That $40 thrift store encyclopedia set turned out to be missing half the volumes

I grabbed this 1960s encyclopedia set from a garage sale in Toledo last spring because the covers had these cool gold embossed letters. Paid $40 for what I thought was the full set of 12 books, but got home and realized volumes 4 through 7 were just missing from the box. Now I've got half a useless collection that no one wants to buy and I'm stuck with them on my shelf. Has anyone else gotten burned by a partial set that looked complete from the outside?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.amy15d ago

That gold embossed letters got me too" Sounds like we both fell for the same trick. Got a set of old National Geographics from an estate sale once. The box looked perfect, all stacked nice. Got home and realized someone had stuffed a few old Reader's Digests in the middle to fill the space. Still mad about it three years later.

the_morgan15d ago

@wells.amy, that "got me too" really hits home. I fell for a similar trick with a set of old vinyl records once, the covers all looked mint but half the records inside were scratched up copies of Herb Alpert. At least now when I see gold embossed letters I take a closer look, even though I'd probably get fooled again anyway.