posted on March 21, 2001 08:22:35 AM new
Wow, just had some fun clicking. I tried the master book-finding sites mentioned in another post. I used a test book which I've had on half.com for a while, didn't sell on Amazon, and just listed for a few bucks on Yahoo. It's a paperback gardening book, ex-library in good shape. I don't think it's worth much. I found it on Alibris for $38!! I think the sucker is still in print, but even if it's not...huh??
In general, there seems to be a disconnect between the pricing realities of ebay/half/Marketplace and the "big book sites". It would be fascinating to know if the booksellers get prices like that. I'm not talking about rare books. I've seen hefty prices on all sorts of things. I guess they can afford to store large inventories just in case someone bites.
I've noticed that, too, at sites such as Abebooks.com. Prices can be shocking. I believe most of the sellers have B&M stores and can afford to let the online listings linger. They'll get sales from buyers who do not shop around.
posted on March 21, 2001 10:53:24 AM new
I think that a lot of these guys will probably get the folks who think nothing of buying the absurdly pricey stuff at upscale and/or trendy stores. Most of them are just deceiving themselves if they think they can get it on a regular basis.
I just checked on a book that I found about two years ago at Powell's for $10. There was a guy selling the same book for $150 on Bibliofind. It remains unsold today. Another(?) copy, I think the same seller but I can't be sure but identical description, lists it for a whopping $229 on another book search. Meanwhile it also lists a copy for $66 and there's also a copy on eBay for less than half that with no bidders hours before closing. The most I've seen it go for on eBay was about $50 and that's steep.
posted on March 21, 2001 11:54:16 AM new
When researching books on various sites you can't take most of the pricing very seriously. There is seller of children's books who is well known for putting sky-high prices on garbage. If you want your book to sit on the shelf price high. If you want to sell it, price within reason. True once in a while someone will come along and pay top dollar, but if you have lots of books you will do better with moderate pricing and actually selling something. Do your research though, because some items do command astronomical prices.
posted on March 21, 2001 12:55:02 PM new
In regards to how book dealers price their items, I know as a fact that many of them are not really professional dealers.
There are too many "instant" book dealers out there who pick up a few boxes of books at a auction for a couple of bucks apiece and decide that they suddenly are "book dealers". Having no clue how to price books they decide that if there are no other copies of a certain book online it must be "rare". In one instance a so called dealer that I know listed a modern sci fi book at $500.00, because he couldn't find another copy online at the time. Now this book was only published about 10 years ago and was still available from the publisher for $20.00. Later on he lowered the price down to $100.00 and got three orders for it.
The reason he priced it at $500.00 wasen't because it was rare or a special printing,
it was because he took a wild guess at pricing it.
posted on March 21, 2001 12:57:57 PM new
The book prices on those sites range wildly, but a good number of sellers do have reasonable prices. When I go to sell a book on ebay, I find the same edition in similar condition on Bibliofind, then set my starting bid at or slightly below the lowest price offered there. If you set your selling price at the high end, you're very unlikely to sell. OTOH, some of the books that I've auctioned starting at the low end eventually reached the high end of the Bibliofind scale after the dust settled. Seems to work pretty well for me.
posted on March 21, 2001 03:58:15 PM new
Maybe you guys can help me here. I found a paperback copy marked uncorrected proof of a published biography. There is no handwritten markings etc. I found the published book on Bibliofind for anywhere from 20-60.00. How do I get the most out of this?
posted on March 22, 2001 06:55:05 AM new
The old rule of thumb is that a new book typically lands at a dealer's door for about half of the retail price. This obviously changes if the book is bought in quantity or is remaindered.
An uncorrected proof isn't necessarily worth much. I bought one once for $2.00 and the new bb was $30. I'd try $5.00-7.00 and see what happens.
