Melville House Books

The tip-off, says Amy Griffis, manager at Half-Price Books in Crystal, MInnesota, is when someone calls a used bookstore to see if it has a certain title in stock and asks, “Is it in pristine condition?” Griffis says that usually means they plan to give the book as a gift — so long as it looks like it’s new. As Amy Goetzman explains in her column for MinnPost.com, “used-book stores report an uptick in business around the holidays; thrifty customers buy used books in ‘like new’ condition they can quietly pass off as new.” Bookseller Karin Grimlund of the Twin Cities Booksmart tells Goetzman people often buy used children’s books “presumably because younger kids can’t tell the difference.” Says Griffis,”It’s a little tacky, isn’t it? But plenty of people do it.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.