Who did a better job...?

I often hear complaints about the prevalence of amateur book sellers on ABE
who don't know how to grade books accurately. But I often come across
established shops on ABE who grade books in an equally amateurish way. Take,
for example, this description from an established shop that sells all sorts of
fancy books:

"Near Fine/Near Fine. .... The dustjacket is chipped, with some tears, a 1/4"
circular tear at the spine, and some rubbing."

That DJ doesn't sound "near fine" to me!

Now here is a description from a rank amateur's description of the same book
(also on ABE) that is also described as "Near Fine/Near Fine

"The jacket (not price clipped "$3.95 net") has a touch of edgeware else
fine...

This description comes from a guy who is clearly an amateur (he only has about
sixty other books for sale on ABE ...his other descriptions often offer lame
attempts at humor...

But whose description in more accurate?

Jonathan (an amateur book seller)

On 20 Mar 2004 15:45:16 GMT, (Jbrodie1750) wrote:


But whose description in more accurate?

Jonathan, there's a difference (perhaps a subtle one) between "else
fine" and "thus fine." I might describe a jacket with a very minor
flaw - say, a touch of wear to the edges - as "else fine," because
that implies that if it weren't for that minor flaw it WOULD be fine.
This is a valid way to describe a book.

If there was nothing wrong with the jacket, I'd say "thus fine."

In article , Bud Webster
wrote:

On 20 Mar 2004 15:45:16 GMT, (Jbrodie1750) wrote:


But whose description in more accurate?

Jonathan, there's a difference (perhaps a subtle one) between "else
fine" and "thus fine." I might describe a jacket with a very minor
flaw - say, a touch of wear to the edges - as "else fine," because
that implies that if it weren't for that minor flaw it WOULD be fine.
This is a valid way to describe a book.

If there was nothing wrong with the jacket, I'd say "thus fine."

Nahhhhh, it's just a dumb person's bad wording, & "thus fine" is just
stupid & meaningless. "The long tear is neatly taped, thus fine" "the
jacket used to be in several peaces, but it is now pasted directly to the
cloth, thus fine."

-paggers

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

Jonathan, there's a difference (perhaps a subtle one) between "else
fine" and "thus fine." I might describe a jacket with a very minor
flaw - say, a touch of wear to the edges - as "else fine," because
that implies that if it weren't for that minor flaw it WOULD be fine.
This is a valid way to describe a book.


Hi there Bud,

If I am reading you correctly, you think it is valid to use the term "else
fine" in reference to a book that has minor edgeware and no other flaws. I
agree. My point is that the seller who lists a whole bunch of flaws and still
calls the book "near fine" not being accurate. And it surprises me how often I
see "professional" booksellers doing this.

Jonathan

On 20 Mar 2004 22:12:31 GMT, (Jbrodie1750) wrote:


If I am reading you correctly, you think it is valid to use the term "else
fine" in reference to a book that has minor edgeware and no other flaws. I
agree. My point is that the seller who lists a whole bunch of flaws and still
calls the book "near fine" not being accurate. And it surprises me how often I
see "professional" booksellers doing this.

Yeah, that's about it. I can forgive a *very* minor flaw and still
accept that a book is otherwise fine, but the line is certainly there.
It might shift depending on how much I want to book in question, but
it's there nevertheless.

But a bunch of flaws, even minor ones, do NOT add up to anything I'd
associate the term "fine" with; near, else, or thus. A book with
chips, edge-wear AND a circular chunk out of the spine merits "very
good" at best, unless the rest of the jacket and the book itself are
pretty spectacular (unlikely in the extreme, but I suppose it's
possible),