Just got back from a book sale at a local church, and here's something that really bugs me:

[Orrex]

It's just like any of the zillion book sales you'll find throughout the country, with paperbacks going for a dime and hardbacks a quarter, plus an assortment of oddly priced items here and there. All the books are donated by the community, and the money helps to fund the church's community programs as well as other functions (basic maintenance, etc.) I've been going for about six years, and I've never seen a book priced @ more than $2.00, and we've scored some beauties over time.

But what really annoys me is the asshole who goes through with his Blackberry or iPhone, checking each book to see what he can get for it on resale. This seems to defeat the whole purpose of the event. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme--it's a nickel/dime sale to pay for coffee and muffins at the next Narcotics Anonymous meeting!

I'm sure that this practice has its defenders, and I'm sure that there's even some legitimate defense to be offered for it, but I find it distasteful.


Have at it.

[TZ]

1. I have a relative

who does something similar with yard sales..With books, dishes, silver ware etc. Its how she makes a living. Reselling second hand stuff on Ebay. It is somewhat distasteful to me, but thats how some people make a living.:shrug:

[HopeHoops]

2. Just get real close to the asshole and whisper in an ominous voice, "God's watching you, ya know."

:evilgrin:

[gmoney]

13. God doesn't want people to buy books at the church sale?

Honestly, used book dealers are more like animal shelters, in that they "rescue" the unwanted books (often saving them from a shredder), shelter them, organize them, and work to "find them a good home" with a reader or collector. They may make money on some of them, but they lose money on a lot of them, too. I think independent used book dealers do it out of a love of books, not because it's the fast track to easy money.

Obviously, they can't take in everything, and there are simply tons of books that virtually NOBODY is interested in purchasing, as there are already loads of used copies glutting the market, or they're simply obscure or obsolete. But I really love going to used book stores, and this is a business practice that helps make them viable.

[gratuitous]

3. Same thing happens at the Goodwill store

The local newspaper had a column about it, and the writer was irked too. The new books are put out on Thursdays at his local Goodwill, and there are bibliovultures waiting to pounce when the new carts are rolled out. They grab up armloads of likely looking books, and retreat to a corner to evaluate the swag, bringing back the dross and hauling away the gold. They're never going to, you know, read any of those books, but they'll score a quick sawbuck and what more could there be to life?

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

4. I had a babysitter once

who used to make us kids raid the Goodwill boxes (back in the day when they were in grocery store parking lots) and then she would have a garage sale with the pilfered goods. People are people. Whatcha gonna do about it huh? :silly:

[Orrex]

22. I'm going to rant futilely about it, of course.

What did you think I would do about it?

[LeftyMom]

5. In this economy, I'm not going to sweat anybody making a living somehow.

The charity gets their money either way.

[tigereye]

10. yeah, that's what I was thinking...

[1gobluedem]

6. I've always had issues with things like that

Especially the garage sale and thrift store vultures. There are people who don't have a lot of money and they rely on these sales to get basic household items and clothes. This way, they're just left with the junk after the resellers swoop in and grab the good stuff.

I have friends who have plenty of money who get all their clothes and furniture from thrift stores. I understand it's eco-friendly but I wish they'd understand that there are those who need it more who don't have their incomes.

[TZ]

7. alot of those "vultures'

who are buying and reselling need the money too. That aren't all rich. Just sayin.

[Xithras]

8. I have no problem with that sort of thing.

The church gets the money they want out of it either way, so why does it matter whether the buyer is planning on reselling it, or reading it once and sticking it on a dusty shelf?

If someone can make a living by locating valuable books and reselling them at market rate, who am I to quibble with it?

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. if the church (or whatever oprganization) isn't willing to find out the real worth before pricing,

then so be it.

Doesn't bother me at all.

What bothers me is churches that have sales (and dinner fundraisers, etc.) and price everything so frakking low that it's really not worth the time of any of the volunteers to even bother doing it.

If my church were having a spaghetti dinner, say, and priced it at $5 when every restaurant in the area would sell the same for $10 or more, I'd say "sorry, not worth my time to undersell that way - here's $50 so I don't have to waste my time."

And let me also direct my ire at the assholes who will go out to eat and happily spend $X amount on dinner, and then go to a **fundraiser** dinner (whether church or other organization) and piss and moan because the price, at half of $X, is "too high for a church!"

Fuck that.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I like that churches don't charge much. I think that's pretty much the tradition where I live. It's

a bit like a fellowship dinner, but more people come and you make a modest bit of money as well. I never minded volunteering at them, but then again I was just a kid and was pretty darned proud to be old enough that I was allowed to serve anything. :)

[madinmaryland]

11. I worked with someone who would go to tag sales looking to find videos and books

to resell. Don't know if he went to churches or not.

[gmoney]

12. No, the bigger shame is what often happens to the unsold books...

they're frequently just sold for scrap paper, or even just thrown away. Granted, a huge percentage of the leftovers may be totally unwanted by the reading public (outdated computer software books, for instance) but maybe prisons or schools could make use of them? But the argument I'm sure is that it would cost more to process them than they're worth.

But the book dealers have been doing this for ages, it's just that they used to carry the information around in their heads, or notebooks, instead of in a scanner. The event organizers don't want to discourage them because they represent a huge percentage of sales at the events. And really, how could you enforce who is a dealer and who's just an avid reader? I DO dislike the practice where they rush in and grab scads of "contenders" and then go off to some corner to check the values, and then the stuff they don't want, they just sort of abandon, rather than returning them to the appropriate areas.

I used to do this to a degree, except with CDs and videos. Back before everything was available for digital download, I made a little money on the side.

What sort of bugs me now is that most used book/CD/video stores now just look up everything you bring in on Amazon, and then base their offer on the lowest used price for an item.

Honestly, I'd love an affordable scanner/database so that I could catalog all MY books and be able to know for sure what books I actually own when I'm out shopping. (Yes, I have a horrible memory, and have been known to buy 3rd or 4th copies of books.)

[Lars39]

15. I keep an Excel spread sheet for lists of my books.

And movies. I don't dare go to McKay's without my lists. :hi:

[mitchum]

14. As a longtime book grubber, I truly despise those motherfuckers

If you aren't aware of the resale prices, and can't memorize them, you have no business getting in my way. Amateurs.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

17. Best reply yet!

insert appropriate smiley here.

[Old Troop]

18. Our church has a white elephant section at our bazaar and the dealers

start trying to get in to scope out the stuff hours before the bazaar starts. It's unfair to folks who are looking for cheap stuff because they can't afford the new.

[rug]

19. Give him your cat.

[Sisaruus]

20. If you see me checking my blackberry....

I'm checking my own shelves to see if I already have a copy.
http://www.librarything.com/profile/sisaruus

[Dr Morbius]

21. Blessed be the profit-takers.

I suppose.