Five Mini Rants in One!

This time you get five mini rants in one. I find that a lot of stuff is annoying me lately.

1. Sellers who abuse the books when they photograph them. Some sellers bend back the boards really far so that the outside of the book makes a smaller angle than the inside of the book. The normal position for holding a book open is with the inside of the book at a smaller angle. One seller does this to really expensive books.
   
   I have also seen photographs in which a seller was holding a book while pinching the pages. Don't do that! If you abuse the book while photographing it, I worry about how you will pack it!
   


2. Sellers who state that a 70+ year old book is in "as new" condition. I don't think so. The last old book I saw described in "as new" condition was a book that had yellowed pages. I doubt that the paper was yellowed 70+ years ago when the book actually was new. Thus, the book was not in "as new" condition. Not only that, but the book did have light wear to the edges, which also took it out of the "as new" category. Do these sellers think we are that stupid?


3. Sellers who overuse the word "RARE." I have beaten this one to death already, but I might as well do it some more. If you are one of the people who likes to lure in buyers by describing a majority of your books, including the common ones, as "RARE," please consider that many of us are now avoiding your listings. People have told me in private that they avoid certain sellers, and I also tend to avoid these sellers. I'm sure newbie collectors just love "RARE" books, but those of us who have collected for many years are not impressed. We do still buy books, you know. We do have money to spend. Do you want to chase us away? If so, you are succeeding.


4. Sellers who use the word "PRISTINE." Drop it, please. My dislike of "PRISTINE" is rapidly surpassing my dislike of "RARE." While not the exact definition, "pristine" implies that a book is perfect and without flaws. Every single time that this word is used I can easily see at least some wear and tear to the book in the seller's photographs. Sometimes I see major flaws, like the books with dirty spines.
   
   If the seller means that the inside of the book is pristine, then the seller should make that distinction. Otherwise, I assume that the seller means the entire book is pristine, and that is where I take exception.


5. Sellers who use overuse capitalization. Not only do I dislike "RARE" and "PRISTINE," but I also dislike "STUNNING," "BEAUTIFUL," and "GORGEOUS" and everything else that is in all capital letters. Do people not realize that all capitals is considered SHOUTING on the internet? It is also harder to read.
   


6. Sellers who claim that a book is valued at $1,000, but they only want $200.00 for it. Give me a break! The book must be only worth $200.00 if that is all the seller wants. We are not stupid!
   

In closing, I want to link to the New York Times article that I already mentioned in a previous post. The article contains this sage advice:

Make sure the listing looks reliable. Proofread it carefully and don’t use too many exclamation points or language that suggests you’re inexperienced or unprofessional. "Stay positive, clear and concise — that’s really important," Mr. Lindhorst said. "It’s all about making the buyer feel comfortable."

I doubt that buyers run a search for a "stunning Nancy Drew book" on eBay. Consider using some of these descriptive keywords:

blue
orange
vintage
thick
tweed
original text

Some people do use those words when they run searches. Why annoy buyers by overusing meaningless words in your titles? Help us find your book by describing exactly what it is.

These rants come as a result of my frustration that I am beginning to miss out on truly rare books because some informed sellers describe them exactly the same way as they do all of their other much more common books.