Discontinued Dr. Seuss Books Selling for Massive Prices Online

The Dr. Seuss books that have been discontinued due to racist imagery are selling for surprisingly high prices on popular online retail websites. The Toronto Star reports that Facebook Marketplace had multiple ads for copies of all titles of the books at a sale price of up to $500 each. An eBay listing for a copy of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was listed at $1,262.59. Meanwhile, on Amazon.ca, copies of McElliot's Pool, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra! and If I Ran the Zoo were listed by private sellers for up to $3,184.50.

Supply and demand dictate that scarcity increases the perceived value of products — but this situation proves that even if the item is broadly believed to be offensive, the value can skyrocket. Whether the factor at play is capitalism, nostalgia or denialism, sellers are making a lot of money off their used copies of the books.

Earlier this month, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which preserves and protects the author's legacy, announced that it had ceased publication on six of the author's late works — including all of the aforementioned as well as The Cat's Quizzer. The company said the titles "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong" and that the decision to stop selling them was "part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises's catalog represents and supports all communities and families."

The decision sparked some heated discussions about "cancel culture," and many of Dr. Seuss' titles have soared on Amazon's best-seller's charts. Last week, CBS News reported that 13 of the Top 20 best-selling books on Amazon were written by Dr. Seuss. Of those, four were titles that Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it would stop publishing.

The author's works have received criticism in recent years due to the portrayals of certain characters. One study in 2019 published in "Research on Diversity in Youth Literature" noted that the books featured the stereotypical, offensive portrayal of Asia. The study noted that the two "African" characters both have anti-Black characteristics.