Price etiquette

[bergclimber34]

Now I am not an avid reader, but only because reading now makes me very sleepy and I last about 3 pages!

However I used to be and this is a thing that came up in conversation at work today.

And that is about leaving the price on a book sleeve or cover, regardless, if said book was being given as a gift.

I was raised to ALWAYS remove the price, even if this meant snipping a corner off a paperback outer back cover where the price might be, or snipping the bottom corner of a dust cover on a hardback for the same reason.

Apparently this is something only I do on a group of 5 or 6 guys! They all say it damages said book.

SO what do people think....

[Arrivalist]

I’m anal when it comes to books.

I won’t bend the pages back in order to keep the spine in good condition, I never fold page corners and I don’t cut corners off jackets.

But we’re all different- c’est la vie

[InductionRoar]

Neither would I.

Remove stickers but keep book intact.

[StoutBench]

Personally I'd never cut a book. By the time I give them away post reading they still look new.

[Rockets7]

Peel the price off no matter what damage.
Bend the book open so it nigh on lays flat on its own.

Yet most other things are governed by my ocd of neat / tidy / immaculate.

[Grumbler]

Each to their own, but that seems very peculiar. Possibly unique.

[bergclimber34]

All members of my family do it and had done for years!! So you cannot see the price!!

[Alex Z]

It seems entirely pointless, as if it’s a standard paperback it’s between £9-11 and if a hardback £20-22 and they can check in seconds.

[AllyM]

bergclimber34 said:

snipping a corner off a paperback outer back cover where the price might be,

or snipping the bottom corner of a dust cover on a hardback for the same reason

Very strange tbh.

[akirk]

I collect firsts - they are worth more with the jacket not ‘price-clipped’

[bergclimber34]

Interesting stuff, I realise posting on a books sub forum to people who clearly love books was likely to cause a level of confusion. I will add I would only ever do this to a gifted book, one that was never going to be sold on. Odd that all of my family have and will do it!

It did lead to a fascinating discussion about other weird stuff that we all do and don't!!

[hidetheelephants]

I'd peel a sticker off but the book stays as the printer made it otherwise. The price is hardly a secret so there's no practical outcome of snipping the corner off?

[bergclimber34]

I know what you mean, I simply was raised that it was polite to not let someone know how much you paid for something.

[K50 DEL]

bergclimber34 said:

I know what you mean, I simply was raised that it was polite to not let someone know how much you paid for something.

Raised exactly the same here, but family use thick black marker to obscure the price rather than cut the book

[Ari]

Alex Z said:

It seems entirely pointless, as if it’s a standard paperback it’s between £9-11 and if a hardback £20-22 and they can check in seconds.

Do you do that a lot? Look up what something that's been gifted to you cost?

Why?

[RicksAlfas]

Casebound books with dust jackets often have the price on the inside front cover flap printed on a different coloured triangle to aid deviants like the OP wield their scissors. To start chopping up the back cover of a paperback is completely disturbing. You should be looking after books, not chopping them up!

However going back 70-80 years there was a production based reason for snipping a dustjacket. The printer would print different prices in various positions on the jacket flap, allowing the seller to choose which price they wanted to use. Or for use in a different market such as USA or Canada.



Yours, a book printer.