Allan Adler wrote:
> Some Guy <noemailformethanks@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>
>> You'd have to have a library with a hefty collection of valuable books
>> that keep being put out for sale at low rates, where almost no one
>> except this bookseller comes and buys them, and the book sale is one
>> that allows the bookseller access within the time frame required by the
>> listing services for ****pping, which I believe is either 2 days or 3
>> days for Amazon.
>>
>> Valuable books tend to disappear from library sales much faster than
>> they are ordered online, but the returns from the eventual sale nearly
>> always makes it worthwhile to snap it up right away for the astute
>> seller. It's just too darn risky to do otherwise.
>
> I addressed the issue of access in my reply to your other posting, so
> let me focus on what you say about valuable books. The topic of valuable
> or, rather, very expensive books arose in this thread in connection with
> pricing strategies, and I don't really disagree with what was said about
that.
Always realizing that "valuable" and "expensive" are not quite the same
thing. "Vaulable" in this case implies a level of demand consistent
with the high price tag, whereas "expensive" simply means there is a
high price tag that might ultimately never result in a sale.
> But maybe that isn't what you are referring to. Maybe you just mean
books
> that one can sell for much more than the $2 one is likely to pay for
them
> at the booksale and which might really be in demand through Amazon. If
such
> a book actually comes along, I would agree that one should grab it. The
> 2-volume work of Kobaya**** and Nomizu on differential geometry,
absolutely,
> they should simply spend the $2 per volume and buy it.
Although this discussion started with Amazon in mind, keep in mind that
there are other online listing services which affect the total online
bookselling market.
> However, the books that this person was carefully going through and
checking
> against Amazon were just the ordinary kind of stuff that one finds at
library
> book sales. I think stuff like that tends to move more slowly. For the
most
> part, it is not qualitatively different from stuff one sees being sold
by
> sidewalk book vendors and their stuff doesn't seem to change much when I
look
> at their tables. Even there one does occasionally find some worthwhile
books:
> I found a student edition of Demosthenes in Greek and a copy of Liddell
and
> Scott and a book on Latin prose composition, all in reasonably good
shape,
> and took all the ones I didn't already own; but I buy books to read them
and
> to use them for reference, not to resell or collect them.
There are two other reasons why the person might have been checking what
looked like normal, not particularly valuable books besides making a
list of material he/she was going to list on line but store at the
library. In my opinion, one of these is more likely based on my
experiences:
A. The person was a newbie who does not have enough experience to
recognize valuable (or potentially valuable) books on sight and so was
being slow & methodical in learning what was what.
B. The person was checking for sleepers that booksellers might have
missed. No bookseller knows every valuable book in existence, and it
has happened that I've pulled good stuff from a library sale after the
other booksellers have been through it, but this has not been common and
has been limited to specific books in niche markets I knew from
experience would sell quickly and highly. I certainly could not sup****t
myself on such books since they happen along so rarely.
>>> Assuming there are some booksellers operating as I have described, it
>>> is quite possible that they are not very successful. It is also
possible
>>> that they are making enough money to make it worth their while.
>> The latter case probably happens about as often as winged monkeys make
>> their exit from one's nether regions. Having assisted a bookseller who
>> was hunting for inventory at library sales in the face of other
>> booksellers doing the same thing, I know that such a possibility is not
>> worth considering for someone who's planning on eating based on the
results.
>
> If you don't mind sharing your experiences, I'd like to know more about
> how the bookseller you assisted operated at library book sales, and how
> they operate in general at book sales.
Since she has passed away and her business is being sold off, I don't
see any reason not to. If I decide to enter the bookselling business
myself, my supply won't be based on library sales. Bear in mind that
these are MY experiences, not necessarily a universal manner in which
they operate, though I would be surprised at any significant and
widespread variance.
A good bookseller knows which libraries tend to end up with the best
donations and thus which ones are worth spending time exploring.
Usually each bookseller will have some area in which they have more
expertise and so will concentrate on such books, so among several
booksellers you'll usually have enough to cover the majority of
interests at the better library sales. Often, they will strive to be
one of the first ones in the door if they can to get first look at the
tables or shelves.
Depending on the bookseller's skill, they'll either quickly skim the
rows and pluck out the good stuff with dispatch, or where they're not
sure they will just grab things they think are worthwhile and make a big
pile, then go through and check them in more detail, either through
technology (e.g. laptops or Amazon scanners) or their own evaluation
where they don't trust a rapid glance enough. They will then return to
the library shelves or tables the books they have decided or discovered
are not worth buying.
>> Or one could go to a library sale after finding out who are the local
>> booksellers and seeing what is left over after they've picked the place
>> clean.
>
> I would recognize them by their laptops?
Well, some of them. Though I have to say that having an iPhone is now
going to make it even easier to pick out the good stuff in advance, but
also take some of the excitement out of the process. It'll also make it
even harder to find sleepers, as they can be looked up relatively easily
now.
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