Fraudulent Ebay Seller - John Pelan

Just a short warning to those thinking of buying books from John Pelan
who sometimes trades under the name of MIDNIGHT HOUSE BOOKS.

Pelan lost his job a few months ago and has been desperately trying to
offload his junky book collection on Ebay. These are some of his more
questionable antics:

1. Although he once said he would never sell his own books on Ebay
because it would irritate dealers who themselves are having trouble
shifting stock, Pelan now does. He sells Ashtree Press and Midnight
House books at prices which undercut the dealers, or else he offers
highly tenuous add-ons e.g. 'rare proof copy - signed by publisher'.
(NB. Rare proof copies provided free by the rarely-paid-on-time printer
it must be added!)

2. Without securing permission or offering to share the proceeds with
those concerned, Pelan is flogging off author letter and manuscripts
sent to him by writers who have since made a name for themselves. He is
riding on the back of their popularity in a very cynical way.

3. Pelan effects extremely amateur and clumsy home-made "repairs" to
books and then omits to detail them in the item's description.

4. He also greatly exaggerates the condition of the books that he is
selling. For example, I sold him this book myself:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=842144849 3

I originally bought it from a well-known UK bookdealer for circa £10.
By no stretch of the imagination could it be described as VG-. It was a
pretty ragged copy as both I and my supplier originally stated.
Disturbingly, there are numerous other examples of this overly
energetic fervour to exaggerate book condition.

There are even more sinister stories to tell, some involving
out-and-out fraud, so if anyone is thinking of making a serious
purchase from the seller known as "jpelan", you are srongly advised to
insist upon very detailed scans up front, and perhaps even to insist
upon receiving the goods *before* you risk handing over your money.

SS

Shelf Space wrote:
so if anyone is thinking of making a serious
purchase from the seller known as "jpelan",

Wonderful! I didn't realize John sold on eBay. Thanks for giving me
his alias. I'll be sure to put him in my "favorite sellers" list.

"Gary Thompson" wrote in message
ups.com...

Shelf Space wrote:
so if anyone is thinking of making a serious
purchase from the seller known as "jpelan",


Wonderful! I didn't realize John sold on eBay. Thanks for giving me
his alias. I'll be sure to put him in my "favorite sellers" list.

....

You can buy with complete confidence as well, as he has a 100%
positive feedback record

Member Profile: jpelan (630)

Member since: 02-Sep-98
Location: United States

Feedback Sco 630
Positive Feedback: 100%

Members who left a positive: 630
Members who left a negative: 0

All positive feedback received: 866

...

As to Chris Barker here's an article about him from a UK Newspaper-
Although they omit to mention that he also claims Social Security
Benefits i.e he's a Dole Scrounger.

quote

DAILY TELEGRAPH ARTICLE (Filed: 07/02/2004)
Cash clinic: Scholar of the supernatural takes time for the material
http://telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jh.../02/07/cmcash0...


Vital Statistics
Names Christopher and Selma Barker. He is 36, she is 37
Children Edwin and James, 21 months; Alexandria, 7
Location Besthorpe, Norfolk
Occupation He is a child-carer and part-time writer/publisher.
She is a clerk at John Lewis
Income Combined annual income of about pounds 15,000
Savings He has pounds 500 in a Business Gold account with Norwich &
Peterborough BS and pounds 10 in a mini cash Isa
Pensions He has 10 years of contributions in a paid-up company scheme
held with a former employer. She has been in her company's
non-contributory scheme for five years
Assets Home worth pounds 180,000; with-profits Standard Life endowment
policy with projected maturity value of pounds 40,000. She has pounds
500 in a Virgin Pep
Liabilities pounds 40,000 interest-only mortgage with Portman BS


HAVING had a lifelong interest in ghost stories, Christopher Barker
decided to bring his passion to a wider audience by publishing a
magazine called Weirdly Supernatural.


Mr Barker, 36, who lives with his wife Selma, 37, and their three
children, twins Edwin and James, 21 months, and daughter Alexandria,
seven, in Besthorpe, Norfolk, said: "Ever since I saw Christopher Lee
in Dracula, when I was four, I have been interested in ghosts and the
supernatural.


"I advertised the fact that I was planning to set up a magazine
dedicated to discussing classic supernatural fiction and received a
good response, so it all started from there."


He writes ghost stories, set in Norfolk and Suffolk, and has also
recently published a book by Reggie Oliver, nephew of Stella Gibbons
who wrote Cold Comfort Farm, called The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini
and Other Strange Stories.


Mr Barker said: "We're currently selling it on the internet and it's
getting some good reviews. There has been a lot of interest from
television companies which is exciting too."


Before embarking on his career as a part-time publisher, Mr Barker
worked for local government in Berkshire. His wife works as a special
orders clerk at John Lewis four days a week, and Mr Barker looks after
the children.

The couple bought their three-bedroom detached home in Besthorpe two
years ago for pounds 110,000. The property is currently valued at
pounds 180,000. They have a pounds 40,000 interest-only mortgage with
Portman Building Society and are paying the standard variable rate of
5.69pc. Monthly payments are pounds 200. Other than the mortgage, the
family has no debts.

Mr Barker said: "We moved here from the south, where we had a
six-figure mortgage to pay. By moving here, we were able to slash our
mortgage costs by about two thirds and we improved our quality of
life."

The Barkers plan to use an endowment to repay the capital at the end of
the mortgage. The 25-year policy, to which the couple contribute pounds
85 a month, was taken out with Standard Life two years ago.


When they took out the endowment, it had a projected maturity value of
pounds 40,000. However, the couple have been told by Standard Life
that, assuming a growth rate of 4pc, the policy will be worth pounds
27,300. Even assuming a growth rate of 6pc, the maturity value would be
pounds 38,700, leaving them with a pounds 1,300 shortfall.


The couple's combined income is currently around pounds 15,000. Mr
Barker has around pounds 500 in a Business Gold account with Norwich &
Peterborough Building Society, and pounds 10 in a mini cash individual
savings account (Isa), also held with Norwich & Peterborough.


He said: "I did have more in the Isa but this money went towards
funding the book. The aim this year is to break even. I want more
experience of publishing so there is a firm foundation to build on."
His wife has pounds 500 in a Virgin Pep, which tracks the All-Share
Index.


Turning to their pension arrangements, Mr Barker has 10 years of
contributions into his former employer's company scheme but is not
currently paying into a pension. Mrs Barker has been in the John Lewis
company pension scheme for five years. Mr Barker said: "We are both
suspicious of pensions in the light of all the controversy that has
surrounded them recently. We would rather improve the house than stick
our money in a pension fund."


For more information on Mr Barker's magazine and The Dreams of Cardinal
Vittorini and Other Strange Stories, visit his website at:
www.users.waitrose.com/ hauntedriver

/quote

The email address is no longer valid, as Barker was thrown off
the waitrose proxy ISP.



michael adams

Shelf Space wrote:
...so if anyone is thinking of making a serious
purchase from the seller known as "jpelan", you are srongly advised...


....that he has a feedback score of 630, 100% positive (866 total
positives--0 Negs, 1 Neut), in more than 7-1/2 years of eBay activity.


--Jon Meyers

On 5 Jun 2006 02:44:22 -0700, "Shelf Space"
wrote:

Just a short warning to those thinking of buying books from John Pelan
who sometimes trades under the name of MIDNIGHT HOUSE BOOKS.

Pelan lost his job a few months ago and has been desperately trying to
offload his junky book collection on Ebay. These are some of his more
questionable antics:

1. Although he once said he would never sell his own books on Ebay
because it would irritate dealers who themselves are having trouble
shifting stock, Pelan now does. He sells Ashtree Press and Midnight
House books at prices which undercut the dealers, or else he offers
highly tenuous add-ons e.g. 'rare proof copy - signed by publisher'.
(NB. Rare proof copies provided free by the rarely-paid-on-time printer
it must be added!)


Please provide an example of my offering an Ash-Tree Press book for
sale.


3. Pelan effects extremely amateur and clumsy home-made "repairs" to
books and then omits to detail them in the item's description.

You are a liar.

4. He also greatly exaggerates the condition of the books that he is
selling. For example, I sold him this book myself:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=842144849 3

I originally bought it from a well-known UK bookdealer for circa £10.
By no stretch of the imagination could it be described as VG-. It was a
pretty ragged copy as both I and my supplier originally stated.
Disturbingly, there are numerous other examples of this overly
energetic fervour to exaggerate book condition.

Odd, you mean the book the book pictured is not the one for sale? How
did you determine this? The buyer seemed to think that the copy he
received was quite nice. Is it possible that there is more than one
copy of this book in existence?

There are even more sinister stories to tell, some involving
out-and-out fraud,

Please provide proof or go **** yourself. We do know that you are a
fraud, forger, and thief that sponges off of his mail-order bride.

What a pathetic little man you are.

Cheers,

John

Yes, I and every other poster should ignore anything by Shelfspace (CB)
but he's like that scab that keeps getting scraped - it's hard to
ignore.

In a previous post, he said:

"Who are the most annoying - spammers or nitpickers?

I say the nitpickers are way, way more annoying. They spend times
longer on their hissing fits than it takes to just ignore the spammers
message. "

I've heard of beating a dead horse, but I know very few who like to
wade into the carcass, play with the entrails, and slather their face
in the offal.

I haven't been in this group very long, but by reading your posts I
know I should feel sorry for you. Your pathetic attempts at defaming
Mr. Pelan always fall far short and do nothing but damage any
reputation you might have.

Adams, you are a fool and a hypocrite. A fool because what I posted was
on-topic relevant to this discussion group whereas your obsessive rant
was not; a hypocrite because you gleefully trample over other people's
private lives while keeping very quiet about your own.

Perhaps it is for these reasons that you are widely regarded as an
idiot in UMTM and consequently ignored by almost everybody.

Sam wrote:

I haven't been in this group very long,

Then in that case, shut the **** up until you know what's going on, you
pimple.

Jon Meyers wrote:

Shelf Space wrote:
...so if anyone is thinking of making a serious
purchase from the seller known as "jpelan", you are srongly advised...


...that he has a feedback score of 630, 100% positive (866 total
positives--0 Negs, 1 Neut), in more than 7-1/2 years of eBay activity.


--Jon Meyers

That has very little to do with anything. It doesn't address most of
the points in my original post. However, to address the issue of
feedback, I would say this: on more than one occasion, Pelan has
cheated Ebay customers but they have decided it isn't worth complaining
about, given his extremely aggressive and unpleasant personality.

To just look at feedback in isolation is to look at an issue in a one
dimensional way. I knew a seller with a four figure feedback rating who
openly bragged about fixing auctions and feedback after I caught him
shilling an auction (a friend of Pelan's as it so happens). When I
advised him I would be reporting the matter to Ebay, his first tactic
was to point out he had a criminal record for violence by way of
threatening me, but when that failed, he lied brazenly to Ebay, who
being gullible fools eager to take his seller fees, decided to turn a
blind eye to his shilling behaviour.

Thus I deem the issue of feedback a very insular and flawed one.
Granted it can give you an indication, but it certainly does not tell
the whole story. And when you bear in mind that Ebay relies totally on
sellers to make money for them, it is obvious to see who they will side
with.

For that reason, I would recommend sticking to specific issues. In this
case, I know full well that Pelan lied about a book's description
because I sold it to him; it is also a fact that he is flogging-off
signed letters and manuscripts without author permission; and also that
he is selling MH and ATP books despite saying he would never do this
lest it query the pitch of genuine bookdealers.

John "Urko" Pelan wrote:

On 5 Jun 2006 02:44:22 -0700, "Shelf Space"
wrote:

Just a short warning to those thinking of buying books from John Pelan
who sometimes trades under the name of MIDNIGHT HOUSE BOOKS.

Pelan lost his job a few months ago and has been desperately trying to
offload his junky book collection on Ebay. These are some of his more
questionable antics:

1. Although he once said he would never sell his own books on Ebay
because it would irritate dealers who themselves are having trouble
shifting stock, Pelan now does. He sells Ashtree Press and Midnight
House books at prices which undercut the dealers, or else he offers
highly tenuous add-ons e.g. 'rare proof copy - signed by publisher'.
(NB. Rare proof copies provided free by the rarely-paid-on-time printer
it must be added!)


Please provide an example of my offering an Ash-Tree Press book for
sale.


Okeydokey, here's your proof:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=841826467 4

Is that proof enough for you?

Oh, I see you've clipped out point 2. Presumably we should deem that
another admission of guilt (to add to the one above).


3. Pelan effects extremely amateur and clumsy home-made "repairs" to
books and then omits to detail them in the item's description.

You are a liar.

You're going to have to do better than name-calling. However, I reserve
the right not to produce proof lest other parties become embroiled in
your mess. Suffice to say that I say you do, although I am unable to
quote any specific proof, and for that reason, I simply urge
prospective bidders to inspect aolder books bought from you extremely
carefully lest they get ripped off.

After all, if you have nothing to hide, and haven't been busy with your
nephew's chunky paper-scissors and PVA glue tub, then you have nothing
to fear, do you?



4. He also greatly exaggerates the condition of the books that he is
selling. For example, I sold him this book myself:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=842144849 3

I originally bought it from a well-known UK bookdealer for circa £10.
By no stretch of the imagination could it be described as VG-. It was a
pretty ragged copy as both I and my supplier originally stated.
Disturbingly, there are numerous other examples of this overly
energetic fervour to exaggerate book condition.

Odd, you mean the book the book pictured is not the one for sale? How
did you determine this? The buyer seemed to think that the copy he
received was quite nice. Is it possible that there is more than one
copy of this book in existence?

This can be cleared up very easily. I can email the buyer and ask him
to send me a scan of the book's cover and title pages. I can then
cross-check that with the scans I have on file of the book I sold you.
Then I can dig out both my description of the book and that which was
prepared by the person who sold it to me, and thus prove exactly how
much your own description varied from ours.

Just say the word and I'll do these things. I think you'll end up being
humiliated and your customer may even ask for his money back, it's your
call.


There are even more sinister stories to tell, some involving
out-and-out fraud,

Please provide proof or go **** yourself. We do know that you are a
fraud, forger, and thief that sponges off of his mail-order bride.

What a pathetic little man you are.

Cheers,

John

What an unpleasant fellow you are. A prejudiced, foul-mouthed braggart.
I suggest you stick to the facts and stop trying to intimidate people
into submission with your aggressive behaviour or else you will never
evolve into a proper adult.