posted on April 13, 2001 12:39:35 PM new
PLEASE do not discourage the unknowledgeable sellers! I recently scored a nice first edition for $4.00 including shipping. I was the only bidder, I think because the seller misspelled the author's name. Seller also shipped the book out and left me positive feedback before my e-check cleared. Nice person, too. I'll be checking her listings often!
posted on April 13, 2001 01:31:16 PM new
Jane -- thanks for your comments.
I'm not sure what the motive is of people who are selling books for 75 cents on half com. I've even seen them offered for a penny (before they put in the $0.75 minimum price). Obviously, they're not doing it to make a profit, since what they have to eat on shipping (half.com usually doesn't pay all of it) and packaging is more than they receive for the book. My guess is they send promotional material with the book to market their real businesses, and put the names on their mailing lists, in the hope that the buyers may become long-term customers.
There are amateur booksellers, too, I think, who are just selling off books they've had for years, read, and no longer want. (In fact, someone on this thread was doing just that - I think it was rowane. And God bless actual book readers!) You won't find these, probably, on bibliofind (soon to disappear) or ABE because of the monthly fee. I think many ebay sellers, in fact, are partly "hobby" sellers who enjoy the interaction and hence receive some of their "profit" in nonmonetary returns - and more power to them, say I.
Then there are professional or semi-professional sellers doing it just to get some cash flow, even if it does work out to less than the minimum wage. Presumably, they won't be in business forever and eventually will fade away (as individual booksellers, though not as a continuing group). But, after all, it's a free market, and really the market price of a book is - surprise - whatever a willing buyer will give a willing seller for the book.
Funnily enough, I heard also that some publishers were selling on sites like half com because it worked out as a cheaper way to get rid of remainders.
As for Popula, we've seen a gradual increase in both the average selling price and the sellthrough on books. We have some very knowledgeable bidders as well as sellers. Our fee structure is designed to encourage the more professional (ie active) sellers rather than occasional sellers - if you list more than 100 items in a calendar month, listing is free (the $0.25 per item listing fee is rebated). Hence, we tend to have sellers who know books and book markets quite well. On the bidder side, I'd like to think that our members are a little more "educated" (I think that was the term somebody used) than the average, many of them being booksellers themselves. I'd like to think, too, that for these reasons our lists are generally more interesting to browse, for what it's worth, than those of other auction sites.
BTW, what does jmmv mean? Is there a glossary somewhere?
Lol - I might have done a typo - should have been ymmv (your mileage may vary).
I will check out popula again- I like concept - just looking for some traffic (that is if I can find my password). I still get the emails occasionally - and I love the humor in some of the auction ads. It would have been a great place for loosecannon's vampire bat.
If something isn't fun - it just isn't worth doing anymore - but it's a bonus if you can actually put a little in your pocket, too!
posted on April 13, 2001 07:03:09 PM newbibliophile I have a question. On page one of this thread you mentioned the word facsimile I'm not sure what the word means when pertaining to books. I suspect it means the book is printed in other languages. Could you enlighten me.
I have a book, copyright, 1897 Self and Sex Series, What a Young Man Ought to Know.
In the front of the book it has seven fac-simile pages, each in a different language. At the top of each page it says "Reduced Fac-simile Page.
I'll try to post a picture of one of the pages I am speaking of.
posted on April 14, 2001 09:25:31 AM newmcjane: A facsimile book is one that duplicates an earlier edition exactly. For instance, when I was in college one of the books I was required to buy was a facsimile edition of Twain's Huckleberry Finn. It looks exactly like the first edition of the book. Sometimes a publisher is able to use the original plates to make their facsimile but otherwise can use a xerography method to reproduce the original.
There is one publisher, Applewood Books, that specializes in facsimiles. They put out stuff from colonial times up through the 50's & early 60's.
edited cuz "was" is not spelled with a "y"
[ edited by bunnicula on Apr 14, 2001 09:27 AM ]
posted on April 15, 2001 03:45:40 PM new
Hey guys, can you enlighten me? I've run across a number of library books with a "bound-to-stay-bound" sticker inside of them, which I have found to be a company with a web site which specializes in binding books for librarys, etc.
Is it adequate to say simply that these are library discards, which they are, or do I need to go into the fact they have this sticker and the cover may differ?
How does this affect the book, pricewise? Additionally, if you are familiar with this, could you tell me if this is what is meant by an oilcloth covering?
posted on April 15, 2001 03:57:30 PM new
Bound To Stay Bound, Permabound, Turtleback and other similar companies remove the publisher's binding (or get the book without binding, sometimes) and replace it with a more durable cover that has the dust jacket artwork imprinted on it. These days such rebinders rarely put a dust jacket on the book. It is not the same as an oilcloth binding, no.
I *would* state this in your auction, to the effect that the book you are selling is an ex-library book that has been rebound. Whether it will affect the price you get, depends of the book itself (how many are around), and whether the buyer is getting it as a reading copy.
posted on April 16, 2001 01:43:25 PM new
Tip for the group: right now the book "Bridget Jones's Diary" seems to be doing well. The movie is out or about to come out. I picked up a good hardcover at the local used bookstore for $1.95 and sold it within hours for $10.00 on Amazon (sorry, I know this is an Ebay thread). The paperbacks and hardcovers are doing well on Ebay, too. Strike while the iron is hot!
BTW, my book with the carefully described torn cover went for $43.00. Now to see if they pay and if they don't demand a refund after they get it because they didn't read the description that said the cover was torn.
I think I'm getting the hang of this bookselling thing. At this rate I'll be graduating from my current idiot status in a year or two!
posted on April 16, 2001 02:31:24 PM new
misscandle - tip is appreciated! I may have to search ebay for the "Pride and Prejudice" production starring Colin Firth. I never read the book, but apparently Bridget fell in love with Firth in that role...and then they cast him as the love interest in the movie. Very amusing.
posted on April 16, 2001 04:28:45 PM new
In addition to the original Bridget Jones, the sequel "The Edge of Reason" is also doing very well. I found a fairly beat up paperback for a quarter, and sold it for $4.50 (not tons, but respectable).
posted on April 20, 2001 10:20:32 AM new
Another fleeting bookselling victory for which YOU PEOPLE are directly responsible: a teaching manual I picked up at a library sale for $0.25 just sold for $22.00 (Amazon). I listed it after reading this thread about non-fiction and your other bookselling tips. I almost threw it away because there was writing on the front page. Put on my glasses to find it was the author's signature! DUH! Where is that "i'm a moron" thread? LOL.
This will help me recoup my lost listing fees for those John Grisham and Mary Higgins Clark books that never sold. (That was before I read this.)
posted on April 21, 2001 12:21:13 AM new
If this is "Part II", could someone please post the url for the "Part I" thread? I have gone thru 20 pages of messages and can't seem to find it, although I am probably just missing it. It would be helpful if there were a mesage search feature here (and if there is one, could someone please let me know about that too?)
Thank you to everyone who has posted such great ideas here. Much appreciated.
posted on April 21, 2001 03:00:30 AM new
steelergonzo - At the bottom of this page is a link for the "site search". Make sure you check the box that says something like "search message center too".
