Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! discussion

If you found a book you knew was worth a considerable amount of money in a charity shop/thrift store would you,

a) pay for it and get out of the shop as quickly as possible?

b) ask to see the store manager, hand over the book, and explain their mistake?

I might purchase it at the listed price, and then make a donation.

Oof, toughie. If it was a small, independent shop, I might ask if they were sure they'd like to sell it at the stated price (as I went to purchase it). I'd probably do that, regardless, but I know (from chatting with charity shop staff), the name of the game is turnover - they priced as is it to sell quickly, they want it gone ASAP to turn a profit and free up shelf space.

The thing is, they're sort of obligated to stick to the ticketed price, so I'd be surprised if they'd change it.

There was an episode of Antiques Roadtrip where Paul Laidlaw found some sort of toasting shot glass in a 50p bin, went to the owner, double-checked that yes, it is priced at 50p. He then told the owner what it was and that it was worth considerably more, and would he still be alright selling it to him, and the owner said he could not in good conscience raise the price now, it was his error to absorb (profits going to charity in that case as well).

I think I'm with Charlotte. I'd check the price with them, buy it, and tell them I thought it was a wonderful deal for me. I have added donations onto charity purchases in the past, when I felt it was too good a deal. :) One time I put out some Swiss volunteers at a church sale by just adding a few francs ('keep the change'). It was to fundraise for a food programme in Darfur, and they were quite flustered when I gave them a few extra francs (really, just a few - I think I rounded up to a 10 Fr. bill). "But it's all for the Darfur fund, right?". "Yes, but this costs precisely 6.-!" XD So put out.
Switzerland's a weird place.

The trouble is - they obviously don't value it as you do. They could raise the price based on your intel, but then how long will they wait for it to be sold? If you're interested in buying it at that price, it's money-in-hand and another successful sale.

I think the M.O. for a charity shop would really be to get it sold and moved on. I'd warn them at check-out, give them fair warning, and then do as Charlotte suggested if it was really orders of magnitude off.

Len wrote: "If you found a book you knew was worth a considerable amount of money in a charity shop/thrift store would you,

a) pay for it and get out of the shop as quickly as possible?

b) ask to see the sto..."

I think it depends on the type of thrift store. If the store was just selling cheap clothing etc. but was not in fact connected to a charity, I would definitely pay the asked for price and consider this is lucky "steal" so to speak. But for a charity shop, I would either offer more money for the book or buy the book and then make a donation to the charity.

Thank you all so far. It's not an easy question. It's not something I've come across recently.

Most charity shop finds are just signed copies that have been missed and the financial value when put into retail terms is small, however, in the past I have come across some more significant items. I insist that I don't feel guilty - well, not really - but as a one-time bookseller I have made a few killings in this way. Now I think of it killings is perhaps an unfortunate word - just opportunistic grasping for profit - if that's any better. I think I need someone to smooth my disturbed conscience before I get too old.

I actually had something like this but it was private seller. I paid the price it had gone to and thought myself lucky, and when the seller asked why it had gone so high I told them and offered to cancel purchase so they could try again with a different approach and perhaps make more, but they said no, so I got my "steal."

But in the case of the charity shop find I think I am with those who have said it would depend in part on the nature of the shop & charity. I would probably at least give them a chance to do better with it.

Are they equipped to do better?

I contacted Friends of the Oklahoma City library system, big system, explained that I had some books that were valuable. I said I had checked prices on ebay, and asked how they evaluated and priced special books. They were basically flustered by the question, and made it clear that my donations were likely to priced the same as the rest of their books.

I still have them. They're not quite valuable enough to justify me getting involved in the pita that is ebay.

I'm considering finding an independent shop and just supporting local business by simply giving them to that shop.

I once (say 25 years ago, goodness me) saw a second paperback printing (American) of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight in a charity shop. Well, I had an early pb UK edition so I left it as I didn't need to spend £2 on a book I owned, and some other reader would love it. Next week I saw the secondhand bookshop two doors up had that copy, now priced £7. They may never have sold it for all I know. Charity had money in hand, that is what they want.

You are always free to donate to the charity once you have the book.

Clare wrote: "I once (say 25 years ago, goodness me) saw a second paperback printing (American) of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight in a charity shop. Well, I had an early pb UK edition so I left it as I didn't nee..."

This happened to me, once, with a dress. I donated it to a favourite charity shop, and then saw it a week later for quite a considerable amount of money at the upscale reseller down the street. It still bugs me. Still - as I said, I know the charity shop mindset now, and it's much like what Cheryl's found - they just don't necessarily want to be bothered with the burden of listing it elsewhere or advertising or pulling it aside, etc.

I wouldn't feel badly, Len. There are now scouts trolling thrift stores and scanning ISBNs on behalf of online resellers (that's in the US and in the UK, but of course it's probably everywhere). That's uglier than one person thinking they hit thrift shop gold. :)

They're called Op Shops in Australia. When the Opportunity knocks...!

Also, the reverse is true - I bought a copy of Miss Quarterberry and the Juniper Tree where the author had written a dedication to the editor/proofreader on the title page, and the bookseller stuck a sticker over it and claimed it was 'unmarked'. I mean... wow. That's a new level of stupidity. :p They didn't even bother to see that it was signed "Melody" and was thanking someone for their corrections... and then they ruined it by pasting over a big blank white price sticker.

Not a bibliophile, clearly.

I worked in a university library that had a children’s literature reading room established by a much respected retired children’s literature faculty member. This faculty member was a friend of author/illustrator Stephen Kellogg. Mr. Kellogg donated copies of several of his books with illustrations and personal dedications to the faculty member on the back and front end papers of the books. The library cataloguer who processed the books put stickers and card holders over the illustrations on the back end papers. On the front end papers, they stamped the illustrations with library’s property stamp. It was a travesty.

Cheryl wrote: "I worked in a university library that had a children’s literature reading room established by a much respected retired children’s literature faculty member. This faculty member was a friend of auth..."

:O

Ohhhhh, that hurts to read.... :S

Cheryl wrote: "I worked in a university library that had a children’s literature reading room established by a much respected retired children’s literature faculty member. This faculty member was a friend of auth..."

Wow, total vandalism!

Sometimes a library will stamp on a page with photo or illustration to stop thieves cutting out that page.

There was a charity shop close to where I live that always used to write a code number on the f.e.p. of each hardback using a ball point pen. The code number allowed the staff to recognise how long the book had been on the shelf, but when I asked why they didn't use a pencil rather than deface a perfectly good book, they told me it was done deliberately to stop people buying books to re-sell on online auction sites. I found it hard to understand as they could have sold the book themselves at a higher price if it hadn't been damaged by their own actions.

In general, libraries collect books in order to circulate them widely, so the physical processing of them with library ownership marks is just standard procedure. Archival material, on the other hand, does not circulate, so most archives will use bookmarks or cardboard boxes and mark those instead of stamping the precious artifact itself.

The faculty member might have been able to establish a special collection of Kellogg material (or of his own material) that could have qualified for better physical treatment - though with the offset of the books not being on the shelf for the general public. But even with archives and special collections, sometimes it is institutional policy to merge all commercial items in with the general collection, regardless of whether they were purchased or donated.

Nevertheless, I would have encouraged that library to find a less obtrusive place to stamp or pocket. But sometimes menial physical processing is done by student workers who are completely oblivious to good sense. Even libraries where I have worked that do have sensible rules for student workers on "don't glue pockets over text or illustrations" can't get 100% compliance.

I would buy it and run!! I buy so many books from charity bookstores and secondhand bookstores that everything works out in the wash. What is valuable to one person is trash to another.

Michael wrote: "In general, libraries collect books in order to circulate them widely, so the physical processing of them with library ownership marks is just standard procedure. Archival material, on the other ha..."

The books were processed for the Children’s archival room and were designated non circulating. The archivist said whoops they shouldn’t have been processed that way

The best-laid plans...

Clare wrote: "Sometimes a library will stamp on a page with photo or illustration to stop thieves cutting out that page."

Thanks, Clare - I have seen this and always wondered why. Of course, it makes sense. ;)

I’d buy it at the asking price and give them a bit more as a donation