A collecting forum. CollectingBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CollectingBanter forum » Collecting newsgroups » Books
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Selling used book online- A Losing Proposition?!



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #71  
Old September 8th 03, 11:37 PM
MindElec
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 7 Sep 2003 20:15:28 GMT, (Jonathan Grobe)
declared:

In article , Htn963 wrote:

Yep, not bad at all for 10 minutes work at most , a few minutes to
evaluate and buy the book from my local source, a few minutes to wrap and send
them off.


I wish I knew how to spend only 10 minutes a book selling
books. Could I get some advice here? [When I estimate the
total amount of time I have spent on the book business in
a year and divide by the number of books sold it come up
to at least a half hour per book for me. Anyone else care to
give some some estimates of time per book sold?]


guessing i'd say 15-20 minutes per book, some longer.


robert

"I've been long, a long way from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos,
And drank til I was thirsty again
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo
And Benny Goodman's corset and pen"
Ads
  #72  
Old September 9th 03, 04:51 AM
Denise Enck
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 7 Sep 2003 20:15:28 GMT, (Jonathan Grobe)
declared:
I wish I knew how to spend only 10 minutes a book selling
books. Could I get some advice here? [When I estimate the
total amount of time I have spent on the book business in
a year and divide by the number of books sold it come up
to at least a half hour per book for me.


the same goes for me - I don't know exactly how much time, but definitely
more than 10 minutes.

Buying the book is one thing, and wrapping & sending is another, but there
is a lot of work before, & in between, having to do with advertising the
book for sale, dealing with customers, etc.

--time spent gaining knowledge so you know what books are worth buying.
Includes much time spent in research, studying catalogues, online book
databases, bibliographies, reading this newsgroup, etc.
--go on a book-scouting expedition (whether online, to a store, or other
place)
--hunt around until you find something of interest, that may be worth
purchasing for resale
--evaluate book
--buy book
--in preparation for listing the book for sale, carefully examine it to
determine the relevant information: author, title, publisher, date, pages,
binding, condition, edition, content, etc.
--do additional research if the book is unusual
--scan or photograph, if desired
--look up current asking prices (on ABE, in catalogues, etc) to arrive at a
price
--write book listing
--advertise book listings (online, in a catalogue, etc.)
--shelve the book. (& possibly, dust it, count it in inventory, etc.)
--answer queries about / orders for the book
--write up a bill of sale
--pack the book carefully
--drive to the post office

10 minutes? Maybe for some books, but not for most ~~
:-)

cheers ~
Denise








  #73  
Old September 9th 03, 06:14 PM
Brian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

(Jonathan Grobe) declared:

I wish I knew how to spend only 10 minutes a book selling
books. Could I get some advice here? [When I estimate the
total amount of time I have spent on the book business in
a year and divide by the number of books sold it come up
to at least a half hour per book for me.


Most of the disagreement about how much it costs to process
a book comes from how you allocate your fixed expenses.
If you view all sales as equal, then the cost of selling
the cheap book is high.
If you view the cheap book as an extra sale. (your core business
is the more expensive ones and the cheap book is extra and,
most importantly, does not hinder the sales of more expensive
books.), then you should only allocate incremental costs to the
cost of selling the cheap book.
Of the costs/time spent on selling a book, many would be
done anyway even if you gave up selling cheaper books.


Denise Enck wrote:
....
--time spent gaining knowledge so you know what books are worth buying.

Only a small amount of extra time will be spent learning about the
cheaper books. You would still have to do this to tell the cheap ones
from the expensive ones. The additional time is learning to tell the
the sellable from the deadwood.

--go on a book-scouting expedition (whether online, to a store, or other
place)
--hunt around until you find something of interest, that may be worth
purchasing for resale

Again - you do this anyway. (unless you start making extra trips for
the cheap books.)

--evaluate book

This one is completely attributable to the cost of selling a cheap
book, however, you won't be spending time determining points and
history, so the amount of time is much less. If you do research the
book extensively, it is because you suspect it is valuable; you would
do this even if you don't intend to sell cheaper books. If you put
it into the "donate" pile, then that time would be due to a mistake
and the cost should be attributed to the high priced books - not the
five dollar book when you sell it to recoup the cost of your mistake.


--buy book

Yes, only if you buy it as a cheap book to resell.
Not if it is a mistaken valuable book or the remainders of a
bulk purchase.

--in preparation for listing the book for sale, carefully examine it to
determine the relevant information: author, title, publisher, date, pages,
binding, condition, edition, content, etc.

Again (as with "evaluate" above), this is less for a cheap book.
If you do it thinking it is valuable, then the time is due to a
mistake you would make anyway.

--do additional research if the book is unusual

You don't bother doing this unless you think it is valuable.
Again, if it is a mistake, you would be doing it anyway - don't
blame the cheap book.

--scan or photograph, if desired

Most of the time you won't do this for a cheap book.
Sometimes, you will have to do this when requested by a
potential customer. This type of cost is often misjudged
- you remember that nightmare five dollar sale that took
two hours of work scanning, researching and corresponding,
but you forget the other sales that went smoothly.

--look up current asking prices (on ABE, in catalogues, etc) to arrive at a
price

Same as above for "evaluate" (is really part of "evaluate")

--write book listing

Yes, but it will be less time than describing the points of
a first edition or other features that make a book valuable.

--advertise book listings (online, in a catalogue, etc.)

small for the extra listing when it is your 8456th book.
(unless the cheap books kick you into the next cost bracket
for listings - then you can attribute those costs.)

--shelve the book. (& possibly, dust it, count it in inventory, etc.)

Definitely attributable - plus add storage costs if this means more
shelves or a bigger space due to selling the cheaper books.

--answer queries about / orders for the book

See "scan/photograph" above.

--write up a bill of sale

Yes

--pack the book carefully

Yes

--drive to the post office

You do this anyway - only include the extra time for extra packages.


10 minutes? Maybe for some books, but not for most ~~

10 minutes? Yes for most cheap books (you have to figure out
how many "nightmare" sales you get and decide if it is worth
it - both time and agrivation.)

Brian

  #74  
Old September 9th 03, 06:26 PM
Randy Burns
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Everything you say is correct Brian, however I personally sell these "cheap
books" for 9-11 dollars rather than for 5 or less. If I spot cheap books
that I don't personally want to read I just leave them for the next guy. If
I had a book store I would buy these books and price them at 3-5 dollars
apiece because your time factor is so much less, but I don't see the point
of selling them online. I will leave that activity to the "low-cost"
providers who wish to do it.

Randy

--

"Brian" wrote in message
...

Most of the disagreement about how much it costs to process
a book comes from how you allocate your fixed expenses.
If you view all sales as equal, then the cost of selling
the cheap book is high.
If you view the cheap book as an extra sale. (your core business
is the more expensive ones and the cheap book is extra and,
most importantly, does not hinder the sales of more expensive
books.), then you should only allocate incremental costs to the
cost of selling the cheap book.
Of the costs/time spent on selling a book, many would be
done anyway even if you gave up selling cheaper books.




  #75  
Old September 9th 03, 06:59 PM
Htn963
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Randy Burns" wrote:

Everything you say is correct Brian,


Indeed. Pomp and circumstances aren't warranted on all occasions.

however I personally sell these "cheap
books" for 9-11 dollars rather than for 5 or less.


$5 or *more*...in case I wasn't being clear to you.

If I spot cheap books
that I don't personally want to read I just leave them for the next guy. If
I had a book store I would buy these books and price them at 3-5 dollars
apiece because your time factor is so much less,


But you fixed overhead would be much more.

but I don't see the point of selling them online. I will leave that activity

to the "low-cost"
providers who wish to do it.


Versus the "high-cost" providers?

I like getting good value for my money and I take satisfaction in
providing the same to others. If you're in the bookselling business solely
for profits then you're really missing the point; there are many more
profitable commodities to make a living with.
--
Ht

|Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore
never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
--John Donne, "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions"|
  #77  
Old September 9th 03, 09:02 PM
Randy Burns
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I think most booksellers are in the business because they enjoy putting a
really good book into the hands of someone who will appreciate it. There
are other considerations, but the above is what makes it worth while. You
have to know something extra about books and have enough love for them to
put some extra work into the most interesting books you find in order to do
that. That type of work is what some of us want to do.

Sure only some booksellers can be said to really add something to the books
they handle by virtue of their expertise, but if you have ever worked with
such a bookseller or even purchased from such a bookseller you would know
that it is a really valuable service and well worth paying for.

My personal advice to book buyers and collectors has always been the same,
buy from highly specialized dealers and from the junk shop, visit the thrift
stores and the fine shop down the street, go to the sales and the auctions,
go everywhere and buy everywhere and in the long run you will benefit. Most
people who do that will value all the places they buy books at, including
the specialist dealers and the fancy book shop, all these sources are
worthwhile.

Randy

--

"Htn963" wrote in message
...

I like getting good value for my money and I take satisfaction in
providing the same to others. If you're in the bookselling business

solely
for profits then you're really missing the point; there are many more
profitable commodities to make a living with.



  #78  
Old September 10th 03, 11:57 AM
Htn963
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Scot Kamins wrote:

It seems to me that the discussion is not about profit, but more about
the negation of loss.


It seems to *me* that some of these claimed "losses" are bogus. I have
no problem with people who just frankly say that they'd rather charge more for
their time.

Certainly if you're in business, one can assume
that you're there to make profit.

"We're here to make friends, not money"


I'm not necessarily interested in making friends, just to treat people
like how I want to be treated. But if along the way I do make friends, then
gravy.

may be an interesting motto for
the well-heeled retireé who has a shop in the neighborhood because he
likes to be in the neighborhood;


One out of three. Guess which one.

but it doesn't work if you're trying to

pay the rent.

Ah, yes, sometimes the mission to share the joy of reading and making a
living is incompatible.

I say this tongue-in-cheek because I am not any do-gooder with illusions
of increasing literacy in the world; but still, as I've said, there are many
better ways in the world of business "to pay the rent" than to grossly
overcharge on books.

Some may think it a tragedy, but it shouldn't be a great surprise that
The Borders and Barnes&Nobles chains have taken over the majority of book
retail selling from the mom-and-pops bookstores because they could offer a
wider selection at a much better value. Now, if only they would put a few cats
in their stores and open shop all night like a few eclectic, still surviving
small stores in my area, it'd be perfect..

--
Ht

|Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore
never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
--John Donne, "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions"|
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FA: 2-Days, WWI Battlefields of the Marne Book in DJ, c. 1917 fishnet531 General 0 July 6th 04 02:18 AM
Book signing information Ted Kupczyk Autographs 6 November 2nd 03 03:04 PM
Da Book Michael Oates Pens & Pencils 13 September 16th 03 12:44 AM
autographs dani.steiner General 0 July 19th 03 06:08 AM
Reducing Autograph Collection dani.steiner Autographs 0 July 16th 03 02:29 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CollectingBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.