In the past few days, the advisors at the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center have often been asked for help by consumers who have fallen victim to this new scam.
Target group: Older owners of Brockhaus or Bertelsmann encyclopedia collections
Representatives of dubious companies primarily contact older consumers who own Brockhaus or Bertelsmann encyclopedia collections. Under the pretext of wanting to inspect the book collection for sale, the representatives arrange on-site appointments.
During these meetings, the injured party is then suggested that the encyclopedia collection must first be “completed” by purchasing additional expensive books because only then will it be complete and valuable. Sometimes victims are also offered the opportunity to have their encyclopedias “registered” for a fee in alleged sales databases so that they can then sell them at a supposedly large profit.
The supplementary volumes on offer often cost amounts of up to 10,000.00 euros per volume (!), although the well-trained representatives often actually manage to sell several books to the injured parties in one sales pitch. These volumes have a high-quality visual design, are often bound in leather and decorated with gemstones. Ultimately, this and trained sellers suggest that these books are very valuable and can easily be resold at a good profit. The representatives' sales discussions sometimes last for hours, and the predominantly older victims of this fraud are often put under pressure and often even pressured into entering into loan agreements in order to purchase the supposedly cheap and visually "valuable" books.
High amounts of damage
The MV consumer advice center has received current cases in which consumers have been harmed by amounts of several tens of thousands of euros, in one case several hundred thousand euros. The books on offer, also referred to as “facsimiles” or “replicas,” are actually not worth even a fraction of the retail price.
In addition, in the age of Wikipedia and the Internet, encyclopedia collections have generally suffered a major loss in value. An increase in value can no longer be expected, of course not even (and certainly not) through the purchase of completely overpriced “supplementary volumes” or the listing of the books in “sales databases”.
If possible, revoke contracts
Anyone who has already concluded a contract for the purchase of books or “registration” on dubious sales portals may still be able to revoke this, although action must be taken quickly due to ongoing cancellation periods.
In view of the disparity between the completely excessive price of the books and their actual (low) value, the nullity of the contract with regard to usury may also come into question. Victims can contact the local MV consumer advice center.
Conclusion
The owners of the previously popular encyclopedia collections from Brockhaus and Bertelsmann are the targets of a new scam. In order to make the existing collection sellable, they should be supplemented with completely overpriced volumes or bought into a sales database for a fee. In the age of the Internet, such book collections have lost enormous value and an increase in value cannot be achieved through additional volumes or special sales platforms. In addition to a timely cancellation, the purchase contract may also be void due to usury.
Source: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center
Also read: Warning against buying expensive books!
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