Dear Barnes & Noble:
You are now on my S-List. (That’s what my mother used to call it when she was utterly peeved with someone. She probably still uses the term, but hopefully not about me. I try to stay off her S-List, ’cause it’s not a good place to be.)
Here’s why you are on my S-List:
Sticky store label still stuck on brand new book.
Take a look at that price label still stuck to the front of the new book I bought yesterday at one of your stores. For finicky book lovers, like me, this is a criminal offense. I think it ought to be punishable by throwing a goodly number of these sticky-labeled books into a heap at your front doors.
I know you have at your disposal price labels that can be cleanly removed from the covers of the books you sell because I’ve had the pleasure of peeling those sorts of labels off. Why then do you insist on slapping price labels onto books (the front covers, no less!) that require super-strength, book-dissolving solvents to remove? Did you run out of the good labels? Does your supplier no longer have them available? (Perhaps you should talk to 3M about this new little technology called the Post-it that might be helpful.)
For the love of books and book lovers everywhere, the least you could do if you’re going to insist on using these infuriating sticky labels is to adhere them to the back of books so I don’t have to look at the damned things. Bah!
Pulsating with peevishness,
Ms. Woo Woo
P.S. Good thing I bought the book pictured above for myself. I’d be ashamed to give it as a gift.
Was the item a clearance or specialty item? Many times they come directly from the distributor with the annoying yellow stickers.
It was particularly annoying when we would get a pallet of books all with the labels. Sometimes we wanted to change the price.
However it is possible to get the label off with work and patience. Try a little class cleaner on a cloth, paper towel or cotton swab. If that doesn’t work Goo Gone usually works.
BTW, what was the book?
Hi, Dee – The book in the picture was one of the bargain-priced books. It’s Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I did, however, buy a regular-priced book, a new release, a couple weeks ago and had some trouble removing the sticker, too. Not as much trouble as with the Hitchhiker’s Guide, but enough to mar the paper cover. Very frustrating.
Oh, thanks for the tip on the glass cleaner. I hadn’t thought to try that. Instead I tried a little water, then vinegar, then fingernail polish remover. I was at my wit’s end trying to figure out what to use. I wouldn’t recommend the fingernail polish remover. It got rid of the sticky, but marred the cover a bit. Maybe Barnes & Noble could sell Goo Gone or some other product for removing labels at their registers.
If it is a bargain book it may have come with one of those annoying yellow stickers. Try pulling from a corner and if that doesn’t work try the one across from it.
Ooooooo, that would anger me too!
Yes, I was going to say Goo Gone. Those kind of labels frustrate me in all sorts of places, but on the cover of a book? There oughta be a law ….
Martha
Why, yes, Martha! There oughta be a law!
I tried pulling from the corners, Dee. None of them peeled up cleanly. Looks like we book lover-label haters are going to have to take our complaints the whoever distributes the books with these horrid labels.
Hi, Joanne! Glad you’re on board as a sticky label hater, too.
One of those distributors is SAS books. It is really frustrating when you have a pallet of books to process and ordered the books without the labels but more than half have labels.
This drives me up the wall. A tiny bit of nail varnish remover usually does the trick, depends on the cover though.
I bought a book the other day and what I thought was a sticker (‘chosen for Richard and Judy’s book club’) was actually printed on as part of the cover! Ruined the cover design – so that publisher can go on your S-list too, I think!
Be careful about the nail polish remover
Yeah, Dee, I learned that the hard way. Plus, nail polish remover stinks, even the low-scent stuff. Blech!
It seems they especially like doing this to the “bargain books”. As though they somehow merit less respect than a full-priced book.
You’re right on with that, Christie. I paid $20 for the “bargain book” pictured above. That’s about the average cost of most of the newer books.
Many of the bargain books come through one of 2 sources
1. Wholesalers who sell books by the bundle and/or pallet. Usually they come with stickers already one them.
2. Companies like Barbour/Choice that specialize in value displays and special gift items, like the one above. The problem with Barbour stickers is that while they are easily removed are super sticky.