First UK Firestarter Clipped Jacket

[Oskar.D.Grouch]

I received a first UK Firestarter that I recently ordered from eBay. The description indicated it was a fine copy. And overall it is very nice. But I was disappointed to find the jacket was clipped. The seller hadn’t mentioned that. My first indication was to chew out the seller and demand a refund or at least a discount.

But I decided to sleep on it and educate myself a bit before doing anything. I would have said price-clipped above except after doing some research it seems that there never was a price printed on this jacket. If there was a price it would be indicated by a sticker. I have found pictures of unclipped jackets with no price sticker, just blank, and I have found pictures of clipped jackets that have price stickers attached next to the clipped area. I understand that this was a fairly common practice in the UK, as books were shipped all over Europe and the Commonwealth. The jackets would be clipped so each seller could set their own price in the local currency.

So I am on the fence and I guess I come here looking for a little perspective and feedback. If the jacket we’re not clipped the area underneath would be nothing but black paper, potentially with a yellow or white price sticker attached to it. That would be, of course, ideal, but it is also interesting to think this was done as a matter of course so the book could be distributed outside the UK. I guess I just want some outside opinions as to how annoyed I should be about this.

Thoughts? Thank you!

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

I am from the UK. Every hardback with a dust jacket has a price on it. If it has no price, it is an export copy. Price clipping is usually done by the buyer giving a gift so the person receiving it does not know how much it cost.
A price clipped jacket is worthless to a serious collector.

[mulleins]

Not really knowing the wording used in the actual auction, I would be disappointed to find the jacket price clipped.

I think you have every right to question the deal.

Mulleins