Bought book that states "Not for Resale" - where do I stand with this?

Pernicious

Thanks to everyone for the replies, much appreciated.

greenoo000 wrote: »

Why can't you give it as a Christmas pressie? I don't understand, does it matter if it says that on?

In my opinion it looks a bit cheap as the intended recipient won't be getting much else, so I don't want her thinking it looks like I just gave her a free book I happened to get with the newspaper as opposed to her understanding I actually went & sought this out myself & paid for it.

Crowqueen wrote: »

Not For Resale only means that the shop that sells the newspaper can't take the book and sell it separately from the newspaper. It doesn't mean anything when original buyer comes to sell it secondhand.

I would understand you not wanting to give it as a gift if you didn't want to be thought to be a cheapskate. Getting a book is one thing; getting a cheap version which you could have got off the front of a newspaper is a different matter.

Bear in mind that you can't force someone to pay your return costs, only the original postage charge.

If it is just to stop the shops cashing in, then does it count if an ebay seller is clearly making a profit from it? As this isn't secondhand as such, it is brand new & this person is clearly taking an income from selling these as it's not the only copy of this book he has sold.

This was my issue really, I know he will refund the actual book, but is there a chance of getting all the postage back too as otherwise I'm losing out on money I don't really have to spare at the moment (hence trying to find a new copy of the book on ebay rather then just going into Waterstones & buying it).

soolin wrote: »

As a book sellers I would not have sold it and if I did take the chance on ebay I would have declared up front that it stated that on the cover.

I would have declared this as well, or at least take a picture of the back where it states this & not just the front cover!

geo555 wrote: »

You bought the book, just read it and get on with your life. If you're still unhappy, go the the police station and file a complaint.

Please read my OP properly, specifically the line "I wouldn't normally kick up a fuss but since it was bought as a Xmas present I'm a little stuck"

mobile48 wrote: »

The books given away by newspaper were often modern classics that remain on sale in different format in shops.

If I brought a new book on ebay and a news paper promo book turned up it would be the same to me as getting a used book.

However if I brought a used book I would not care one way or the other.

Again, if it was for me I wouldn't really be too bothered.



So to sum up, what is my best bet here?

1. Settle for just a refund of the book?
2. Settle for a refund of the book & initial postage but have to pay return postage?
3. Take it to paypal/ebay for a refund of all postage costs too? (Is this even possible? Will they care if the seller didn't state it's a promo?)
4. Sell it myself on ebay (clearly pointing out it's a promo!) & hope to make back what I paid?

piratefairy

If you open up a claim in Paypal, you will have to pay for the trackable return of the book to the seller, but will receive your refund of the entire original payment - ie. winning amount + postage.

Pernicious

Ah ok, thanks piratefairy that's very helpful as by the time I've paid for trackable delivery it will have cost about the same amount that I paid for it...

So I guess selling it on may be the best way to try & recoup my money as I can't see the seller agreeing to refunding all costs, but hopefully he will at least put in his listings that they are promo items.

Crowqueen

If it is just to stop the shops cashing in, then does it count if an ebay seller is clearly making a profit from it? As this isn't secondhand as such, it is brand new & this person is clearly taking an income from selling these as it's not the only copy of this book he has sold.

Secondhand means a lot of things. If I buy a book new, never read it and sell it on, then it would still be s/h. And people make a huge living sometimes from secondhand books, so just because a book or another item is used, then it doesn't really mean the person selling it didn't specifically buy it to sell on. In this country genuine s/h bookshops are losing out to charity shops, which don't buy in their stock nor directly make a living for their proprietors, but in some places the s/h market is actually very well established and genuinely can make people a good income.

If that's what you mean, of course. That's how I read the question you asked.

If he has multiple copies, he either bought a load of copies of the newspaper when the book came out, or got them from various sources. It might have been in a job lot of the same book. There are a lot of ways to acquire books for resale which don't violate the law on this one.

soolin

When The Times was doing the free Penguin Classics (I think it was the Times) they passed over a great amount of stock to several charity shops . Those charity shops had them in boxes by the till as available for donations but as i had a deal with the charity shop to buy their book stock they offered them to me by the box load for a suggested donation on 3p a book. As I couldn't sell them on Amazon and I wasn't sure that ebay would allow their sales I declined.

They were very nicely bound books though and looked lovely en masse on a book shelf.

jasmineswhiskers

Myyrrddyn wrote: »

That is interesting as I have held back selling DVD's and Cd's on ebay because it says not for resale. If you are correct then its a big photo session on for me.

I had a load of kids dvd's from newspapers, cartoons, wildlife, classic films etc. Some had been watched others hadn't. I listed a load and was surprised by how much I actually got! Well worth listing. I did of course put that these were free cover gifts. I think that the seller in the OP should have mentioned this - I would leave feedback which mentions this (neutral??).

FatVonD

I'm confused, I know of somebody that received a warning on eBay for selling promo CDs, wouldn't that be the same?

Does this mean I would legally be able to sell publishers advance/proof copies of books?

soolin

FatVonD wrote: »

I'm confused, I know of somebody that received a warning on eBay for selling promo CDs, wouldn't that be the same?

Does this mean I would legally be able to sell publishers advance/proof copies of books?

On ebay though even if something is prohibited they won't do anything about it unless it is reported.

Last Christmas there was a big rumpus on the Amazon chat boards as people selling promo CDs and DVDs on ebay as a sideline to their Amazon businesses were being given warnings by ebay, and some had their accounts threatened. Yet many claimed they had been selling the same things for months without any problems..

mobile48

With copyright the copyright owner licenses you the use of the product. If you buy a new dvd you cannot copy it, broadcast it, give public performances etc.

Sometimes you cannot rent it out, sometimes you can.

With newspaper promotional freebies you do not get the right to sell them.

I will re-post the same link as given earlier as discussion here has moved on and people may now read it in a different light (it talks about different items but the issues are similar):

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/promotional.html

Crowqueen

The site doesn't mention newspaper freebies though, Mobile, it only mentions things that aren't circulated to the general public.

Freebie books, while being a pretty cheap thing to buy as a gift, don't seem to have that same issue attached.

I'll admit it's a grey area which the internet doesn't throw up an easy answer except when dealing with software, but that site doesn't mention newspaper or magazine coverdiscs, such that I doubt they are prohibited entirely. Soo is right that enforcement on eBay is a matter of reporting the items in question, but I have seen very few threads in the past where someone has been reported for selling a Daily Mail edition of Cranford (as opposed to a copy, say, distributed to TV magazines as a review copy in a white label).