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Dropped $45 on a 'collector's edition' of a book the school board pulled, and it was just a normal copy with a sticker | Banned Book Breakdown - Rigidtalk

emery308•4d ago

Dropped $45 on a 'collector's edition' of a book the school board pulled, and it was just a normal copy with a sticker

So about 3 weeks ago I got sucked into one of those online auctions for a banned books lot. The listing showed this beat up paperback of a title that got challenged at a district near Fort Worth, and the seller claimed it was a "rare pulled edition" with a special printing mark. I bid $45 plus $8 shipping thinking I was getting some kind of piece of history for my shelf. It shows up and it is literally the same paperback you can grab for $9 used anywhere, except someone slapped a generic "CHALLENGED" sticker on the spine that is already peeling off. I even checked the ISBN against the publisher's site and it matches the current mass market run, no special print, no notes, nothing. The seller's whole pitch was that it was pulled from a library, but there is no library stamp, no barcode, no card pocket, just a sticker they probably printed themselves. I messaged them and they said "all sales final, do your research next time," which, fair, but still. Has anyone else gotten burned by these "banned book" resellers jacking up prices on regular copies, and is there a way to actually tell a real pulled edition from a sticker job?

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1 Comment

the_evan2d ago

The "do your research next time" line is what really gets me, because how exactly are you supposed to research a sticker someone printed at home? I saw a post on a book collecting sub a while back where a guy said he called the actual school district to ask if they pulled that title, and the librarian told him most challenged books never get special markings at all. They just get checked out like normal until someone complains. A real pulled copy would usually have a district stamp, a DISCARD mark, or a barcode from the school, and a lot of times it ends up in a library sale bin for a dollar. Sellers know people are hyped about banned books right now, so they slap a label on a $9 paperback and call it rare. Your best bet is to ask for photos of the copyright page, the stamps, and the inside covers before you bid, and if they dodge those questions, walk away.