Used bookdealers on crack?

What I can't help wondering is who buys the books with these descriptions? Does anyone?

My hope is that these sellers see terrible turn rates and therefore continue to use these descriptions because they don't see any benefit to putting the time into a good description…A sort of negative feedback loop: low turns, got to make most of time, therefore even shorter descriptions.

Personally, I think such descriptions only help sellers like us who take time with their descriptions. And I trust sellers to recognize the difference.

But I do have to laugh when I see those sorts of things. Sad really.

Ooops…meant “I trust BUYERS to recognize the difference.”

I think this guy will be folding his virtual bookstall and getting a job as a bagger at a grocery store.

But I've noticed some of those places that describe books as “Gift quality! May have remainder mark. Ship daily!” are selling lots of books on Amazon. But at prices and by methods that aren't to my own taste.

You won't like this, but I almost never read booksellers' descriptions. There are a few sellers whose standard descriptions are set out clearly and are applied reliably, but in general I find them inconsistent, lacking in specific enough condition information and, therefore, frustrating. If I buy from a seller I don't know, I will not pay above a certain price until I get to know and trust their descriptions. It takes years to learn how to describe rare books (as a seller or a librarian) and it really winds me up to see badly-written descriptions like the ones you've posted, as it depresses me to think that the writer sets so little store by the skills of cataloguing. I mind less with modern non-rare material, since its description requires less skill. However, since I only shop second-hand online for rare material, there is much scope for disgruntlement. So, I just don't read them.

“But I’ve noticed some of those places that describe books as 'Gift quality! May have remainder mark. Ship daily!' are selling lots of books on Amazon.”

When I buy used books on Amazon, 9 times out of 10 I am just looking for cheap reading material. So I don't care about the quality as long as it's readable. I don't care if the dj is intact or if there is a remainder mark or even if the book is highlighted all to hell. But I might not be normal. :)

What I usually look for at Amazon is a combination of low price and nearby location; since they generally ship Media Mail, the local sellers can get me the books sooner. And I love that semi-instant gratification. I also note the star rating; I don't care if someone has a perfect rating but if it is unusually low I will look into the feedback.

If I actually care about the appearance of the book I either buy new or used from an independent store that I can trust to describe the books properly.

It is just a crotchety prejudice. Even when all I want is a copy of a book that I'll read and discard I feel that I can only buy from someone who actually bothers to describe the book. My summaries of cheap books are laconic but “Gift quality! Ship daily!” sound sounds so moronic.

I've only ordered one used book via Amazon's marketplace because what I've bought has been cheaper on ABE or Half.com.