Book fair Organisers have lost the trust of the public it seems. Bookarama chch

[Olive]

While I sympathise with the obvious unfairness of letting dealers get in first, I think dealers aren't the ones that deserve the kicking. They are just doing what they need to do for their businesses. The fact they got first dibs is the issue, that is a kind of corruption of the act of gifting that underlies the concept of the fair. I suspect though it stems from the same practice that is applied to antique fairs and art fairs - the industry supports its own.

Dealers though sift through every second hand opportunity that exists. They are up at dawn doing the garage sales, in every op shop on a daily basis, educating themselves and doing the research which is part of being a professional. They are there to make money, just like the charity that puts in the volunteer hours to provide the resources for them.

We have an importer here in Auckland who brings in container loads of second hand cast off wearables from an exotic source. I have watched people take armloads of these garments out the door at $5 each, and seen them show up on TM for ten and twenty times that price. Any manager of a charity shop will tell you the same thing, Crown Lynn gets scooped up by dealers with an eye, designer clothes end up in the rental businesses.

It's all part of the great circle of 'things', and the way things pass through many hands. Ours included sometimes.

So yes, Rotary made a mistake. With luck they won't do it again. But don't blame the dealers, and don't expect them to not do their damnedest to create and take advantage of opportunities to make money. That is in their nature, after all...

I was about to write something similar.  The comparison with clothes dealers is apt - they get to know which op shops get the best quality donations and the least discerning customers, and they will travel to small town charity shops to get the best products.   I knew the owner of a top-end vintage clothes shop and she would regularly drive several hours to check out certain provincial op shops.  The identities of the best op shops were closely guarded.

I don't regard the book fairs as having any particular responsibility to provide cheap books for locals - they are there to raise money for their causes.   I know that our local book fair struggles to sell its stock as donations far outweigh sales.   The local charity shop where I volunteer often  turns away books, CDs and DVDs as there is no demand.

[Zurdo]

On inorganic days we would travel to posh areas to get the best picking.