Why do Charity Shops Stick Labels to Books

WLM21

I've just found a great book in a local charity shop but stuck to the front are two stickers .. a price and a 'gift aid' sticker.

Why can't the workers just put a price on a shelf and leave it at that .. hardbacks £3, paperbacks £1 or whatever it is?

Supermarkets used to price every item, but that idew\a died out many years ago

Just so annoying 

theoretica

Gift aid stickers are necessary as I understand they need to scan them for when that particular item is sold and for how much. 

p00hsticks

theoretica said:

Gift aid stickers are necessary as I understand they need to scan them for when that particular item is sold and for how much. 

Yes- the gift aid is related to the particular donor who donated that book, so it can't be a generic sticker. Some charity shops also put a sticker on each item to indicate when it was first displayed, and will reduce the price and/or remove it from display if not sold within a particuar time period.

MalMonroe

I can totally understand annoyance when books are new, especially when they are meant as gifts. But when it's a charity book, well, if it's in clean, readable condition, I don't think we can grumble. Especially when they're only a couple of pounds or a few pence. It doesn't really bother me. I buy them, read them and re-donate. 

Often my daughter will ask for a book or two for Christmas, as per this year (even though she has a kindle . . ) and then I'll buy new.  But otherwise it's charity shops or free Kindle offerings for me. 

forgotmyname

Daughter is a bookworm and has complained many times that the labels some shops use has removed some of
the image or ripped the cover.

She now dampens the labels before removing or gently warm the label with a hairdryer to soften the adhesive.

neverlikedpeas

I bought one last week with a low quality sticker that took some of the dust cover off when removing it.More annoying to me is the price heavily scrawled in pencil inside the book.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Stickers are real pain, some lift off easily but others hang on for dear life.

Usually they'll come off with a bit of white spirit or similar on a rag wiped on the label and left for a few minutes to soak in.

If the top layer of the sticker pulls off leaving the the rest wipe again with the rag and repeat. 

Finger nails can easily dent and scratch the paper so it's best to carefully get under one corner and very slowly pull the label off, if it starts to tear apart trying from another corner can help.  

Just don't rub the actual cover of the book with white spirit as you might take the ink off. 

With some really old stickers the paper comes off leaving just the old congealed glue, or whatever it is, and white spirit doesn't seem to get this off very well but nail varnish remover does. 

Huskydays

I volunteered in a charity shop for some time. As explained, the Gift Aid related barcode/serial number has to be stuck on to the book or we can't claim back once the particular donated book has been sold.

We had special easy-peel labels for books and other items where the buyer would want to take them off but they looked nearly identical to the normal labels so they got mixed up all the time and naturally the easy peel were more expensive so we didn't want to buy them exclusively.

Pennylane

This is one of my pet hates!  I buy loads of books from charity shops and most now use stickers and some are pigs to get off.  I have a special little kitchen knife and if I get that at the right angle I can remove them in one go.

Another thing I hate is when they write the price inside the front cover with a very hard pencil so even if you rub it off the indentations are still there.  

ElefantEd

These are second hand books! If you want a perfect book, without stickers or blemishes, buy a new one. Just read and enjoy it, what difference does a pencil mark or a sticker make?

soolin

ElefantEd said:

These are second hand books! If you want a perfect book, without stickers or blemishes, buy a new one. Just read and enjoy it, what difference does a pencil mark or a sticker make?

People like nice books, I know several friends who cannot abide a 'spoilt' book and would be upset by an un necessary mark or tear. Anyway, why buy new when we should be recycling and using what we already have? Personally I think buying 2nd hand books is not just cheaper, but also one of the best ways of reclying unwanted items.

On this subject though I would also point out that auction houses can be as bad. I buy in the course of my business and have had ephemera spoilt by stickers and also a beautiful overpainted delicate late Victorian bust that had a sticker- and when removed it took part of the paintwork with it