Are there people who won't buy from Alibris?

"John Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in
message ...
R. Totale wrote:

I'd feel embarassed and petty to be taking up a bookseller's time
playing phone tag and talking on the phone to ask for a 5% discount,
if the book cost less than a few hundred dollars. Especially if I then
intended to pay with a credit card, knocking another few percent off
his take.

Just a quibble. You don't need to phone the seller in order to do this.
All
you have to do is click on the ABE "ask seller a question" link and handle
the whole matter via e-mail.

Except for very cheap books, I always "ask the seller" exactly how he or she
would like me to proceed with the sale. Sometimes I get a discount just for
being such a nice guy (the suckers!) grin If I've found a book I want at a
price I think is good, I'm not going to ruin the experience by asking for
5%, even if I'm likely to get it.

As for Alibris, I have no axe to grind with them, but perhaps because I shop
around, I have never purchased anything through them.

---Mike
http://www.booktouronline.com

Mike Berro wrote:

Except for very cheap books, I always "ask the seller" exactly how he or
she
would like me to proceed with the sale. Sometimes I get a discount just
for
being such a nice guy (the suckers!) grin If I've found a book I want at
a
price I think is good, I'm not going to ruin the experience by asking for
5%, even if I'm likely to get it.

As for Alibris, I have no axe to grind with them, but perhaps because I
shop
around, I have never purchased anything through them.

Ditto me on pretty much all of that, Mike!

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

"John Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in message ...

Just a quibble. You don't need to phone the seller in order to do this. All
you have to do is click on the ABE "ask seller a question" link and handle
the whole matter via e-mail.

That's the way I tend to do it--if for no other reason than to make
sure the book is still in stock. Then I generally make sure the book
will be shipped in a box, and not one of those useless padded
envelopes.

Jim

michael adams

it might be suggested that
it's in the interests of TomFolio members to hassle ABE dealers as much
as possible by requesting discounts etc at every oppportunity.

For many years, it was simply a given that most other, legitimate US dealers
got a 20 percent discount, and reciprocated (I think it was 10 percent in the
UK). That's been winnowed to 10 percent for a lot of Internet transactions, but
unless a book is listed very cheaply in the first place, I always inquire as to
whether a reciprocal discount is offered. Lawrence has his stock listed on
TomFolio and on his own website -- i.e., it's available for me to browse at any
time -- so it's not at all out of line for him to ask about discounts, and it
would be chintzy of me not to offer one.

Bob Riedel
Print Matters! Used & Rare Books
http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat

Mike Berro wrote:
"John Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in
message ...
R. Totale wrote:

I'd feel embarassed and petty to be taking up a bookseller's time
playing phone tag and talking on the phone to ask for a 5% discount,
if the book cost less than a few hundred dollars. Especially if I then
intended to pay with a credit card, knocking another few percent off
his take.

I agree. I'll only ask for a discount if I am making an offer for a
book that I think is "stale" stock for the dealer and I feel it is
overpriced for the current market. [I've only done this a few times.]
Otherwise, I just find the best deal listed or wait til the copy/price
I want shows up.

....

Except for very cheap books, I always "ask the seller" exactly how he or she
would like me to proceed with the sale. Sometimes I get a discount just for
being such a nice guy (the suckers!) grin If I've found a book I want at a
price I think is good, I'm not going to ruin the experience by asking for
5%, even if I'm likely to get it.

Just as being a friendly and nice dealer has benefits, being a friendly
and nice customer has benefits too (besides karma). I usually offer to
send a check (stating that I expect to wait an extra 10 days)
or use a credit card (or paypal) and let the dealer choose
(some want to save the fees and others want the fast/easy credit
card transaction).

Most of the time it doesn't change the price or service, but at a
minimum it makes for a smooth transaction. Since I state
things like holding the check, expected shipping time for media
mail, etc., I save an extra round of correspondence.

Once in a while being friendly has a benefit - extra nice service,
being remembered the next time one buys from a dealer, friendship,
being treated like an old friend when travels bring you into the store.


As for Alibris, I have no axe to grind with them, but perhaps because I shop
around, I have never purchased anything through them.

A long time ago I stopped taking it personally. I just judge the
transaction for total cost/risk/benefit. For Alibris, the lack of
direct contact with the seller is a big negative for me. I've only
bought through them once.

I was looking for a reading copy of a book that usually sold for
hundreds of dollars in decent shape. After watching for it for a long
time, a copy showed up on Alibris for about ten dollars with a vague
description making it impossible to judge the real condition or the
edition/printing. I expected a reading copy and got a grade better.

As many have stated - you can almost always find the same copy
on another listing service for a nickle more; the one time I
bought through Alibris, the book didn't show up anywhere else.


Brian

In article ,
"michael adams" wrote:

Sorry John, I should have said he's talking from the perspective of a
dealer who's locked in to TomFolio, a co-operative listing service,
and direct competitor to ABE. Locked in the extent of having to
commit to buying a $500 share in the co-operative, admittedly in
instalments if necessary, in order to list on the site, at broadly
similar rates to ABE.*

I see that there is simply no end to your ignorance. It is as deep as a well and
as wide as a church door.

While you CAN buy a co-op share of TomFolio if you so desire, YOU ARE NOT
REQUIRED TO DO SO. I did not; I merely pay a monthly flat listing fee, and no
commission. I am "locked in" to nothing. Indeed, I am considerably less
"locked-in" than someone who refuses to look beyond ABE's ever-shrinking pool of
dealers for books. I don't deal with "book services" as such, I deal with the
dealers who list on them. ABE could go bankrupt tomorrow (certainly they seem to
be trying hard to do that) and it would hardly affect me at all, as the dealers
I deal with would move to a new service with nary a ripple.

In any case, I see no further profit in letting your trolling and pro-ABE
shilling take up your valuable time. If you want to pay more money to ABE than
necessary, don't let me stop you. I'll continue to ask for (and receive) the
discount, and encourage others to do so.