"book hoarders" who resell online??

[Big Daddy Audio]

I'm not sure if I'd classify them as pushy and rude, but they do take up the aisle at a goodwill.  The store only has so many tapes and CD's (could care less about most books - takes to long to look through them with how they're sorted now anyway) and the resellers take most (if not all) of the music I'd be interested in anyway.

They are being hogs and are making things cost more for everyone all around.

SYNT
BFN

[artie]

Hello. Interesting topic. I doubt that you would need to do much talking to stop these people from scanning books. The public library is publicly funded for the purpose of supplying the citizens with reading material at the least expense to the users. Library book sales are for the purpose of cleaning house and making room for new books. Also, a sale raises additional funds for the library. But to turn the library into a wholesaler for private business seems to be contrary to the spirit of a library. I think the city council could do something about this.

It's interesting to see how precious books become when the economy is down. It's by far the best and cheapest entertainment to be found.

[dukek9]

The local library has a huge book sale once a year.  They brag how they get dealers from several states. They do seem to buy a lot of things at the beginning prices so that is good for the library.

What drives me nuts though is that they have a $5 bag book sale starting on Saturday at 1 PM.  So people go in there Saturday morning and clean out the cds and dvds as well as loads of books and then stash their bags under tables or they sit in corner with bags.  So you have people hanging around, just waiting for slae as well as those who seemingly leave things to the fates, hoping they have stashed bags well.

It just irritates me because I feel that the bag sale starts at 1 PM and everyone should start shoppign for bag sale then.  It is pretty worthless to go in Saturday morning to try and find stuff at the library's full price so they might as welll just have all Saturday as bag sale.

I would dismantle all bags Friday night, jsut spread contents around the library, open the door at 9 for bag sale and give everyone the same chance.

Dee

[Your Pal Eric]

There's a guy who I've run into at local thrifts a few times-- he has a handheld electronic gun thingie, and he hunkers down in the book section, and scans the barcodes on the books with his gun.  It seems like he puts a TON of books into his cart, and I haven't been able to figure out a pattern to what he decides to keep and what he decides to reshelf.

Have any of y'all seen anything like this?

[Frchgrl]

Hm? Where would I fall in this category? Well, I do buy books and resell. Very little though as the main reason I do is because I LOVE vintage including books so I hunt for vintage,interesting books and I either keep it for myself or sell it. Selling vintage is part of the fun. However, as a member here can tell you, I had some vintage cookbooks that I gave for free as it was my pleasure to do so since they collected them. I'm sure if I saw someone with one of those scanners I'd have a quick passing thought of "where do I get one of those?" however I don't think I could do it. To be honest with you, it's draining to look through all those books. I scan them and then usually move on. I pass things up all the time that I could resell really high but if I don't have any interest in it, I don't do it. Selling it is only part of the fun. Very little part.

[valleythriftshopper]

I sell books occasionally but also mostly ones I think are neat, especially old childrens books.  I was at a sale today where there were alot of cool old books, but I got there later & a couple had snatched up a pile of nice kids books before me.  Having that scanner is handy but I prefer to be inconspicuous when I shop. 

[Your Pal Eric]

What is the scanner?  What does it do?  Does it tell you whether or not you have the book in your inventory already?  That was my guess, but I'm still unclear.

[valleythriftshopper]

The scanner shows what the average selling price of the book is on Amazon, Ebay etc. 

[lamberts]

Ok, I have to admit, when I'm having a really bad day AND I tour my local thrifts for books with my husband and run into these obnoxious scavangers with their little machines I turn to him and say in a slightly elevated voice "Look dear, there's someone else who's so stupid they have to look books up on a computer".
My other revenge is silent - most of the books I end up buying/selling don't have ISBN numbers!

[Your Pal Eric]

The scanner shows what the average selling price of the book is on Amazon, Ebay etc. 

 

[elementalcharmer]

I myself have seen these "dealers" at local library book sales and they do tick me off as well. Not all of them, just the pushy ones. The ones who are not just there with their spouses but with employees. Yes I said employees. In the St. Louis area all the libraries have the annual book sales and at each sale I would always see the same group of people. You had your readers, people who were there to purchase books for themselves. You had your readers/resellers (which is the group I fell into). We, as a group, are there to purchase books for our own personal collections, but if we came across something we could sell we didn't hesitate in buying it. We also found books old school. With our eyes, and our brains, and common sense. Then you had the small time resellers/hobbyists. They used the handheld scanners, but were respectful. And finally you had the resellers from hell. The ones who came with up to 10 people to do their scanning/pulling for them. The ones who would block isles, snatch books from people, be rude on a regular basis, and never once think about anything but the all mighty dollar. Hey don't get me wrong I like money, but not when it comes to becoming a sub-par human being.

[valleythriftshopper]

That reminds me of when I was at an estate sale a few weeks ago & the family running it was still finding stuff to put out even though it had been going on for several hours.  They brought out a box with lamps in it & said "These are the lamps that guy was looking for" and had a good laugh.  Apparently some jerk walked up the driveway at 5:00 in the morning looking for some lamps they had advertised, they told him to come back later but then couldn't find them anyway.  Too bad I know nothing about lamps, I would have gotten much satisfaction from buying them if they were valuable. 

[Nancy]

Okay, now I am curious, how much do these scanners cost? I used to sell on Ebay but I only sold nice name brand clothing but it became to much. I thought about getting back into it since I am thrift store addicted but I really would rather not do the clothing thing. Any suggestions?

[consultnerd]

Ok, I have to respond, and you probably won't like it, but I am a bookseller (gasp!!!) and I use a Scanner (double gasp!!!).

However, I am not rude, I don't take up the aisles, I do one book at a time, and am respectful of people around me, usually asking if they want to get by me or whatever..

Another point, the Thrifts, Goodwills and Friends of the Library(FOL) sales all depends on SALES to help their cause.
They are not there to serve only one niche (book readers).
They are in business to make money, and whatever makes them money is good for them (and in the long run, good for you and everyone).

FOL sales depend on their sales to help them purchase books for the library, and many of the books are donated for this purpose.
So why should it matter WHO buys them.

And like in most business, it takes less effort to get ONE OF ME to buy 100 books, then to get 50 people who buy 2  books apiece.  Think about it.

And as for the scanner, it is technology, just like the eBay person that looks up something to see if they want to buy at a yard sale.  Should you ban anyone who RESELLS for any type of sale??? 
Guess what, there would not be many sales.

YMMV

I also have used my technical background to put together some scanner solutions economically (they normally cost $700-800) for around $375.00 shipped.
If you want to see what they look like here is  a link:
http://BobsStuff.com/scantool

Bob
BobsNeatStore.com

P.S.  I have near 100% feedback, both on eBay and AZ

[apronthriftgirl]

I tend to judge resellers on their behavior rather than just the scanner they have in their hand. I'm both a reseller & a scanner and I shop often at booksales & yard sales. I run into extremely rude people and they don't necessarily have to have a piece of equipment in their hand to make them rude. I strive to be very polite and a well mannered thrifter. I love what I do. I love to work with books, I love scanning books and I love thrifting more than anything else.

I also have always believed that there are enough books in our world for everyone. Even if a scanner has hit a yardsale and has left behind Amazon penny books, it certainly doesn't mean the books are not of value to a thrifter. Many of my favorite books have no online value but they mean a lot to me. Sometimes the most valuable books are obscure books that I would never even consider buying for my own personal library.

I think as technology grows you will see more and more tech tools out there to help buyers and dealers. I also use my iphone to look up items. I love the fact that I am not buying heaps of worthless things that I would in turn have to sell at my own yard sale or give away to a thrift store. I'm just using my smart thrift sense which is to use the technology out there to spend less and make more. And I do all of it while enjoying my job immensely.

Just because I could be considered a dealer doesn't mean I'm dishonest or that I use the money I earn on dubious doings. I take my salary and I buy organic food for our family or I send my children to an alternative school because I want to invest in their upbringing. I love putting the money I earn to good use. I hope that one day dealer doesn't have to sound like a dirty word.
warmly,
Selena