Price label suggestions for used books?

We're planning on opening a used bookstore in town here sometime early
in 2006 and have been collecting a decent inventory of used books for a
few weeks now. We're currently around 5k and growing, and ready to
begin processing them. About a third of our stock pre-dates bar coding.

We plan to maintain a decent inventory system with each and every book
cataloged (the list eventually to be made available online) and plan to
use a bar code system. We're looking for a decent way of labeling the
books. I've read some of the older messages in this group regarding
the use of price labels and writing the price in using pencil.

For us, writing the price on the very first page is not an option.
It's a system too easily beaten by a dishonest customer, and doesn't
allow for a the use of a bar code. I'd like to use a sticker, but that
poses a problem on collectible books. I thought about putting the
sticker on a 3x5 card inserted between the cover and first page, but am
afraid of the potential disaster of having them fall out on the floor
and get mixed up.

Plus, there are legal issues here in NYS when it comes to "shelf
labeling", (I don't know exactly what they would be) which basically
includes anything that does not have a price tag attached to it. Since
our stock is about 80% papaerback, my thinking at the moment is to
attach a small, (hopefully) easily removable price label on the back of
the book (over the bar code if one exists), and to use a sticker on a
3x5 card for all hardcovers and valuable paperbacks.

What does everyone feel that a happy medium would be? Am I on the
right track?

wrote:
...
For us, writing the price on the very first page is not an option.
It's a system too easily beaten by a dishonest customer, and doesn't
allow for a the use of a bar code. I'd like to use a sticker, but that
poses a problem on collectible books. I thought about putting the
sticker on a 3x5 card inserted between the cover and first page, but am
afraid of the potential disaster of having them fall out on the floor
and get mixed up.

Plus, there are legal issues here in NYS when it comes to "shelf
labeling", (I don't know exactly what they would be) which basically
includes anything that does not have a price tag attached to it. Since
our stock is about 80% papaerback, my thinking at the moment is to
attach a small, (hopefully) easily removable price label on the back of
the book (over the bar code if one exists), and to use a sticker on a
3x5 card for all hardcovers and valuable paperbacks.

I'm not sure why you think easily removable stickers or loose cards are
not as easily beaten by a dishonest customer as penciled-in prices.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
Believe those who are seeking the truth;
doubt those who find it. -Andre Gide

Why not write the price and bar code number in pencil on the first page for
the rare books?

Then the price will also be in your database - can't mess with that, and
book will be deleted from inventory when sold.

I don't know how this bar code numbering works, but I think some book
stores stick their "own numbers" and labels on both new and used books
(cover new book barcodes with their label so only their label will be
read).

If I was doing this, and also listing books for sale on the internet, I
would want to use some numbering system which would make it easy to find a
specific book. Someone buys a book on the internet, then you need to find
it. Maybe number each section in the store, then also use that number as a
portion of the barcode?

Might even want to re-think this looking up a specific title on a computer
in-store, then finding the book thing. For example the book Art of War by
Sun Tzu, which has been translated by several different people.

Well you look on the in-store computer and it says military section. Then
there are 3,000,000 books in the military section. Then they have these
books shelved alphabetical and it is by the translator's name, not the
author. So if you have 5 different Art of War books, they will not be next
to each other, but scattered throughout the military section.

One version of this book is Sun Tzu: Manual for War - by Kuo.
So is it under "T" for Sun Tzu?
Or under "M" for Manual?
Or under "K" for Kuo?
(And of course I am looking in the A's for Art of War because the store
does not have a sign saying how the books are shelved and I am not bright
enough to figure it out on my own.)

So might be a good idea to also assign numbers which specify the subsection
[Military Strategy] of a major section [Military] and a number to indicate
how it is shelved within that section [11 for "K" for Kuo] and by the
system used to shelve the book [say 2 for alphabetical by author].

So I go to in-store computer, search for Sun Tzu - computer says...
Title: Sun Tzu: Manual for War
Author: Kuo/Sun Tzu
Section: Military
Subsection: Military Strategy
Shelving System: Alphabetical by Author
Shelved using alphabetical letter: K

Well I could find Military, then Military Strategy, then look in the K's by
author and find that book with a quickness!

"Billy Bob" wrote in message
...
Why not write the price and bar code number in pencil on the first page
for
the rare books?

Then the price will also be in your database - can't mess with that, and
book will be deleted from inventory when sold.

AND....if anything IS missing, the seller's database will
pull up the title, author info anyway....revealing the true
pricing.

Kris
Never understood the used paperback business

How about this: if you have a shrink-wrapping machine (many sellers of
collectibles do), shrink-wrap the last cover page together with the
barcode/pricetag on a piece of cardboard.

Obviously, this works best for hard-cover books, but they are your main
concern anyway.

Kris Baker wrote:
Never understood the used paperback business
************************************************** *************
Used paperbacks are the greatest! Paperback reading is reserved for
plane rides, the beach, etc. Non thinking 'vacation' books that take
you away from reality. Why pay $7.50 for a book you will never read
again, if you can pay $3.00? They have trade-in bookstores in this
area, too. You take in 10 books, you choose 4 new ones. (New to you).
What could be better? :-)

"mbbbh" wrote in message
ups.com...

Kris Baker wrote:
Never understood the used paperback business
************************************************** *************
Used paperbacks are the greatest! Paperback reading is reserved for
plane rides, the beach, etc. Non thinking 'vacation' books that take
you away from reality. Why pay $7.50 for a book you will never read
again, if you can pay $3.00? They have trade-in bookstores in this
area, too. You take in 10 books, you choose 4 new ones. (New to you).
What could be better? :-)

Yeah, we have those....and I still can't imagine. Ever watch
someone read a softcover book? You know, they lick their
finger before turning every page. Yuck.

Where can you get a new hardback for $7.50? I just don't
like softies, I guess.

Kris

On 15 Aug 2005 21:54:35 -0700, wrote:

We're planning on opening a used bookstore in town here sometime early
in 2006 and have been collecting a decent inventory of used books for a
few weeks now. We're currently around 5k and growing, and ready to
begin processing them. About a third of our stock pre-dates bar coding.

We plan to maintain a decent inventory system with each and every book
cataloged (the list eventually to be made available online) and plan to
use a bar code system. We're looking for a decent way of labeling the
books. I've read some of the older messages in this group regarding
the use of price labels and writing the price in using pencil.

For us, writing the price on the very first page is not an option.
It's a system too easily beaten by a dishonest customer, and doesn't
allow for a the use of a bar code. I'd like to use a sticker, but that
poses a problem on collectible books. I thought about putting the
sticker on a 3x5 card inserted between the cover and first page, but am
afraid of the potential disaster of having them fall out on the floor
and get mixed up.

Plus, there are legal issues here in NYS when it comes to "shelf
labeling", (I don't know exactly what they would be) which basically
includes anything that does not have a price tag attached to it. Since
our stock is about 80% papaerback, my thinking at the moment is to
attach a small, (hopefully) easily removable price label on the back of
the book (over the bar code if one exists), and to use a sticker on a
3x5 card for all hardcovers and valuable paperbacks.

What does everyone feel that a happy medium would be? Am I on the
right track?


No, you're pretty much doomed. I anticipate a going out of business
sale in about three months.


Good luck!


John

"Kris Baker" wrote in message
...

Where can you get a new hardback for $7.50?


Try the penny sellers on Amazon Marketplace.


I just don't like softies, I guess.


I concur--to my mind, I'm not quite sure if they're really "books"--as I
once told a clueless eBay seller. But that does not stop them from being
useful--as a species of very convenient reading copy. Usually they are
easier to hold and carry--they didn't (don't?) call them pocket books for
nothing. You can read them at the pool or the lake or the beach without
fear. William Buckley once wrote that he reads them on planes and that
he'll tear off and discard the parts he had finished reading to lighten his
load. I've never done that--but I know what he means.

(This is not to denigrate collectors of PBOs and pulps--a first is a first
is a first--or chapbooks for that matter, the PBOs of an earlier era. I'm
talking about mass-market, grocery-store-checkout-aisle, airport-kiosk,
paperback-exchange softies.)


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com

"William M. Klimon" wrote in message
news:JzxMe.4857$TR.3534@lakeread08...
"Kris Baker" wrote in message
...

Where can you get a new hardback for $7.50?


Try the penny sellers on Amazon Marketplace.


I just don't like softies, I guess.


I concur--to my mind, I'm not quite sure if they're really "books"--as I
once told a clueless eBay seller. But that does not stop them from being
useful--as a species of very convenient reading copy. Usually they are
easier to hold and carry--they didn't (don't?) call them pocket books for
nothing. You can read them at the pool or the lake or the beach without
fear. William Buckley once wrote that he reads them on planes and that
he'll tear off and discard the parts he had finished reading to lighten
his load. I've never done that--but I know what he means.

(This is not to denigrate collectors of PBOs and pulps--a first is a first
is a first--or chapbooks for that matter, the PBOs of an earlier era. I'm
talking about mass-market, grocery-store-checkout-aisle, airport-kiosk,
paperback-exchange softies.)


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com

Oh, I know they have their place....and sometimes, the books I like
aren't even published in hardcover (travel guides for instance). But
there's NOTHING like opening a fresh hardback....and devouring it
page by crisp page. I don't care what happens to it when I'm done.
It's just part of the experience. (I'm not talking about "good" books
here.....or collectors copies. Just stuff from Amazon or B&N.)

Kris