Buying Used Tolkien Books on the net
How can you protect yourself from these problems? There are some simple clues that will help you to spot trouble before you buy.
The first thing
to remember is that fundamentally, ecommerce is just plain old mail-order.
The catalogue is being delivered electronically, but it's still a mail-order
catalogue for all that. All the same laws apply in ecommerce as do in
mail-order.
If you always buy the cheapest copy, you are going to increase your
chances of being disappointed. There's usually a reason that a book is
underpriced. If you're lucky, it's because the seller doesn't know any
better, is trying to clear out old stock, or wants to sell in volume.
Then you may just say you are 'lucky'. If you're unlucky, the book may
be in very poor condition, or the seller may be having problems. In general,
I find that the cheapest sellers are among the slowest to answer queries,
and to ship. Try looking instead for the best value for your money - a
copy that's reasonably priced, in nice condition, and from a reputable-sounding
dealer. I for example never by any Tolkien books who are lacking dustjackets
any more. And always like to see condition F/F in the description. It
might cost a little more, but then i am sure i get the books in a fine
condition.
So first read the book description very carefully. Some phrases should
tip you off to a less knowledgeable bookseller... pretty good for its
age, or waterstained but else fine, or has that old book smell are all
signs of a bookseller who means well, but has no idea what they are doing.
Pretty good for its age is always wrong. A book is graded strictly according
to it's condition, and not at all according to its age. This means that
really old books will almost never be in Fine condition. See the article
on grading condition for a
more detailed explanation. Else fine is a term that should be used with
real caution. It usually only applies to a nearly invisible flaw on an
otherwise perfect copy. That old book smell is usually mildew, and is
a serious problem as it can spread to the rest of your library. Look for
longer, more detailed descriptions. Do not be turned off by a minutely
detailed listing of flaws. These are usually in better condition than
the items with a general condition grade and no details. While it may
appear the the book with a detailed description of a 1 inch dampstain
to the lower corner of the last 2 pages is worse than a book listed as
being in Good condition, it's likely the other way around.
Ask questions. If you're concerned that a book may not really be a first
edition as the seller has stated, then ask them how they identified it
as a first. If they know, they should be able to answer the question easily
and in detail. If you're afraid that the book may not really be in the
condition described, then ask the seller to doublecheck and see if anything
was missed in the original description. If there is anything at all in
the description that you don't understand, ask. Booksellers often use
trade-specific terms. They are not being deliberately obscure, they are
just used to the words, and don't even consider that someone might not
understand. If they don't have the time or courtesy to answer your questions,
then you shouldn't be buying from them.
Look at photos of the item (especially when buying expensive first editions
or rare copies of tolkien's work). In an auction, you probably should
never bid on items without a photograph. On the databases, photos are
much less common. But if it's an expensive book, or you are concerned,
ask the seller to scan the book. Many sellers have a scanner or a digital
camera and will scan the book on request.
Hardcover books always take more abuse in the mail than paperbacks.
It's easy to bump corners and spine. They need additional protection.
If you're at all concerned about what may happen to your book in the mail,
ask for a box rather than a padded or bubble mailer. I always ask this,
since i am especially looking for hardcovers (before i look at the softcovers)
of Tolkien, and never had negative replies to my request.
Read the contact information. Make sure they have a telephone number
and a postal mailing address listed in case there is a problem. Keep track
of your orders (print them out and mark them once delivered).
Read the bookseller's terms of sale. They should tell you what forms
of payment are accepted, what the return policy is, and what forms of
shipping are available. Look for a generous return policy. Return within
7 days if book is not as described should be the minimum you will accept.
Some dealers will offer up to 30 days (or more) for any reason. As a general
rule of thumb, most dealers will accept returns for any reason, but will
not pay return postage if you have just changed your mind for some reason.
They will pay return postage if there is an undescribed flaw in the book
(such as damage, or incorrect edition statement).
Look out for sellers who have an unnecessarily aggressive attitude in
their terms. We are not responsible for items lost in the mail. If you
don't buy insurance that's your problem is not the voice of a friendly,
service-oriented bookseller.
Some sites allow buyers (and sellers) to leave feedback about each transaction.
Usually these are auctions sites such as eBay, Yahoo! Auctions, or Amazon
Auctions. But Half.com and Amazon zShops also allow buyer feedback. You
should read through it to see if there are any patterns of poor service.
However, keep in mind that these types of feedback are rather unreliable.
Some people will leave much more positive feedback than is really deserved,
as they are afraid of retaliatory feedback. And sometimes negative feedback
is left for problems that are not the seller's fault. Recently when Amazon
zShops had a series of technical problems, a number of dealers were given
bad feedback over the performance of the Amazon site.
Trade association members are normally required to follow a code of
ethics. This is, for the most part, a pretty general code. Basically,
it requires that sellers follow the law, and agree to describe books correctly.
It doesn't guarantee that the bookseller will do everything right. But
it does tell you that they probably have behaved well in the past. It
also tells you that they are serious about the business (they pay substantial
yearly membership fees), and likely know what they are doing. Another
advantage to buying from a member of a trade association is that you then
have someone to complain to if things go wrong. There are many booksellers
trade associations around the world. Most fall under the umbrella of the
ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers), except IOBA, which
is strictly for internet booksellers.
As mentioned above, make sure you save all email regarding the purchase
until you know you're satisfied. Create a special folder in your email
program to store all your book purchase messages. That way you can go
back through them if you need to remember a date or a name.
Pay by credit card. Many people are afraid to use their credit cards
for internet transactions. However, if you do have a problem, you can
dispute the charge through your credit card company. And to be quite frank,
you'll usually win. Consumers have a lot more rights in a mail-order or
internet transaction (where there is no signature) than merchants do.
So you have an advantage going in. Try disputing a cashed cheque and see
where it gets you... secondly you can keep your credit limit low on your
card so you are unable to exceed it. This can in come handy... buying
Tolkien books is highly addictive, and very expensive!
If things do go wrong, go back and read the original description of
the book and/or the dealer's terms to make sure you didn't misunderstand.
Then email the seller with your complaint. Keep in mind that you are not
dealing with a faceless corporation. Your email will probably be read
by the person who is responsible for the error (it's wonderful to have
your own business...). So try the friendly approach first. Give them an
out... I expect it would be easy to miss, but I discovered that page 93
has been scribbled with crayon. Would it be possible to return the book?
will probably do more good than You lousy crook! You tried to cheat me
by selling this book as fine when it has crayon scribbles all over it!.
If that doesn't work, try calling them. Call or email the database or
auction which carried the listing. Most of them will try to help. There
are instructions on most of the sites that explain how to contact them.
Contact any trade associations that the seller belongs to. If the actions
of the seller appear to be criminal (they took your money and sent nothing
for example), then you can contact the police in the seller's town. Just
call information to get the number. In the US, you can report mail fraud
to the Postmaster General. Check with your local post office for details.
And please... do report problems. Do make a fuss. It's important to
the majority of honest, responsible booksellers out there whose reputations
all suffer from these isolated incidents.
Most booksellers really do want you to be happy with your purchase,
and most problems are misunderstandings. If you ask questions, and make
sure that what you are ordering is really what you want, you'll rarely
have a problem at all.
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