I admit defeat....

I admit defeat. Although I sold about 40 books on ABE last year (out
of a total stock of 200 books listed) I made (after calculating
expenses) a grand total of 17 dollars. The biggest expense that cut
into my profits was the 360 dollar a year "rent" I paid to ABE. So my
question is: what is the most cost-efficient way to list my books
on-line these days? (besides e-bay.)

Should I set up my own web-site? If I do, would my stock be easily
accessible?

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.


Jonathan

fundoc wrote:
"Jonathan" wrote in message
oups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

I tried that once....but I couldn't learn
bass clef.

jb

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:31 GMT, "fundoc"
wrote:


"Jonathan" wrote in message
roups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

You kidding? Violists get all the half-note parts and get paid the
same. Stick with the fiddle.

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.

"Bud Webster" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:31 GMT, "fundoc"
wrote:


"Jonathan" wrote in message
roups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

You kidding? Violists get all the half-note parts and get paid the
same. Stick with the fiddle.

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.



What do you get if you throw a piano into a coal mine?

Bud Webster wrote:
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:31 GMT, "fundoc"
wrote:


"Jonathan" wrote in message
roups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

You kidding? Violists get all the half-note parts and get paid the
same. Stick with the fiddle.

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.

Thank you for that, Bud...and do you know the range of a viola?

40 yards if you have a strong right arm.

But enough musicology. I would still
like to know how to make more than 17 bucks a year selling
books. 17 bucks won't even buy me a good set of viola strings...

I guess the question I'm getting at is this:

Is the day coming (or is it already here) when I will be able to list
my books on my own web-site, and have those books be easily accessible

to online searches? I thought "Froogle" does this sort of thing...but
I just searched for some of my stock on Froogle, and Froogle didn't
find them. It did find the same books listed on Biblio. com.

Does this mean I should switch my business to Biblio.com?

Or should I close up shop and practice my viola full time?

TIA etc,

Jonathan

On 10 Apr 2005 19:07:14 -0700, "Jonathan" wrote:


Bud Webster wrote:
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:31 GMT, "fundoc"
wrote:


"Jonathan" wrote in message
roups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

You kidding? Violists get all the half-note parts and get paid the
same. Stick with the fiddle.

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.

Thank you for that, Bud...and do you know the range of a viola?

40 yards if you have a strong right arm.

But enough musicology. I would still
like to know how to make more than 17 bucks a year selling
books. 17 bucks won't even buy me a good set of viola strings...

I guess the question I'm getting at is this:

Is the day coming (or is it already here) when I will be able to list
my books on my own web-site, and have those books be easily accessible

to online searches? I thought "Froogle" does this sort of thing...but
I just searched for some of my stock on Froogle, and Froogle didn't
find them. It did find the same books listed on Biblio. com.

Does this mean I should switch my business to Biblio.com?

Or should I close up shop and practice my viola full time?

TIA etc,

Jonathan


ABE is hardly worth it for 200 books, unless these are sought-after
speciality items. eBay is your friend (assuming that your stock is
comprised of "A" or "B" books. Google for my post on "A", "B" and "C"
books. ;-) Basically, if what you have are "C" or "D" books, anything
other than a storefront in a heaviliy travelled area or on-line sales
at rock-bottom prices are doomed to failure.

Right now I'm looking with loathing at a stack of Piers Anthony and
Loren Estleman titles that top out at around $35.00 each. I really
can't be bothered to list them, but I don't want to lug them to the
new house either... Sometimes you just wind up with stuff like this by
accident. ;-(


Cheers,

John

"Matalog" wrote...
"Bud Webster" wrote in message...

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.

What do you get if you throw a piano into a coal mine?

A new Philip Glass composition.


--
Jon Meyers
(To reply, lose
your way)

"Jonathan" wrote in message
ups.com...


I guess the question I'm getting at is this:

Is the day coming (or is it already here) when I will be able to list
my books on my own web-site, and have those books be easily accessible

to online searches? I thought "Froogle" does this sort of thing...but
I just searched for some of my stock on Froogle, and Froogle didn't
find them. It did find the same books listed on Biblio. com.

Does this mean I should switch my business to Biblio.com?

Or should I close up shop and practice my viola full time?


Froogle doesn't actually search for your books. First you need a website,
and then you need to provide a feed to Froogle. There are a few rules, such
as that your website must be able to accept credit cards, and every item
needs an item number and must have a unique url. I didn't have much trouble
creating the feed (just a txt file) from my own database. On the other hand,
as far as I know, I've never yet had a visitor from Froogle visit my site,
although I get visitors from Google and many other search engines all the
time.


Alice

--
Book collecting terms illustrated. Occasional books for sale.
http://www.mywingsbooks.com/

"Matalog" wrote in message
...
"Bud Webster" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:31 GMT, "fundoc"
wrote:


"Jonathan" wrote in message
roups.com...

I am not a man of business. I am a viola player. Any advice is
appreciated.

Take up the cello.

You kidding? Violists get all the half-note parts and get paid the
same. Stick with the fiddle.

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.



What do you get if you throw a piano into a coal mine?




Ab Minor

(A Flat Miner)



Although it's somewhat less of a sophisticated answer than your guesses.

"John A. Stovall" wrote...
"Jon Meyers" wrote:

"Matalog" wrote...
"Bud Webster" wrote in message...

Hey, Jonathan, you know what "perfect pitch" is? That's when you get
the banjo into the dumpster without hitting the sides.

What do you get if you throw a piano into a coal mine?

A new Philip Glass composition.

No, it would be more in the style of John Cage. Glass's music is very
structured and formal. I can tell you don't listen to Glass.

You're right, of course, on both counts (or all three, depending on how you
count). Shoot from the hip and poor aim is the usual result. sigh


--
Jon Meyers
(To reply, lose
your way)