If you see the book listed on this site, the chances are almost certain that it's still sitting right here, waiting for you. (I'm an internet-only seller, so my inventory control is pretty tight, with sold books promptly removed from my on-line listings on all sites.) My guarantee is that if you order a book from me through this website, and it's "unavailable" (the sole exception being if I have put it on hold for another customer), then you may take a 20% discount on any other book in my inventory. I'll include the discount coupon code in the e-mail I send you that apologizes all over the place. (Believe me, I hate when this happens, as much as you do.)
I use standard book-grading terminology -- Good, Very Good, Fine (with various +/- gradations as appropriate) -- but without either excessive jargon and/or obsessive detail. "Fine" is my highest grade, and is used only if a book is darn near perfect; virtually any kind of flaw, from a bumped corner to a finger smudge on the top edge, will knock the grade down to "Near Fine." I sometimes get a little impressionistic ("mildly shelfworn" and the like), but that's because I am, indeed, trying to give an accurate impression of what the book is like, with the understanding that you're not able to pick it off the shelf and examine it with your own eyes. Significant flaws or blemishes -- including remainder marks, previous owner's names, tears in the dust jacket, etc. -- are always noted.
I take packaging and shipping extra-seriously; in fact, I'm a bit of a nut about it. It's my responsibility to make absolutely sure that every package I send out will withstand the rigors of whatever postal system (U.S. or any other) it's entrusted to, and that the book inside will reach its new owner in the same condition as when it left my hands. This always involves some bubble wrap and extra padding, and either a sturdy box when appropriate (almost always for hardcover books) or a custom-fashioned unbendable cardboard enclosure. (The latter will always be used when I'm shipping in any kind of flat-rate envelope.) You needn't worry that your $20 or $50 (or $5) book will be dropped carelessly into a flimsy bubble envelope, with no protective wrapping, free to bump and thump its way to you through the postal system. It is my solemn pledge that no customer of mine -- no book I sell -- will ever be subjected to such shoddy treatment.
Whenever it's practical, I include some information about a book's content in my listing, even if it's just a carefully chosen quotation from the dust jacket copy. This may sound like a small thing, but take a look sometime and you'll see how amazingly FEW sellers bother to do this. I'll let it slide when the book is a common one, or when the title basically tells all, but essentially I consider it a valuable service to the (potential) customer. (One very positive effect of this is that a search in the "Description" field on this site will often lead you to something you might not have thought to specifically look for. Try it; you might be surprised.)
Although I occasionally adopt the so-called "royal We," in fact ReadInk is just Me -- I handle everything from one end of the pipeline to the other: buying, cataloging, customer service, shipping, you name it. Nothing automated here -- just prompt, personal attention to every order. I'm "just a guy" -- but a guy who has loved books all my life (perhaps to excess), and is now very happy to be engaged in the honorable trade of bookselling.
"ReadInk iss goot for you, dollink!" -- Natasha Fatale (ca. 1962)
