The six books that Dr. Seuss Enterprises has decided can no longer be published due to their highly problematic nature are, understandably, pretty hot items right now.
If you’re not sure where to get one, you might check on Amazon. Or, perhaps, on eBay.
I was reliably informed yesterday that this is nothing like book burning. https://t.co/7jSk37Wk75
— Mo Mo (@MollyRatty) March 4, 2021
Well, apparently the people who reliably informed you may not have fully vetted their sources.
According to his feed, this Twitter user, @AUChizad, recently listed a copy of “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” for auction on eBay:
LET’S GOOOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/KF3n67yCkZ
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 2, 2021
But it appears that eBay decided he’d made the wrong decision:
WOWWWW pic.twitter.com/BaRQSqsABJ
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 4, 2021
Huh.
I could sell Mein Kampf but not And to Think that I Saw it On Mulberry Street because it’s “hateful”. pic.twitter.com/nUqK8wuOLf
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 4, 2021
For people doubting the authenticity of this email, here's someone else I don't know who got the same one.https://t.co/814B1DE3nf
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 4, 2021
Tweeter @clare_ath posted this:
You can’t make this stuff up. @eBay is blocking my listing of @DrSeuss’s “The Cat’s Quizzer” & citing it as offensive material. Yet anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan’s books are okay? #cancelcancelculture pic.twitter.com/9Au62lagcW
— Clare Ath (@clare_ath) March 4, 2021
Recommended
Is eBay seriously doing this?
Twitchy staple Noam Blum, aka @neontaster, is trying to figure out what, exactly, is going on:
Is ebay really banning listings of the PROBLEMATIC Dr. Seuss books? https://t.co/X3j9GVYdOp
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
I can see the book he tried to sell listed on ebay so I'm not sure why it would get flagged (he says he used the ISBN number, so maybe that's how).
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Looking now, "And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street" has many different ISBNs depending on which edition it is. If ebay only plugged some of them into the algo, that would mean only specific versions would get auto-flagged.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Another example. The person in the original post is forwarding me his ebay email and I am also going to check against his specific ISBN. I'm on the case. https://t.co/4Uz4r3Wes9
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Note that both emails from ebay in both examples contain the same wording.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Again my working assumption is that @ebay is flagging these using ISBNs, and since these books have many editions, some ISBNs, or listings that don't mention them at all, won't get flagged.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
I can't figure out what happened, but @AUChizad forwarded me an email he got cancelling his bid on another Dr. Seuss book, that appears to have been nuked from the site as well. So that's the third example I see of this today.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
The ISBN I used FWIW is 978-0-375-97581-3.
I don't know if that's why or what other reason it could be, but I have a perfect 100% eBay score dating back 18 years.
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 4, 2021
It looks like ebay doesn't recognize hyphenated ISBN numbers so it couldn't have been that. https://t.co/IEJ2ZL4O8o
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Actually, I didn't enter the hyphens on the listing, I just put them here for readability.
— Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️? (@AUChizad) March 4, 2021
If I search without hyphens I get a bunch of listings so idk…
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Some posts about it on the ebay forums. Note the OP isn't some account that popped out of nowhere. Has over 500 feedback. https://t.co/zEZaRNte1S
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
For what it’s worth, tweeter @skol_brian doesn’t believe there’s anything shady going on:
Yeah ok…. pic.twitter.com/q2ErJfh4Yb
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
Yes I saw that too. But I know this user and I don't think he's lying. His sale was flagged for some reason.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Probably not for the reason conservatives think it is and want to continue crying about.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
Oh. So it’s gonna be like that, then, is it?
Yep:
Any more denialism?https://t.co/7cGTE3vPW3
— Truthiness4U, Memory Hole Saboteur (@Truthiness4U) March 4, 2021
Lol. That doesn't mean shit. I just showered you that ebay isn't removing those willfully.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
Total coincidence that three Dr. Seuss listings got pulled today with the exact same email saying they violated hateful conduct policy. You sure owned me, Ben Shapiro Reply Guy.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
And all you showed was that it hasn't yet pulled every copy, which I already theorized about in the thread you didn't bother reading.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
The feelings over facts crowd sure is riled up over nothing aren't ya?
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
I actually took the time and put in some proper legwork to figure out what's going on and all you did was say "they aren't all banned" and tried to throw Ben Shapiro slogans at me because you're a reply guy. https://t.co/wcHFBcOPiI
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
If they do sure, but they won't. Manufactured outrage is all this is. Those posts don't bother to mention what else was in the listing to get flagged in the first place.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
You didn't address the language of the emails they got, the several different examples from different people, and the major sellers on ebay talking about it in their community forum. Your argument is emotional denial
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
LOL and I'm telling you that until they show their entire post, it's meaningless.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
Well, here’s another one:
Dude! The reason they ended the sale is right there in the email: pic.twitter.com/ulc2aElioS
— Not Real Life (@NotRealLife1) March 4, 2021
Kinda weird that the ebay user on that email has zero other ebay activity.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
No it isn't. People are going on ebay specifically to sell these books now that they're appreciating. You are grasping at straws as more evidence is brought to you.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Look, Brian: We get that the idea that eBay would do this is bonkers, but they appear to actually be doing this.
Ah so your argument is a hypothetical "all these different people wrote something secret and offensive and that's why they did it." Extremely factual.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
You realize how easy it would be for Ebay to just block the listings before it ever went up right?
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
The difference between us is that you're fighting a culture war and I'm looking at the evidence presented, talking to the people involved, and drawing conclusions based on that. But something something muh conservatives.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
I bet you think a potato should have a gender too.
— Brian (@skol_brian) March 4, 2021
Congrats. Never has someone proven my point so quickly and adroitly.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
"You're fighting a culture war and I'm looking at evidence."
"YOU ARE CORRECT SIR!" pic.twitter.com/N0C1fhVguh
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Fortunately, Blum can multitask, smacking trolls and investigating what’s happening with eBay:
Doing some Twitter searches and I see at least two more examples of people tweeting about their Seuss listings getting pulled. Unless everyone is either copycatting or colluding, this is a thing that's actually happening.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
So there you have it.
Oh man was this thread from yesterday relevant. https://t.co/vekktsAO0m
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
***
Update:
I have a new theory based on some questions – I think these are posts that contain the actual images that were deemed problematic and led to the books being pulled. I still don't see the justification of you can sell books with swastikas on the cover.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Here's a screenshot of the original listing in question. As you see, one of the images is of the PROBLEMATIC page. you're not going to convince me that's a legitimate reason to pull a listing. pic.twitter.com/QncRGpilCL
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
Anyway, I seem to be the only one so far who actually checked this properly, and this is my final conclusion: It's likely postings that include the specific images that caused the controversy to begin with, even if they are presented to show the item's condition/completeness.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 4, 2021
***
Update:
‘Totally not an awful precedent’: eBay spox confirms that sellers will no longer be allowed to list any of the six ‘offensive’ Dr. Seuss books https://t.co/8prE36isGW
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 4, 2021
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