Buyer Beware!

I really didn't want to ever do a "ranty" post.  I don't like writing them and I certainly don't like reading them.  But, today, I felt like I had to write this to let other people know of the situation and hopefully stop someone from making my same mistake.

Yes, I can admit, I made a mistake, all in the name of smart shopping.  I was shopping on a major online book and other devices website, whose name I will not mention, but starts with an "a".  I usually buy all my books from them, as they are cheaper and have a bigger selection than any bookstore around (and please, don't use this as an opportunity to fuss at me and say I should be shopping at my local indie, it isn't that kind of post and we don't have any around here anyways). 

Sorry....back to the story.  I bought a "like-new" used book for like 10 cents (plus shipping).  The description said it "may be library binding".  I didn't think anything of it.  Until I opened the package and actually looked at the book.  It had the nice plastic library cover.  It had a library barcode.  It had "property of xxx library" on the back.  It wasn't labeled anywhere as "discard".  I turned to my husband and said, "I think I just bought a stolen library book."  (to make matters worse, it was from a military base library...I was worried those poor soldiers kids were missing a book that they really wanted)

Good news is, I called the library to verify they weren't missing it (and they weren't, its not in their system anymore; so apparently, somebody lost it, paid the fine, found it and then sold it).  Bad news is, now I'm worried that people are selling stolen library books online. 

I guess the moral of my story is, verify what you buy, and just because its cheap, doesn't mean its the best choice.  And, don't steal library books!