back to article In news that will shock, er, actually a few of you, Amazon backs down in dispute with booksellers

Amazon has backed down from a growing dispute with secondhand booksellers, in an almost unprecedented act of reasonable behavior from the online behemoth. Booksellers from across the globe were incensed earlier this month when Amazon's AbeBook, an online souk for books, art and other valuables, informed its partners in four …

  1. Allan George Dyer
    Mushroom

    Antiquarian Booksellers: almost as badass as Librarians.

    1. jake Silver badge

      More badass than librarians. Vested interest.

      Antiquarian booksellers own their inventory. Librarians merely oversee theirs.

      1. LucreLout
        Joke

        Re: More badass than librarians. Vested interest.

        Antiquarian booksellers own their inventory. Librarians merely oversee theirs.

        Try telling them that!

    2. A.P. Veening Silver badge

      Librarians

      Oook!!

      Obligatory TP reference.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Librarians

        "Librarians can catalog anything from an onion to a dog’s ear. They could catalog you."

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Librarians have Barbara Gordon. Antiquarian booksellers need someone like that too.

    4. VinceH

      "Antiquarian Booksellers: almost as badass as Librarians."

      I know you say that as a joke, but there's this documentary about librarians that I haven't seen yet, but does make it sound like there may be something in the idea that Librarians are indeed a bit bad-ass.

      1. Ragarath

        VinceH

        I have seen all episodes of this documentary and can confirm some very bad ass, as well as less than flattering moments. Generally being above the curve though.

      2. JohnFen

        "there may be something in the idea that Librarians are indeed a bit bad-ass."

        There is no question about it. Librarians are, and always have been, hardcore badass. I haven't seen that documentary, but the amount of badassery in the history of librarianism could fill many movies.

        1. wayward4now
          Pirate

          "There is no question about it. Librarians are, and always have been, hardcore badass."

          I was a prison inmate librarian. If you didn't return a book, I could fuck you up with the Sargent. Top that!

      3. John Gamble

        Bad-Ass Librarians

        ...there's this documentary... (followed by a link to a show).

        Aww. I was hoping someone had made a documentary using this book.

    5. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "Antiquarian Booksellers: almost as badass as Librarians."

      Ordinary librarians have nothing on special collection librarians. They weigh the books in and out.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

    ...being able to navigate physical books as we lumber into the future.

    Not *everything* is online. Not everything will be online.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

      I entered a second hand bookshop a while ago but didn't get far. There were more books than free space to move in, even if you could fly. I am still impressed that the owner of the establishment could immediately locate what I was looking for but I am still mystified how he could move through alleys between the towering stacks of books. I suspect quantum mechanical tunneling.

      1. Kane

        Re: Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

        "I suspect quantum mechanical tunneling."

        A good bookshop is just a genteel blackhole that knows how to read.

        And remember, kids:

        1. Silence

        2. Books must be returned by the last date stamped

        3. Do not interfere with the nature of causality

        .

        .

        Pterry Icon? No? I won't get tired of asking....

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

          We should ask for a black fedora icon. It has many potential applications in tech.

        2. GrapeBunch
          Coat

          Re: Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

          Two words "Black Books".

          The intercalary hole exists in a parallel universe. The door to it is over there. Mine's the one with the black key in the pocket.

    2. JohnFen

      Re: Possessing an increasinly rare skill...

      And many things that are online cannot be truly understood or appreciated that way.

  3. Natalie Gritpants Jr

    Don't mess with ILAB

    Their customers include Buffy and Sam and Dean.

  4. nematoad

    Choice

    I used to use ABE until I found out who owned it. I switched to another seller Alibris.

    Just thought that I would let people know that there are alternatives.

    Oh and thanks El Reg, you seem to have given me back my Silver badge. Why it went away in the first place remains a mystery.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Choice

      Always favored Alibris over Abe, but had no idea Abe was actually a Borg drone. Good to know for the future.

      1. John Gamble

        Re: Choice

        It wasn't at first. I, a previously happy customer, dropped them immediately when they got bought by Amazon.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In news that will shock, er, actually, half of you

    this headline has been bot-generated

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: In news that will shock, er, actually, half of you

      In other news you were hit by down voting bots.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "International League of Antiquarian Booksellers"

    Amazon: have we bought a League yet? OK, where's me change...

  7. Kubla Cant

    AbeBooks specializes in rare books, and provides a marketplace for sellers of expensive tomes dotted all over the world.

    Maybe they do sell rare, expensive books, but that's not my impression. I've bought quite a few books from Abe, and I don't think I've ever paid more than a fiver including postage. Second-hand bookshops are an excellent way to buy a nice copy of anything that's not a recent publication.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "...expensive tomes..."

    For me, that's anything that costs more than $0.99 + $6.49 Shipping (Canadian dollars). Problem is, I've already bought all the $0.99 used books that I want (my Jeremy CLarkson collection, LOL!!). I've been forced up-market, purchasing more expensive books that are sometimes even over $10.

    On the other hand, I do have a few $100 price class books. Six of them are signed by people that have wandered around on the Moon. :-)

  9. wayward4now
    Big Brother

    Grapes of Wrath

    As Ma Joad said, "Thank Gawd for Vittery!!"

  10. earl grey
    Happy

    not to mention book faires and antiquarian shows

    Ok, well, i mentioned them. great places which used to abound with book sellers and their wonderful old tomes. Most of the stores i preferred going into were used book stores with high shelves, books stacked all over, and a certain dry, musty smell. They always had inadequate lighting.

    1. JohnFen

      Re: not to mention book faires and antiquarian shows

      "used book stores with high shelves, books stacked all over, and a certain dry, musty smell. They always had inadequate lighting."

      I consider those places to be paradise.

      1. Geekpride

        Re: not to mention book faires and antiquarian shows

        I consider those places to be dangerous. If I get many more books, my home may collapse into some kind of L-space singularity.

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