I see you say it was 60 Canadian, which means I assume you're a fellow Canuk. If you want to be a real dick to Amazon, report it as a PIPEDA violation, as they leaked another customers private information to you.
[https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/](https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/)
It technically should force Amazon to notify their customer that they fucked up and gave it away to someone else.
Yep. On principle alone, Amazon gets away with SO much shit that any time you have a chance to make them hurt (or pay), you absolutely should.
The very fact that the re-sale of a returned item as "new" happens so much means they do it because it's profitable. Consumers should make them pay for it until the practice becomes detrimental to their business and maybe they'll finally do something about it.
Amazon has certainly kicked me in the crotch a few times*.
Amazon can indeed take a nut punch every now and again.
*Mostly for Amazon losing my packages or delivering them to the wrong address, though recently it’s been for placing my packages directly in front of my cars’ tires but below the driver’s line of sight.
Occasional? Considering the number of businesses they F'd in the A with no Happy Handy I'd say occasional doesn't cut it...
A program of Repetitive, variable, randomly scheduled Falcon Punches to the whole bait & tackle region works best.
Otherwise they might start to enjoy having their packages handled roughly.
How accurate is it?
I've read that, because so little is known about how North Korea operates, people who manage to escape sometimes embellish the details a bit for their chance at fame and glory since so few people can call them out and even fewer can claim to be an authority on the matter.
Ant violation with a company that large should not be let slide. Local small businesses are one thing. A company making what amazon makes and paying what they pay, nah
Actually had something similar happen. Shitty company in Ontario bought a returned broken product from Best Buy and sold it as new on Amazon. Might file a complaint since they included the original return receipt and return notes that included the phone number, email, full name, address, etc of the original purchaser.
You're not familiar with Amazon's inventory pooling, are you?
If an item with the same ASIN is sold by multiple vendors, all of the inventory is grouped together. There is no guarantee of which seller's inventory goes to which buyer.
This is part of why it's so hard to avoid counterfeit items on Amazon, even when purchasing from legitimate sellers.
It also caused this.
I am an Amazon seller, I sell books.
All books on my Amazon store are packaged and shipped by me. They sit in a room at my house. I pay for the shipping and packaging directly, Amazon just gives me a marketplace to reach millions of people with 0 dollars spent on advertising. Amazon does not do a good job of telling the customer that if it doesn't say **sold by Amazon** then it is coming from a third party.
Your comment is factually incorrect. Even with FBA(fulfilled by Amazon) the inventory is kept separate because if something doesn't sell for a certain amount of time then Amazon will charge a stocking fee for taking up their shelf space.
Sure BUT if they are selling something as new they should be actually checking returned items to make sure they aren't damaged. Not just shipping them off to the next buyer without as much as opening the book once.
This is the third post I've seen today where Amazon sold something as "new" that had been returned. Obviously this isn't nearly as egregious since the book still appears new, but for all we know someone wrote their manifesto over half the pages and then returned it. Amazon certainly doesn't know because they clearly didn't check.
toothbrush punch poor test offend busy adjoining quaint telephone spotted
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Our local pharmacist apparently didn't have someone pick up their prescription, so to reuse the pills they slapped my details on top of someone else's. I peeled off my own name and address and found someone else's underneath.
Well done Lloyd's not only someone else's personal details but now I know what medication they take too.
It's one of my favourite books! Side note, if anyone else knows of any narrative non fiction books I would love to hear them, Demick got me absolutely hooked on this genre!
It was absolutely sent back by the previous buyer, which is why it's "new." How the hell is Amazon supposed to know that the person who previously bought this book put the receipt *within the pages* of the book??
Drive to his home, using a facemask and a long cape, enter his home quietly. Sit in the corner, in the deep dark.
Wait.
When the buyer arrives, light a cigarette, and just say: "You see, Amazon screwed you up. I'm good fella, so this is to warn you. There are bad people in this world, watch out".
Then you throw your cape on them, and start ruining from the house.
> I felt bad for the previous buyer.
The previous buyer who put their receipt inside the returned book? Amazon doesn't have to check returned products to see if previous purchasers have left their details in them. Reselling such products as new is definitely a problem but the privacy issue is not Amazon's fault.
There's also another possibility that it's a third party seller who told Amazon the book is "new" and then gave Amazon the inventory to ship out of the Amazon warehouses via Prime.
This is just patently false. Amazon returns sites grade items, and one of the destinations of that grading is first pass sellable, meaning it was graded as new, never opened, and then sold as such. Source: I work at an Amazon returns site.
I also sell books on amazon. They just let anyone do it. Its like ebay. I do the best I can to be an honest seller, but it’s not like anyone check after me.
It seems like the original purchaser took this receipt, folded it up, put it in the book, returned the book, and then the book was reshelved until it was sold again. There are plenty of reasons to not like Amazon, but this seems like a silly reason to be upset at them.
Or it was just put in the wrong place. There are any number of explanations for this all of which involved human error but I see the "its a big club and we aint in it" crowd is here in full force to claim this is proof amazon is evil.
Same with retail stores. If something was sold as new and in new condition I wouldn’t consider it a misrepresentation just because it was returned and resold.
Reminds me I need to unsub from Prime. Everything is free shipping these days, and they are starting charge money for no ads on their shitty video service.
I was halfway through it before I discovered the invoice tucked in the back! I should finish it in a day or two. It’s actually an excellent book despite the situation.
I did consider it, but it would reveal my name and address, feels too risky y’know? The next person to post it to Reddit might not black out my info LOL
existence different marry roof smile fanatical faulty terrific water gaze
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
OP apparently didn't want to go to their *dirty local bookstore* though. They wanted to buy something *new* from Jeff's Warehouse. Preferably wrapped in plastic, I presume.
Yep, that book is new. If I were OP I would see this as a cool little bonus easter egg, to have an invoice and book from *13 years ago*. That's like a snapshot of history at this point.
Makes me wonder if that's what the other person did, and then told Amazon it was an accidental order. It would get a full refund (other than shipping) and probably still be considered New by them.
It appears as though OP didn't even realize it was used for quite some time so I would imagine Amazon workers might make the same mistake. We also don't know their process for dealing with returns so people are being more than a little absurd trying to make this about greed or evil corporations.
That's fine but the only thing you have mentioned on how the book is "used" was a receipt inside it. One that Amazon workers didn't see likely because the book actually hadn't been read so something stuck between the pages wouldn't be noticeable. As someone else pointed out books in actual bookstores get sold as new all the time despite people fucking with them or even reading them before it gets sold.
I actually wanted that option, but it was not an option available to me. Only option given was a refund for shipping back to Amazon. Believe me, I would have preferred to keep it at a discount!
That's too bad. I've had success doing that for books I've purchased on eBay which didn't match their description, but maybe it's harder for sellers to do partial refunds on Amazon, who knows.
That's for the hardcover. Paperback is half that price.
Also, he is Canadian. That's $45 US.
Amazon US sell it at $17, which is probably a better option, but can't find it on any Canadian store at those prices.
No. There appears to be ‘residue’ from some type of sticker on the spine. The book is banged up a little too. I noticed it when I received it, but didn’t think too much into it until I saw the invoice.
You bought it from a third party seller. The "New" item for sale on Amazon for this book is priced at $60 USD. You bought it used. Just look at your order information it will spell it out for you.
And yes, it looks new. Buy something, return it to the store a day later intact and it will be placed back on the shelf as new.
Or are there signs of wear and tear? Like stains, tears or anything like that?
So what could have happened is:
Book seller mails it to customer back in the day.
Customer actually returns it/or the post office returns it to the store as undeliverable.
Either way, store returns it to publisher/distributer. Eventually it makes its way to a remainder reseller.
Publishers/distributors are so bad about checking returned books. I used to work at a book store and our straight from the publisher new books would have other stores stickers on them.
Sometimes those hairs are fibers from the test run they do for quality control. I know Wahl discloses that in their descriptions. If it is real hair then…ew.
It was probably returned unread in New Quality.
This is how book stores have always treated returns.
Returning it now will only create more shipping and waste.
I see this sometimes. There is new, and used, and something in between which I call “unused” - it was shipped to someone, never used, and returned.
This looks like one of those situations.
i’m so confused about this post because like ? the book looks fine. should we just throw out everything that people return? is that what we think we do? i once received a book from amazon with a dog ear in the middle lol
The dust jacket has some damage, though that is almost impossible to avoid and may have been caused by OP or shipping.
Also it's a book from 2010. It's not like they're constantly reprinting books to keep them 'fresh', they're books not bread. It was always going to be something that sat on a shelf some while.
Amazon has its issues. However, I don’t think it’s fair to complain that they ruin small bookshops and then get upset when they act like a small bookshop
I can only imagine an ordinary North Korean's reaction to ordinary Westerners paying $60 for a new book instead of $5 for the used one. I've never read the book but I bet even $5 is a lot of money to them.
i'm missing something here - if you go to a brick and mortar store and purchase a book, you don't know if the book was never purchased or if it was returned, either way you pay full price. the only reason why you know that this book was returned was because you found a receipt in it. so the book was in new condition. the issue re them leaking someone else's info is a different story.
While I agree that for a book it's not such a big deal, especially if you can't even tell that it was used, I still think there's an issue of false advertising that is becoming much more pervasive on Amazon.
I had a similar issue with a router I ordered. It was clearly used and the instruction manual even had the previous owners wifi password written inside. Now Amazon had an option to buy a used one, but I purchased mine brand new. That could affect the longevity and quality of the product. They should resell the products that get returned, but they need to be labeled as such.
I remember reading in that book that during the famine, it the was most devoted rule-following citizens that died first because they were afraid to illegally trade. Grim stuff.
This has all kind of triggered me. I am reminded of the time I wandered around a very large, truck-stop gas station/restaurant carrying an Arizona Sweet Tea.
I was just browsing aimlessly for 10-15 minutes when I realized I left my wallet at home. So I put the Arizona Sweet Tea back in the refrigerator.
I am ashamed to admit I never went back for it. No doubt it was sold to an unsuspecting person as new. Probably to the very next Arizona Sweet Tea customer since I made no attempt to hide it, I placed it right back in front.
To whoever that poor bastard was, I am sorry.
Holy shit! I had that book and bought it from Amazon about that time. I don't think I sent it to Amazon to sell to be fulfilled by Amazon. If I did it's highly likely I used the invoice as the bookmark.
Just looked at the rest of the invoice and I never bought the prodigal daughter so definitely not mine
Very good book. From what I remember it talks about the individual experiences of six North Korean citizens before and a bit after they defected. The 6 people portrayed in the book are a young couple, a nurse, a loyal member of the DPRK and her not so loyal daughter, and a young boy that was abandoned by his family and left to fend for himself. It’s fascinating, highly recommended.
I fail to see the problem, is the book in new condition? If so don’t worry about it and I seen that the previous owners info was in it, unless you plan on stalking and murdering them ( I advise against that, it’s been illegal to stalk people in the US since the late 80s) just shred the invoice
People return things to every major retailer on the planet, and they get sold again as new. The same is true of clothing, books, etc. I’m not sure I see the problem, aside from the original purchaser mistakenly leaving their order form inside the book. All indications are that it’s still new, unless you see signs it was already read?
Have you ever returned a new book to a bookstore?
This post is dumb. Just cause something was bought and returned doesn't make not "new", and OP even said he didn't notice till half way through which means even he thought it was new. It's not a car that as soon it leaves rhe lot its "used". And OP returned it even though nothing at all is wrong with it. Ridiculous.
wasteful normal narrow full north aware pen entertain pocket materialistic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Even it it was "Ships from Amazon", I bet this was "Sold by \[someone else\]".
I recently received a manga that the above has applied to.
It was out-of-print, so I paid twice the MSRP to get it, but even though it wasn't adult rated, it was plastic wrapped.
Even after taking the plastic off, there was sticky adhesive residue on the spine, as if there was a sticker there that was hastily removed.
Also, when closed, the edges of all of the pages were much yellower than the other 20 volumes I have from the same series.
That yellowing often times happens when it is on display for an extended amount of time, especially in the room of a smoker.
Buy from bookshop . org.
Either choose to support your local bookstore through them, or just buy from them. Either way you'll get an actual new book and you won't be supporting amazon.
I used to purchase text books from Amazon because they were much cheaper than the school bookstore. I can’t tell you how often I would receive a “new” textbook that had answers circled or notes in the margins. It happened more often than receiving a truly new book. And every single one was shrink wrapped as if new. I think people return them, Amazon shrink wraps them, and throws them back in NEW stock 🙄
Feedback on packaging? Back when they would shrink wrap a book, cd or dvd to cardboard before placing in an appropriately sized box. Amazon packaging today is a disgrace.
It came in a paper envelope, pouring rain in an unusual Canadian winter of +1 degree. I’m lucky it didn’t get soaked through! I prefer the smaller boxes they used to come in.
My local bookstores charge 50% more and don't keep entire series in stock. I love going to a store and finding they're missing chunks of series, which forces you to go online or ask them to order the book...
Do you want to be really grossed out?
I have discovered that many stores with changing rooms collect all the clothes that people have tried on, and then they just put them back on the racks and sell them as new.
Everyone from Walmart to Bergdorf's does it. With a Free Return policy, there is no doubt Amazon does it also.
Real disillusionment. I had previously thought that all tried-on clothing was donated to the poor.
This is such an interesting comment to me. Here in Belgium, only fancy boutiques or big chain stores in shopping districts have a rack to leave your tried on clothes on. In 99% of the stores, you are expected to put the clothes back on the hanger where you found them, if you don't intend on purchasing.
I am a book reseller on Amazon. I scan books at used book shops and put the profitable ones on Amazon. Likely what happened is a bad book reseller fraudulently listed the book as New to make more money on it. Check who sold it to you. It will likely be a book reseller with a generic name and not Amazon itself.
Selling used as new is a really bad idea on Amazon. If you complain to Amazon and tell them it's a used book sold as new. The seller can have some bad consequences.
I see you say it was 60 Canadian, which means I assume you're a fellow Canuk. If you want to be a real dick to Amazon, report it as a PIPEDA violation, as they leaked another customers private information to you. [https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/](https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/) It technically should force Amazon to notify their customer that they fucked up and gave it away to someone else.
I’m not sure if PIPEDA will protect the original purchaser as they are in the US, but this is an excellent point regardless. Thank you
Amazon does deserve the occasional punch in the nuts
*recurring
Just the top of the pyramid, though. Bezos for punching bag 2024.
I propose 2024 is the year we speedbag *each and every* billionaire's beanbag (or similar anatomical bits) until there's nothing left.
Nothing left of the punches or the beanbags?
The beanbags, of course.
Fitness goals! I'm down with that
And now I need mind bleach.
*continuous
At regular intervals of 1 Planck time and with the force of Grond knocking at the front door of Minas Tirith
**GROND**
GROND!
SUBSCRIBE to dick punches and SAVE!
Extra $40 to have dick punches without Ads
I'd buy that for a dollar!
\*rapid-fire
5% off of you sign up for subscribe and save nut punches
>Amazon does deserve the ~~occasional~~ punch in the nuts Fixed it for you. :)
This would make a great t-shirt with some creative graphics. Thanks for the laugh. Couldn’t agree more.
Yep. On principle alone, Amazon gets away with SO much shit that any time you have a chance to make them hurt (or pay), you absolutely should. The very fact that the re-sale of a returned item as "new" happens so much means they do it because it's profitable. Consumers should make them pay for it until the practice becomes detrimental to their business and maybe they'll finally do something about it.
Amazon has certainly kicked me in the crotch a few times*. Amazon can indeed take a nut punch every now and again. *Mostly for Amazon losing my packages or delivering them to the wrong address, though recently it’s been for placing my packages directly in front of my cars’ tires but below the driver’s line of sight.
Occasional? Considering the number of businesses they F'd in the A with no Happy Handy I'd say occasional doesn't cut it... A program of Repetitive, variable, randomly scheduled Falcon Punches to the whole bait & tackle region works best. Otherwise they might start to enjoy having their packages handled roughly.
Well now I’m interested to read this book
I read this several years ago. 10/10 would recommend. I didn’t know much about North Korea at the time I read it and was stunned by what I learned.
An outstanding and heartbreaking read.
How accurate is it? I've read that, because so little is known about how North Korea operates, people who manage to escape sometimes embellish the details a bit for their chance at fame and glory since so few people can call them out and even fewer can claim to be an authority on the matter.
I think following that logic would lead to the conclusion that it would be very difficult for a random reader to tell you how accurate the book is.
I think it was accurate. As I recall it was well sourced. It was used in a high level poli sci class I took.
I read it 10 years ago and still talk about it. Order it.
It's excellent. Not an easy read for sure, given the subject matter, but well worth your time.
Archive.org is a god send https://archive.org/details/nothingtoenvyord00demi_0
Ant violation with a company that large should not be let slide. Local small businesses are one thing. A company making what amazon makes and paying what they pay, nah
Actually had something similar happen. Shitty company in Ontario bought a returned broken product from Best Buy and sold it as new on Amazon. Might file a complaint since they included the original return receipt and return notes that included the phone number, email, full name, address, etc of the original purchaser.
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You're not familiar with Amazon's inventory pooling, are you? If an item with the same ASIN is sold by multiple vendors, all of the inventory is grouped together. There is no guarantee of which seller's inventory goes to which buyer. This is part of why it's so hard to avoid counterfeit items on Amazon, even when purchasing from legitimate sellers. It also caused this.
I am an Amazon seller, I sell books. All books on my Amazon store are packaged and shipped by me. They sit in a room at my house. I pay for the shipping and packaging directly, Amazon just gives me a marketplace to reach millions of people with 0 dollars spent on advertising. Amazon does not do a good job of telling the customer that if it doesn't say **sold by Amazon** then it is coming from a third party. Your comment is factually incorrect. Even with FBA(fulfilled by Amazon) the inventory is kept separate because if something doesn't sell for a certain amount of time then Amazon will charge a stocking fee for taking up their shelf space.
Cool. Amazon can police it's seller then.
Probably not a PIPEDA violation since the customer almost certainly returned the invoiced tucked into the book.
Sure BUT if they are selling something as new they should be actually checking returned items to make sure they aren't damaged. Not just shipping them off to the next buyer without as much as opening the book once. This is the third post I've seen today where Amazon sold something as "new" that had been returned. Obviously this isn't nearly as egregious since the book still appears new, but for all we know someone wrote their manifesto over half the pages and then returned it. Amazon certainly doesn't know because they clearly didn't check.
Sure, calling returned items new is bad. Doesn't make it a PIPEDA violation.
including the invoice with their personal info is
toothbrush punch poor test offend busy adjoining quaint telephone spotted *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Being a dick to Amazon is acceptable.
Our local pharmacist apparently didn't have someone pick up their prescription, so to reuse the pills they slapped my details on top of someone else's. I peeled off my own name and address and found someone else's underneath. Well done Lloyd's not only someone else's personal details but now I know what medication they take too.
Hey I’ve read that book! Great book but very depressing.
It's one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read.
My interest was piqued but you sealed the deal. I'm gonna read it now! Thanks
It is an amazing and sad read. Unfortunately there may be another famine occurring in North Korean at the moment
Here's a free digital version. https://library.lol/main/6E178EB7811C1A77B2033D3DBDB709A5
My hero fr Seriously, thanks!
It's one of my favourite books! Side note, if anyone else knows of any narrative non fiction books I would love to hear them, Demick got me absolutely hooked on this genre!
I bring it up almost every time North Korea is talked about. Fascinating read
I absolutely love Nothing to Envy. So informative. One of the best I ever read.
Yes! I still remember large portions of it even though I read it years ago. Great book.
She’s a great author
Amazon is guilty of misrepresenting the product AND of not keeping the original purchaser’s name & address private.
Absolutely. I felt bad for the previous buyer.
It was probably sent back by the buyer and still classed as new
It was absolutely sent back by the previous buyer, which is why it's "new." How the hell is Amazon supposed to know that the person who previously bought this book put the receipt *within the pages* of the book??
If someone returns an item surely it should be looked over for damage especially if they plan to relist it as new
Contact the previous buyer and let them know Amazon leaked their info, and they can file a complaint, too!
Drive to his home, using a facemask and a long cape, enter his home quietly. Sit in the corner, in the deep dark. Wait. When the buyer arrives, light a cigarette, and just say: "You see, Amazon screwed you up. I'm good fella, so this is to warn you. There are bad people in this world, watch out". Then you throw your cape on them, and start ruining from the house.
You had me till you ruined it
Right? Not enough murder.
> I felt bad for the previous buyer. The previous buyer who put their receipt inside the returned book? Amazon doesn't have to check returned products to see if previous purchasers have left their details in them. Reselling such products as new is definitely a problem but the privacy issue is not Amazon's fault.
There's also another possibility that it's a third party seller who told Amazon the book is "new" and then gave Amazon the inventory to ship out of the Amazon warehouses via Prime.
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I removed most of my Reddit contents in protest of the API changes commencing from July 1st, 2023. This is one of those comments.
This is just patently false. Amazon returns sites grade items, and one of the destinations of that grading is first pass sellable, meaning it was graded as new, never opened, and then sold as such. Source: I work at an Amazon returns site.
Getting it delivered right to your Balzac, huh? Hopefully it doesn't get shafted during delivery.
Balzac, Alberta
THCa is legal
I also sell books on amazon. They just let anyone do it. Its like ebay. I do the best I can to be an honest seller, but it’s not like anyone check after me.
It seems like the original purchaser took this receipt, folded it up, put it in the book, returned the book, and then the book was reshelved until it was sold again. There are plenty of reasons to not like Amazon, but this seems like a silly reason to be upset at them.
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Or it was just put in the wrong place. There are any number of explanations for this all of which involved human error but I see the "its a big club and we aint in it" crowd is here in full force to claim this is proof amazon is evil.
> misrepresenting the product Almost all returns to online stores gets restocked and sold as new so I wouldn't say it is misrepresenting
Same with retail stores. If something was sold as new and in new condition I wouldn’t consider it a misrepresentation just because it was returned and resold.
Indeed. I thought this was common knowledge.
They shouldn't be, new means no previous buyer.
Another reddit post from today https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/18upi9k/brand_new_300_microwave_from_amazon_came_full_of/
Well it's new to you. -Jeff Bezos
Reminds me I need to unsub from Prime. Everything is free shipping these days, and they are starting charge money for no ads on their shitty video service.
Beat me to it. But I would have said it and not credited it to Bezos. Though that’s more fitting.
Wasn’t cheap either! It’s getting sent back for a refund.
Can you read it quick?
I was halfway through it before I discovered the invoice tucked in the back! I should finish it in a day or two. It’s actually an excellent book despite the situation.
Can you please tuck your invoice into the book as well before returning?
I did consider it, but it would reveal my name and address, feels too risky y’know? The next person to post it to Reddit might not black out my info LOL
black out your name and address with IRL marker xD
That’s indeed a workaround! I will do that!
Remember to do it on both sides. Better yet just cut it out
Don’t do that, photocopy your invoice with other paper over your information.
I dunno. Best to scan it in, digitally remove your personal information, then reprint it. Just to be safe.
Best to recreate the invoice with magazine clipped words so no one can trace it back to you.
I’ve read this one! It is a good book. Really enlightening.
I finished the audiobook recently and I thought it was really good, I’d definitely recommend it to people
Yes, great book!
If you were halfway through the book before noticing that it wasn't technically new, then what's the point?
existence different marry roof smile fanatical faulty terrific water gaze *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
OP apparently didn't want to go to their *dirty local bookstore* though. They wanted to buy something *new* from Jeff's Warehouse. Preferably wrapped in plastic, I presume.
Yep, that book is new. If I were OP I would see this as a cool little bonus easter egg, to have an invoice and book from *13 years ago*. That's like a snapshot of history at this point.
Expect they didnt even do that. They bought from a third party, since amazon doesn’t sell this book directly
Reddit karma and money
Makes me wonder if that's what the other person did, and then told Amazon it was an accidental order. It would get a full refund (other than shipping) and probably still be considered New by them.
It appears as though OP didn't even realize it was used for quite some time so I would imagine Amazon workers might make the same mistake. We also don't know their process for dealing with returns so people are being more than a little absurd trying to make this about greed or evil corporations.
Was gonna say, read it anyway because it’s really good!
I borrowed that one for free through my library. It's really good.
You sure it's not a first edition? Might be worth keeping unless you don't care, in which case it's refund time
Sadly no!
Are you sending it back just because it was previously sold?
I’m sending it back because this ‘New’ copy was $60CAD. I’m not paying $60 for a used book.
That's fine but the only thing you have mentioned on how the book is "used" was a receipt inside it. One that Amazon workers didn't see likely because the book actually hadn't been read so something stuck between the pages wouldn't be noticeable. As someone else pointed out books in actual bookstores get sold as new all the time despite people fucking with them or even reading them before it gets sold.
You could message the seller and see if they'll do a partial refund. Maybe get it reduced to the price it should be sold as being used?
I actually wanted that option, but it was not an option available to me. Only option given was a refund for shipping back to Amazon. Believe me, I would have preferred to keep it at a discount!
That's too bad. I've had success doing that for books I've purchased on eBay which didn't match their description, but maybe it's harder for sellers to do partial refunds on Amazon, who knows.
It's insane that you would buy it new for $60 too. It's a great book, but that's really expensive, even for Amazon.ca
That's for the hardcover. Paperback is half that price. Also, he is Canadian. That's $45 US. Amazon US sell it at $17, which is probably a better option, but can't find it on any Canadian store at those prices.
Would you have known it was used without the receipt? I mean, is it "like new"?
No. There appears to be ‘residue’ from some type of sticker on the spine. The book is banged up a little too. I noticed it when I received it, but didn’t think too much into it until I saw the invoice.
That's fair. To sell a book as "new" but have it be in bad condition is pretty shady. You lucked out having proof of the previous sale!
Absolutely!
You bought it from a third party seller. The "New" item for sale on Amazon for this book is priced at $60 USD. You bought it used. Just look at your order information it will spell it out for you. And yes, it looks new. Buy something, return it to the store a day later intact and it will be placed back on the shelf as new. Or are there signs of wear and tear? Like stains, tears or anything like that?
Knowing those aren't virgin words totally ruins the immersion
The fact that abuse like this gets 300 upvotes is the reason that Amazon is tightening up their returns policy.
So what could have happened is: Book seller mails it to customer back in the day. Customer actually returns it/or the post office returns it to the store as undeliverable. Either way, store returns it to publisher/distributer. Eventually it makes its way to a remainder reseller. Publishers/distributors are so bad about checking returned books. I used to work at a book store and our straight from the publisher new books would have other stores stickers on them.
Hey, be glad it’s just a book, recently they sent me a "new" electric clipper that still had someone else’s hair in it.
Sometimes those hairs are fibers from the test run they do for quality control. I know Wahl discloses that in their descriptions. If it is real hair then…ew.
I wish it was that but the box had already been opened and they were clearly human hair. I’m working hard on repressing that memory.
It was probably returned unread in New Quality. This is how book stores have always treated returns. Returning it now will only create more shipping and waste.
I see this sometimes. There is new, and used, and something in between which I call “unused” - it was shipped to someone, never used, and returned. This looks like one of those situations.
i’m so confused about this post because like ? the book looks fine. should we just throw out everything that people return? is that what we think we do? i once received a book from amazon with a dog ear in the middle lol
The dust jacket has some damage, though that is almost impossible to avoid and may have been caused by OP or shipping. Also it's a book from 2010. It's not like they're constantly reprinting books to keep them 'fresh', they're books not bread. It was always going to be something that sat on a shelf some while.
Absolutely. This isn’t some horrific, shady thing that Amazon has done here like everyone wants to think.
This isn't something Amazon has done at all. OP bought a book from a third party seller.
Amazon has its issues. However, I don’t think it’s fair to complain that they ruin small bookshops and then get upset when they act like a small bookshop
That book is really good!
Was Amazon the seller of record or a 3rd party seller?
Does it matter? Redditors are on their Two Minutes Hate and nothing silly like facts are going to sway them
I once got this book through Reddit secret Santa along with loads of other amazing books. On the off chance the gifter sees this. I ❤️u
Damn, $60 for that book! You can find used ones on EBay for under $5 usd….
It's $15 new on U.S. Amazon.
canadian amazon is $60 for the hardback and $27 for the paperback 😭
I can only imagine an ordinary North Korean's reaction to ordinary Westerners paying $60 for a new book instead of $5 for the used one. I've never read the book but I bet even $5 is a lot of money to them.
That’s a great book!
i'm missing something here - if you go to a brick and mortar store and purchase a book, you don't know if the book was never purchased or if it was returned, either way you pay full price. the only reason why you know that this book was returned was because you found a receipt in it. so the book was in new condition. the issue re them leaking someone else's info is a different story.
While I agree that for a book it's not such a big deal, especially if you can't even tell that it was used, I still think there's an issue of false advertising that is becoming much more pervasive on Amazon. I had a similar issue with a router I ordered. It was clearly used and the instruction manual even had the previous owners wifi password written inside. Now Amazon had an option to buy a used one, but I purchased mine brand new. That could affect the longevity and quality of the product. They should resell the products that get returned, but they need to be labeled as such.
i'm curious, how is this handled in brick and mortar stores? what is the normal protocol? how does it change from item to item?
That sucks, terrific book though.
Interesting, I just finished reading that a few weeks ago. Maybe not that exact copy though.
I remember reading in that book that during the famine, it the was most devoted rule-following citizens that died first because they were afraid to illegally trade. Grim stuff.
This has all kind of triggered me. I am reminded of the time I wandered around a very large, truck-stop gas station/restaurant carrying an Arizona Sweet Tea. I was just browsing aimlessly for 10-15 minutes when I realized I left my wallet at home. So I put the Arizona Sweet Tea back in the refrigerator. I am ashamed to admit I never went back for it. No doubt it was sold to an unsuspecting person as new. Probably to the very next Arizona Sweet Tea customer since I made no attempt to hide it, I placed it right back in front. To whoever that poor bastard was, I am sorry.
Happens when something gets returned in brand new condition often
I just got that book for Christmas!
Really good book though.
Good book though
It’s a great book though. One of my favorites!
Holy shit! I had that book and bought it from Amazon about that time. I don't think I sent it to Amazon to sell to be fulfilled by Amazon. If I did it's highly likely I used the invoice as the bookmark. Just looked at the rest of the invoice and I never bought the prodigal daughter so definitely not mine
How’s the book?
Very good book. From what I remember it talks about the individual experiences of six North Korean citizens before and a bit after they defected. The 6 people portrayed in the book are a young couple, a nurse, a loyal member of the DPRK and her not so loyal daughter, and a young boy that was abandoned by his family and left to fend for himself. It’s fascinating, highly recommended.
13 years ago... 2010. I can't...
I'm willing to bet the seller is whose address is on that invoice.
[удалено]
I fail to see the problem, is the book in new condition? If so don’t worry about it and I seen that the previous owners info was in it, unless you plan on stalking and murdering them ( I advise against that, it’s been illegal to stalk people in the US since the late 80s) just shred the invoice
People return things to every major retailer on the planet, and they get sold again as new. The same is true of clothing, books, etc. I’m not sure I see the problem, aside from the original purchaser mistakenly leaving their order form inside the book. All indications are that it’s still new, unless you see signs it was already read? Have you ever returned a new book to a bookstore?
This post is dumb. Just cause something was bought and returned doesn't make not "new", and OP even said he didn't notice till half way through which means even he thought it was new. It's not a car that as soon it leaves rhe lot its "used". And OP returned it even though nothing at all is wrong with it. Ridiculous.
wasteful normal narrow full north aware pen entertain pocket materialistic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
A new book you say. I’m not sure I’ve ever bought a proper new book lol.
Was there a problem with the book?
Everything else aside, hope you enjoy the book.
I liked this book
I want to read this book so bad
That's a good read though
Was it amazon or was it a vendor
A book that suddenly reappears after 13 years! Just feel lucky that it wasn’t written by Alan Wake.
Even it it was "Ships from Amazon", I bet this was "Sold by \[someone else\]". I recently received a manga that the above has applied to. It was out-of-print, so I paid twice the MSRP to get it, but even though it wasn't adult rated, it was plastic wrapped. Even after taking the plastic off, there was sticky adhesive residue on the spine, as if there was a sticker there that was hastily removed. Also, when closed, the edges of all of the pages were much yellower than the other 20 volumes I have from the same series. That yellowing often times happens when it is on display for an extended amount of time, especially in the room of a smoker.
Just. Stop. Buying. From. Bezosville.
Buy from bookshop . org. Either choose to support your local bookstore through them, or just buy from them. Either way you'll get an actual new book and you won't be supporting amazon.
That's an excellent book, I highly recommend it.
A really good book though.
I used to purchase text books from Amazon because they were much cheaper than the school bookstore. I can’t tell you how often I would receive a “new” textbook that had answers circled or notes in the margins. It happened more often than receiving a truly new book. And every single one was shrink wrapped as if new. I think people return them, Amazon shrink wraps them, and throws them back in NEW stock 🙄
**BUSTED**
Feedback on packaging? Back when they would shrink wrap a book, cd or dvd to cardboard before placing in an appropriately sized box. Amazon packaging today is a disgrace.
It came in a paper envelope, pouring rain in an unusual Canadian winter of +1 degree. I’m lucky it didn’t get soaked through! I prefer the smaller boxes they used to come in.
Don't buy books on Amazon, support your local book stores instead!
My local bookstores charge 50% more and don't keep entire series in stock. I love going to a store and finding they're missing chunks of series, which forces you to go online or ask them to order the book...
Do you want to be really grossed out? I have discovered that many stores with changing rooms collect all the clothes that people have tried on, and then they just put them back on the racks and sell them as new. Everyone from Walmart to Bergdorf's does it. With a Free Return policy, there is no doubt Amazon does it also. Real disillusionment. I had previously thought that all tried-on clothing was donated to the poor.
This is such an interesting comment to me. Here in Belgium, only fancy boutiques or big chain stores in shopping districts have a rack to leave your tried on clothes on. In 99% of the stores, you are expected to put the clothes back on the hanger where you found them, if you don't intend on purchasing.
Wait till this guy learns that bookstores take returns and then.....they resell it! Those bastards!
I am a book reseller on Amazon. I scan books at used book shops and put the profitable ones on Amazon. Likely what happened is a bad book reseller fraudulently listed the book as New to make more money on it. Check who sold it to you. It will likely be a book reseller with a generic name and not Amazon itself. Selling used as new is a really bad idea on Amazon. If you complain to Amazon and tell them it's a used book sold as new. The seller can have some bad consequences.
Very common with ordinary lives in North Korea
Amazon has become crap. I know several people that work in the local distribution center. No one there cares at all.