Bookjackers - an introduction

I have bought and sold books on eBay, Amazon (using both the fulfilled by merchant and FBA models), Etsy, Alibris, ABE Books, Biblio, Craigslist and through Instagram.  

I was primarily a buyer before I began selling books as a proper business. When I began selling, determining how much I should sell a particular book for meant I was looking at what other booksellers were listing the same titles in comparable condition for.

I would diligently photograph a title in my possession, notate any flaws and try to accurately describe the condition.  Between the photo and a description, and a willingness to answer any question from a potential buyer, customers would know what they were getting.  Nine years into selling books and the effort put into describing books is considerable, but I get compliments for the book arriving better than expected. But I am getting ahead of myself. . .

I discovered early anomalies in pricing that made no sense to me.  I can spot this category of seller a mile away now.  Bookjackers are engaged in the arbitrage of books, much like I am, a legal hustle that some are able to turn into a profitable business. With the internet, more and more people can participate in this business without having to have a brick and mortar store.

Their business model has nothing to do with an appreciation or an understanding of books. Their prevalence on the common bookselling platforms is a blight on the business of selling books. 

I Googled the business name of a bookjacker known to me and it took all of seconds to find this comment.

“Please know that this scamster is discrediting LEGITIMATE book dealers and ruining their good reputations by “pretending” to be those companies on Amazon. For example, we have used Abe Books for many years (we like natural history books) and so we know THEY are a longstanding reputable dealer. Please don’t be an unwitting part of this [name redacted] scam by damaging the good names of book dealers he is USING FRAUDULENTLY on Amazon, without those other (trustworthy) book dealers’ knowledge or consent. We accidentally ordered from this [name redacted]  operation by clicking on the wrong item (visually impaired) & didn’t catch it until too late. Caveat Emptor.”

This is pervasive.  This is avoidable. 

The Twilight of the Primitive by Lewis Cotlow is a 1971 hardcover book that I own and have for sale.  My copy is signed by the author.  The book is in fine shape. The dust jacket is clipped with some notable flaws, nothing detracting, but worth mentioning, from my perspective. Lewis Cotlow was an executive at an insurance company with a lifelong interest in exploring. He made films an wrote books that “for contemporary audiences . . . [that] may appear staged, campy or blatantly racist; however, in their time they were billed and consumed as anthropological documents with educational and scientific value." This title came with a larger collection and in my mind has limited appeal. I would still list it and work to find it a good home. I settled on a price of $18. And it has been sitting on my shelf for years.

When looking to see what others might list this book for now, in May of 2025, I find this a listing with a stock photo and a price of $79.23 for what is labeled a new book.  A 54 year old new book. This is how the book is described:

“In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!” 

This listing is from a bookjacker.  They currently have an inventory of 980,261 books, all described as new and none with pictures.  All of them are described as new, even books with publication dates from fifty and sixty years ago.  That would be impressive - if true.

So, what is going on?  The description is vague, the price suspiciously high and there is never more than a stock photo.  These three criteria, every time, identify a seller that doesn’t have the book that you see for sale.  Don’t buy from them. 

Instead look for a seller that takes time to describe the condition of a book carefully or chooses to provide an actual photograph. The more effort put into either is your assurance of what you’ll get.