Talk:bookseller

Request for verification

 * 1) A person engaged in the business of selling books.
 * 2) A person who works in a bookshop/bookstore.

I'm not sure how the second sense differs from the first. Surely if you work in a bookshop, you are engaged in the business of selling books. &mdash; Paul G 06:56, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Not all 1s are 2s. Not all 2s are necessarily 1s, either.
 * 1) A 1 could be a manager or owner of a bookstore. For example, The Riggios, who own much of Barnes and Noble in the US, are not often in any of their 800 stores, nor are many of the employees, many of whom might call their administrative or managerial duties "bookselling". One could be a non-store-based bookseller as well.
 * 2) Are 2s such as textbook buyers, coffee-shop functionaries and cash register operators booksellers? (There is a joke involving a guy complaining about his job cleaning up after the elephants, the punchline of which is "What? And quit show business?") DCDuring TALK 12:37, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree, partly. I know booksellers who operate their business out of their home, so there is no shop or store.  The first definition covers those people.  However, I cannot imagine anyone who "works in a bookshop/bookstore" who is not "engaged in the business of selling books" being called a "bookseller".  I think the definitions should be merged as "A person engaged in the business of selling books, especially one who works in a bookshop/bookstore".  Functionaries who purchase books are bookbuyers, and people who sell coffee only are not booksellers. --EncycloPetey 19:19, 18 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Shouldn't sense 1 include companies as well as people? E.g. "Barnes & Noble is a major US bookseller."  Methinks that would make the second sense more distinct.  -- Visviva 12:08, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * No. A slightly different meaning, and may be translated differently into other languages. I am adding this meaning: "a business which sells books" Altenmann 02:17, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

IMO both definitions 1,2 share the same deficiency: a cash register operator may be "a person engaged in selling books". I would suggest to cut on equivocation by trimming the prolixity and say both of them plainly: Altenmann 02:17, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) "a person who sells books". If someone wants to split hairs further, I'd suggest meanings:
 * 1a: a person who owns or operates a business of selling books
 * 1b: a book salesman
 * 1c a book peddler


 * RFV failed, "A person who works in a bookshop/bookstore" sense removed. —Ruakh TALK 19:21, 25 December 2009 (UTC)