August 26, 2011

Book Sale Woes

Dear lady at the book sale with the book scanner,

I know buying books cheaply and reselling them is your livelihood. I was enjoying my day, casually looking through the used books at the library sale. I never buy more than 5 books and the books that I buy aren't exactly big money makers. In fact, that day I was just looking for a replacement 4th Harry Potter book for mine that promptly fell apart the first time I read it. I just want you to know that I very much appreciated you constantly raging toward me, like a reaping machine, throwing books every which way and pulling books practically out of my hands. Your reaching across me numerous times at the sale was welcomed and I hope you found everything you were looking for. You must have because I saw your 7 large bags of books stationed around the sale. I also liked the way you almost attacked that lady who saw a book in one of your bags and thought that it must have been available.


I was wondering if you noticed that other gentleman with the book scanner? The one that realized that the likelihood of any of us casual book shoppers  picking up a particularly valuable book was close to nil. He waited until us other shoppers moved until he started scanning in an area. In fact he didn't touch me at all during the whole time I was there. He even watched me pick up the books I wanted and let me pass, with a smile.

As a bibliophile, I just love relaxing and looking at the lovely $1.00 offers at book sales. I am not a person who buys more than they can read. In fact my budget for the sale was $5.00. Thanks for making my relaxing day perusing gently used books a nightmare. I had heard of your kind before but had never personally witnessed them. I want to thank you for demonstrating to me what I can only term as "Book Sale Rape." Rape is not funny but I feel it is the word that most accurately described what you were doing. (Yes, I had to make up a term for your actions.)

I just want you to know that I did get the Harry Potter book that I was looking for. I know it retails for a whole $0.01 online but liked the book enough I sprang a whole dollar for it. Especially since I like to support the library.

 Sincerely,

The girl with the suede bag that you complimented before you shoved me out of the way.


Has anyone else seen this happening? I am lucky in the fact that I tend to like books that no one else finds interesting and are pretty worthless in terms of resale value but are worth much more in knowledge value. Another good reason to love the Classics. :D I know this post was a little bit cheeky, but I have noticed this is a growing trend and have even heard that these people are banned from some sales during peak hours. While I am personally unaffected because of the books I like to read, I am sure others are frustrated with not being able to find books at sales because of this practice. Also, a little bit of courtesy to other shoppers wouldn't damage the "haul" too much either. I am very glad that the libraries are befitting from this practice but it really is a sad sight to see for people who love books.   

7 comments:

  1. I have seen them! It's horrible the way they just throw books that that are of no use to them! I agree they are good for the libraries but they really arent good for the other shoppers.Glad you got what you wanted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. D:
    That's never happened to me before. It must have been awful! I hope you enjoy your books.Especially the 4th Harry Potter. It's lovely meeting another fan of the series (:
    -milli
    www.doodlereads.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I am sorry to hear this. I have seen this kind of behavior at garage and estate sales, but now we have to endure it at book sales!?! How unfortunate. The only solace is that serious book collectors never buy library editions, so this woman's "haul" won't be worth much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh dear.
    I don't think I've ever encoutered this, thanfully. The person who has bought the most books in our local library is most probably me...

    ReplyDelete
  5. At least it is not just me! Thanks for your sympathies. I have a feeling this will become more common as more people make businesses from selling books online.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wonder if it was the same lady who hip-checked me out of the way while I was reaching for a book! Bron was looking for Harry Potter, too, but didn't have any luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jodi, I have no idea. I guess we just have to wait until there is so much competition among them that it is no longer profitable to do...

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!

Copyright © 2008-2020 Stephanie Ann Farra. All rights reserved.

All materials posted on this site are subject to copyrights owned by Stephanie Ann Farra. Any reproduction, retransmissions, or republication of all or part of any document found on this site is expressly prohibited, unless the author has explicitly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit, or republish the material. All other rights reserved.