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Goodwill Pricing
At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted
herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. Never taking into account such little facts like, Does the book have a dust jacket? Is it the same publisher? Just the other day they had a book priced at $65.00. The print out in the book had a price of $400.00. I went home and looked it up You could get the same book for $20.00. When I questioned them about it they said "people buy them" So some old lady who doesn't know a thing about books sees this little print out and thinks she saving a bundle. . Thoughts? |
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#2
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Goodwill Pricing
"krik999" wrote in message ... At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. Never taking into account such little facts like, Does the book have a dust jacket? Is it the same publisher? Just the other day they had a book priced at $65.00. The print out in the book had a price of $400.00. I went home and looked it up You could get the same book for $20.00. When I questioned them about it they said "people buy them" So some old lady who doesn't know a thing about books sees this little print out and thinks she saving a bundle. . Thoughts? A little learning is a dangerous thing...the "book experts" at my local thrift scotch tape their higher prices to the books that they plan to sell at more than fifty cents. A good way to lose material from a paper or leather cover, but they don't understand that they are destroying the value by the mere fact of marking the book in that way. Fortunately, except for gilt edged, leather bound books, they have no clue as to what is really valuable. They've got dampstained ex-library copies on their "expensive" shelf, and signed modern firsts in the fifty-cent shelf. Who am I to educate them? Alice |
#3
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Goodwill Pricing
At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted
herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. Never taking into account such little facts like, Does the book have a dust jacket? Is it the same publisher? I see this a lot in charity shops round here. Usually they get a clue after a couple of years. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 |
#4
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Goodwill Pricing
"krik999" wrote in message
... At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. This is probably illegal. Most jurisdictions have by now formal legislation concerning "reduced sale prices." The general theme of these laws is that it is a crime to price anything as "$15 reduced from $20" unless the same vendor has actually sold at least one item at $20. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#5
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Goodwill Pricing
At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted
herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. This is probably illegal. Most jurisdictions have by now formal legislation concerning "reduced sale prices." The general theme of these laws is that it is a crime to price anything as "$15 reduced from $20" unless the same vendor has actually sold at least one item at $20. The post didn't imply that - just that the offered price was listed in comparison with the Abebooks top. What usually happens here is just that they'll tell you verbally the reason for their silly prices is "that's the Internet price", they don't even put it in writing. Most of the customers must just think they're nuts. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 |
#6
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Goodwill Pricing
On Mar 18, 12:07 pm, "Don Phillipson"
wrote: "krik999" wrote in message ... At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. This is probably illegal. Most jurisdictions have by now formal legislation concerning "reduced sale prices." The general theme of these laws is that it is a crime to price anything as "$15 reduced from $20" unless the same vendor has actually sold at least one item at $20. But there is no indication that the thrift shop has done anything like that. There is nothing illegal about pointing out that one's price is lower than some other vendor's price, though one might argue that it would be deceptive if the "book expert" actually knew that she was comparing the store's copy to a different edition or to a copy in such different condition that the values could not be comparable. While the cliche about "ignorance of the law" and "no excuse" is usually true, ignorance of the facts and general cluelessness can be a defense when intent is an issue. chiwito |
#7
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Goodwill Pricing
On Mar 18, 2:30 pm, "
wrote: On Mar 18, 12:07 pm, "Don Phillipson" wrote: "krik999" wrote in message ... At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. This is probably illegal. Most jurisdictions have by now formal legislation concerning "reduced sale prices." The general theme of these laws is that it is a crime to price anything as "$15 reduced from $20" unless the same vendor has actually sold at least one item at $20. But there is no indication that the thrift shop has done anything like that. There is nothing illegal about pointing out that one's price is lower than some other vendor's price, though one might argue that it would be deceptive if the "book expert" actually knew that she was comparing the store's copy to a different edition or to a copy in such different condition that the values could not be comparable. While the cliche about "ignorance of the law" and "no excuse" is usually true, ignorance of the facts and general cluelessness can be a defense when intent is an issue. I can't help wondering why certain thrifts and library donation store managers have such a hard time grasping the fact that their business depends on their prices being considerably lower than those of typical used or rare book stores. After all, the selection found in a thrift or library donation store will never be comparable to that of a good used book store. People don't patronize thrift shops and donation stores because they have a "great selection." People patronize them to get books at bargain prices, meaning prices considerably lower than those of a for- profit used book store. So, when thrifts stupidly raise their prices to the used book store level, then they simply become run-of-the-mill used book stores with lousy selections: not at all places worth patronizing. Low prices bring people to thrifts and donation stores, so their managers should keep the prices as low as possible, not try to raise them as high as possible. (And, I certainly agree that when those doing the pricing show they know nothing about book values, the situation becomes risible as well as annoying.) Another pet peeve of mine is when the volunteer or clerk at the thrift or donation store starts grumbling that they have priced something too low when I purchase it. They or one of the other volunteers priced the item, after all. Why grumble that something should have been priced higher? Instead of trying to jack their prices up as high as they can, they should keep their prices low and work on getting more book donations. They are not doing their organizations any favors by driving away paying customers. It is like cetain thrift volunteers get "sellers remorse" when it dawns on them that someone is getting a great deal They should be delighted because if someone is buying a book it means more money is flowing into their organization and it probably means the customer will return and buy more books. [Memo from the upstairs office.] chiwito- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - |
#8
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Goodwill Pricing
On Mar 18, 2:30 pm, "
wrote: On Mar 18, 12:07 pm, "Don Phillipson" wrote: "krik999" wrote in message ... At my local Goodwill the lady in charge of pricing books has promoted herself to "book expert" They have taken to the practice of looking books up on ABE taking the highest priced listing (and I think we all know how prices range on ABE), printing it out and placing it in the book and then pricing that book just under the ABE price. This is probably illegal. Most jurisdictions have by now formal legislation concerning "reduced sale prices." The general theme of these laws is that it is a crime to price anything as "$15 reduced from $20" unless the same vendor has actually sold at least one item at $20. But there is no indication that the thrift shop has done anything like that. There is nothing illegal about pointing out that one's price is lower than some other vendor's price, though one might argue that it would be deceptive if the "book expert" actually knew that she was comparing the store's copy to a different edition or to a copy in such different condition that the values could not be comparable. While the cliche about "ignorance of the law" and "no excuse" is usually true, ignorance of the facts and general cluelessness can be a defense when intent is an issue. I think it is more like "a little learning is a dangerous thing." The person has learned how to look up book on the net, but has not learned how to use the information intelligently, with regard to pricing low enough to keep bargain-hunting thrift customers coming back. [Memo from the upstairs office.] chiwito- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - |
#9
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Goodwill Pricing
On Mar 21, 3:58 am, wrote:
I think it is more like "a little learning is a dangerous thing." You ought to know palmjob! |
#10
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Goodwill Pricing
On Mar 22, 4:54 am, "RF" wrote:
On Mar 21, 3:58 am, wrote: I think it is more like "a little learning is a dangerous thing." You ought to know palmjob! As expected. Another wet-noodle attack from Spankard Finnan. Give it up, Bob. You look pretty silly wriggling around on your belly while flailing those wet noodles at me. You are close to becoming another famous spankard like 'Louse-monkey" Hausmann, "The Dumpster Rodent," "Lousy" McLemon, and a few hundred others. Actually, your pathetic "lames" belong in alt.flame, but as you well know, you would readily be toasted to a humiliated crisp over there too. Cheers. [Memo from the upstairs office.] |
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