condition
remainder them at a reduced price. And in fact, the author may not be paid
would still be considered acceptable by the seller. Why in the world would anyone
for these, but that is between the author and the publisher, not anyone who
buy a book from this seller?! Bob answered, “Amazon is full of these Sellers …
resells the books. Their Ratings are usually 85-92% instead of 98-100% which is where the Real
Also, at some point, copyrighted books go into the public domain after the Book Dealers are … I guess they are looking for cheap copies … I’m trying to price
copyright expires and neither authors nor their estates get any more royalties. my stuff higher than they do … My Customers mostly look at the Ratings.” – Bob
Obviously, the author had no legal standing with Bob to collect royalties from Now to be fair, while I won’t sell on Amazon or eBay now, I do buy from them
sales of second-hand copies. His or her contract is with the publisher who has and have always been pleased with my purchases, but only as an online buyer, not
presumably already paid him or her for that copy. He has no contract with anyone an online seller for all the reasons that I mentioned above. Buying is virtually
who sells a used copy. hassle-free. One can buy virtually anything with a couple of clicks of the mouse.
I believe her thinking was that every time a secondhand copy of her book was But selling is increasingly full of hassles.
sold, she lost the royalty because one less new copy was sold, which may or may This seems to be the usual way of doing business in corporate America where
not have been true. I don’t know if she also complained about copies of her books author, suppliers, and sellers are treated like crap. I used to do great selling on eBay
being read for free in libraries because that would cut into sales of the book, too. and they started out treating buyers and sellers equally. And the feedback system
Actually, as far as that goes, my library friends tell me that studies show that worked great. Buyers could leave good or bad feedback about sellers and sellers
sales of new books are usually increased when libraries carry the books, which also could leave good or bad feedback about deadbeat buyers. But then the eBay
acts as free advertising for the book and can induce readers to want to own their powers that be changed the rules and now sellers cannot leave any negative
own copies of the book. feedback about bad buyers.
Also if someone illegally reprinted that book, which sounds doubtful, I don’t
see how that is Bob’s problem. The author had already been paid his or her royalty It doesn’t seem fair!
on that book.
Imagine if everyone had to pay a fee when they bought or sold secondhand
items! Unenforceable and a nightmare. Anything sold at rummage sales or even a James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975,
used car you bought or sold royalties would still have to go to the manufacturer! when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get a
Years ago an author of romance novels was on a mission to try and collect “real” job; having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about
30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just about all subjects are represented.
money from secondhand bookshops that sold used copies of her books. Nothing He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD. 21673, 410-476-3838;
ever came of it. She was in my shop once, and fortunately, I didn’t have anything e-mail: unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; website: unicornbookshop.com.
July 2019 47
E veryone has heard of Hamma Zone Marketplace (name changed for reasons she wrote. She was actually mad that I didn’t have any used copies of her probably
that I don’t want to get sued by their legions of lawyers) and practically unreadable books for sale.
Bob said that Amazon Marketplace is really two businesses acting as one.
everyone has bought from them and seen their grinning boxes. Including
One business is like a real estate owner leasing space to sellers. The other Amazon
me. I’ve never had a bad experience buying from them as they go out of their way
to protect the buyer, so the buyers love them. But using them to sell is quite a business sells products right alongside the businesses they “rent” to. Amazon makes
different story which, of course, no one who has just bought through them would the rules about what other businesses can and cannot do on their “property.”
However, since they own the property, apparently Amazon doesn’t have to
believe. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but generally the larger the
corporation, the more bullying behavior you will see. Sooner or later, bigger is not follow those rules themselves.
always better for the consumer and certainly not for the sellers. Bob forwarded to me a typical description of some of the books being sold on
My bookseller friend Bob sent me an email about someone he’d sold a book to Amazon. “Used-Acceptable. A used item that may have some cosmetic wear
on Amazon (oops! I let the name slip out! Now I’m done for!). I am not clear if (i.e. shelf-wear, slightly torn or missing dust jacket, broken spine, creases, dented
this actually happened to him personally, or if he read about it. Anyway, it turns corner, pages may include limited notes and highlighting, liquid damage). All text
out the book was written by a friend of the buyer who informed Bob that his in great shape! Will ship best condition whenever available. Accessories such as
friend, the author, had not received a CD, codes, and dust jackets, etc. may not
contract for reprints and that there be included.”
shouldn’t be any. The buyer wanted to This is a one-size-fits-all book descrip-
know why, then, had he sold the book tion by a seller who apparently can not
when it shouldn’t have been available. be bothered by actually taking a minute or
And since it was sold when would his two to actually look at the book being sold
friend the author receive his share of and actually writing up the description of
the money which he was entitled to for that actual book instead of a catch-all
writing the book. description that would fit almost any
The book was a hardcover copy, secondhand book being sold online no
factory sealed, purchased at an matter how good (or bad) the condition of
estate sale. that book actually is.
The buyer’s email showed that he or Can you imagine buying a used car or
she was somewhat confused about sales anything for that matter with a similar
of secondhand books online and also description? That might be something like
the author’s royalties. Royalties are the this “Used-Acceptable. Make, year, and
percentage of the sale price of the book color of vehicle uncertain. Vehicle might
that the author gets from the publisher have some small cosmetic wear or possibly
whenever the publisher sells a copy. It have been involved in a head-on collision
is often 5 or 10 percent unless the with a semi-tractor trailer. May have gone
author is a really big name. off of a cliff or possibly have had a tree fall
But royalties only apply to a first- on it at various times. Warning: vehicle
time sale of the book from the publisher to bookshops and do not go on infinitum may be inhabited by a family of raccoons. Or snakes. Snakes may or may not be
to the end of time whenever the book is sold on the secondhand market by book- poisonous. Caution: car may not run. Engine may or may not be present. Some
sellers, or at yard sales or wherever. This was obviously an unopened secondhand doors may be missing. Interior may have been gutted by one or more small or large
or remainder copy. Books that don’t sell are often remaindered – that is when fires. Wheels may all be different sizes.”
a book doesn’t sell and the publisher dumps them on a second part seller to It is also interesting that a book that is potentially in that poor a condition
remainder them at a reduced price. And in fact, the author may not be paid
would still be considered acceptable by the seller. Why in the world would anyone
for these, but that is between the author and the publisher, not anyone who
buy a book from this seller?! Bob answered, “Amazon is full of these Sellers …
resells the books. Their Ratings are usually 85-92% instead of 98-100% which is where the Real
Also, at some point, copyrighted books go into the public domain after the Book Dealers are … I guess they are looking for cheap copies … I’m trying to price
copyright expires and neither authors nor their estates get any more royalties. my stuff higher than they do … My Customers mostly look at the Ratings.” – Bob
Obviously, the author had no legal standing with Bob to collect royalties from Now to be fair, while I won’t sell on Amazon or eBay now, I do buy from them
sales of second-hand copies. His or her contract is with the publisher who has and have always been pleased with my purchases, but only as an online buyer, not
presumably already paid him or her for that copy. He has no contract with anyone an online seller for all the reasons that I mentioned above. Buying is virtually
who sells a used copy. hassle-free. One can buy virtually anything with a couple of clicks of the mouse.
I believe her thinking was that every time a secondhand copy of her book was But selling is increasingly full of hassles.
sold, she lost the royalty because one less new copy was sold, which may or may This seems to be the usual way of doing business in corporate America where
not have been true. I don’t know if she also complained about copies of her books author, suppliers, and sellers are treated like crap. I used to do great selling on eBay
being read for free in libraries because that would cut into sales of the book, too. and they started out treating buyers and sellers equally. And the feedback system
Actually, as far as that goes, my library friends tell me that studies show that worked great. Buyers could leave good or bad feedback about sellers and sellers
sales of new books are usually increased when libraries carry the books, which also could leave good or bad feedback about deadbeat buyers. But then the eBay
acts as free advertising for the book and can induce readers to want to own their powers that be changed the rules and now sellers cannot leave any negative
own copies of the book. feedback about bad buyers.
Also if someone illegally reprinted that book, which sounds doubtful, I don’t
see how that is Bob’s problem. The author had already been paid his or her royalty It doesn’t seem fair!
on that book.
Imagine if everyone had to pay a fee when they bought or sold secondhand
items! Unenforceable and a nightmare. Anything sold at rummage sales or even a James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975,
used car you bought or sold royalties would still have to go to the manufacturer! when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get a
Years ago an author of romance novels was on a mission to try and collect “real” job; having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about
30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just about all subjects are represented.
money from secondhand bookshops that sold used copies of her books. Nothing He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD. 21673, 410-476-3838;
ever came of it. She was in my shop once, and fortunately, I didn’t have anything e-mail: unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; website: unicornbookshop.com.
July 2019 47
