Anyone with get scammed by Ebay book sellers?
 

I am writing a magazine article regarding the increasing amount of
fraudulent booksellers on ebay. I would love to hear stories of anyone who
either has information or has themselves been scammed when trying to buy
books on ebay (or even if YOU were the scammer!). I've noticed a lot of
booksellers knowingly pass off Book Club Editions as first editions, as well
as people who list books as first editions when they are clearly marked as
later printings.

I've heard stories of people selling signed books that were signed by
imposters, and people who bid up their own auctions to drive the price up.

I'd love any stories you may have, as well as any info you may have on who
some of these sellers are. If you'd like to remain anonymous, please tell me
and I will absolutely respect that. You can either post a reply here or
email me directly at .

Thanks, and hopefully this article will draw enough attention to this issue
and have an impact, because this practice is completely out of hand!

Most of us who purchase books from ebay are aware of the risks. The greater
the price, the more care that must be taken before placing a bid.

If I chose to buy/sell a ten thousand dollar mint first edition first release
Dickens for example, I would only arrange for delivery to a respected
antiquarian book dealer local to the buyer or some such arrangement for the
mutual protection of buyer and seller alike.

It must be remembered that some of the sellers are entirely ignorant of books
and the accepted descriptions of condition and the many nuances of
publishing...

I'm a collector. I've never sold a book in my life! I prefer to do business
with antiquarian dealers... look, feel, smell etc. but some titles... -kevin

wrote in message
...
I am writing a magazine article regarding the increasing amount of
fraudulent booksellers on ebay.

What magazine is it for? Or is it freelance?

It is freelance. I'll repost here when it gets published and let you know
who picks it up.

Thanks for the info on Ken Lopez. It's exactly what I'm looking for.

"Art Layton" wrote in message
om...
wrote in message
.. .
I am writing a magazine article regarding the increasing amount of
fraudulent booksellers on ebay. I would love to hear stories of anyone
who
either has information or has themselves been scammed when trying to buy
books on ebay (or even if YOU were the scammer!). I've noticed a lot of
booksellers knowingly pass off Book Club Editions as first editions,

That's criminal fraud. On the other hand, people are
foolish to buy books from sellers who plainly don't
even know the standard terms of the bookselling
trade.

Even the writing quality itself is significant in a listing.
What wise book buyer wants to trust his money to an
on-line bookseller who either cannot write coherent
English, or, if that be the case, proves too stingy and
arrogant to compensate for his weakness by hiring
help with halfway decent writing skills?

As far as I am concerned--and the following comment
is limited to situations where customers cannot see
and touch the books they are buying--an ignorant,
ungrammatical bookseller is about as attractive
as a toothless, habitually-drooling chef.

Mr. or Ms. Internet Bookseller, you will either
describe your listings in grammatical English
using the standard terms of the trade or you
will not get my business.

(And as to the book buyers, well, if you are dumb
enough to buy on line from so-called booksellers who
don't know their basic terminology--and exhibit
an atrocious lack of writing skills too--Ebay is not
going to be able to save you from yourself.)

That is not to suggest that there are not some
people around with good writing skills and some
knowledge of books who are simply committing
fraud. Ebay ratings help, but they are not fool-
proof. All you can do is report perpetrators of
scams to Ebay immediately. Remember that
you can reduce your chances of being swindled
by an on-line seller, but you can't entirely
eliminate the possibility--there is an element
of luck involved in on-line buying.


Mr. Palmer
Room 314

as well
as people who list books as first editions when they are clearly marked
as
later printings.

snip

Go to abaa.org and look for Ken Lopez's letter to eBay about fraud.
Lookin the right hand column and scroll down.

Art Layton
Stamford CT

palmer.william wrote:

As far as I am concerned--and the following comment
is limited to situations where customers cannot see
and touch the books they are buying--an ignorant,
ungrammatical bookseller is about as attractive
as a toothless, habitually-drooling chef.

Oh, I don't know. I did quite well buying from a lady selling a copy of
something she called "Under the Milk Weed" by Dylan Thomas and - among other
finds - I have several times picked up for just a few dollars 19th century
works of which there are a dozen or fewer copies listed in libraries
worldwide. The fact that the seller cannot spell the title of the book he or
she is selling, or do the rudimentary amount of work needed to see whether
it might have some scarcity or collectible value is part of the attraction
of eBay.

Sellers who cannot write a book description very often know next to nothing
about books. Of course, some of them are idiots who think their 1924 Grosset
and Dunlap edition of Great Expectations is worth hundreds, if not
thousands, of dollars, but they are easily ignored. The ones to keep an eye
out for are the ones who've listed a first UK edition of a Leonard Cohen
book in the poetry section, rather than as a collectible book, neglected to
mention that it *is* the UK first, or that it is actually the hardback
version, not the paperback that usually circulates, or that it is in a very
creditable dust jacket (to give another recent example of a book I bought
and resold on eBay).

In such cases, one or two questions just to sort out the basics - Who is the
publisher? Are all the pages present and attached to the book? - or to clear
up issue points - What is the price on the dust jacket? Does it have an
advertisement for such-and-such at the back of the book? - and, hey presto,
a sleeper has been awoken.

Of course, sometimes the questions can alert the seller; asking whether the
misprint on line 23 of page 147 is present could make even an ignorant
seller aware that It Might Matter. But that's all part of the game.

Mr. or Ms. Internet Bookseller, you will either
describe your listings in grammatical English
using the standard terms of the trade or you
will not get my business.

Well, but I hope you will try googling and checking sellers' descriptions on
ABE, just to make sure those impeccably-written descriptions haven't been
lifted lock, stock and barrel from someone else - a popular sport among many
eBay sellers.

I buy from articulate and well-informed buyers as well, of course. But God
bless those sellers who don't know their colophons from their elbow!

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

palmer.william wrote:

Mr. or Ms. Internet Bookseller, you will either
describe your listings in grammatical English
using the standard terms of the trade or you
will not get my business.

(And as to the book buyers, well, if you are dumb
enough to buy on line from so-called booksellers who
don't know their basic terminology--and exhibit
an atrocious lack of writing skills too--Ebay is not
going to be able to save you from yourself.)

Although I basically agree with this, I'd like to add
one caveat: That the seller can suffer when s/he
uses standard terms correctly and the buyer does not.
I've seen negative feedback resulting from a book's
condition being described as "good" (in the trade standard
sense) but not being up to the buyer's idea of "good" (in
a more colloquial sense). Sometimes you can't win.

Cathy Krusberg
Internet:

Cathy Krusberg wrote in message ...

...I'd like to add
one caveat: That the seller can suffer when s/he
uses standard terms correctly and the buyer does not.
I've seen negative feedback resulting from a book's
condition being described as "good" (in the trade standard
sense) but not being up to the buyer's idea of "good" (in
a more colloquial sense). Sometimes you can't win.

Yep, and I think this usually happens when you have buyer's
remorse: the buyer feels she paid a bit too much for the book, or were
expecting something more for the price. With a bargain buy, you'll
rarely hear this nitpicking about quality.

And then you've also got those buyers who just can't believe,
despite being told repeatedly before and after ordering, that shipping
by media mail to their destination can take up to 14 days.

--
Ht

Whenever I advertise (it's rare, unless I come across a duplicate or something
I don't want anymore), I capitalize and bold the terms: "The item is in Good
condition," for example, with Good in bold face. A close-up scan also helps.

Ht is right, though. Often, the people who are upset about condition are the
ones who got in a bidding war and wound up paying a lot. I did have a guy try
to "upgrade" his beat up item by telling me that mine got mangled in the mail.
Photos revealed that his item and mine were not the same! So, watch out for
buyers as well as sellers.

Most of the sellers who rip me off just take my money and give me nothing!!

Frank