Lizzie Borden Society Forum

This seller is offering Rappaport's book "Be the Judge-Be the Jury" for an opening bid of $120.60. Am I missing something about this item?

http://tinyurl.com/da8v9

There's also a used copy for $6.42 by another seller.

Well, lets see here, Harry.

A. The book was written in 1992 so that makes it a rare, valueable antique,
B. The original list price was $13.89 so with inflation added in I would say $120+ is a fair price! Yes in deed!!

So all in agreement now, 1...2...3

Honestly I don't know how people think someone will be foolish enough to fork out that kind of cash for something still in it's puberty. Maybe the same fools who fork out $28,000.00 for a cheese sandwich. Hmmm... maybe I better stock up on bread and cheese.

What's the saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted?"

-1bigsteve (o:

We had discussed how there are 2 versions of this book, without the cover giving any hints.
One has mislabled photos inside.
Maybe that has something to do with it?
Tracy and I talked about this at one point.

I just emailed the seller asking about the price. I will let yau all know if/when I get a response.

I would like to inquire about the price you are asking for your book. Is $120.60 the correct price ?

Thank you,
Tracy

Yes, Kat and I have discussed this book before. I wanted to use this book in my classroom, but my principal was too concerned she'd get too much grief from parents over discussing this case. It's too badd too, because Ms. Rappaport was giving me a hell of a deal on a classroom set of books. I believe my book has the 'good' pictures, but I will double check. I found Ms. Rappaport to be a very kind woman, and very interested in helping young people develop good reading and critical thinking skills. One of the teachers in my building is using another one of Ms. R's books in her history class...the one on the Sacco-Vanzetti case.


Tracy...

abebooks has 12 listings for the Doreen Rappaport book -- ranging in price from a low of $1.37 to the one from this same e-bay seller at $126.63. (The next highest price is $28.10 BTW.)

Oddly there are two copies of the Rappaport book offered on abebooks by the e-bay seller in question: one at $4.20 (Book Description: Harpercollins, 1992. Library Binding. Book Condition: GOOD. USED Used item may show stamps, stickers and marks.) and the other is the $126.63 item (Book Description: Harpercollins, 1992. Library Binding. Book Condition: GOOD. USED Dust Jacket Used item may show stamps, stickers and marks.) Both appear to be library copies -- which greatly reduces their value. As you can see, the only discernible difference between the two is that the over-priced one still has its dust jacket.

However, the same site shows another seller offering a 1st Edition copy with dust jacket – in better condition – and not ex-library (Harpercollins Childrens Books, Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 1992. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good +. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good +. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Two pages lightly bumped on top corner. Includes photographs and diagrams.) for only $16.95.

When I see something interesting on e-bay my policy is to check out the seller's other listings. That often gives an indication as to whether they're just cleaning out a dead relative's garage -- or whether they deal in a specific line of stock and are knowledgeable about the value of the item they're showing.

Although this seller appears to be a used book dealer -- there are oddities that would dissuade me from buying from him/her. (For starters, 270 incidences of negative feedback in the past year should give one pause – 39 in the last month alone.)

Thanks for the scoop, Diana.

It looks like something questionable is going on. Maybe he is trying to unload it quickly to a sap? Maybe there is some hidden value to that copy that we don't see yet. Maybe Tracy will get a response from the seller. Maybe Tracy will be waiting a long, long time...

On the other hand I've seen a lot of scams on the net. Mountebanks are alive and well it seems.

By the way, would anyone like to buy my 10 acres of summer resort property I own at the North Pole? It comes with palm trees and a nice warm lagoon to swim in. You can enjoy eating $28,000.00 cheese sandwiches while you sun yourself on the warm sandy beach. No, honest, it's true! I can send you a copy of the deed to prove it... as soon as the ink dries! I was only kidding. Put your money away, Harry.

There are more scams out there than we can shake a hatchet at.

-1bigsteve (o:

It looks like this guy sells just books. The majority of his negative feedback is from not having the book purchased in stock. I noticed that he has a lot of books that are wayyyy overpriced...wonder what the story is on that...

Here's the email answer I received from the seller:

Thank you for your inquiry. It appears that our item is overpriced. Our company lists our inventory on several different online channels, so you might want to check out the same item on Amazon.com where it is sold for considerably less money.
Thank you,

universalathenaeum
Customer Service Department


Tracy...

Well...at the very least, they're honest crooks!

Much better...
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Lizzie-Borden-T ... dZViewItem


Tracy...

Though Lowndes Book is quite scarce in a dust jacket, and somewhat rare in a Fine DJ, you can see how crazy it can get when a book dealer finds a real nice copy.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... sortby%3D1

Kat @ Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:47 pm wrote:We had discussed how there are 2 versions of this book, without the cover giving any hints.
One has mislabled photos inside.
Maybe that has something to do with it?
Tracy and I talked about this at one point.

In the case of US Postage Stamps, an error in printing makes them very valuable (like that upside-down airplane stamp).
So too books with errors may have an increase in value. But this is not an intrinsic value, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay.

An autographed picture of Lizzie Borden with a Full Confession on the back? PRICELESS!!!