Early November Sales Update

This weekend I listed over 100 books on Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

My Etsy shop has fully reopened, but I do still have 35 inactive listings.  Most of those listings will be moved to eBay eventually.

I listed a few bulk lots on eBay, mainly of items pulled from Etsy. 

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

In order to make sure that you see all of the newly-listed items, you will have to change the sort to "newly listed."  eBay's algorithm sometimes shows the new items first.  At other times, eBay shows random stuff.  I guess the idea is to keep changing what is shown first in order to give all items a chance to sell.  I'd still rather see newest first.

My eBay store remains mostly closed.  I have 130 inactive listings which will be reactivated sometime in the next one to two weeks.  Once I have reactivated those listings, I will also begin listing many new items on eBay.

I have dozens of extra First Love from Silhouette books that I need to list.  I also have some R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Nancy Drew Applewood, a few Dana Girls in the blue/red jackets, Three Investigators, Vicki Barr, Ken Holt, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew with blank endpapers, my usual large selection of Nancy Drew picture covers, and lots of other assorted books.

Some Collectors Enjoy Trolling

Last week, a Hardy Boys collector called me a jerk after reading a post of mine from five years ago.  As I begin this post, I will go on the assumption that the collector was truly angered by my post and was not just trolling.

Hardy Boys Wanderer Books and Judy Bolton Picture Covers

The anonymous collector wrote, "You wouldn't 'mind' them falling into your hands? What a jerk. Those of us who have been fans for decades work hard to get a set, not just to [s]ell them and make money."

My first thought was, Wow, such anger.  I then approved the comment, because why not?  If someone wants to act this way, then I might as well let everyone else see.  Finally, I went to the post and quickly skimmed it in order to see what triggered this person's response.

In the post, I mentioned how much I enjoyed reading the Hardy Boys Digest set.  I stated how I wouldn't mind having a set of the Wanderer books in hardcover with dust jackets.  Even so, I didn't want to spend the time and money involved in building a set, simply because I am not obsessive about the Hardy Boys series like I am with Nancy Drew.  I was happy acquiring whichever books I was lucky enough to find should they "fall into my hands."  The purchase that was detailed in the blog post resulted in me acquiring a few extras.  I mentioned that I would be selling the extras.  I never stated that I would be selling any of the rest of the books.  

Apparently those statements angered this person so much that they had to call me a jerk for selling books.  The bottom line is this:  If no one ever sold books, then collectors would never be able to buy books. 

It's now five years later, and I still have all of those books, except for the few extras that were sold at too low of a price.  Here are pictures of my set, which is incomplete since I am not trying hard to finish it.  Even though completing the set is low priority, I would like to do so eventually.

It took me over two years to sell the extras.  It shouldn't have been that hard.  The books were ultimately sold for well below what I should have gotten for them and well below what I would now get for them.  I remember that a reseller purchased a number of them.  The anonymous commenter thinks that I am a big bad reseller, but instead, I am often used as a supplier by other people who then resell the books at much higher prices.  I am a small fish, not one of the big ones.

I mentioned the person who purchased some of the Hardy Boys Wanderer books with dust jackets in this post.  Here is the portion of the post about that buyer.

I would just love to tell you who this person is, but I will refrain.  The buyer is a prominent seller on sites like Amazon, AbeBooks, Biblio, and others.

This person purchased a book from me, and then sent a message asking if I combine shipping.  I said that I do.  I made a grave error in not setting a time limit for combining orders.  I will never make that mistake again.

The buyer purchased a second book and sent a message thanking me for combining the orders.  I figured that the buyer was finished, which was my second grave error that evening.  I combined the orders in one box and refunded the extra postage.  Around 30 minutes after that, the buyer purchased some more books, each individually so that postage was charged on every order.  The buyer also sent another message thanking me for combining all the orders.  This time, I did nothing.  I waited.  Around four hours later, the buyer came back yet again and purchased another book.

This time I sent a link to the remaining ones, telling the buyer that if he wanted them as well to go ahead and purchase them.  He did not make any additional purchases.  Maybe I annoyed him.  Whatever.  I was more than just annoyed myself.  I was furious about his lack of consideration.  He was causing me extra work, and I could not get the books packed until he was finally finished.

In case the problem is not obvious, I had already packed the first two books thinking that the buyer was done.  The buyer received shipping notices for those books, since this was on eBay, so he knew that I had already packed the books.  The buyer then proceeded to purchase additional books, expecting me to combine them with the books that were already packed.  If I hadn't agreed to combine shipping, I would not have unpacked the first two books and repacked them with the later books.

I want to touch on another thought I had a few days ago.  This person who just called me a jerk didn't consider how my attitude towards the Hardy Boys Wanderer editions in dust jacket has saved the diehard collectors some money.  Since I stay out of the fray, I don't drive the prices of auctions up.  My inaction is keeping the prices lower than they otherwise would be.

This recent comment might just be the latest trolling by one of a small number of collectors who enjoy trolling.  They especially enjoy anonymous attacks.  In the late 1990s, there was a Usenet group called alt.news.nancy-drew.  The remnants of that newsgroup still reside on Google's servers.  A few collectors went after each other ruthlessly.  They created dozens of fake ids, using them to trash each other and a few other prominent collectors.  They ended up destroying the newsgroup, so everyone had to leave. 

The attacks that have been made in this blog and in other places online over the last 20 years are tied to the collectors from alt.books.nancy-drew.  Those same collectors are also some of the people who sparred in the letters pages of The Mystery and Adventure Series Review during the 1990s.  Read these past posts from 2011 for more of the background information.

An Explanation and My New Blog Policy

Series Book Collecting and Prices 

The first of the two linked posts mentions "unfortunate events" that upset me.  Those events occurred in the comments to the post "The Tenth Nancy Drew 1930A-1 Old Clock Dust Jacket."  One of the collectors took a shot at me via an id created to hide their identity.  I responded in anger, and then another person who had previously always been very friendly to me then told me I was the problem.  I  deleted my original response, feeling like everyone was against me.  After the events of that summer, my skin became quite thicker, and I no longer care about the collectors who keep throwing out insults while hiding behind various screen names.  

On more than one of the above linked posts, at least two of the collectors who participated in the disputes in alt.news.nancy-drew made comments.  One of those collectors identified himself while the other one used more than one alias for different comments. 

Late October Selling, Postage, and Search Problems Update

My eBay and Etsy stores are now both open.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay 

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Many of my current Etsy listings expire in just a few days.  I went ahead and activated everything that had not yet reached the four-month expiration date.  My inventory will decrease once those listings expire, since some of them, like the Nancy Drew Files, will be moved to bulk lots.

I do not expect the school year to get any easier than it is at present.  This school year is far harder than last year.  We are trying to rebuild students' skills and work ethic while we continue to deal with all the assorted problems of the continuing pandemic.  We already have the mental fatigue that we usually don't reach until near the end of each school year, and we still have 6 1/2 months to go.  

For that reason, I am keeping many of my current listings inactive for now.  I want to make sure that I can handle selling before I allow all of my listings to be available.  By keeping many listings inactive, my sales will stay at a relatively low level.

I plan to reopen fully at about Thanksgiving, but that depends upon how everything goes.  I could end up changing my mind.

........................................

eBay suddenly changed the store design last week without any notification.  This wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't made the design less functional.  Why is it that the new version of everything is always worse?  

It doesn't look like I can set a default sort for my store.  That functionality was removed.  When buyers follow a store, they like to see what is new.  I know this because I am a buyer.  I check the new listings.  I don't want to see whichever random listings eBay thinks I should see.  For that reason, I have always had my store set to display newest first.  

Another problem, which I consider a big one, is that eBay removed the category list from the sidebar.  Presumably this was to optimize the stores for mobile devices.  Buyers must now open a drop-down menu.  In the below image, I circled where the dropdown menu is located.

The next problem is the disappearance of the category hierarchies.  Actually, that was already a problem that I wanted to fix.  The category hierarchies have never been apparent until after the top-level category has been selected.  That has always bothered me, and this change certainly isn't helping the situation.  This next image shows how hard it is for buyers to notice that subcategories exist.  I circled the symbols which are rather hard to see.

I removed the hierarchy and now have all of the subcategories as top-level categories like I do on Etsy.  It is much better.

With these changes, I now believe that Etsy has a better interface.  Etsy does have some limitations which I dislike.  Sellers can have only 20 categories and only 25 characters in each category title.  Those parameters are too restrictive for me, but I manage to do what I need in spite of the limitations.

eBay allows up to 300 categories and 30 characters in each category's title.  Having 300 categories is far more than I need and is fantastic!  But what good is having 300 categories when buyers don't know where the categories are?  

Etsy allows me to have the default sort set to newest first.  Having my newest listings first is very important to me.  eBay no longer has this option.  Not good, eBay.  

I should mention that eBay does have a place where the buyer can change the sort to whatever is desired.  My complaint is that the seller should have the option to set a default sort that the buyer can then change if desired. 

........................................

Media mail is significantly higher in cost than it was in early August.  USPS has a holiday surcharge in place currently.  While I have not seen media mail specifically mentioned, it must be subject to the surcharge because the rates I am paying for packages are noticeably higher.  My $3.95 postage charge for one book is woefully inadequate.  My cost to mail one book is now between $5 and $6.  This includes the cost of packaging.  

My continuing offer of free shipping on orders of $35 may need to be adjusted.  I expect that I will keep it, but I may have to raise the prices of my books to cover some of the postage cost.  Everything is getting so much more expensive.

........................................

eBay search continues to be massively screwed up.  If you sell on eBay, run a search on eBay for whatever you plan to list.  Look to see in which category eBay has placed your search results.  When a search is run for all items on eBay, the results are often restricted to one specific category.  When I run searches for most series books, eBay restricts the results to the "Antiquarian & Collectible Books" category.  I then have to select "all" to see everything else.

Many buyers will never notice the problem, so they won't see your books if they aren't in the specific category selected by eBay's search.  I have moved all of my books to the "Antiquarian & Collectible Books" category.  An added benefit is that I no longer need to fill in most of eBay's item specifics, so this is a win-win situation for me.

Making Progress on My Set of Hardcover Hardy Boys Digest Books

I am currently building a set of hardcover Hardy Boys Digest books, #59 through #190.  I began working on this set in 2017.  I finished reading through the complete set of Hardy Boys Digest books in late 2016, so my pursuit of a set in hardcover came as a direct result of reading the books.  I feel that the Hardy Boys Digest set is a stronger group of books than the Nancy Drew Digest set.  I like the Hardy Boys Digest books a lot and would like to own all of them in hardcover.

I have made a lot of progress in just 4 1/2 years.

On Monday, I mentioned my latest hardcover Hardy Boys Digest purchase on Facebook:

I have stated more than once that I thought I could avoid having to box up extra books.  The hope was that I would reopen my stores before having to box up extras.  Well... it doesn't help that I just purchased this bulk lot of Hardy Boys books.  This purchase will put me close to needing boxes.  I might just leave them in the box.  Boxes, here I come!

I don't have five of the hardcover Hardy Boys Digests from the lot.  The cost was more than I wanted to spend to get them since I don't want the flashlight editions, but I decided that needing five books made it marginally worth it.  I then looked at the photo one more time before making the purchase.  I saw HB #59, 60, 61, 63, 64, and 66.  The inclusion of those books definitely made the lot worth purchasing.

I really didn't want to purchase 42 Hardy Boys flashlight editions that were library discards in order to acquire five hardcover digests.  At the same time, I knew that I had to do it.  The books have now arrived.

I have removed the stickers from the books that I plan to keep.  Five of them are books that I need, while one is an upgrade.

I also removed the stickers from the flashlight editions of #59, 60, 61, 63, 64, and 66.  

I will be selling the above group of books, and I believe that I can get more for them without the stickers on the spines.  The books are still library discards, but they have light wear and will display well.

I am not removing the stickers from the digests that I plan to sell.

I do not believe the presence of the library stickers will deter anyone from purchasing the books.  Those of us who collect library editions know how to remove library stickers.  I don't wish to take the time to remove the stickers from these books since I believe they will sell readily as is.  I already spent over an hour removing the stickers from the other books, so I will let someone else take care of these.

I also will leave the stickers on all of the flashlight editions of #58 and lower.  Those books will go in one bulk lot and will be sold fairly cheaply.  My goal is to get them out of here as soon as I can.  That is, I want to get them out of here as soon as I can after I begin selling again.

I now have 90 of the Hardy Boys Digest books in hardcover, and I need 42 more.  At present, I have over two-thirds of the set, and I'm certain that my progress so far has been much more rapid than it was when I was first building my hardcover Nancy Drew Digest set.  I am also not trying very hard.  I am purchasing what I happen to see, and I have not yet reached the point of doing exhaustive searches title-by-title like I did for years with the Nancy Drew Digest books.   However, I do feel that I am nearing that level of my search.  It is about time to begin trying harder.

Here's my set as it currently appears.

Some of the library stickers are very dry and are stuck hard to the books.  Those are the stickers that I have left on the books.  Sometimes removing the stickers isn't worth the trouble even for the books I wish to keep.

When I worked on my set of the hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books, I had the most trouble with the highest-numbered titles, such as #175 and the titles immediately before it.  With the hardcover Hardy Boys Digest books, I have had no trouble with the highest-numbered titles.  I already have all of #176 through #190, so I have all of the final titles in the set.  It looks like the middle of the Hardy Boys set will be harder for me to finish.

All in all, I have made great progress so far on my set.

A Mystery Concerning a Few Nancy Drew Books Found Locally

I purchased some books locally. 

I saw some Nancy Drew books with the double oval endpapers.  That format was the final matte format from the early 1980s.  The books do not have ink on the top edge.  Most collectors do not seem to like this format, although for several years I have been aware of an increased interest among certain collectors.

As I looked over the books, I pulled Old Album off of the shelf followed by Sky Phantom. 

The final cover art for Old Album is scarce in the matte edition, which makes even the double oval endpapers edition desirable.  Sky Phantom is one of the scarcest of the high-numbered Nancy Drew matte editions.  The most scarce title is Thirteenth Pearl followed by Crocodile Island and then Sky Phantom.  Sometimes I find that Sky Phantom is harder to find than Crocodile Island.  It just depends.

After I had the above books in my hands I realized that they appear to be new old stock.  The covers are very smooth and unblemished.  Some of the books have minor bumping to the spine ends, but otherwise, they have no wear and have never been fully opened.  The paper is still white, which is unusual for the books with double oval endpapers.  They appear to be in "as new" condition except for the minor bumping.  

As soon as I made those observations, I pulled the other four books with double oval endpapers off the shelf.  I wasn't going to leave any of them behind.  The books were definitely worth purchasing.

Once I got home with the books, I looked over them more carefully.  

Missing Map, Crumbling Wall, and Old Album are stated as being 1985 printings on the copyright pages.  This is no surprise.

This is where it gets odd.  Double Jinx, Glowing Eye, and Sky Phantom are stated as being 1987 printings on the copyright pages.  I was taken aback, because I have always understood that the flashlight editions began by 1986.  What is going on here?

The books from 1987 have a suggested retail price of $4.50 on the back cover.  For one book, the price is printed on the back cover.  The other two books have a publisher's price sticker on the back cover. 

Not much is known about the transition of the matte picture cover books to the flashlight editions.  Most collectors have completely ignored both formats.  There is a story that has passed between collectors ever since the late 1980s that some very early flashlight edition books had double oval endpapers.  The explanation would be that the final text blocks printed for the matte era were instead used on the first flashlight editions.  However, nobody has ever come forth with a picture of one of these books.  

It's possible that some matte bindings were left over and accidentally not used when they should have been.  These three books might have been bound from some leftover matte bindings that were paired with text blocks intended for the flashlight editions.  

This sort of thing does occasionally happen.  I own one odd example of a Nancy Drew book with a 1949-1950 binding that contains endpapers from later in the 1950s.

I also purchased these books.

Reflections about the Nancy Drew Series on The CW

I wrote this awhile back and thought about splitting the post into two parts.  In looking over the post today, I decided that it was fine overall but edited some parts.  The third season of CW's Nancy Drew series premieres in one week, so this is a good time to publish this post.

The Nancy Drew CW show is quite controversial since it is very different from the original books.  Some fans have been able to enjoy the show, while others cannot.  My impression has been that at least 75% of Nancy Drew fans don't like the show.  However, when many people are vocal about being against something, the fans who like it don't speak up.  The actual percentage of fans who don't like the show is likely lower than what it appears, but I still think more than 50% of fans do not like the show. 

This is quite understandable, especially considering how the first five minutes of the first episode of the series played out.  The series opening scene was ill-conceived and guaranteed that a majority of Nancy Drew fans would never like the show.

Back in 2002 (or more likely in early 2003), I spoke up in favor of the Nancy Drew movie starting Maggie Lawson amid strong criticism by what seemed like most other fans.  Many were making rather strong negative statements about the movie, and I didn't understand why they were so upset.  I still don't understand why they were so upset.  But anyway, I felt I had to say something to defend the movie.  I did but immediately regretted it. 

One fan who didn't like the movie upset me by specifically responding to my comments, tearing them apart, and twisting them around to support his viewpoint against the movie.  I've never forgotten that response and remain a bit bitter about it.  I was wryly amused not too long ago when that very person posted on Facebook about how he has changed his mind about that movie.  Years ago, he was so upset about the Maggie Lawson movie that he could not tolerate people expressing opinions in favor of it.  Now he thinks that movie is okay.

If I could go back in time, I would never have spoken up in favor of that movie.  My feelings were quite hurt after what happened. 

I stay out of discussions about the CW Nancy Drew series when the content overwhelmingly consists of fans stating that they do not like the show.  That's because I don't belong in those discussions.  I do read the comments, and I respect the opinions.  

Likewise, most of those fans stay out of episode discussions and posts where the content is from fans who enjoy the show.  If you are one of those respectful fans, your actions do not go unnoticed.  When you state your negative opinion of the show, it holds more weight because you comment when appropriate.    

Other fans insert themselves into every discussion post about the show.  They'll interrupt a discussion just to let us know that they hate the show.  Being obnoxious doesn't win any points.  I just ignore them.  Nothing in their comments even makes an impression on me because of how they do it.

If you want to have a chance at convincing people of something, you have to do it right.  You can't force people to agree with you like some people try to do.

I pay attention to the negative comments of the thoughtful fans who place their comments appropriately.  Some of you have stated that you are concerned about how the CW series could impact Nancy Drew's legacy.  You worry that the series could change the books.  This is a valid concern.

At this point in time, I'm not worried about it, but it is possible that the show could impact the books eventually.  If  it ever does, then I will be in line to complain.

To me, book Nancy is sacred.  Everything about book Nancy is sacred: the covers, the titles, the stories, and the character.  I dislike altered covers.  That is, I do like some altered covers if they gently poke fun at the original cover and keep the spirit of the original cover.  I strongly dislike altered covers that use sex, drugs, or foul language to make a joke.  That's not funny to me, since book Nancy has nothing to do with any of that.

I have had a problem with some of the books in the Nancy Drew Diaries series because I have felt that the ghostwriters have not be true to book Nancy.  In some books, Nancy seems reluctant to solve mysteries.  The other characters poke fun at her.  That's not how book Nancy should be.  

Some readers of this blog have tried to defend Nancy's characterization in the Diaries books, saying that the publisher is trying to make her relatable.  If that is true, then they have missed the mark.  Characters can be imperfect and shown to be that way without making them the butt of jokes.  

I want to mention why I like the CW show even though it isn't like book Nancy.  I see filmed versions as in a separate universe from the books.  If I find the filmed version to be entertaining, then I can accept it being off from the original premise.  The show is not at all a proper version of Nancy Drew, but I do like it for what it is. 

I see the show as a young adult story that has a touch of horror and a good bit of humor.  It's not surprising that I like the show because I like young adult horror.  I like young adult books just as much as I do vintage series books.  I really do, and this is the main reason why I do like CW Nancy Drew.  It's not a children's show and is not at all innocent, which is why many (or most) Nancy Drew fans don't like it.  I like it fine since it fits into a genre that I greatly enjoy.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I read Christopher Pike's books.  The stories usually have supernatural content, are humorous yet scary, and oftentimes are absurd.  The CW Nancy Drew show has all of those characteristics.

In the last decade, I have gravitated towards young adult dystopian novels.  While CW Nancy Drew is not dystopian, it certainly has some content that falls close to some of the books I have enjoyed reading.

I also appreciate that this show has lead me to watch at least one show that I otherwise never would have watched.  In the subreddit for the series, one fan asked for suggestions for other shows to watch.  One answer was Cruel Summer, which is a show from the Freeform network.  I read a short statement about the premise, which is that one teenage girl disappears while another one takes over her life.  I was intrigued, and checked out the first episode, which was available on Hulu with the rest of the episodes.  I was immediately captivated and ended up watching all of them. 

Watching Nancy Drew on The CW has also led to me being willing to watch some shows and movies based on books, such as Enola Holmes and the Fear Street trilogy on Netflix.  Thanks to the Nancy Drew series, I have actually learned a few modern songs that I otherwise never would have heard.  I like that.

I just wish that certain people wouldn't imply that something is wrong with those of us who choose to watch the CW series.  I wish that those certain people would quit pestering us.  It's okay that some of us are able to enjoy the show, just like it's okay that others aren't.  Please feel free to share your thoughts about the show, either pro or con.  It is okay.

September 2021 Update on My Activities

On a future date, I plan to go into greater detail on how my tooth extraction went and how this school year has gone so far.  I also plan to write a post about misinformation on the Internet.  We all know that it's bad, but you'd think that actual dentists would give the right information about tooth extractions.  I have learned that they don't, or at least the dentists that Google serves up in search results don't.  More on all of that sometime soon.

In summary, the last six weeks have been horrific, just awful.  That's all you need to know, but I'll tell you a little bit.

I knew that the tooth extraction would be difficult, and I knew that going back to school with the Delta variant surge in progress would also be difficult.  I didn't realize that I would have some unexpected (to me) complications from the extraction and that the Delta surge would cause massive problems at school, which are still underway.

I've been a bit puzzled about my autoimmune response to all of this, and I will go into greater detail in a future post once I figure out the severity of my autoimmune flare.  I expected a moderate to strong autoimmune flare after going back to work. 

That I am in a flare is not in question.  I am puzzled as to how bad of a flare it is.  I won't be able to tell until I start coming out of it, which is why I cannot tell the entire story at this time.  I think the flare just got worse on Friday after I went through dealing with the new mask mandate at school that began on Wednesday.  It did not go well.  I barely slept Thursday night into Friday, and I was in tears when I woke up on Friday.  I calmed down later.  By Saturday, I realized that the insomnia and tears were caused by an autoimmune attack that came from the stress of dealing with the mask defiance.  Oh, the hostility.

Perhaps I will bottom out this week and start getting better next week.  I hope so.

What has puzzled me the most is that my energy level has held quite well during the last month.  That is not usually the case.  My energy level usually takes a hard crash during the first six weeks of school.  That didn't happen.  I have had pretty high energy overall, which makes no sense.  

I do have brain fog, which was expected and always happens during the first two months of school.  I have said and done some stupid things, and two weeks ago I did hit a curb at 30 mph, which popped a tire.  

I am fortunate that my Achilles heel when driving is hitting curbs and nothing else.  I don't have wrecks with other vehicles.  I just pop tires once every few years, usually during autoimmune flares.  I think this was the fourth tire that I have destroyed.  One was not my fault.  Someone cut me off, and I hit a curb at 40 mph.  The other three times were my fault and occurred during flares.

I should also mention that I sometimes view red lights differently than I should during flares.  I always stop, but if I have brain fog, then I seem to regard the red light as if it were a stop sign.  I know better, but the autoimmune flares cloud my thinking.  I found myself starting to take off at a red light after looking both ways around the time I popped the tire.  I realized what I was doing and avoided taking off.  

So you can see, autoimmune flares are significant and can have serious consequences.

When I was preparing to close my eBay and Etsy stores, I stated that I would reopen in October (fall break) or November (Thanksgiving break).  As it stands now, there is no way I will reopen during fall break.  Thanksgiving is still a possibility, but things are going to have to get better at school before then.

I know how much I can handle, and selling at this time would be too much for me.  Oh, I could do it, but it would take a toll and would make the autoimmune flare much worse.  I must come out of the flare, Oklahoma must be past the Delta surge, and school must start going better before I can possibly consider reopening my stores.  

I have decided that in advance of fully reopening that I will start with a partial reopening where I sell bulk lots only.  I have so far avoided putting books into boxes.  I think I can avoid the boxes completely this time around, but it will get a bit dicey.  The books are increasing (I simply cannot resist purchasing bulk lots...), and in the below photos of some of my extra books,  you can see that I am beginning to stack books on top of other books.

I was feeling quite emotional all day Friday, no doubt from the autoimmune attack that was underway on Friday.  The overarching theme of my thoughts was that I was sick of the "covid crap" and wanted it to be over.  I call what we are dealing with "covid crap."  I am sick and tired of it.  This needs to end.  Unfortunately, I fear that we have quite a ways to go.  The longer this goes on, the more it wears on us.

I keep thinking back to late January 2020.  Pandemics have always interested me, and I have always watched for any sign that we could have a major pandemic.  Anytime there has been a virus outbreak, I have read everything I could, looking for signs that the outbreak could become a pandemic.  I spent hours during January 2020 reading about the Wuhan outbreak.  Once the virus was reported to be outside of China, I concluded that the virus would spread worldwide, that this would be a major pandemic, and that we were going to go through what would be a minimum of a one- to two-year event.

We are now all but guaranteed of this being a two-year event.  I'm glad that I didn't know for sure in January 2020 that it would be two years or longer, as that would have been a bit much to bear.  It is sobering to think of how long this has lasted and how much longer this could still last.

On a lighter note, some good has come from this pandemic.  We have had experiences that we would never otherwise have had.  I tried all sorts of services last year like Shipt and Walmart grocery pickup that I never would have tried under normal circumstances.

This experience has also shocked all of us out of our normal lives and caused us to change our paths.  This is why I decided to begin downsizing my series book collection.  
 
I also reconnected with my interest in the Bee Gees.  It was always there, but I was annoyed with Barry Gibb for around 10 years, so I put my interest on the backburner.  That may sound silly, but when you are a fan of actual real people, they do frequently cause extreme annoyance.  What Barry wants and what we want are not the same. (This has to do with unreleased demo recordings.  Barry doesn't want them released, and we do.)  Due to the pandemic and reassessing what is important in my life, I have swallowed my annoyance and put my interest out in front again right where it belongs.

So, I am working on my new Bee Gees mirror collection.

I have five of them so far.  My favorite is the one with the green logo.  It is so gloriously tacky.  The mirrors were carnival prizes from back in the late 1970s.

It's also been interesting so see how other people have changed habits.  I continue to enjoy any unexpected fun new developments in my interests, but I do want the "covid crap" to go away soon.  

Hidden Clues #9 Sharing Too Much Information

This is a cautionary tale of the possible consequences when too much information is shared in the collecting groups.  Members tend to regard the other members as close friends and share lots of information, as if they were talking to those people in private.  They forget that other people are in the group reading their posts and that what they share might not be in their best interest.

Sharing information that could cause books to be stolen

The Lookout Mystery Series by Christine Noble Govan and Emmy Govan West is extremely scarce in the original hardcover editions with dust jackets.  It is about impossible to find those books.  A member posted about some Lookout books from her church library.  She photographed them so that we could see them.  The books were hardcover with dust jacket.  She said that the church library operated on the honor system.  Anyone could walk into the church's library and remove books without checking them out.  She shared the name of the church and the city in which it was located.

I was horrified that the exact location was shared along with the information that anyone could remove the books without being held accountable.  There were multiple comments on the post about the value and scarcity of the books.  I warned the person who wrote the post, telling her that the group has many sellers in it, that some likely live near her, and that one of them could take advantage of the situation.  I told her to remove the city and church's name from the post.  She instead deleted the entire post.

She never should have shared specific information like that.  

Sharing information that hurts one's own interests

A large number of sellers join groups in order to obtain information.  The knowledge gleaned from the groups helps them to know which books to buy.  In turn, great books show up on sites like eBay because those sellers have learned about the books from the groups.  The downside is when members fail to consider the presence of those sellers and share information that hurts their own interests.  

Many people in the groups work in antique malls and bookstores.  I know this for a fact, since I approve members for some of the groups and see the information on their profiles.

Collectors are surprisingly very open about exactly where they purchase their bargains and for exactly what prices.  People who work in their local store might very well be in the group reading about their cheap find from that store.  If someone from the store does see the post, they might begin to price books higher.  We all know that stores that price higher tend to overprice the books.  We don't want that to happen.

Some collectors have mentioned that quite a few locations of a certain bookstore chain (name withheld for obvious reasons) have figured out that series books can be worth a lot more than $3 to $5.  Those stores are now pricing the books at steep prices, really too high for the local market.  Books that members were happily purchasing for $3 to $5 might be worth $10 to $15 online, but some stores now price them at $25 or more.  That causes the books not to sell and is not helpful to either the buyers or the stores. 

I believe that some employees of this bookstore chain are in the group and have seen the many posts about the cheap series books that are worth more than the prices paid.  Those employees now feel that series books are valuable and price them much higher than in the past.  It has been since the existence of the group and the many posts about cheap books that this chain has increased its prices.  Once too much information is shared, it cannot be taken back.

Books from prominent series like Nancy Drew are now priced a bit steeply in my local stores from this chain.  Ordinary tweed Nancy Drew books with dust jackets are now $20 each.  Tweed Nancy Drew books without dust jackets are now $10 each.  Those are online prices.  Local customers are unlikely to pay that much.  The books are going to take a long time to sell, and the books will likely go on clearance eventually at the prices that the store used to charge.  

I never give the location when I share book finds.  I seldom share the price.  I understand that revealing everything could cause local dealers to raise prices.  Sometimes other collectors will ask me where I purchased books.  Some of them really pressure me to tell them.  I either do not answer, or I give a vague answer, like "in Oklahoma."  

In most cases, the books I purchased were the only good series books in the store.  There would be no reason to share the location.  Also, if one of my local stores were suddenly to get a lot of phone calls about series books because I shared the name and location, then that store might decide to raise prices.  

Occasionally a collector will tell everyone that lots of bargains can be found on an obscure online site unknown to everyone else.  Well, not anymore after they have told everyone.  They just destroyed their own source for cheap books.

In another case, I was rather annoyed when a few people started sharing some very specific search techniques, mentioning one that I used a lot.  Of course they said how that particular search got some great bargains.  I never got anything good from that search ever again, and I bet the person who shared the information was also unsuccessful from that point on.

Sharing information that potentially hurts everyone's interests

On the posts where collectors have given the exact names and locations of stores where they have found cheap books, discussions have occurred about how these stores price books.  Comments are made about how the employees don't know series books and don't know that the high-numbered titles are often worth much more.  Specific examples are given.

Recently, I realized that these discussions could be causing many of the employees to check on the values of the high-numbered books.  This typically results in the books being priced as high as the unsold copies available online, which are likely priced too high.

If your objective is that you want books not to be cheap in stores so that stores will make a good profit, then telling stores how to price series books is a wise decision.  However, if you enjoy finding scarce books priced lower than they should be, then being so open about the mistakes made by stores is counterproductive.

Sharing information that harms one's own business

Some people who sell online make the mistake of being too open about how they acquire items to sell.  I have read multiple tales of woe from people who trusted a friend.  That friend would ask them about how they sourced their stuff.  They told the friend everything.  The friend immediately became their steepest competition by checking all the local stores and purchasing all the good stuff before the seller could.  The friend basically stole the seller's business.  

This has also happened on Etsy with the sellers who offer handmade items.  People try to get those sellers to share how they do it.  If the seller reveals too much information, then the recipient of that information sets up their own shop as a direct competitor.

Sharing information that affects an eBay auction

This one is a little different in that it doesn't hurt the person who shares the information.  It does potentially hurt the interests of other collectors, so it has always been a sore point with me.  Back in the 2000s and early 2010s, several copies of Nancy Drew Old Clock with the 1930A-1 jacket came up for auction on eBay.  At that time, I couldn't justify paying above a certain amount for the book, so I hoped for an auction to fly under the radar.  That never happened.  

Every time an Old Clock with the 1930A-1 jacket came up for auction, a certain collector who was never planning to bid would immediately make sure that absolutely everyone knew about the listing.  So of course, I had no real chance at the book.  

When that collector advertised the listings, they were unintentionally letting sellers with very deep pockets know about the auctions.  The Old Clock auctions usually were won by a certain dealer, who was a member of the group but not a series book collector.  The person who publicized all the auctions was unwittingly helping that dealer, not the other collectors.

I'm always very nervous when something extremely scarce that I really want is up for auction on eBay.  When the latest Old Clock 1930A-1 book and jacket was up for auction on eBay in early 2019, I was worried that someone would let everyone know about it.  I felt that it was the very first copy where I actually had a good chance of getting the book.  However, I still had no chance if anyone advertised the listing.  I was certain that many people knew about it, but not everyone checks eBay constantly.  I was fortunate that nobody mentioned the book and that I was able to win the auction.

I often see excellent items on eBay that I don't need.  I do not advertise them, because I feel that the eBay regulars who check eBay all the time should have first dibs on those items.  Those people are the ones doing the hard work of checking eBay often.  If they spot something great, then they should have a fair shot at it.  

Remember to consider your own personal interests when sharing information online.  Being open is fine, but make sure what is shared will not cause you future problems.