Ethics Statement
For years, I have built my collection with simple, old-fashioned principles:
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By paying you the highest market prices to attract the finest objects
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By traveling to see you, so you do not have to travel to
see me
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By providing you accurate price records as written proof
about significance and value
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By always paying you in advance
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By always paying you in cash or certified funds
(such as a cashier’s check or
wire transfer)
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By offering you an optional written contract with 30 days
to change your mind and buy your book back
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By keeping your name confidential except with your permission
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By adding value to objects through expensive restoration and conservation
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By being socially responsible in the eventual placement of important materials
My ethical standards are rigidly based on the Scriptures:
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I believe in the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” That commandment is
expanded to include “neither shalt thou overreach him by cunning, nor by stratagem,
to take his substance from thy neighbour.” I believe that any deception or fraud is
the same as stealing.
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I will tell you anything that you want to know about the attributes or value of your
books. However, if you would rather use a popular price guide, I will give you at least
one thousand dollars above the highest estimated price for any early scripture or hymn
book.
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I believe that “all those speculative transactions, by which one man obtains
from another anything valuable, without making what is esteemed by both parties a just and
full equivalent,” is theft.
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I believe in the commandment “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
That commandment is expanded to include “thou shalt not abate the price of what thou
buyest of him, for his necessity; nor shalt thou exact of him, because he leaneth upon
thee.”
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I believe that a “legitimate commercial transaction” is one where “a
real difference in the value of property is produced by transportation, transmutation, or
timely retention.”
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If I ever resell your book for more than I paid you, it will be because the value has
actually changed (time has passed, demand has
increased, or I did conservation and restoration to the book, or I
specially packaged the book as part of a greater collection).
My clean record and reputation
I have been purchasing books at top prices for
30 years, and
people are 99% happy with the price I paid. I am
also well-liked by other serious collectors. Keep in mind, though, I am trying to buy your books at
fair-market (generally full-retail) prices;
whereas
dealers want them at profitable bargains, and libraries want
them donated for free—I am an
indirect competitor. Not coincidentally, I have had librarians write that to have so many Mormon books, I must be taking
books from libraries; and conversely I have had dealers write that I have been unfairly competitive when I paid too
much money for Mormon books—exactly opposite perspectives.
I buy books with a high profile. I have certainly never stolen a book;
never been tried for any type of crime, not even a misdemeanor, ever in my life;
and never even been in a jail. As to the suggestion that I pay too much—I do,
but that is generosity and integrity, not unfairly competitive. The only person
in my state to be
convicted of anything related to books was a former university
police sergeant who
confessed to framing a historical society member years ago.
I keep the highest possible standard of
principles and integrity. You will not find anyone else buying Mormon
books that will make the promises that I have made above.
For more information, read my family values page at
http://www.Hajicek.com/Values.htm.
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