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Re:Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman by DLWormwood on Wednesday October 06, 2010 @05:41PM (#1765973)
A big deal with this may be due to upbringing and what part of the country/world you come from. While part of me dreams of being able to do this kind of work (I’m the exploration type), I can’t, since I can’t drive, limiting my searching ability. Regardless, my background keeps a nagging sense of impropriety of arbitrage in my mind. To my parents and my childhood role models, it’s not “real work,” since it neither creates anything new or abides by the “sweat of your brow” requirement my more religious acquaintances would demand.

TL;DR: I believe in “work smarter, not harder,” but most people I know/knew believe in the opposite.

Re:Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman by roel_v on Thursday October 07, 2010 @06:22AM (#1767374)
It does create something new, it creates value. I'm amazed at the 'arbitrage is bad' comments, I can't remember seeing it anywhere before. Someone who finds a buyer for a thing that couldn't be sold before (i.e., was worthless) creates value by enabling the transaction.
Re:Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman by DLWormwood on Thursday October 07, 2010 @06:18PM (#1769758)
To continue citing those from my background, “value” is an modern invention of “intellectuals,” and therefore, either of the devil or a liberal plot.
Re:Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman by dedward on Thursday October 07, 2010 @09:57AM (#1767813)
It creates a new opportunity for the seller - those individual books were previously not available online. they were just sitting in a bookshop. Finding these books, then placing them online, and handling the shipping to the buyer is certainly adding value.