Folio Vault

Just got an email about the new Folio Vault:

Welcome to ...

The Folio Vault
 
Every so often, we come across something unexpected – a book tucked at the back of the stockroom or a rare signed copy from a cancelled order. Enter: The Folio Vault.

This new space is your gateway to rare and remarkable books that didn’t quite make it to someone's home. Think out-of-stock treasures and even the occasional sold out Limited Edition. Everything’s been carefully inspected and is in perfect condition to be sold.

Keep a sharp eye on the Vault. You never know what you’ll find ...

https://clickom.email.foliosociety.com/f/a/qODTnayPDkSFR4njdQAtog~~/AAAAARA~/2M4...

Really tempted by the Perdido Street… going through a tough time and would love to gift myself this, but also still think it’s too expensive for someone not that appreciative of the LE status!

Most are out of stock already including, sadly, Perdido Street.

>3 folio_books: Yes, feeding frenzy! The only LE left is Mythago Wood with 5 copies.

my concern is whether they'll e-mail people when the Vault's been updated with new offerings or if we're expected to just refresh the page every hour in case they add something new...

>4 HonorWulf: interesting, I suppose those are returned copies. They can’t just sell any spare copies they have lying around without violating the limitation.

I’ve always wondered what happens to returned copies of fast selling LEs. Obviously if a book is selling slower they can just go back into inventory and nobody is any the wiser.

But I don’t think I’ve ever seen an LE that sold out in minutes/hours ever come back in stock on the website. Perhaps they were just saved for the pop-up sale?

Indeed, I wonder if this will kill off the pop-up sale?

>6 cyber_naut: Hard to tell. Folio outsourced their warehousing years ago, so probably a mix of warehouse inventory clean-up and returns. And this has happened in the past -- they'll "find" a couple of copies of an LE and it'll resurface on the site for a couple of hours. This new "Vault" section seems to put a bit more structure around it. Doubt this'll have much impact on the pop-up sale since that's mostly standard editions and defective limited editions.

Now down to just Spiderman and Dune!

I missed out on all the fun, were they discounted at all for being backroom (return?) finds or full price as the "perfect condition" part suggests?

>9 A.Godhelm: Full price.

And not to be confused with the FS seller called the Folio Vault who have a prominent online presence.

Vault is sold out - there was one lingering copy of signed Spider-Man as of last night, but, alas, no more.

>12 HonorWulf: Dashed quick work and rather a good idea in my opinion.

I wonder if we'll see any older FS editions appearing in the Vault.

The Folio Vault is a great idea, and it’s catchy and makes sense. I hope it evolves into the place they do their scratch and dent sale, so the bargains are available to everyone, and not just those who live near enough to attend in person.

>12 HonorWulf: Initially there were about 14 titles, I think?

>16 drizzled: Yes, I believe so!

They should have done this years ago, but better late than never. I just wish they offered damaged/returned copies at a discount on the website as well, instead of offering it all to resellers on the popup sale.

>18 Normandia: I guess there would be quite a lot of administrative overhead associated with that as they’d need to document any defects individually.

Also, in the UK/EU consumers have (I think) a right to return anything purchased online. That doesn’t extend to goods purchased ‘as seen’ in person.

>19 cyber_naut: Understandably a bummer/headache, but they could still offer it for sale to customers outside of EU with the understanding they'd be buying books at a discounted price without possibility of return/refund. Lots of bookstores do it.

>20 Normandia: Taschen does it in their sales.

>19 cyber_naut: For the listings in The Folio Vault they could just describe them as dinged and give a broad description of the issues that may be present.

Just to clarify that our company Folio Vault is not affiliated with Folio Society. We have been trading for years, and they took our name without our prior knowledge or consent. https://www.thefoliovault.com/about/is-folio-vault-part-of-folio-society

These are the FS 'Folio Vault' links:
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/miscellaneous/the-folio-vault
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/miscellaneous/the-folio-vault
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/miscellaneous/the-folio-vault
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/miscellaneous/the-folio-vault

>23 FolioVault: So, will you send them a legal notice or sue them?

>23 FolioVault:
>24 mr.philistine: So, will you send them a legal notice or sue them?

That was my first thought when I first encountered the astonishing piece of cheek FS attempted to perpetrate.

Err... did not Folio Vault make free with Folio Society's name in the first place?

Hmm, I don't think so. Alan. Maybe if they'd called themselves the Folio Society Vault ... ?

>26 affle: I agree -- given that their business is selling used Folio Society books, they are obviously capitalizing on the Folio name and the marketing that comes with it.

I'm happy to leave it to the lawyers to decide.

My guess, FolioVault are trying to cover their arses in case of this coming to court. One has a space, one has no space, another has an underline. Of such things are lawyers' salaries made.

While Folio Vault may not have obtained the express written approval of 'the' FS for use of name (albeit partial), FS could easily have selected any other synonym but instead chose to use the exact same name that was already in use since 2019. First principles and copyright infringement aside, this shows a lack of creativity or a deliberate attempt at conflict. Even if FS manage to 'win' any legal battle, they will be remembered as the bullies here.

Frankly, I believe this thread may have caught the unsolicited attention of FS management: https://www.librarything.com/topic/372676

I wouldn't even be sure they had an eye on that shop. Vault isn't an unusual name in this context.

>31 mr.philistine:

Yes, I remember that discussion. You could well be right.

We love The Folio Society — honestly, they’re the reason Folio Vault exists in the first place. ❤️
What’s going on right now is a bit disappointing, but we’re not looking to start any legal fight. They’ve got a big team and plenty of resources — we’d rather just stay focused on what we do best: helping collectors and keeping these amazing books in circulation.

>34 FolioVault:

I wish you the best of luck, now and in the future. If only I'd known my own LT persona was as insecure ...

>34 FolioVault: Your service is great - thank you!

Sounds like folio society are giving foliovault some additional traffic when people search it up thanks to their direct marketing and find the second hand market shop.

And “the vault” is a pretty standard marketing name for bringing back exclusive products from the past. I’d rather they use short hand that communicates what they are doing, any suggestions for a better name?

>38 anthonyfawkes: ...any suggestions for a better name?

Based on the following FS description from their website, I suggest 'The Folio Bargain Bin'. :)

The Folio Vault

Every so often, we come across something unexpected – a title tucked at the back of the stockroom or a rare signed copy from a cancelled order.
Enter: The Folio Vault.

This new space is your gateway to rare and remarkable books that didn’t quite make it to someone's home. Think out-of-stock treasures and even the occasional sold out Limited Edition. Everything’s been carefully inspected and is in perfect condition to be sold.

Keep a sharp eye on the Vault. You never know what you’ll find ...

Yeah, I'm with anthonyfawkes. 'Vault' is a pretty standard name for what the purpose is, and if anything it was the Folio Vault business that capitalized on the publisher's existing market name. No one is a bully here. If you create a business out of an existing brand, possibilities of conflict are higher.

>31 mr.philistine: " First principles and copyright infringement aside"

This would almost certainly be dealt with under trademark law if there was a dispute, I'd imagine. Copyright isn't really pertinent to this (though IANAL).

I wasn’t aware of them before, but using the name “The Folio Vault” comes across as mooching off The Folio Society brand.

Any name could have been chosen - Aldersley managed a little empire selling second hand Folio Society books, and so has Ardis Books. And both managed to do so without cribbing the FS’s brand, as was done here. Not to mention countless other second hand bookstores.

The current indignation is cheeky.

Well, in the days of FAD and the Members Room, it was called the "Naughty Trolley".
https://www.librarything.com/topic/181097

>43 boldface: complete with Nurse.

The Folio Vault has a few more signed bookplate editions available. Three say "Last Chance" but Dune: Messiah just says "Low Stock".

Are they returns or newly signed? The signed editions never mention a limitation, only that a certain number have been signed. I guess they could just paste in some new bookplates to existing stock and add them to the Vault page at any time.

>45 PartTimeBookAddict: The signed editions have limitations that are announced when the books are put on sale. Dune Messiah, specifically, was limited to 100 copies. They're not physically numbered, though, so one could theoretically go beyond the limitation if one wanted to rather easily... Back to Dune Messiah, there was a hiccup when they sold these -- they were advertised as signed First Printings, but were sold as signed Second Printings and a number of people were upset and returned them, which is where I'm assuming this particular crop of books came from.

PS: The Low Stock and Last Chance labels aren't particularly reliable, so I wouldn't read much into them. They probably should all read "Last Chance" for signed editions. Although Folio has done multiple Signed Editions for the same book -- Noughts and Crosses, for example, has had at least two go arounds...

>46 HonorWulf: Numbering the books doesn’t prevent them from doing that, if they wanted to.

>46 HonorWulf: Interesting about Dune: Messiah.

They obviously had a lot (20+) of returns from Dune Messiah due presumably be to it being the reprint.

>49 stubedoo: It somehow marvellously appreciates in value by £30 as it leaves the UK. I'm very tempted to buy the more expensive International version. Must be some prestige aura about it.

I'm kind of amazed to see a Ulysses LE (and several other sold out LEs) sitting in the vault right now. They should send out emails whenever new items are added.

edit: and just like that the Ulysses is gone.

>52 owf_117: I missed those and I just checked this morning.... I'm only seeing the four signed editions that they put up last week :(

EDIT: Now I see them -- page must have been cached -- they really need to fix that.

That's odd, right now I'm seeing:

The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet LE (2 left)
Ulysses LE (sold out)
The Peloponnesian War LE (3 left)
The Shadow of the Wind LE (2 left)
The Histories LE (1 left)
Frankenstein LE (also just sold out)

edit: yes I'm not really a fan of the new website, I've had many little glitches and things that don't work consistently.

The Shadow of the Wind very OOS here (ROW, NZ), but oddly only one of four additions showing on my page:

Frankenstein
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
The Pelopennesian War

>52 owf_117: i've been trying to get a Ulysses LE, so i'm actually really annoyed that we're expected to just constantly check the Folio Vault for new offerings

As opposed to what you did before?

>57 Noel_G: Initially they sent an email when new titles appeared in the Vault

Sort of suspect receiving e-mails would be equally if not more frustrating --- we have one copy (gone)!

Four additions:

Castor's Joan of Arc
Dickens' Great Expectations
Hastings' Bomber Command
Orwell's A Life in Letters and Diaries

Two copies of the LE A Christmas Carol have been added.

Two copies of the We Have Always Lived in the Castle Limited Edition have popped up in the Folio Vault for anyone interested.

A single copy each of the LEs A Christmas Carol and Casino Royale have been added to the vault page.

>63 FitzJames: That Casino Royale LE is the gift that keeps on giving!

The following books are going up for sale in the Folio Vault from 4pm. No indication how many there will be.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Limited Edition)
The King of Elfland’s Daughter (Limited Edition)
East of Eden

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/miscellaneous/the-folio-vault

Dash it all. East of Eden rerouted me back to cart after finishing the order at 4.01pm. Nine copies were never going to stay long.

I managed to get one. I think I took at least 20 seconds to check out and thought I was too slow but I did get a confirmation! Hopefully Folio are thinking about a reprint — its recent popularity on booktook/booktube social media communities may influence their decision making too.

The Madame Bovary Limited Edition has surfaced in the Folio Vault:

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/madame-bovary

Apparently, The Three Musketeers was there earlier today but has sold out.

>68 HonorWulf: well that was an unexpected hit to my bank account! I have been occasionally checking the secondary market for Madame Bovary for a few years now, but never went for it.

>68 HonorWulf:

Curious. Where have these copies been hiding for the last three and a half years!

>70 Cat_of_Ulthar:
I've wondered that too — Where were they hiding all those copies of books that were supposedly sold out years ago?

>71 jose2486: Folio outsources their warehousing and fulfillment, so I suspect a lot of things fall through the cracks, especially when dealing with an inventory of roughly half-a-million books.

>72 HonorWulf: Indeed.

I'll hazard a guess that they've been sitting on a forgotten shelf somewhere because there's no indication that they are returns: they're certainly not marked down to reflect any faults or damage.

>73 Cat_of_Ulthar: I'm sure someone was looking for an old box of Get Shorty on the bottom shelf and stumbled across a misplaced box of Madame Bovary's....

Bunch of American Psychos listed. Returns, I assume.