Date: Sunday, Jan 19, 2003
From: Eleanor Cooke (Acqnet editor) <cookei_at_appstate.edu>
Subject: Identity theft in the out of print bookselling world
Dear ACQNET subscribers:
According to Rosanna O’Neil, there is a nefarious kind of “identity
theft” going on in the world of out-of-print book selling. Librarians
and their acquisitions staffs need to be aware of this, and O’Neil does
not plan to rest until we are awake and aware.
According to O’Neil, who is both an MLS-card carrying librarian and an
out-of-print bookseller herself, “Major used books sites are to be
bought from with considerable caution. They are ALL - yes all – of the
ones you might buy from, allowing sellers to resell books they DON'T own
by pirating and then loading catalogs of inventories from legitimate
wholesalers and then drop shipping. In some cases, the markup can be
200% or 300%.”
The individuals engaging in this practice are not legitimate
booksellers. They move around, change their names, and are in it just to
rip you off. The mark-ups are beyond belief and they are getting away
with it because people just do not understand what is going on.
Consumers and unsuspecting library acquisitions staff are falling prey
to these unethical practices simply because they are not aware.
Rosanna O’Neil and her colleagues in the OP business have plenty of
real-life examples. She recently saw a reprinted version of a book
listed on a legitimate site for $27.00. This book, described
identically word-for-word, was offered on one of these bogus sites for
$97.00! Then someone bought the $97.00 offering, while the $27.00
offering was ignored. While it is common practice for booksellers to buy
and sell from each other, these Internet scam-artists are deliberately
picking off book descriptions (not the actual book) from one place and
then selling (without having the book in hand) at grossly inflated
prices simply to make a buck.
Another problem in the “new” world of out-of-print book buying is that
these Internet rip-off artists have no knowledge or respect for the OP
community’s specialized jargon for expressing the condition of OP
books. They will list books in “fine” condition all day with no regard
to the subtle nuances of what various condition statements are supposed
to mean. Hence, you might order a book listed in excellent condition,
and be shipped an ex-library copy with looses hinges and
yellow-highlighter throughout.
These market conditions are causing artificial price inflation, since
legitimate dealers are forced to inflate their prices to keep up.
Furthermore, the portal sites usually charge both dealers and
end-customers a service charge, further inflating prices. Dealers are
tempted to pad their prices so they can make something on the sale. This
is a dirty little secret that no one will admit to.
Legitimate bookstores often turn a blind eye to these practices,
grateful that someone is buying their books at any price. They don’t
want to know what is happening beyond their initial sale. But they
should be concerned about the wholesale lifting of their inventory
lists.
Librarians need to make themselves very familiar with the Internet world
of book buying. It is a wild and wooly frontier these days. Pay
attention to people like Rosanna O’Neil. Yes, she is a bookseller and
wants to make a living from her trade. But I will personally vouch for
O’Neil - she is also a librarian and cares that we get the best bang for
our buck.
A few weeks ago, Rosanna O’Neil posted some tips on ACQNET about this
topic. Acquisitions librarians, please pass this on to your staff. You
can find this in the ACQNET archives:
http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/02/0205.shtml
You can also find a reply that echoes this same concern:
http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/02/0210.shtml
(Although Rosanna disagrees that fulfillment ratings can be very
misleading)
At the ALA Midwinter conference, look for the following venues for
raising questions about these practices:
The ALCTS Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations Committee will be looking
at this issue for further study. They meet on Saturday, January 25,
2003, 2 pm – 4 pm
Pennsylvania Convention Center Room 103A
Contact: Bob Nardini - rnardini_at_YBP.com
There will also be some opportunities to air some discussion at the
ALCTS Out-of-Print Discussion Group, Mon., January 27th: 8:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Philadelphia Marriott, Room 404
Contact: Narda Tafuri - tafurin1_at_UofS.edu
Librarians - if you are interested in studying this problem, documenting
this problem and helping to make other librarians aware of this problem,
now’s the time. There are potential articles in the making for <Against
the Grain> or other venues.
Finally, be reminded that it is your ethical duty to spend your
institution’s budget wisely. The Association of Library Collections &
Technical Services developed a “Statement on Principles and Standards of
Acquisitions Practice” which can be found on their web site:
http://www.ala.org/alcts/publications/ethics/aesthics.html
This message is an attempt to capture the essence of the problem – I
know it’s likely we’ll never actually solve the problem – anymore than
we can stop all those business directory ordering scams people love to
complain about. But awareness is the best defense. As always, Caveat
emptor!
Sincerely,
Eleanor Cook
Editor, ACQNET-L
Received on Thu Jan 23 2003 - 21:18:28 EST