A couple of my Facebook Friends posted links to this article today on Yahoo! Finance. The title of the piece is “21 Things You Should Never Buy New”. Being a frugal person, I read it. And then had my head almost immediately explode.

Now, I can agree with just about everything on the list from #4 to #21. It’s #1-#3 (and especially #2) that caused brain matter to drip off the walls. Lynn Troung is – by bio and opinion – a blogger. Lynn Troung makes money off electronic writing – not from paper publications. Lyn Troung has no idea how the publishing industry (specifically – and in correlation the music, film, and video game – industries) work. Or It would be “18 Things to Never Buy New” and my head would not have exploded. Here is what Lynn Troung says:

1. DVDs and CDs: Used DVDs and CDs will play like new if they were well taken care of. Even if you wind up with a scratched disc and you don’t want to bother with a return, there are ways to remove the scratches and make the DVD or CD playable again.

2. Books: You can buy used books at significant discounts from online sellers and brick-and-mortar used book stores. The condition of the books may vary, but they usually range from good to like-new. And of course, check out your local library for free reading material.

3. Video Games: Kids get tired of video games rather quickly. You can easily find used video games from online sellers at sites like Amazon and eBay a few months after the release date. Most video game store outlets will feature a used game shelf, as well. And if you’re not the patient type, you can rent or borrow from a friend first to see if it’s worth the purchase.

There’s nothing wrong with what Lynn Troung says here – on the surface. I have no fundamental problem with used books and media outlets. I’ve discovered some fine authors and artists through used outlets.

It’s when you look deeper that there’s a serious and fundamental flaw in this – and then in retrospect the rest – of her article. Lynn Troung does NOT UNDERSTAND how the industry works. In order to have used product, someone must first buy it new. There’s the initial flaw. The rest of the flaw? How the Publishing and related industries produce product.

The Ugly Truth – authors are picked up and contracted by sales numbers. The first book, yes, is taken on faith, speculation, etc – but usually when there’s some indication of an ability to sell. The larger publishers look at simple accounting numbers – how many books have sold from Amazon, from Walmart, from a Major Bookseller Near You. They don’t give a flying rat’s behind about Half Price Books, EntertainMart, or Movie Trading Company. Those numbers DO NOT COUNT when it comes to “units sold”, which is all that matters when you’re looking for the next book in the series/genre/line you like – or if that new favorite author of yours ever writes again.

Think about that. If you take Lynn Troung’s advice and only buy used books, movies, music, and video games, guess what’s going to happen in the long evolutionary road? There won’t be any more books to buy because Publishing will have finally given up. If no one’s buying new books, there will eventually be NO MORE NEW BOOKS to buy to then become used. Lynn Troung’s frugal advice is a self-destructive cycle for those of us who work very hard to be published in the first place.

I know we’re all trying save a buck – heck, I’m quite the frugal shopper – but not at the expense of an entire industry. I support used book and entertainment stores as a way to become introduced to an author or artist with the hope that that author/artist (like myself) will then wow the reader so much that the reader will rush out and buy all the other books/movies/video games as soon as they come out – SO WE CAN KEEP DOING THIS.

End of rant.