Enablement: Good Deals on FS books (7)

Continuing "Enablement: Good Deals on FS books (6)."

Just to start off this thread--you can go on ebay and get YRTTD for ten bucks.

>2 podaniel:

A better starting point I cannot imagine!

The great Locked-Room Mysteries set from a UK seller. Still sealed, but mis-labelled

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/276356169689?itmmeta=01HQRDYX554QE2Z57BCNDPG7D2&hash...

A great starting price. No connection with seller.

Once and Future King in pretty good condition at a low starting point:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/126352871543?itmmeta=01HQXGPJ24VB6Z5CR32NH9BGNP&hash...

And it's a charity.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, 2006
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166615847959

No connection to seller.

Scenes of Medieval Life - 3 book set still sealed.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355515127777

Just over £40 for all three seems like a steal.

EDIT: No connection to seller.

>7 Thwack: No. It's not. There are quite a few cheaper sets available. Don't buy anything from these general resellers. They have no idea of how to grade condition accurately.

>8 PartTimeBookAddict: Did you miss the "sealed" part? I can't find cheaper sets that are still in their wrapping.

>9 Thwack: Though sealed doesn’t necessarily mean they are in perfect condition. Sometimes the plastic has small holes in it (or is open at the top like on this set) and mould etc can get inside & the plastic wrapper can help to incubate this as its holding in heat & there is no air circulating around the books. At least with an unsealed book you can get photos of the books inside & make sure they are in good condition - i’ve had a few sealed sets over the years that had unpleasant surprises when finally unwrapped ! Someone on the forum recently bought a brand new sealed copy of the Calvino folktales direct from Folio & when they opened it it was mouldy inside.

>9 Thwack: The specific seller might say “original wrapping” but, since anyone can seal a book like FS does, sealed does not necessarily mean new. It was also mentioned in these forums that wrapped items sometimes had marked content. So, If anything, the seller can claim they couldn’t have known the inside was of subpar condition.

>9 Thwack: That seller obviously doesn't know the first thing about books besides "I hear folio sells good". It undoubtably was stored in a damp garage and either has mould or smell like cat piss. Don't buy it.

I just found some Folios on a marketplace online. Some O‘Brians like Treason‘s Harbour or HMS Suprise.
I was surprised that she also had the Owl Service, but I was more surprised that it costs 100€. On eBay it is even priced for higher than that.
I wanted to read it, the price is a bit steep for my taste. Is that already such a collectors item as well? Like with the Agatha Christie or Jules Verne books?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196300945499

"Animal Farm" by Suntup. I know it's not Folio, but the recent listings ended in a quite attractive range, so it might be similar with this one.

No connection with seller

An Australian seller on ABE, Ben's Books, has all the Great Philosophers individual volumes for $40. A fairly good deal, especially for Marcus Aurelius.

https://www.abebooks.com/bens-books-tully/87829710/sf

No connection and have never bought from them before.

The Baburnama for £79.99

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305465465059

>15 PartTimeBookAddict: Thank you for posting this.
I had most of the philosophers series already, but completed the set with Cicero. And added Perfume, just because.

>17 IainFyfe: Excellent. I hope the condition is good.

A UK charity on ebay has The Once and Future King for a low starting bid.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176297224390?itmmeta=01HSKK7NBND1ZFG32BHPQN6G9V&has...

Looks in good condition. No connection.

2014 Treasure Island on Oxfam for £44.99.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/treasure-island-folio-society/product/HD_3020392...

>20 assemblyman:

That's a very competitive price for a superb edition, one of Folio's best SEs.

>21 folio_books: It is lovely but I prefer the 1994 edition with the N.C. Wyeth illustrations.

>20 assemblyman: Thank you once again for a wonderful second hand spot. This is the third time you've made my day like that! Brothers Karamazov, Frankenstein and now this.
Yes, the NC Wyeth illustrations are superb, but I don't think Folio have quite done them justice. There's a Scribner leather 1st edition on Abe, which needs a home, but sadly not mine ...
Sterling Hundley is a magnificent illustrator, and it is such a shame this is the only work he has done for Folio.

The 2014 Treasur Island is in the running for my all time favourite SE second, perhaps, only to Call of Cthulhu.

>23 red_guy: Fantastic. I'm happy to have enabled you once again.

The NC Wyeth illustrations always give me that childhood feeling when I read the book. I saw the Scribner edition on Abebooks but it would be too rich for my blood.

>22 assemblyman: Me too. I had this edition but gave it away when I bought the complete set of FS Stevenson in this same binding style. Unfortunately, when they arrived, it turned out to be the 2006 edition with illustrations by Philip Bannister! Uhg!

Also, someone in Cali is selling Lord Byron Poems for a good rate

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31813807614&searchurl=kn%3...

No photos. No connection. Never bought from them before.

>15 PartTimeBookAddict: thanks so much for this!

I picked up the Republic and also the LE Decameron!

>27 plasticjock: Nice. He has some good prices. I'm surprised no one has picked up his Lucretius or Aurelius yet.

Hopefully the condition is good.

>28 PartTimeBookAddict: Unfortunately the Cicero volume arrived damp, musty and heavily foxed despite being described as near fine so I've initiated a return with AbeBooks. Hope plasticjock has better luck. Caveat emptor!

>29 IainFyfe:

It's incredible how many sellers don't understand that water damage can be a serious issue. Water damage encourages mold and mold can spread to your other books. Who wants to pay money to ruin their library?

>29 IainFyfe: Uhg. I really hate that. Abe books seller ratings have to be revised. I hope you get your money back, but the time is lost.

>29 IainFyfe: The same luck, sadly :-(

Super, clean, fresh and fine were all adjectives used in the LE description

Another bad Australian seller is Badger Books.

https://www.abebooks.com/Badger-Books-Woollahra/504007/sf?cm_sp=BOT-_-seller-_-s...

One of the very few books I bought last year was from them. It arrived totally moldy. I eventually got a refund, but only partially for shipping to return it.

>33 PartTimeBookAddict: this sounds like it is against the AbeBooks return policy that sellers must abide by on the platform, so you might want to open a case with Abe if it hasn't been too long. The relevant section:

You're eligible for a full refund of the purchase price, including original shipping costs, if your return is the result of an error on the seller's part. If you receive the incorrect book or if it arrives damaged, you'll also be refunded return shipping equal to the original charge.
...
For books returned as 'Not as described,' return shipping amounts are refunded at the seller's discretion.

https://www.support.abebooks.com/buying/s/article/return-refund-policy

>34 abysswalker: Yes. I know. They refunded the original shipping and partial return shipping, but after exchange rates and their partial payments, I was still out $30 or so.

I just had no fight left to keep chasing them down.

That's the main reason I don't buy internationally off ABE anymore. Sounds like I dodged a bullet with Ben's Books. I was on the fence about a couple of his titles.

I wish ABE had a seller reviews section.

>35 PartTimeBookAddict: "I wish ABE had a seller reviews section" Yep, I didn't realise till now that the seller's star rating is based on % of completed orders, not a buyer rating. The seller's four stars out of five is a 90-95% completion rate - given what a hassle it can be to return things, a possibly 10% return rate is already pretty poor.

Seven volume job lot of Folio short story collections:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256472229876

Philip K. Dick's The Complete Short Stories

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116140660507

Some minor imperfections but overall seem to be in a very good condition. No connection to seller

Forgot to mention three Folio books on medieval history, from the same seller as my last post, still sitting at 99p with three days to go:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256472251093

>39 Thwack: same seller has Outlaws of the Marsh for 99£

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256393795012

(No relation; I only know about this seller due to the link in previous comment.)

>30 MobyRichard: Just add that Mould can be bad for a person's health. There is just as one example an incurable lung disease called Aspergillosis which can usually be managed.

>31 PartTimeBookAddict: The ABE ratings for bookshops may mislead in that they only refer to a bookshop's sales completion rate and not the quality of the book or the service offered.

Having said that I would expect ABE booksellers to offer a very good service as they are meant to be professional booksellers (compare with eBay or Amazon).

If a customer has an unacceptable level of service when buying via ABE Books, I suggest a complaint to ABE Books about the incident should be made.

Folio Fine Press These Things also are Spring's going for £45 on Oxfam. Described as fine with pictures. No connection with the seller.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/these-things-also-are-springs-poems-by-edward-th...

Another FPFE - Woman in White, 1991 on eBay. Slight water damage(?). Better to ask for a photo of the t.e.g. Starting bid of £30 and 5 watchers :)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285814379542

No connection to seller.

There's a 'fine' copy of the Folio Fine Press edition of 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity & Other Poems' by John Milton for £30 on abebooks which seems very reasonable. This edition has one of the most striking marbling designs on the boards of any FS edition I've seen. It could be that since the seller didn't mention 'Society' in the listing, only 'Folio Press', some searchers may have missed it.

I don't have any personal experience with the seller based in Hay-on-Wye but they have a 5-star abe rating.

>45 cronshaw: The ABE ratings as I understand them only relate to the completion rate of sales.

So if an ABE Books bookseller accepts an order via ABE Books and then finds their book had been sold before - or has been misplaced - so that they have to cancel the order, then there is a hit to their ABE rating. In other words it is not a qualitative rating.

Just add that while some other prominent websites (e.g. Amazon) allow anyone to sell books, the sellers on ABE Books are meant to be in the trade. There may be the odd exception to that rule but I have never encountered one.

When I purchase a book whether for my bookshop's stock or for personal reading, I check both ABE Books and Amazon. There can be some interesting offers on one site not on the other.

>46 English-bookseller: Most Abe booksellers might be in the trade but, in my experience, there are many (many!) who provide very average or below average service. Lack of accuracy in descriptions, insufficient packaging, and a general surliness towards polite requests for photos are all very common. I guess it's not very surprising when you have a rating system which, as you say, isn't really fit for purpose. The number of Abe booksellers whose descriptions I would trust implicitly, I can probably count on one hand. I don't find that membership of one of the associations like the ABA guarantees that the seller will be a good one, although it's a useful data point.

It sounds like you are a conscientious bookseller who provides excellent service, and there are definitely other great sellers on Abe, but there are many substandard ones too. The whole Abe system could do with a revamp.

>47 GardenOfForkingPaths: I tend to use Biblio in preference to Abe these days. While Biblio also lacks a decent rating system (theirs too is predicated on completion rate), they also suffer from fewer bookjacker listers. And happily you can exclude certain vendors from your search results. They also have a discount subscription program, which has already more than paid for itself with me. Probably the biggest downside is fewer listers in general, so you may find some sellers on Abe who aren't on Biblio. There are also a few reverse cases as well, but not nearly as many.

>47 GardenOfForkingPaths: I quite agree. I've come across too many sellers on abe who fail to describe the condition of their books accurately, provide too few or no photos, and who don't bother packing books with a common sense minimum level of protection. I have found the buyer protection better on eBay (with more photos on average in the listing descriptions).

>48 Shadekeep: Me too. I'm hoping Biblio gains more traction over the coming years. Their membership discount is amazing. It only takes a fine press book or two to pay for itself!

>49 cronshaw: I agree, the number of photos on eBay listings can be a definite advantage. There seems to be so much subjectivity when it comes to describing a book as 'Fine' or 'Near Fine' or 'slightly faded' that photos end up being the best way for a customer to judge condition. As you say, lots of Abe sellers don't do themselves many favours on this front. Half a dozen, clear, high quality photos can really clinch a sale.

eBay's rating system has surprisingly improved over the years since you have the overall number, but you can also drill down into their star ratings for things like condition and shipping, as well as page through real user feedback. It's fairly easy to weed out the bad sellers once you get the hang of it.

The Name of the Rose going for £15 on Abebooks. No picture but described as fine. No connection with the seller.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31837960211&searchurl=pn...

>52 assemblyman:

Great tip! (I already own it so didn’t buy it.)

>52 assemblyman: Unfortunately, bought this "fine" one myself (together with their copy of Malleus Maleficarum), only to have them both arrive today wrapped together in one thin layer of bubble wrap and a paper mailing bag, just to fit in Royal Mail's small parcel category - heavily foxed and dirty on all edges, with the expected bumps to the slipcase. Return now initiated with AbeBooks, accompanied by a rather snippy message from the seller, with not even as much as a "sorry". I highly suggest asking for pictures before buying from this particular seller. :-)

>54 jasminesch: That's terrible. I'm very sorry to hear that.

>55 assemblyman: Eh, you can't win them all and that's perfectly fine. It would have been a terrific bargain had it arrived in great condition. :-)

Great Philosophers Set from a UK Seller:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266782065596

Looks like it took a little battle damage, but in good condition.

No connection and have never bought from them before.