see-safeadj.adv.
/ˈsiːseɪf/, U.S. /ˈsiˌseɪf/ Publishing.
Designating an arrangement whereby a bookseller pays for an order in full with the agreement that unsold stock may be returned to the publisher for credit or exchange; of or relating to such an arrangement. Also as adv.: under such an arrangement.The term is no longer widely used amongst booksellers and publishers, since this arrangement or the similar arrangement of sale or return (cf. sale or return at sale n.2 2f) is now the default and therefore not usually specified.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > [adjective] > relating to buying back or exchange
redemptory1584
redemptionary1623
see-safe1926
buy-back1954
society > trade and finance > buying > [adverb] > redeemable > exchangeable
see-safe1926
1926 S. Unwin Truth about Publishing vi. 180 Some firms occasionally seek to protect themselves when buying books of doubtful saleability by marking their order..‘see safe’. If this condition is passed..the publisher can be called upon..to exchange any surplus copies.
1939 F. D. Sanders Brit. Bk. Trade Organisation 42 The Committee recommended..that books ordered as a result of such information be treated on the ‘see safe’ principle.
1986 Bookseller 28 Nov. 2135/1 Only selected lead titles would..be supplied see-safe.
2007 I. Stevenson in D. Finkelstein & A. McCleery Edinb. Hist. Bk. in Scotl. IV. i. 61 It is now established virtually universally that books are supplied to retailers on ‘see safe’ basis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.adv.1926