posted on April 2, 2001 11:31:47 AM
The other day I wondered if one of our members was able to "beat the storekeeper" in finding bargains at the used bookstore. I asked that because it usually seems to me that the bookstores are already asking near top dollar on most books, so I wouldn't pay cash. Instead, I take in books I scrounge to get credit to buy books.
Lately, though, I did get some good deals, meaning I sold on ebay for a lot more than the price sticker on the books in the store. The store I use has a certain method. They hire early-20somethings to run the place, and give them a secret book for pricing items brought in by customers. Mostly, they give credit worth 1/4 the jacket price. They pass on most things over 10 years and put them in a Free bin where I've scored some wonderful items.
But sometimes they keep and put out such books for around $2-3. Like the hardcover book on African cichlids that just closed on ebay for $24. I just wish I knew other categories in the store well enough to spot the "cichlids" because I've pretty much tapped out the saleable stuff in the categories I do know!
posted on April 2, 2001 12:00:17 PMKeziak - I can usually do it pretty well - most of the UBS around here base their prices on the cover - I have one place that is great for vintage stuff - if the cover price is under $3, they charge 50 cents. Above $3 - the price is $1 - I don't trade here because it's cheap enough to buy from directly. I spent $3 there two days ago and have already made $20 with buy-it-nows.
There is another place that I trade with, but her prices are pretty reasonable and she loves me because I trade for the older stuff - she gets the newer fiction and I get the classics that go way higher than the new stuff. It's kind of hit or miss, but after 6 months, I'm much better at picking the winners. (Some have to list twice, but most everything sells.) I admit a lot of my stuff also goes for the small $ - but that keeps me going until I can hone my skills for the ones that go higher. There are 3 books that I've sold multiple times - all bought at UBS's. The first one sold for $12, $17, and $25. The second one has sold for $19 and $22. The third $7.99 (low buy it now - didn't realize it would be a hit) $12 and $15. These are all mass market paperback fiction.
So you can find the deals. I would be happy to share info with you if you are interested....my email is [email protected]
posted on April 2, 2001 01:20:04 PM
Gosh, what pumpkin patch are these used bookstores in? No offense intended, but the bookstore owners around here are quite sophisticated. They are ALL on eBay and ABE, Bibliofind, etc. They would laugh themselves silly at the idea of basing the price on the cover price. (Boy, I'd like to buy a HOUSE from your booksellers, based on its 1970 asking price!) This is not to say I have never gotten a good deal at one of these stores, but it takes entirely too much time to hunt through the whole store to find the few bargains. I wish I lived where you guys do!
posted on April 2, 2001 01:29:05 PM
birdwatcher: we have 2 stores in town. One of them is like what you describe. The guy, who is very nice, knows his values and also sells on the internet so nothing very great is on his shelves. For some reason he carries a lot of musty/dusty stock, by which I mean stale popular medicine and truly old/boring home repair stuff. I pretty much depleted his stock of old & interesting a long time ago.
The place I described above isn't run by knowledgeable people [hence, the 20-somethings who work there, I guess, for the secondhand CD's]. They do get a steady stream of brand-new hardcover Non-Fiction books which sell well for me, which I get by trading in el-cheapo paperback romances I find around town. In many cases, charging half-cover price for 2-5 year old hardcovers is way overcharging, hence the books sit. It's truly "bookselling for idiots" there.
posted on April 2, 2001 01:47:17 PM
Ah, BOOKSELLING FOR IDIOTS, now that is one idea I can really relate to at the moment. I just asked at Ebay, and have yet to be able to find out about this book. Would anyone happen to just have a copy of Tennessee the Volunteer State laying around? I found a copy for sale at Half, which sounds kind of like mine. I keep finding similiar copies, not exact. Everyone keeps telling me this is by Bill Harris, but his name isn't on the book, tho it is Cresent Printing. The name Suzi Forbes is on the DJ, spine, etc. It states inside it was printed in Spain. The most similiar book found looks like maybe an earlier edition...this one by Cresent has the letters h g f e d c b a. Is this not a notation for a first edition? It has 1987, is later than other editions I've found. I would sure appreciate it if someone could post a scan of the cover or inside info page of theirs!
posted on April 2, 2001 01:57:01 PM
I routinely purchase items in used bookstores for resale—in fact, perhaps half of my sales for the past several months have been comprised of these purchases. This past week I visited two used bookstores, one I visit on average two or three times a month (and always buy several books at) and another I’d never been to before. The one I hadn’t been to before was primarily an antique dealer, and his books were housed in a darkened, seemingly neglected corner of his store. Sort of a sideline, I guess. By the way, I do this on a weekly basis—that is, I visit a small group of retail outlets regularly and also seek out at least one new store, whether it be a bookstore, antique shop, thrift store, etc., and I’m not afraid to drive 50 or more miles. On this trip I purchased a total of 25 books between the two stores and spent $60.34, or an average of $2.41 per book. The most expensive book was $7.95, the least expensive $1.00. My total time invested in driving and searching was approximately 3½ hours. Using my previously discussed method (in BOOKSELLING FOR IDIOTS) of looking up my purchases on a search engine and eBay and discarding anything I don’t believe I can make at least a $10 profit on, I tossed aside a book on rock climbing I thought might do well but later discovered was a hopelessly common title, selling online in the $6 to $14 range, and kept the remaining 24 for listing on eBay. I did keep one of the dogs (four copies of which recently went begging for bids and another which sold only for a few dollars) to attempt to measure how effective my current presentation and listing strategy is. If this book sells at all or at worst gets a sizable number of hits, I’ll consider it a victory. A year ago my percentage of keepers would have been much lower, doubtless less than 50%, but my nose has become keener with practice. These books have been listed for five or six days now, all at opening bids of $9.99, and so far have accumulated bids and BIN amounts totaling $274.73. The Buy-It-Now purchases total $119.00 on 3 books. 12 of the remaining 21 items have bids. In order to realize my desired profit, I’ll need to gross at least $300.34 at closing. We’ll see.
Even though I do this kind of thing time and again now and live in an area with many savvy bookstore owners, most of whom sell online as well, I’m not playing a game of “beat the storekeeper.” I’ve said this before in posts, and I’ll say it again: eBay is not the same venue as brick & mortars, nor is it the same as online venues (ABE, Bibliofind, etc.), and the sooner one recognizes this, the sooner one can begin to profit from the difference. I guess I’ll need to think some on how much I should get into specifics about what to look for, but at least I can say with utter certainty that this is doable, and sometimes just knowing something is doable is enough motivation to figure out how it’s done. You can purchase part of your inventory this way—NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE—and the next time you spend an entire weekend driving to estate sales, garage sales, etc., and come up empty handed, remember that there are hundreds of thousands of quality books sitting on shelves in bookstores waiting to be purchased at your leisure.
posted on April 2, 2001 04:39:37 PM
Bibliophile - I know it's true, the big challenge/learning curve is getting it to work consistently. Like that cichlid book, it just SPOKE to me when I saw it on the shelf, and it spoke the truth. I would have paid $3 real money for that one.
But there are so many areas that I don't have the correct radar for yet [like biography]. I still feel more comfortable at library booksales where the goods go for $1-$3. I spent $60 at one on Friday, by the end of the weekend had my money back by sales on half and Amazon, so anything more will be gravy, such as books I am listing this week on ebay. I basically took everything they had in dog books, and some sweet books they were, too.
BTW, I am continuing to act on your advice to set higher minimums, and I am happy to report that so far I am very pleased with the results. My no-sale ratio has bumped up a bit lately, but I'm not doing the same work for $3 sales now.
posted on April 2, 2001 05:44:38 PM
Great ideas here. When I started ebay a few years ago , I started selling my own books and now am constantly looking at used book stores and thrift stores. I do tend to buy items outside books but always come back to books! It seems in my very small town ( rural area) that everyone is doing what I am doing lately but there are still bargains to be had. I was in an accident and am still unable to drive to my job ( quite a distance away) so I miss ( not my job) but looking at my favourite haunts for books on my lunch break!
However, with 10,000 items my problem is : I spend too much time looking! and reading these boards and not enough time listing. Thanks for all your ideas. ( especially the one about discarding any books not worth more than $ 3.00~ saves me time and energy) Suz23
posted on April 2, 2001 06:39:56 PM
We don't really have any privately owned used book stores in our area. A new Half Price Books opened about 30 miles away and I am amazed by their apparent lack of knowledge of books.
They have many shelves of "collector" books that are anything but. On their "regular" shelves I have made a few good buys. Last week they had a 20% off sale. I bought a $2.00 clearance book for $1.60 and it sold for $27.00 yesterday!
I have also made a few good buys at antique malls especially from those dealers who just have a shelf or two of books as an afterthought. They usually have pretty arbitrary pricing since they don't want to take the time to research each title.
But I still have s-o-o-o-o much to learn about what sells and what doesn't. I just spent part of my afternoon boxing up my duds for a garage sale!
posted on April 2, 2001 06:48:59 PM
Is there any tips any of you can give to find over $10 (resale) books through thrift stores? I have a supplier where I occasionally buy art books which net over $40 for me, but other than that I stick to what I know which are books that sell in the $5-10 range. I scanned on ebay and the one's selling for more are very old (pre 1930). Other than age I don't recognize any theme or logic. Is it just knowing rare titles?
posted on April 2, 2001 07:24:15 PM
Local bookstore fat turkey owner spends as much time on ABE as he does eating. I found 2 books in Swedish about orrefors glass for $2 each hidden deep in the dusty bins. Searched them on ABE an hour later, returned to bookstore and bought them and they brought $240 on ebay.
posted on April 2, 2001 11:39:43 PM
I'm still testing and experimenting with the Ebay market but so far I've discovered a few 'secrets'. First, as a consumer book buyer I've searched out and bought a ton of hard-to-find books in the past. Usually my search would start because I read a recommendation for a certain book and find out that either: the book is OOP or the local Barnes & Noble doesn't carry it. So with that in mind I've found the best sellers for me on Ebay are non-fiction specialty topics like arts and crafts hobby books, auto repair manuals, geology books,
pet care books, any type of 'field guide', cookbooks, trade and occupation titles, cassette courses etc. These books may be dated but the info in them never goes stale.
Doesn't matter if a how to book on oil painting or playing the flute or repairing your 68 Mercedes is 20 years old...seems to still be a market for them.
Best supply sources so far: Library sales, thrift stores and the local Half-Price book store.
posted on April 3, 2001 04:06:08 AM
Tapetti - I agree with your assessment. Anything I've managed to find on how-to art has always been snapped up on Amazon or half. I don't think I've managed to get them on ebay at all! "how-to" is the way to go, and that includes anything with an "angle" for someone. I don't personally find the "collectible" angle as reliable [at least, stuff to do with antiques].
I also find fiction simply a mystery. I have a few nice hardcovers here by name authors. There are tons of copies on half and Amazon, but I took a look at ebay anyway. Lots of copies, some for 1sts like mine. But the prices make no sense! IN one case, a copy didn't sell for $2.99, but on another auction an ex-library went for over $10. Maybe it's the descriptions, most were barely there. Or the timing. As I say, it just doesn't click with me, feels like more of a crap-shoot than a good old dog breed book.
posted on April 3, 2001 10:19:45 AM
A few tips on what to look for (and not look for) for eBay-ONLY resale items in used bookstores:
1. Think like a collector or hobbyist—in other words, look for what they would look for, especially seemingly unrelated titles. Collector’s often have deep pockets, and even if they don’t, they’re sometimes mired in a I’ve-got-to-have-that-no-matter-what frame of mind. It’s a great market if you develop a nose for it. EXAMPLE: If you build & collect model combat ships, you certainly would look in the hobbies section of the store, but you’d also be vitally interested in the military section and would seek out books with numerous photographs of ships (so as to help you replicate insignia, colors, etc.). The Combat Fleets Of The World series are fairly common and often don’t realize much in eBay’s collectibles/militaria category, but they sing a different tune in the toys&hobbies/models category. They’re much more appealing to bidders in this context.
2. Do thinking FOR the collector or hobbyist. Go one step further and use your imagination. EXAMPLE: In the days when I refused to give up on listings, no matter how worthless a book was, I relisted a tiny book of art reproductions three or four times in the obvious categories (art, etc.) without any success, but it wasn’t until it occurred to me that a dollhouse collector might have use for some miniature prints (and, in turn, I listed it in the dollhouse category with an appropriate presentation) that I was able to attract multiple bidders and sell it for a price four or five times its typical value.
3. Look for obviously scarce items. There’s an important difference between “rare” and “scarce.” In order to be rare an item must not only exist in few numbers but must also be in significant demand. Savvy bookstore owners often recognize rareness and price accordingly. In order to be scarce an item need only exist in few numbers, and in a brick & mortar location, these are almost always hard sells and therefore modestly priced. Not all scarce titles are salable on eBay but many are, simply because the potential buyers number in the millions, and consequently you’re likely to find a market for nearly anything. EXAMPLE: I recently sold a vintage, ho-hum booklet of recipes for a good price simply because it was published by a specific school system. In the listing I emphasized the geographical location, and it sold to a collector who specialized in these books.
4. Unless you truly know what you’re doing, stay the hell away from fiction and poetry. (Biography too, keziak, because it’s “fiction-like” in the sense of being aimed at a story-reading, shallow-pocketed audience.) My thinking here is, why endlessly pan for gold in a near-depleted stream bed when you can step across the aisle and sink a shovel into the mother lode? NON-FICTION is the ticket. Time is the most precious thing you have.
5.…
I’m going to stop here because it’s probably not prudent to give away the farm, but these few tips will be enough to get anyone started. If you’re persistent, I’m certain you’ll be pleased with the results. Good luck.
posted on April 3, 2001 10:31:52 AM
OK, well you convinced me!
Our local thrift stores always have books. And we have a TON of thrift stores. Most sell their books for 10 cents to $5. I think I'll have to give it a try!
posted on April 3, 2001 10:33:26 AM
By the way, the current totals on the 24 listings I mentioned above are:
$326.21 in bids and BIN amounts (which exceeds the minimum profit I was seeking). Also, 16 of the 21 non-BIN items now have bids with about 4 days remaining.
posted on April 3, 2001 11:08:49 AM
luvmy2bears - good luck and happy hunting! It's worth taking a double look at Bibliophile's advice about making a list THEN going back to buy. Some of the books will be gone, but better that than spend real money on the dogs. A quick check of ebay will tell the tale. I learned that the "John Grisham" way when I first started out. Surely a nice hardcover by him would sell? Oops, except 500 million other people have the same idea.
My latest thrift shop story: I was in Salvation Army, finding nothing as I do half the time [it's the other half that keeps me checking back]. In a grungy box away from the bookshelves was 4 books titled "Automobile Quarterly." Then I noticed a whole huge STACK of them on a top shelf. Hmmm. I decided to buy a set of 4 [one year] and brought them home. Sales are decent on ebay, seems like good potential for the near-$10 profit margin. So I went back and bought the rest. That was a $40 trip, so wish ME luck on ebay now! ; - )
posted on April 3, 2001 11:22:46 AM
Another not so obvious one is specialty catalogs....especially for model car etc hobbyist....I sold three of them from the 70's - all hit above $20.
posted on April 3, 2001 11:54:31 AM
I still say it DOES depend on where you live in some cases. I live in a small pathetic, LOL, area which boasts one Goodwill and one Salvation Army Thrift Store and two used bookstores owned by the same family. The used bookstore sells online (not eBay) but I did manage to pick up a few good items here and there including a videotape they had in their clearance bin for $1.50 which I sold for $15.00.
The Goodwill does NOT replenish their shelves. The SAME books have been sitting there for at least 6 months.
I work at the Salvation Army Thrift Store and I can tell you that if you don't see the books on the shelf that sell it has NOTHING to do with the employees. We just don't get any good donated books anymore! It is the same type of books and the majority of the time they are religious or self-help books!
As for library book sales. Our libraries have stopped having them except for one library that decided not to do the conventional sale and instead put a "store" in their building where they have their "sales" for three days every month. That consists of books priced at book value or what they "think" they are worth. I went hoping to find some paperbacks to read myself and they didn't even have those anymore! Before they had an entire basement filled with them.
I don't sell on eBay anymore myself. It was getting to hard to find merchandise. Now I will let you all find the goodies and bid instead.
posted on April 3, 2001 12:06:45 PM
When I said it doesn't matter where you live, kiki, I assumed that it wouldn't bother an ambitious bookseller one bit to drive 50 or 100 miles or more to an urban area packed with stores--and spend the day there. There's a wonderful website--I'll look it up if anyone's interested--where you can look up used bookstores, thrift shops, etc., in any area of the country, complete with phone numbers and detailed directions. I was amazed at the number I found in my area that I had no previous knowledge of.
Also, I purchase some of my items online, which is a practice totally unaffected by your location, but this is a topic for another day.
posted on April 3, 2001 12:40:36 PM
I'd like that URL. Always interested in new leads. I live in a far suburb of Washington, DC, and this area is full of stores and sales, it's just hard for a newly SAH mom to get the time to go!
posted on April 3, 2001 01:59:53 PM
The website is www.smartpages.com, keziak. The two most productive categories for me are:
1. Book Dealers-Used & Rare
2. Thrift Shops.
I have a sister who lives in your area, actually more towards Baltimore, and I know from experience how rich that area is in used book stores. I envy you.
posted on April 3, 2001 03:20:26 PM
Bibliophile - yes, in fact the Washington Post just a couple of weeks ago ran a Friday Entertainment issue with a special article listing all the used book stores in the DC area. I kept it, of course, haven't really plotted any strategy for taking advantage of it. Thanks for the URL!
posted on April 3, 2001 06:57:54 PMBibliophile & Keziak, THANKS for being so helpful and sharing your tips with us neophytes. It's great to have such a positive thread here.
One more question, how much description of the book's content do you include? I usually have two or three short paragraphs outlining the contents. Plus, of course, a thorough description of the books condition. But I've noticed many book auctions mention very little about the contents.
posted on April 3, 2001 07:39:29 PM
I think many approaches work well, mapledr, but if somebody is putting up anything near serious money for a book, they'll usually need a good description of the condition, not to mention accurate publication data. Also, I try to demonstrate at least some knowledge of the book I'm selling. This doesn't need to be more than a line or two unless you've got something special going on. This breeds confidence in the buyer. Finally, the single most important thing you can do, in my opinion, is to use pictures, no less than 3 or 4 and sometimes up to 12. This not only gives the buyer something to look at (and fall in love with), but it's also an efficient method of supplying content information without the tedious labor of typing junk in. You can snap a picture of the table of contents, for example, a dust jacket blurb, and of course any illustrations which seem pertinent. These things speak volumes. It'd take, as the man said, thousands of words to duplicate what takes only a matter of seconds with a digital camera--and besides, no one wants to read a long description.
If you do much research on eBay, one of the first things you'll notice is that auctions which "mention very little about the contents" or have no attached images usually don't go anywhere.
posted on December 11, 2001 04:41:36 AM new
Hello,
Just want to post a BIG HEARTFELT THANK YOU to everyone that posted in this thread. I really pondered the advice & am now selling books (not on Ebay yet). But I'm doing far better then I did w/ my Ebay sales alone & can afford to spend more time w/ my family & still dabble in Ebay too.
No offense intended, but the bookstore owners around here are quite sophisticated. They are ALL on eBay and ABE, Bibliofind, etc. They would laugh themselves silly at the idea of basing the price on the cover price. (Boy, I'd like to buy a HOUSE from your booksellers, based on its 1970 asking price!) This is not to say I have never gotten a good deal at one of these stores, but it takes entirely too much time to hunt through the whole store to find the few bargains. I wish I lived where you guys do!