A collecting forum. CollectingBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CollectingBanter forum » Collecting newsgroups » Books
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

What does "unclipped price" mean ?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old March 4th 05, 07:25 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 17:56:21 +0000 (UTC), in rec.collecting.books,
wrote:


For reading copies (ie non-collectibles) I don't see any reason why a book
club copy should be less desirable than a mainstream publisher's reprint,
although for some reason a lot of booksellers are still prejudiced against
them.


Probably pretty simple. Booksellers don't make as much money off them.

Ads
  #13  
Old March 5th 05, 12:17 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


wrote:

Basically, a book club edition isn't collectible in the way a first
edition is simply because it /isn't/ the true first edition, even

though
it may look very similar to the first. Also, there may have been a

lot
more copies of the book club edn. printed.

For reading copies (ie non-collectibles) I don't see any reason why a

book
club copy should be less desirable than a mainstream publisher's

reprint,
although for some reason a lot of booksellers are still prejudiced

against
them.


i generally agree, but a couple of thoughts:

book sellers are prejudiced for or against a particular attribute
of edition or condition or whatever almost solely because they believe,
rightly or wrongly but usually rightly, that many of their customers
have that prejudice. in other words, they think that this factor will
affect what they can get for the book; they don't have prejudices of
their own. if booksellers decided that the 17th printing were the most
desireable, it wouldn't affect their prices but if collectors wanted
that printing the sellers would be all over it.

while it may not affect "pure" reading copies, for completist
collectors and for those with non-first-edition budgets, other early
editions may have some semi-collectible value, and any copy from the
original publisher may have some perceived value over reading copy
price. in this context the usual points against book club editions may
still count against them. with the 2d or later printing from the
publisher we still know when it was printed and have some idea of the
quantity, and can find out how many later printings there were. thus
its place in the history of the book is knowable. this may still be
preferable to the huge printings and frequent unmarked reprintings
often characteristic of book clubs.

the prejudice against book club editions does certainly lead to
anomolies, though. i don't know much about the early science fiction
books from gnome press, but several which later became big sellers from
doubleday, such as asimov's foundation series, were released as book
club editions with the gnome imprint. i would presume that any edition
with the gnome press name was released earlier than any doubleday
identified edition, and probably in much lower quantities. thus the
book cover itself refutes the usual presumptions about book club
editions, and i would certainly find a gnome press book club copy more
desireable, for all the usual collectors' reasons, than a doubleday
trade [even if there is a good chance that the gnome book club editions
were actually published through doubleday, which ran the science
fiction book club]. bookstores, however, don't always know enough or
think through the implications enough, or expect their customers know
and think enough, to price accordingly.

chiwito

  #14  
Old March 10th 05, 02:42 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

gmenchen wrote:
Betty Hall wrote:
Well, Actually I thought the reason for clipping a book's

dustjacket was
when the book has not been selling and the book seller wants to

send
a part of the book back to the publisher to get some sort of

percentage
rebate.......the publisher gives a percentage rebate for the book

not
selling.

And then the book seller still has the clipped book to sell at his


discretion..
if he can.

Maybe I'm wrong but that;'s what I always thought.

Betty



I don't believe so. I worked in a bookstore from 1975 to 1985 -
publishers then certainly would not give credit for a clipping from a


jacket, and I don't believe things have changed since then. Think of

the
possibilities for fraud. Mass market paperbacks, however, are a bit
different; there the common practice was to return the entire front
cover for credit. The remaining book could not be (legally) sold, it

was
supposed to be destroyed.


Ms. Hall and gmenchen are referring to "stripping a book", which
is much different from clipping a price.

There was the perfectly ethical practice of clipping prices from
new hardcovers whose suggested retail price had been increased by
the publisher. Many coffeetable/art books would even be released,
in the fall, say, with two prices printed on them. [Ex: $45.00
$50.00 after Dec. 31]. When I worked for a chain bookseller in
the 70s and 80s, flitting about the store with a sheet of price
changes sent from corporate, and a sharp pair of scissors, was a
regular event. Nowadays I would suppose that doesn't happen as
much, as the stock is likely to be returned quickly.

It was infuriating to order a new hardcover from a wholesaler
or publisher, get invoiced at that price, and when receiving the
book find that you had been shipped stock with the old $22.50
price on the jacket. Now, this could mean that you had been sent
a first that the warehouse didn't know it had, but if the buyer
wasn't a collector, he was going to want the book at the lower
price. So...snip!

Then when your customer came in for the book, he sometimes was
a collector, and was peeved that the receiver had clipped the price.
You couldn't win! Of course, a used and rare dealer wouldn't care
about the publisher's SRP, but trade stores would.

One other thing about book club editions that I expect most
everyone here knows: I've been told that the paper stock used
in many of them was often inferior to that in the trade
editions. A BCE printed on high-acid paper can sometimes be
distinguished by yellowing and chipping that has not yet started
to degrade the corresponding trade. The physical dimensions of
the two types are also often different, which is not important
in a reading copy, but can tip you off if someone is trying to
sell brass at gold prices.

Kevin

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
HUGE Hockey Tradelist - EASY Wantlist paralleldave Hockey 1 October 17th 04 10:47 PM
Getting the most from coin price guides -- periodic post Reid Goldsborough Coins 7 July 22nd 04 03:22 PM
[FAQ] rec.collecting.books FAQ Mike Berro Books 0 December 26th 03 09:18 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:36 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CollectingBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.