posted on April 11, 2002 05:06:25 AM new
I just bought a beautiful North Carolina Geneological Book from a large chain thrift store, but they put the price inside on the first page with a black wax pencil! I tried erasing with a Magic Eraser, but the price still shows. I would have bought more books from them, the longer they stay on the shelves, the cheaper they are, but get this, everytime they lower the price...they cross out the old price and write in a new price in RED wax pencil. Ughhh..I complained, but this is how they do it anyway. Does anyone know how to remove this?
posted on April 11, 2002 06:43:02 AM new
People buy books at thrifts to read, collect or resell. I have met many people in Thrifts that resell the items, but thrift stores want the Dealers to buy, this store's profits go to the Battered Women's place. They don't care what you do with it after they sell it to you. They just do not want the item to take up space on their shelves, they want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. They told me they do it in wax pencil because it is cheaper for them to do this rather than place a removable label on the book. (They have people shopping who switch labels). They don't care if the book gets read or not. This particular book is awesome, not an everyday book. I might even keep it since my husband's ancestors came out of North Carolina, his family names are featured.
posted on April 11, 2002 12:20:52 PM new
I buy ALL my books at thrift stores. If it is a rare book it will sell with or without those obnoxious marks. Just don't try too hard to clean them, sometimes the black mark is better then what happens when you rub too hard.
posted on April 11, 2002 08:02:01 PM new
This book will be bought for content, not pristine condition. Were the book a first edition of a fiction work, then I would be concerned about the price markings, but for this type of book the condition should only be in how it effects the content, e.g., missing pages or pages obsured with markings or with torn or missing pieces of page(s). I really don't see how price markings would effect an historic reference book.
posted on April 12, 2002 06:10:59 AM new
I guess it will sell because it is a reference book, But it is a beautiful reference book. Large, 12 by 9, with a large gold seal on the front. The page where they put the price is a map of the historical names of streams in the area. I guess I was brought up to not deface books and it is hard to get over that. It was quite a shock to see them using the red wax pencil on the books that were not selling fast enough. I don't think anything will take out the price because it is into the pores of the paper. Majority of people who shop and work there, mostly from Mexico, do not speak English, so they have a hard time selling the books. I will go back and hunt for that special book, but any run-of-the mill books have been disfigured beyond redemption.
posted on April 12, 2002 06:59:09 AM new
Don't put goo gone on pages. It works on covers that are shiny dust covers but will leave an oil mark on regular paper. I use an electric eraser, they are not cheap but they work by erasing better and more evenly than you can do your self. They also have different types of erasers you can put in them hard ones, and those soft white erasers that work the best. Hope that helps. Jody
posted on April 15, 2002 03:25:43 PM new
They do this at some of my local thrift
stores too. If it is on paper, good luck.
On plastic or other less porous surfaces,
you can try just using a tissue (kleenex)
and rubbing fast, which creates friction
which melts the wax which sticks to the
tissue. Another thing to try is Avon
Skin-so-soft. I use this with great success!
I've tried baby oil and other things, but
it is cheap, it smells nice and it works!
Again, this would stain paper, so only on
less porous sufaces. Good luck!
Z
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on April 15, 2002 08:33:37 PM new
Did you try an art gum eraser. I had a black mark across Vera Lynns face on a piece of sheet music and most of it came off. Don't rub to hard. Also sometimes windex,on a piece of clean white cloth will do the trick. Don't use a lot of windex, just a drop and soak it in the cloth and don't rub hard.
Don't you just hate it when something like that happens. I sell scarfs and this thrift store I go to hangs then from the middle with those stupid plastic holders, I have told them, and showed them how they ruin a scarf, but they just don't seem to care. What would it take to hang them from a corner. Maybe they don't know what a corner is. I don't know but they lose a lot of my business but oh do they get nice scarfs
posted on April 15, 2002 08:57:57 PM new
If I were you, I'd run, not walk, right back to that thrift shop and get that book. As long as you disclose the black mark, you're okay. I agree that they've made an awful mess of that one page, and it is a crime, but if I wanted that book badly enough, I wouldn't care about the one page that's disfigured.
I was thinking that you could do a search on-line to see what the book is selling for in pristine condition, then sell yours for less (probably), and show the price comparison to the thrift shop manager. But then he/she would be tipped off to the value and may withhold books like that from their shelves in the future!
I too am shocked when books are disfigured, probably because I revere books.
posted on April 16, 2002 04:02:22 AM new
Thank you everyone for your input. I used a soft magic rub eraser which made the price less obtrusive and did not smear it. It is inside the book, so any liquids like SSS or goo gone would not work. I have done a search for this book on the internet, to no avail. I will continue searching. I am able to clean up most dust jacket covers with furniture polish. That works very well. but when the book is marked inside, all I can do is try the eraser. A friend of mine suggested clipping the corner off, but the page has the map on it. So I am not going to do that.
