Ebay Bans Used Dr. Seuss Books From Being Sold
Book stores aren't the only ones taking Dr. Seuss off the shelves. Ebay is now banning certain selecte books by the author as well
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Dr. Seuss is all the talk right now, though I very much doubt it was what the author originally intended when he released his psychedelic poetical stories all those years ago. That’s because his books are being dragged a bit these days with the decision made to discontinue the publication and resale of specific selections. Ebay appears to be jumping into this decision as well, deciding they will no longer host listings for some of the author’s books. Effectively, along with other retailers, eBay is also banning Dr. Seuss.
Six Dr. Seuss books in all have been discontinued going forward. Those titles are Scrambled Eggs Super!, The Cat’s Quizzer, If I Ran the Zoo, On Beyond Zebra!, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street and McElligot’s Pool. Now, this isn’t necessarily a case of the internet mob drumming up some cancel culture around a bunch of books that were deemed offensive. It was actually the publishing company that controls the works of Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) who have decided to pull these publications. The company, rightfully, said was portrayal of people that was “hurtful and wrong”.
Of course, whenever something like this happens and traditional retailers begin removing a certain product, there can be a run on them on secondary marketplaces like eBay. That’s because individual sellers who still have copies are looking to cash in on what could be a now, in-demand item. We saw this recently when Gina Carano’s Cara Dune action figures were going at huge prices after Hasbro discontinued them in the wake of the actress’s ouster from The Mandalorian. But this time, with Dr. Seuss, eBay got a bit more proactive and began removing the listings themselves.
This story around Dr. Seuss and some of his past books came last week in and around National Dr. Seuss Day on March 2nd. It was then that the publisher, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, a division of Random House, decided that, among other things, these books featured racist images of different characters. After a review of all the author’s works, the books in question were pulled from shelves and would no longer have copies produced going forward.
Certain reading celebrities, like one Mr. Lavar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame, came out in support of the decision. And the folks who organize Read Across America Day decided to no longer support some of the Dr. Seuss books in question. I wouldn’t call it a full-on cancellation of the, now deceased, author. But it isn’t a ringing endorsement of his work either.
This isn’t the first time that Dr. Seuss and his books/views have been called into question. There are numerous examples in which he had used racist terminology and even had been accused of racist imagery of both Black and Asian people. There’s some chance more of his work is pulled before it’s all said and done. And if someone was looking to capitalize on the scarcity of Dr. Seuss books on eBay, think again. The auction platform isn’t having it and is getting out ahead of those looking to sell the books in question.
