DDR Reference Books

[Gene T]

Trevor - I also ordered the book after your post. It was $35 well spent.

A quick cautionary tale concerning buying books through Abebooks, Genossen. I was among those who ordered this book within minutes of seeing Trevor's original post. My order was supposedly processed and shipped the next day (4/20). However, three full weeks later, it still hasn't shown up.

When I saw what Kevin paid for his book, I became curious, as it's the same price I had paid for mine. After checking with him, I found out that both of us had inadvertently ordered from the same vendor - he through Amazon, and I through Abebooks.

I queried the vendor to see just how many copies of this book they actually had on hand. The reply was "one", and that the single copy was shipped to me, on 4/20.

I then told them about Kevin's Amazon purchase, and asked them to make sense of the situation for me.

Today, they told me that their records show two orders to have been processed and shipped, but that they couldn't tell for sure if there had been two copies or one in their inventory (my order confirmation actually came with an inventory number, which I presume was unique, but I didn't press them over this). Therefore, either an employee made a mistake and entered two orders for the same book without realizing it, or the post office mishandled my order. Either way, they issued me a refund.

I've bought shelves full of books through Abebooks and Amazon over the years; this is the first time I've run into this kind of problem. I've also noticed that many used book sellers now list the same book(s) on both Abebooks and Amazon, and that there is a delay between the time an order is placed and the time the relevant listing is removed. It seems entirely possible that multiple orders could be placed for the same book before the listings are taken down. The question is: if two orders came in simultaneously for the same book, one through Amazon, one through Abebooks, which one is more likely to be filled? Based on this single experience, I am inclined to go with Amazon exclusively for my future purchases.

In retrospect, if Kevin hadn't mentioned his purchase on the board, I'd have nothing but my word to back me up when I tell the vendor that I've not received the book. Then again, if it wasn't for this board, I wouldn't have known about the book to begin with.

Just thought that I'd contribute this data point to our continued quest for collective knowledge...


cheers,
Gene T

[grossmacht]

Hi Gene,
Yup...this is a pain.
There a re plenty of sellers (not just of books) that make use of multiple sites/services to get their products out on the market. Both Abebooks and Amazon are really only the advetisers here...which is a serious pain. I had a similar situation with a dvd that I ordered through Amazon's markteplace. If the book is sitting on a store shelf, for sale on ebay/amazon/abebooks or any other book search site, and gets sold through one of the sites...there is a lag between when the seller is notified. Since they need to physical go in and remove the item for sale from the other sites, there is always the chance that this might happen. Luckily, you do have recourse through Amazon and most book search sites. I always insist that people buying anything from me purchase insurance, and I always get it myself.

[streptile]

Hi all,

I'm happy some of you got the book and enjoy it.

It seems entirely possible that multiple orders could be placed for the same book before the listings are taken down.

This precise thing has happened to me, and it was a nightmare to sort it out. It was a German Abebooks seller with a rare-ish John Heartfield monograph. I finally got a duplicate copy six months later.

Anyway... I hope you can pick this one up, Gene. It's well worth it.

~Trevor

[Mike G.]

Well,

Its been 30 days now and the book still has not arrived.

Probably was sent to me by way of a slow boat to China first, then from their by Pony Express. Maybe I will get receive it in time for Christmas. By that time I will have forgotten all about it, and it will be like receiving something unexpected from St. Nickolaus.

[Gene T]

If you ordered from a place called Books and More Books in Santa Fe, Michael, St. Nick may not have the book ready for you in time for Christmas this year. Best check with them again!

They had the best deal at the time of our collective rush to buy this book, but evidently rather poor book-keeping practices. While I've experienced cancelled orders before when someone else got to the books before I did, this was the first time someone sold me (and repeatedly claimed to have shipped to me) a book that was already sold. I hope Michael's is not the third order "shipped" for that same popular copy that Kevin now has.

I finally ordered a paperback example from Germany (Antiquariat Thomas Haker in Berlin), rather than wait for another reasonably priced hard cover copy to appear. It has an estimated delivery date of September 15 (I didn't want to pay four times more for airmail). At least I know this one really IS going to circumnavigate the world, and maybe go on vacation at a beach resort for a while, before showing up at my door step ...

Gene T

Well,

Its been 30 days now and the book still has not arrived.

Probably was sent to me by way of a slow boat to China first, then from their by Pony Express. Maybe I will get receive it in time for Christmas. By that time I will have forgotten all about it, and it will be like receiving something unexpected from St. Nickolaus.

[Mike G.]

Gene,

I think the Pooch is screwed on this one. I don't know how to communicate with them and surmise I'm going to have to deal with the matter through my Credit Card company when I receive the invoice showing I was charged for something I am never going to receive.

This may never get resolved.

[torstenbel]

sounds like very poor book keeping on the part of these second hand book sellers ... in today's computerised world, there is absolutely no excuse for getting confused with multiple orders ... it really is not that difficult to keep track of these things. cheers, torsten.

[Christophe]

Hi to all,

Excellent thread, with so many books to look at when going to fleamarkets !!

I have a simple question, since it makes a long time this thread has not been updated :
Do you know, is there a recent book comprehensively dealing with all awards (orders, medals, badges...) of the DDR ?

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Gordon Craig]

Christophe,

I am not aware of any new books such as you mentioned. The place to look for books on the DDR is here http://www.zinnfigur.com/All/E_Home_Set.asp?sprache=EN

They publish a book and military figure catalogue several times a year. Since they are located in Berlin you have easy access to the book store.

Regards,

Gordon

[Christophe]

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the tip... I did not know this site... It's true that I am still more Pariser than Berliner... Thanks again.

Cheers.

Ch.

[torstenbel]

DDR published dictionary of all state awards from 1980. Good information about the awards, award criteria, how to wear them, etc. Cheers, Torsten.

[ehrentitle]

DDR published dictionary of all state awards from 1980. Good information about the awards, award criteria, how to wear them, etc. Cheers, Torsten.

It's an excellent reference. If I recall Speedytop and I had a discussion on the forum some time ago about there being two versions of this book. The original and then an updated version in 1983.

[torstenbel]

It's an excellent reference. If I recall Speedytop and I had a discussion on the forum some time ago about there being two versions of this book. The original and then an updated version in 1983.

Yes. There was a second edition. This one here is the first edition from 1980. Cheers, Torsten.

[torstenbel]

a little more unusual reference work, this is an east german dictionary of movie, theatre and TV actors from 1974. Cheers, Torsten.

[grunstug]

Hi Genossen!
Does it exists a book about uniforms of MdI? I mean like Keubke/Kuntz.
Thank You
grunstug