Options to buy used books and sell rare books

Hi all,
Rare books, antique books or paperbacks, what is your story? How did
you get started?

wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Rare books, antique books or paperbacks, what is your story? How did
you get started?

I bought 200 boxlots full of books at an auction, and made
mistakes for the next two years.

On Feb 14, 10:57*pm, "Art Shiller" wrote:
I started out by distracting the store employees and then running out the
door with book in hand, but now my schemes are more elaborate.

Amateur - you should have had a book in both hands and several more in
your backpack!

I started out by distracting the store employees and then running out the
door with book in hand, but now my schemes are more elaborate.

wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Rare books, antique books or paperbacks, what is your story? How did
you get started?

wrote:
Hi all,
Rare books, antique books or paperbacks, what is your story? How did
you get started?


My mother was a book collector. Whenever there was a big sale (such as the
annual Smith College sale in Hartford, Connecticut, which took up an entire
armory or field house), she would take me. I was in my mid-teens (early '60s)
at the time. Then I watched as in her retirement she subscribed to AB Bookman's
Weekly and sent out quotes to sell books she had.


Francis A. Miniter

On Feb 15, 12:14*pm, "Francis A. Miniter"
wrote:

My mother was a book collector. *Whenever there was a big sale (such as the
annual Smith College sale in Hartford, Connecticut, which took up an entire
armory or field house), she would take me. *I was in my mid-teens (early '60s)
at the time. *Then I watched as in her retirement she subscribed to AB Bookman's
Weekly and sent out quotes to sell books she had.

How the used book business has changed in the intervening decades.
AB Bookman is gone and lamented.
Used book shops have pretty much gone the way of the buggy whip.
The internet has become the option of choice for the majority of
people seeking new and OOP books.

On Feb 15, 12:55*pm, RF wrote:
On Feb 15, 12:14*pm, "Francis A. Miniter"
wrote:

My mother was a book collector. *Whenever there was a big sale (such as the
annual Smith College sale in Hartford, Connecticut, which took up an entire
armory or field house), she would take me. *I was in my mid-teens (early '60s)
at the time. *Then I watched as in her retirement she subscribed to AB Bookman's
Weekly and sent out quotes to sell books she had.

How the used book business has changed in the intervening decades.
AB Bookman is gone and lamented.
Used book shops have pretty much gone the way of the buggy whip.
The internet has become the option of choice for the majority of
people seeking new and OOP books.

There are still a great many people
who don't equate enjoyable book browsing
means scrolling down lists of books on a computer
screen. However, it is certainly true that quite
a few used bookstores -- probably at least half
of those which were around in 2000 --in Southern
California have gone out of business. In many
cases, though, those stores were owned by
people who were computer-clueless and
not even on line. Being on-line and
well-informed of the internet book venues is
no guarantee of used bookstore success,
but it is absolutely necessary for a used
bookstore owner who wants to stay in business.
I don't patronize every bookstore in Southern
California, but the ones I do visit nowadays
are run by intelligent, on-line people.
Anyway, I would certainly agree that used
bookstores which are not on-line have "gone
the way of the buggy whip," at least in this
region.

[Memo from the upstairs office.]

On Feb 16, 1:10*am, Bill wrote:

Anyway, I would certainly agree that used
bookstores which are not on-line have "gone
the way of the buggy whip," at least in this
region.

Indeed.
The situation is the same here on Long Island.
Used bookstores which do not have an active online presence have all
closed up.
In the last 10-12 years more than half of the stores have closed up.
Buying online is fine when you know exactly what you want but how many
times has someone browsed thru a used bookstore and stumbled across a
volume they didn't know existed yet intigued them?

Gosh! I was in what was then called "Junior High" when I started to browse
in bookstores. For some unknown reason, I was interested in the American
Civil War and started gathering books on that topic. Soon after came C.S.
Forester and Hornblower, which progressed towards first editions.

By the time I was older, annual trips to London were necessary to visit
Bertran Rota and other dealers in modern first editions. Remember the days
when you had to write a real letter and send it off in the mail to contact
the English booksellers? Could "84 Charring Cross Road" happen with e-mail?

Willow

Willow Arune wrote:

Gosh! I was in what was then called "Junior High" when I started to browse
in bookstores. For some unknown reason, I was interested in the American
Civil War and started gathering books on that topic. Soon after came C.S.
Forester and Hornblower, which progressed towards first editions.

By the time I was older, annual trips to London were necessary to visit
Bertran Rota and other dealers in modern first editions. Remember the days
when you had to write a real letter and send it off in the mail to contact
the English booksellers? Could "84 Charring Cross Road" happen with e-mail?

Willow



Ah, you bring back memories. In the early 70s, I had an account at Blackwell's
and ordered by letter. It was so civilized then. In particular, I remember
buying Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae; Augustine, De Civitate Dei; and
Gommes's Commentary on Thucydides from them. I still have them all.


Francis A. Miniter