As the Sample Sale nears its end, we hope you've enjoyed exploring the selection.
Though a bit late in the game, we’d like to take a moment to share the background behind IACK’s Sample Sale—why we do it and what exactly “sample” books are—along with some behind-the-scenes context.
What is the Sample Sale?
At IACK, we generally avoid holding sales, out of respect for those who consistently purchase artist books at full price.
That said, we also want more people to experience the joy of encountering and reading these books, and we hope to give our regular customers a chance to enjoy more titles at a lower cost.
With that in mind, we launched the Sample Sale on Culture Day in Japan, offering books that have been used for in-store browsing or that arrived with minor damage during shipping. We intend to help make art books a part of people’s everyday lives.
What Exactly Is a “Sample” Book?
Strictly speaking, artist books don’t really have “sample” copies.
In the kind of small-scale publishing that IACK focuses on, print runs are often just a few dozen copies—and even at their largest, they rarely exceed a few thousand. In some cases, publishers may provide a copy for browsing, but more often, we designate one of the books from our purchased inventory for that purpose. That means the “sample” is a fully paid-for item and one of a very limited number of copies in existence.
This is part of why shops that deal in artist books are especially careful about how books are handled.
Once a book has been used for browsing, we generally can’t sell it as new. (If the book is out of print or in excellent condition, it may be sold at full price. Each store has its own criteria.)
At IACK, we offer such books at a discount during the Sample Sale, labelling them as “sample” items. We also include select rare or secondhand books with modest discounts. For us, it’s a way to find a new home for books that are no longer in pristine condition; for customers, it’s an opportunity to acquire books at special prices.
About Book Condition
We usually place plastic covers on our browsing copies to protect them, but some books are too large, oddly shaped, or textured in a way that would be diminished by a cover. In some cases, we simply don’t have time to cover every book. As a result, many books naturally develop signs of wear—scuffs, creases, and sun fading—over time.
If you’re purchasing for a collection, we recommend buying a new copy. But if your goal is to appreciate the content, sample books are just as suitable.
That said, some are virtually like new, while others have visible wear. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to know more about a specific item’s condition.
On Buying Artist Books
Very few people can afford to buy every book they want to read or own. That’s why browsing in-store is such an important way to engage with photobooks—whether for inspiration or study.
As a store owner, I often browse at other bookshops myself, and IACK welcomes browsing as well. But there’s something entirely different about taking a book home. Reading in your own space, at your own pace, without time constraints or outside distractions, offers a depth of experience that browsing simply can’t replicate.
And the ability to revisit a book again and again, across time, is one of the most powerful reasons to own it.
Although we no longer hold the Sample Sale on Culture Day due to scheduling conflicts with other events, our underlying goal remains the same: to support a culture in which people enjoy artist books as part of everyday life.
The Sample Sale runs until midnight this Wednesday. We hope this serves as an opportunity for you to bring art books a little closer into your daily life.
IACK SUMMER SAMPLE SALE 2023
Saturday, 22 July 0:00 – Wednesday, 26 July 24:00
www.iack.online/collections/summer-sample-sale-2023
