7/19/2007
Copies of the long-anticipated final book of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows” have begun to arrive for some of those who ordered them online. Of course, online booksellers want to compete with brick-and-mortar bookshops, so they must get pre-ordered books to customers at least on the same day a person could walk into a local shop to buy the book, without paying too much in shipping.
Which means that online booksellers must time the delivery of the book through the mail system. I’m thinking this is a process somewhat akin to predicting the weather. For some, of course, books will arrive early.
For fans like myself, of course, this would be like winning the lottery. Imagine getting a copy of “Deathly Hallows” early?
Well, one author, columnist, and blogger, Will Collier, of Vodkapundit.com received a copy of the book four days early! What did he do with the book? Put it up for sale on eBay!
Did Will read the book in advance of selling it? He doesn’t say, but he did manage to sell the book for $250 and got it to the buyer a couple of days in advance of the official release. I won’t spoil the details of this interesting story, which you can read here.
What I will say is simply that I do not consider the resale of a book legally purchased, received, and resold to be a problem in any way. Especially considering the fact that Will did not read the book and then try to post spoilers for his readers. He merely sold the book to someone else.
It wasn’t quite that simple of course, but read the article yourself and let me know what you think. Inquiring minds want to know!
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