Buying specific editions of books online
September 1, 2021 4:26 PM Subscribe
Does anyone know an online used bookseller that ships in the US and prides itself (or at least, gets it right) in sending you the exact edition you ordered?
I often use Thrift Books but more than once I have tried to buy a specific edition of a book and they instead send me a similar, but not the same, edition of the book, probably from a different year. The example that just prompted asking this question is I ordered the 1994 Dell paperback edition of Gai-Jin by James Clavell, ordered based on a specific ISBN. Today it arrived and I received the 2009 Dell mass market reissue. The reason for wanting a specific edition is usually one of two reasons - either, nostalgia because I owned that exact edition when I was younger, or, as in this case, because I'm a weird completionist and I want all of the books in the series to be the same.
Obviously there are far worse things in life, but it is irritating when I confirm the cover and the ISBN on the website before I place the order and then receive a different edition. I just want a company that tries to send you what you ordered.
Thank you for any suggestions!
I often use Thrift Books but more than once I have tried to buy a specific edition of a book and they instead send me a similar, but not the same, edition of the book, probably from a different year. The example that just prompted asking this question is I ordered the 1994 Dell paperback edition of Gai-Jin by James Clavell, ordered based on a specific ISBN. Today it arrived and I received the 2009 Dell mass market reissue. The reason for wanting a specific edition is usually one of two reasons - either, nostalgia because I owned that exact edition when I was younger, or, as in this case, because I'm a weird completionist and I want all of the books in the series to be the same.
Obviously there are far worse things in life, but it is irritating when I confirm the cover and the ISBN on the website before I place the order and then receive a different edition. I just want a company that tries to send you what you ordered.
Thank you for any suggestions!
I've had success with this on Alibris. Many years ago I wanted a specific edition of a fiction book, before the publishers changed some of the content. I vaguely remember confirming with the seller before buying, but I don't know if that's possible now.
Regardless, books are listed with their editions front and center. Hopefully it works out for you if you decide to try it.
posted by lesser weasel at 5:06 PM on September 1, 2021
Regardless, books are listed with their editions front and center. Hopefully it works out for you if you decide to try it.
posted by lesser weasel at 5:06 PM on September 1, 2021
I would try AbeBooks or Powell's - Abe for the selection if you don't mind shopping (and they do respond to ISBN type searches and orders) - Powell's because they are pretty smart about customer's interests in specific editions.
posted by ptm at 5:07 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ptm at 5:07 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
Maybe Abebooks?
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:08 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:08 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
My suggestion would be speaking to a human at Vroman's. They generally do not cost more than shopping online and are typically accurate and honest when I have worked with them to locate items no longer in print.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:18 PM on September 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:18 PM on September 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Best answer: This has happened to me often; I order lots of used books. The problem with Thrift, Abebooks and Alibris (but not Powell's) for this purpose is that their searches aggregate listings from many many small sellers, and these sellers are just not all going to be precisely accurate in listing their inventory. (I use www.bookfinder.com as my aggregator-of-aggregators for most searches, but this isn't what you're asking.)
In general the only way to be sure is going to be to email the specific seller (contact info is always listed on these sites) when you order to confirm that it is the exact edition you want.
Like needs more cowbell, I have found that booksellers on Ebay often include an actual photo of their specific copy; I've usually had better luck with this than crossing my fingers and ordering from Abebooks or another large site. I also second the suggestion that staff at a big independent like Vroman's or Green Apple will always be helpful in a search like this.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 6:12 PM on September 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
In general the only way to be sure is going to be to email the specific seller (contact info is always listed on these sites) when you order to confirm that it is the exact edition you want.
Like needs more cowbell, I have found that booksellers on Ebay often include an actual photo of their specific copy; I've usually had better luck with this than crossing my fingers and ordering from Abebooks or another large site. I also second the suggestion that staff at a big independent like Vroman's or Green Apple will always be helpful in a search like this.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 6:12 PM on September 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you everyone! Lots of great suggestions!
posted by Meldanthral at 6:41 AM on September 2, 2021
posted by Meldanthral at 6:41 AM on September 2, 2021
I worked for a company that provided a searchable database of books that many book retailers use. It definitely had a behavior of returning the newest edition of a book when you search for older ISBNs. (Like you, this often wasn't compatible with my own needs.)
You've already gotten good advice, so I'll just +1 that when you really care, you probably want to either talk to a human or use something like Ebay where it's very clear which exact copy of a book you're buying.
As you know, ISBNs do refer to a specific edition of a book. When publishers release a newer edition of a book, the metadata they provide to book distributors often includes the ISBN for the previous edition. Distributors use that data to link editions together, and software built on top of that naively assumes newer is better or at least acceptable. Generally the reverse is not true: if you search for a newer edition's ISBN, it shouldn't show older editions as search results. Of course not everyone is relying on the same data/logic to power their search and listings, but I'm under the impression that these are common behaviors for retail book sellers.
posted by katieinshoes at 7:19 AM on September 2, 2021
You've already gotten good advice, so I'll just +1 that when you really care, you probably want to either talk to a human or use something like Ebay where it's very clear which exact copy of a book you're buying.
As you know, ISBNs do refer to a specific edition of a book. When publishers release a newer edition of a book, the metadata they provide to book distributors often includes the ISBN for the previous edition. Distributors use that data to link editions together, and software built on top of that naively assumes newer is better or at least acceptable. Generally the reverse is not true: if you search for a newer edition's ISBN, it shouldn't show older editions as search results. Of course not everyone is relying on the same data/logic to power their search and listings, but I'm under the impression that these are common behaviors for retail book sellers.
posted by katieinshoes at 7:19 AM on September 2, 2021
It may over-limit your choices, but on Abebooks there's an option on the left hand side to only show "seller-supplied images" which often are provided for sought-after editions or to show condition. Normally if it isn't theirs, it'll say "stock image" below the picture.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:54 PM on September 2, 2021
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:54 PM on September 2, 2021
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posted by needs more cowbell at 4:52 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]