ABE and Anybook of Hialeah. Mystery Solved?

1. Comment by barrett newhall

   I wanted a novel by Bella Pollen (all about men) it is listed as a paperback with Anybook. Nothing rare about it. The price is $157 I was stunned. I could not find what usually is found on a booksellers page, that is ‘ask the bookseller’ what is going on.

   thanks for any info.

2. Comment by STEVEN ABBOTT

   I had a ABE want for Gore Vidal’s A Thirsty Evil. Received an email indicating that Anybook had a copy. Anybook was asking over $100 with 3 copies listed in stock. I tried to google Dave at Anybook and the address and could find no way to contact. Even on Abebooks there is no way to contact the seller. How can we get Abebooks to investigate and alert the public about this?
   Steven Abbott

3. Comment by steve

   Mr. Abbott, Anybook is a scam operation. As far as anyone can tell, they do not have any inventory of books at all. Their sole reason to exist is, apparently, to develop a mailing list, for what, who knows?

   Since ABE earns it’s basic income from a monthly fee charged to listers based upon the number of books a seller lists with them, they have no incentive to oust operations such as Anybook.

   Those of us in the rare book community who dearly care about the effect of mega-listers such as Anybook on the public and the trade are doing our best to spread the word. The only way I see ABE doing anything about this is if enough people complain to them - not booksellers, whom ABE seems to care little about - but a critical mass of individuals such as yourself who are annoyed and irritated.

   Believe me, I feel your pain.

4. Comment by Todd

   Hi, I just oredered a book from them via ABE. I then decided to google them and find this forum.

   So does this mean I won’t get my copy of A Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars by Wiley and Bugert I ordered from them? That really stinks, cause I really need that book.

5. Comment by steve

   Todd: I wish I had an answer for you on this. I don’t know of anyone who has ordered through Anybook successfully or otherwise. You’ll be doing the trade and the book collecting public a service if you report back here and tell us what your experience has been with them. If you haven’t received the book within 21 days, we may have to add fraud to this mega-lister’s resume. Perhaps then ABE will take notice. Thank you.

6. Comment by Peter Bowler

   I had the same experience. Looking for some spare copies of one of my books (”Human Remains”, a paperback whodunnit worth about $10 secondhand) I found Anybook advertising three copies on Abebooks at the surprising prioce of $295.91 EACH!

7. Comment by steve

   Mr. Bowler:
   Gee, usually you have to go on Ebay to see price-reality distortions like that. The Anybook situation is becoming truly surreal.

8. Comment by Joe Jeffss

   Hi!:
   I’m a retired bookseller who has been asked by a relative to find a copy of Frances McClain: Quitting for Good. Lifeway Press. Abe listed only one hit: Anybook in Hialeah, Fl. for $149.86 (they claim to have 3 copies). Outlandish price, of course, so I did not order. When I goodled them, I got your site. Sure sounds like fraud to me. Why isn’t ABE doing something about this?

9. Comment by steve

   There’s no law against prices from Mars, so ABE cannot do anything about it.

   The reality appears to be that Anybook does not really want to sell the books they offer; hence their insanely outrageous prices. They are not actually in the business of selling books (or, I’ll wager, even owning any) but of gathering info for a mailing list for other purposes.

   The only way, it seems, that ABE will bounce this scamster is if Anybook collects payment and does not deliver. That’s unambiguous and illegal interstate fraud, a Federal offense. We’re waiting to see if Todd (comment 4) gets the book he ordered from them. If not, grounds for ABE to oust them. If so, I’ll be amazed.

   Anybook is a mega-lister; alas, mega-listing is not against the law or against ABE policy (they earn money on number of books listed so have no incentive to boot the bums). To find out more about mega-lister fraud that is infecting the Internet, see my piece on another page of our site at http://www.davidbrassrarebooks.com/?p=64

10. Comment by Julian

    Steve has nailed it on the Head. If they are just collecting data, then there is nothing that ABE can do at this stage. Until such time as they defraud someone, then I suggest that whoever has been defrauded contact the Dade County Sheriffs Department. There is a PO BOX ther to pass on to the Police.

11. Comment by Todd

    Yes I certainly will post the success or failure of my order. Currently I have received about 4 emails from them. My current status is waiting to ship.

    Update to follow.

12. Comment by steve

    Thanks for the tip, Julian. And Todd, you’re now our point man on this.

    I suspect that Anybook is now playing for time, scrambling to find a copy of the book Todd ordered so they can fulfill. If they can’t and do not refund Todd’s money (which would be exceedingly foolish), game over.

    By the way, I notice that Anybook has set up in U.K. as well. Next stop, Ulan Bator.

13. Comment by Leonard Stegmann

    I’m glad I found this forum! I saw that Anybook was offering three copies of a book I had written for over $200 a copy. I couldn’t figure it out, since I know for a fact that the only place you can find three copies of this book is in a box in my garage!

14. Comment by steve

    Thank you, Mr. Stegmann. Of course, now that you’ve announced to the world where three copies of your book are, you may be getting a call from Anybook should anyone actually order and pay for one through them!

15. Comment by Todd

    Well they refunded my order, saying they accepted it in error. Despite listing 3 copies available of a book I need. That was my first and last dealings with anybook. Yes I did receive a refund, however I am disappointed with the outcome. I cannot believe ABE would risk credibility issues by dealing with Anybook. My quest for the book continues.

16. Comment by steve

    I’m not suprised at all, Todd. By allowing mega-listers like Anybook to pollute their site, ABE is contributing in a major way to the increasing disillusionment of online book buyers.

    I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of bypassing ABE and dealing directly with the bookseller. That is, see it online, find out who the seller is, then cut ABE out of the equation altogether.

    This way, you have an actual experience with a human being who cares about you and is absolutely dependent upon you having a satisfying transaction.

    Most booksellers who list online will be happy to extend a discount off their posted price on ABE simply to avoid ABE’s commission and credit card processing fees.

    Vote on ABE with your feet. I think that is the only way they will ever listen to book buyers and sellers.

    Thank you, Todd, for sharing your ABE/Anybook experience.

17. Comment by LuLugurl

    Dear Mr. Gertz,

    I was suspicious when Anybook had 3 copies of a small paperback (53 pages) in a religious study series that cost over $22.00 each!
    I’ll avoid them.

    Please allow me this, however: the word its is its own possessive and doesn’t need an apostrophe!

    -L

18. Comment by Robert Sadler

    Another testimony Re: Anybook. I have been seeking a book that several websites indicated was published in March 2007 but was “temprarily unavailable.”; the suggested price is approximately $70. I did receive, on September 24, 2007 an email from Abebooks that Anybook had “3 copies” for sale with a price of about $700.00 each ( this is NOT a typographic error). Like other contributors to this forum, I was curious and stumbled on to this website. As the other writers have noted, there is no direct way to contact anybook. Subsequently I emailed the publisher and received a response today that the book in question has not even been published yet.
    Clearly, Anybook is guilty of, at a minimum, gross misrepresentation if not something more criminal. This putative book seller should be avoided like the plague.

19. Comment by steve

    Lulu:

    Syntax Queen! Point taken, “its” corrected - though it was a proofreading mistake on my part, not ignorance.

    Mr. Sadler:

    Your last sentence sums up the situation with admirable concision.

20. Comment by garz

    This is what happened to me: I was looking for a physics book that is out of print. On bookfinder.com I found an ex-library copy at 20 pounds from a seller whose name I don’t remember and another copy (described as very-good) from anybook at 70 pounds. I went for the anybook copy (because I wanted a clean one) and I received the ex-library copy that the first bookseller was selling (believe me the description of every sticker and stamp corresponded). How would you judge this?
    Subsequently I ordered another book (advertised as hardback) from anybook (yes, foolish me) through amazon.de and I received a paperback copy… I sent it back but they refuse to refund even the difference in price because they say that they never received the book. Given this lack of honesty and professionality I think that it would be great to find a way to get these people out of the business.

21. Comment by Stephen

    if abe ever contacts you back about the magic show called anybook…let me know…i cant fight very well…but i can scream loud!…thanks for the forum…

22. Comment by steve

    In re: Garz - ALERT THE MEDIA! ANYBOOK ACTUALLY FULFILLED AN ORDER.
    WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE?

    This is what happened, Garz: Anybook does not own a single book but every now and then has to fulfill an order; most, if not all, online book aggregaters have fulfillment minimums and Anybook, like all other book listers, has to actually sell and deliver a book every now and then so they are not bounced from whatever service (ABE, Bookfinder, etc)they are exploiting to develop their mailing list.

    Anybook obviously bought the copy you initially avoided so that they could fulfill your order. On book two, unless you sent it back with some sort of proof of delivery, you’re probably out of luck; it becomes a legal “he said, she said” situation. You should, however, lodge a formal complaint through Amazon.de (Amazon’s operation in Germany).

    Which brings me to our episode in the Anybook saga: They appear to be moving offshore (of the U.S.: I know they’ve opened a Anybook U.K. branch, and now through Amazon in Germany). They may be trying to hedge their legal risks in the United States. But I do not know this with certainty.

    Folks, they have just not yet broken any laws that I am aware of. Unethical? Yes, Illegal? Not yet but if they keep it up per usual they’re bound to slip up sometime.

    And Stephen (comment 21; I’m not talking to myself - now): Thanks for stopping in and throwing your support our way. Keep watching the skies for further developments.

23. Comment by Peter

    Hello

    I am glad I stumbled onto this website. I was interested in getting a used copy of Brunner-Traut E. “Fruehformen des Erkennens (a book on ancient Egypt life and thought), which lists on Abebooks.de (Germany), between 8 and 20 Euros. Then there is a listing by Anybook for the same book at a walloping 172,86 Euros. (There is a listing of the same book by Antiquariat Peter Petrej in Zurich. He is a legitimate Used-book-seller, but usually lists all his books at twice the going rate or more than the other used-book-sellers in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.)

    Of course, I never would have ever considered buying the book through Anybook, Hyaleah, FL, but I thought perhaps they don’t know the exchange rate between US dollars and Euros or it’s a Typo. Then I discovered they have no contact address listed and when I googled them, I happened upon this website. Now I know a bit more about Anybook. Thanks for all the info.

    P. Rainer, Innsbruck, Austria

24. Comment by steve

    And thank you, Mr. Rainer, for your contribution.

25. Comment by Angus O'Neill

    I’m delighted to see this being discussed. In May I received an ABE wants match for a book that a customer wanted very badly indeed, priced at about a twentieth of its true value. I’d promised to contact him if a copy ever turned up: so I put the book in the shopping cart, rang him, and explained that I was not happy about the vendor but had no evidence to support my unease. On his instructions, I went ahead. The book duly arrived, promptly, and well packed. But (of course) it was an ex-library copy of the wrong edition. Anybook were initially helpful, more or less; they began by offering me a 20% discount if I kept it (!), and then promised a full refund on its safe return. But they refused to give me any return address other than a PO box, and of course you can’t get a signature from a PO box… I sent it anyway, and fruitlessly exchanged a couple of emails with Hialeah about the non-arrival of the book, before contacting ABE, who eventually (August) refunded my money. Not at the first time of asking, incidentally. (They may, possibly, have Googled me and decided that as a member of the ABA’s council, and its Press Officer, I was likely to prove more trouble than the order was worth; then again, I may be exaggerating my own importance, in which case I am sorry!)
    Oddly, the Anybook responses were not emailed, but instead accessible only via their website, which I guess gives them more control over their availability… I note that they now seem to have no books listed on ABE. I don’t know what their current star rating is (if any) as I have myself left ABE in disgust at this and other issues!
    Keep up the good work.

26. Comment by steve

    Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, Angus. Nice to hear your voice.

    Big news: I have it on very good authority that ABE suspended Anybook on Friday Oct. 5, 2007 and is now investigating them.I hope to confirm this information within the next 24hrs. Best, Steve

27. Comment by V. Estes, ABE Seller

    Steve, You are indeed a savior. My thanks for all ABE delarers. Your efforts prove that you can fight City Hall & win. V. Estes

28. Comment by Chris

    Before we rejoice too soon, remember that AbeBooks suspended Anybook a couple of months ago - and when Anybook was allowed to list once again on AbeBooks, one area of complaints (about no replies to inquiries) had been solved in a masterly fashion: the “ask the dealer a question” link was removed. If customers can’t ask questions, then they can’t complain about no answers!

    The real issue is not Anybook and whether or not AbeBooks takes action regarding this “seller” - the real issue is that AbeBooks will permit a seller with clearly misleading and unethical practices to not only list on ABE but to remain there for 7 months or more -

    When a seller - any seller, unless it one with a well-known open store - uploads a million or more books almost at once, AbeBooks should have “footsteps on the site” of that seller. Is it not WORTH the less than $1000 in expenses, it might take to send an AbeBooks representative to visit? Or AbeBooks could even deputize a trusted ABE dealer, proven by years of listing on ABE, who lives in the area, to drop in and visit? How much is Anybook costing AbeBooks in terms of loss of consumer confidence? in the hours handling a complaint and investigation?

    A legitimate seller would welcome such a visit -

    So it is not just Anybook - before Anybooks there was the name changing “behealed” fellow in Texas: he listed on AbeBooks under three different names before finally being removed. Remember how we rejoiced when THAT account was finally suspended (for good? or is it back under a different name?) -

    And after Anybook, it will be someone else (or even the same people just using a different name) unless ABbeBooks says “yes, we can be pro-active - we can VET these dealers personally, we can refuse to allow anyone to abuse our site and drag it down in the dirt and make it a laughing stock on the internet….”

    Nor is it ONLY Anybook right now - they are simply the most egregious, the most visible of these parasites.

    So I wish I could be more optimistic - AbeBooks.com has much to offer, including an almost unparalleled selection of real books, from real booksellers (professional or “amateur”, full-time or part-time, but who care about books, customers and ethics) and it has the best and most flexible search of any book listing site - but until AbeBooks decides that it will no longer allow itself to be “used” by these so-called sellers, suspending one seller will only be putting a band-aid on the cancer within -

    And, of course, it is not just AbeBooks which has given these “sellers” a platform - one can find numerous examples on Amazon also.

29. Comment by Neil

    I certainly applaud the fact that Anybook has been suspended but I have no doubt that they will be back in some other guise. We can count on ABE working hard not to lose this revenue source.

    I am not sure that I agree with Steve’s conclusion that their raison d’etre is simply as an email harvesting tool for the simple reason that while a potential buyer on ABE receives the email address of the potential seller, the vendor receives nothing but a wants match report from ABE which gives no details beyond the number of matches. The seller does not receive any email addresses.

    Even though their prices are horrendous, if you have several million listings you will sell books, probably lots of them and they simply buy them from other sellers who have them and make enormous profits in the process.

30. Comment by D.S.Gorton

    Thank you, thank you!….It is unbelievable to me that this situation was allowed to go on for so long. You can’t “wake up and smell the coffee, if you are already unconscious!”…..ABE has been derelict in their responsiblity to its customers, their bookbuyers AND their booksellers. Anybooks was a business model doomed to failure. It will be a while before the public learns to trust the site again.

31. Comment by steve

    Thank you, gentlemen.

    Today’s post ( www.davidbrassrarebooks.co,/?p=75 ) confirms that ABE has suspended Anybook. But Chris is on target, so much so that I included his comment in today’s column.

    Stay tuned: In an upcoming post this Thursday 10/11/07, I expose another mega-lister, this one off to a very bad start: Providing ABE with a phony location of business. Mmmmm…

32. Comment by John Doull

    Out of annoyance with ABE (who I have telephoned and got no sensible reply on the question of overpricing of in-print titles) and Anybooks I am now selling the following non-existent and quite over-priced title on the Advanced Book Exchange: I Was an Anybook Prisoner: Thirteen Weeks with Abe and Dave in Hialeah.

    The number of dealers who are too lazy, too stupid or too money-grubbing to check the new in-print price of books is becoming disturbing. I was pricing a title a few weeks ago (The Iguanas of the World) and all the ten or so listers had it priced at well over list. Same printing, same everything. I happily put mine up on ABE and quite a bit below the list price. Fine for me in the short run, but the more folks who get annoyed with ABE as a whole for this practice, the worse it will be all round for ABE sellers.

    When second-hand books are advertized at well over the price for the same exact title and printing in a new bookshop or from an on-line seller of new books, the situation is well into Topsy-Turvy land.

33. Comment by steve

    Mr. Doull:

    Thanks for stopping by and offering your comment.

    “I Was an Anybook Prisoner: Thirteen Weeks with Abe and Dave in Hialeah.” I think you’ve got a potential bestseller, there. Be sure to price it at $1000 a copy. You may only sell one, but you can take the money and run.

    Please check out today’s (10/11/2007) column on another Anybook look-alike at http://davidbrassrarebooks.com/?=p76

    Thanks again.

34. Comment by Kevin Brown

    I’ve got another theory about what Anybook is doing. Maybe they are making money by investing the buyers’ money for the period of time (a month or two?) between when they get paid for the non-existant book and when they inevitabley have to refund the money to the buyer.

35. Comment by steve

    Kevin: That’s an excellent theory that hadn’t occurred to me until you raised it. It makes a lot of sense. I’m not sure they can generate enough income from this sort of float to justify all the effort involved but it would certainly generate a nice little bonus.
    BTW: This month’s issue of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA, United Kingdom) newsletter acknowledges our posts on the issue of Anybook of Hialeah and the contributions of all who’ve commented here to make this series the go-to place for info and complaint. Thank you, ABA, and thanks to all of you who taken the time to read and contribute to these articles.

36. Comment by Shawn

    I actually received a book from Anybook. Too bad it was an ex-library copy of a different edition than what I ordered. I was dubious at the outset because the listed book is very scarce and expensive. But the real scam were the return instructions: to re-seal in the original packaging, mark it refused and place in a mailbox (with explicit instructions not to try this at a post office). This was, of course, to avoid the cost of return postage, that is, mail fraud. I reported this to both ABE and to the postal inspector. It was shortly after this that Anybook was suspended.

    But they have returned as of March as MoreMedia of Hialeah, Florida. Same absurd prices and no link to ask questions. I have also, as has Kevin Brown above, wondered about the possibility of using refund pending money for some other purpose (showing some phony cash flow to get loans, launder money?). But the bottom line is the ABE is trashing itself by allowing these and similar listers. I now have to email every seller on ABE, unless I know them, to ask whether books are ex-library or not and whether they are actually the listed edition prior to ordering.

37. Comment by Sascha Alexander

    I have never ordered anything from Anybook. I purchase rare out of print books on a weekly basis. I have gotten burned on other websites when ordering books but never on abebooks. After getting burned I usually google the name of the seller. I try to find a phone number which you can sometimes find on google or try to find any info on google. Some sellers are now not enabling e-mail contact. They say that it takes too much time to answer all of the questions everyone has. I can understand that from experience. The best thing is to always google the seller. Don’t let one bad apple ruin your treasure hunt.

38. Comment by steve

    Thank you, Sascha, for stopping by and contributing. While it’s true that many booksellers find that fielding email inquiries is often a circus exercise, most reputable ones will still try to answer serious questions. But, as you allude to, if the seller does not provide a phone number or email address, caveat emptor. You should never “buy blind.” There are a lot of amateurs who’ve hung up their shingle online as “rare booksellers” but know little about the books they sell and even less about how to conduct themselves in a courteous, ethical and professional manner.

39. Comment by rewinn

    * Let me encourage y’all to send your examples to your state’s Attorney General and/or Secretary of State - whichever one handles consumer fraud in your state. They LIKE to chase down bad guys and they have a MUCH bigger stick than ABE; whilst ABE may not be able to stop the criminals from coming back with a new name, the gov can put them in the crowbar hotel. And it’s an easy investigation: order 10 books to 10 different addresses, see what happens.

    * Another way that Anybook’s ilk may be making money is taking advantage of buyers too busy to return their wrong-edition, ex-library-when-I-ordered-new book. It sounds like a VERY profitable business, especially if it’s purely dropshipping and, say, 10% of the buyers don’t return the nonconforming item. Then on top of it you add bogus claims of non-receipt of the item: PROFIT! on top of whatever you get out of selling email addy’s.

    Cheers!

40. Comment by steve

    The “crowbar hotel”? I’ve never heard that line before; it’s delightful.

    Thanks for stopping by,rewinn, and offering your take.

41. Comment by vivienne metcalf

    I’m glad I found your column! I was recovering from the shock of ‘discovering’ on a browse through Amazon.co.uk that one of my cherished childhood books was worth neary £900 sterling, and wondering why the next one on the list was less than half the price. I decided to google anybook-UK to see who they were, and eventually landed on your column. I’m not as rich as I thought I was - but I wasn’t selling anyway. I’ve learned a useful lesson. Thanks, guys!

    Vivienne

42. Comment by Steve

    You’re very welcome, Vivienne!

43. Comment by Heather

    Was interested to find this as have like one of the contributors above, some books that have published myself (and print when need more), and have all the new copies (currently 2) available, on Amazon.co.uk at 7 pounds, however anybook-uk has its own copies added, at present 3 labelled “new” “like new” and “very good” each at the weird price of 56 pounds and 48 pence. There is no mention of any copies at all of this book “Tudor Bastard” in their Amazon “shop front”. Have mentioned this to Amazon many times without result, (they also refuse to alter the description of the book from the erroneous “spiral” binding to the correct “plastic comb”.)

44. Comment by J.D.

    I’m not a book collector, I’m a used-CD buyer; but it seems that “any_book” (their Amazon.com listing) does the same thing with used CDs that they do with books. A CD I am looking for currently has an asking price of over $140 from them on Amazon. I’ve seen other outrageously priced offerings from them as well; I’m glad I decided to Google-search them.

    Does Amazon have a policy regarding sellers and spec listings (as we call them in the ticket industry where a broker lists tickets he doesn’t have as a way of fishing for orders)?

45. Comment by Steve

    J.D.: Glad you found our trail of Anybook trials and tribulations! As far as I know, Amazon has no policy on the issue and as long as Amazon gets their cut and Anybook doesn’t do anything flagrantly illegal, nothing will change.

46. Comment by Heather

    pleased to find this helpful forum - was concerned with finding wildly high and strangely priced copies of the books I was selling on Amazon.co.uk
    like one of you some of these were books I published and printed myself so I knew they could not have had any brand new copies
    and these books although attached to the listing of the book, were not on Anybook-uk Amazon “store-front”

    suspected it to be a cover for something - but that is for someone else to investigate

47. Comment by Page

    I’ve been selling some of my mother’s books online, through alibris, and my husband has been selling books and CDs through Amazon. We immediately assumed that anybooks must be a scam, but how do they get those thousands of happy ratings per week, per month? We always also wonder about the sellers who list for one cent. I just assume they are also scammers. We’ve never tried ordering anything to find out… Do you think these businesses are just the “low-end” version of the same idea?

48. Comment by Steve

    Hello, Page:

    The penny sellers ae legit. They use extremely sophisticated software to manage inventory. That, in concert with making $ on postage, is how they survive and thrive.

49. Comment by E. Dean Butler

    Can someone tell us how Any Book receives so many (mostly high) ratings? This does not pass the “smell test.” I suspect Any Book somehow pads their ratings big time.

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