Used and Rare

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2010-08-18T08:07:00.001-07:00

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Rare Books on Outdoors Subjects...

2010-04-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Books on "outdoors" subjects...hunting, fishing, climbing...or anything odd or unusual are sometimes very high priced...especially if they are privately printed...or from a very small publisher...

I sold one of these books yesterday for $100 +.... These odd titles frequently have a following...even if its local to a very small part of a state...or very regional.

There are "serious collectors" of almost every subject you can think of....and the smaller the publisher and scarcer the title the better...

I will frequently buy a book "on spec" if the topic is right...and the publisher is very small and regional...

Morman Books highly collectible...

2010-04-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

I found a large cache of Mormon Books at a sale this weekend... These are books that I look for... Because they sell at fairly high prices... Especially if they are older, small printings...and are now out of print...

Some of these books are absurdly high priced on line... I usually "low ball" a scarce book if I did not pay that much for it...just to move it... I'm more than willing to leave some money on the table...if I can find one buyer willing to pay a fair price...

Many of these Mormon books were printed locally in the Salt City City region...

Some of the books I acquired yesterday were from the Kimball Family library... They had the Kimball's embossed stamp on them... Kimball was the president of the Latter Day Saints... Some of the books were inscribed by the authors to Kimball...these are especially interesting... Most were on esoteric aspects of Mormon life or Religion...

Many Mormans are avid book collectors...and I'm sure many of these books will be sent back to Utah...eventually. Sam Weller's bookstore in Salt Lake has a large rare book operation that includes many Mormon books...

How these books get out of Utah is a real question... But Mormons do travel on missions...and Mormon collectors are found in every state...and overseas... So finding a large collection of Mormon books outside of Utah is not that rare...

Today's selling... #1

2010-04-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

A vintage cookbook on crepes... A pamphlet from the Zuni area of Arizona...A book on the History of American Courtship (dating)...to a university library in Nebraska...

Cookbooks will sell..the more specialized the better... Although this sale surprised me as it was a older book...

Pamphlets from various national monuments and parks...and other similar ephemera...do have a following... this booklet when to the East coast...not the the Southwest...

The History of Courtship to a small university library...is typical of library purchase of an odd titles and out of print book...with some unique social content...

Back to Used and Rare...

2010-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've been off Used and Rare for sometime... Mainly tied up with other blogs and with my on-line book selling...

Then I lost the email address and the password...both...! And had to search for some clues among my papers...

Finally found the things I needed to restart this blog...

Have about 8000 books for sale on Amazon now...and shooting for 10,000 this year...then I want to cull the pile to get rid of some of the dregs...and not go over 10,000 if possible...

Better to have 10,000 good books...than just a general inventory of margin listings....

How to search for "lost books" in your on-line inventory.

2008-03-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have a hard time finding a book in my inventory...I quickly assume that there is something "tricky" about this book.

It's "hiding" from me for some reason.

I just finished a longish search for a large tradepaper book that I "knew" had a black cover...

OK? So I "assumed" it had a black spine as well....

I even looked up a picture of the book on line...Ebay is best for this because almost every seller uses photos in their listings.

Still no luck...

So I assume that the book is tricking me somehow...

Then I drop back to the technique of literally touching each book as I "scan" it visually.

For some reason this use of an "extra sense" helps me focus and avoid the "error" of visual scanning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Result:

Yes the book had a black cover...and it was reasonable to assume that the spine was also black...which of course is the only thing I can see on the bookshelf

BUT IT WASN'T!

The spine was white!!

An all black book...suddenly has an all white spine. Go Figure.

Anyhow. Bottom Line.

If a book is "hiding"....

Get the ISBN and go to Ebay or Addall or ABE and look the book up. Look for a picture and also the books dimensions.

And even then DON'T just assume that a black book has a black spine!

It may be white...because if your mind is Hell bent on "finding" a black spine on the book?

You're not going to find that book!

Until you get rid of preconcived notions on what you're really looking for... Always a problem.

How to store books in your on-line inventory...

2008-03-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

After you get a certain number of books in your on-line inventory you have to figure out how to find the ones that have sold...

At first this is not a problem... You simply go to your bookshelves and look for the book.

But later, after you have about a thousand books in your inventory, this "scanning" method starts to break down... Suddenly every sale becomes a panic to "find the book"....

The rows and rows of books all start to look the same...!

OK...here's an idea. You can break down your inventory by catagory and subject matter...easy enough.

For example...

History. Science and Nature. Lit Crit. Cooking. Fiction. Biography. Children's. Business. Travel and Places. Americana. Arts and Decorating. Psychology. and so forth...

You might also seperate out your mass market paperbacks (MMPBs) and the oversized books...since these tend to disrupt the order on the shelves and create confusion.

Fine...so far.

But what happens when your Biography and Fiction section balloon to a thousand books each...!

Suddenly you're back with the same problem of scanning huge rows of books to find one title...

Then, you can take each catagory above... and break down even further...

History becomes... American History-Pre-Civil War. American History-Post Civil War. American History -20th Century...

European History can be seperated...by country.... if you have enough books to merit that... Asian History. African History. Medievel and Ancient History are seperated out too.

The various War Histories can be seperated...perhaps, WWII and WWI.... Korean and Vietnam. Etc.

So you keep "granularizing" your topics and catagories....

As long as your shelf space holds out...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, there is another way to tackle this problem....

I call it the "Bin System."

It's a bit more professional and probably less work for the larger on-line opertion.

In the Bin System, you buy a lot of clear plastic bins...mainly those 56 quart "Sterlite" bins that are available at Target, Kmart, etc...

Then, as you "list" books on-line...

You put a SKU number on your online listing reflecting which "bin" the book is in...

This SKU data will be visible on your Sale Notice from your "selling venue" like Amazon, ABE or Alibris.

So, you are dividing your books up by "bin number" or "location" ....not by title and topic!

Thus, any given bin can have books about cooking, war history, biography etc...

The KEY of course is to remember which book is in which bin...it's a nightmare situation othewise.

But once in operation...you no longer have to "scan" long rows of books for one title! Because many books are obsure and hard to see ...or faded on the spine occasionally.

For book operations over 5000 books .... I think bins are the way to go...

They will stack nicely and take less space...but can be heavy, so don't buy the really big ones...stick with the 56 or lower quart size... They are light, damp and vermin proof...always a plus.

For operations under 5000 books you can still organize your books topically...and probably find things fairly easily...

Thus avoiding the panic attack that comes from selling a book and realizing that you just CAN'T FIND IT!! Your worst nightmare as an on-line bookseller...

More on this "nuts and bolts" topic later...

The "Where's my book?" email....

2008-02-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

Every online bookseller hates to get the inevitable..."Where's my book?" email...

The implication is usually that you did not sent to book....or that you delayed mailing for some reason... Which in my case is never true but I can't speak for other sellers.

Here's a copy of an email reply that I did a few days ago:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your book was mailed to this address on the day it was ordered:

John Doe
123 Elm Street
Anytown, USA.

Is this the correct address...? This is the address on the Amazon records...

If this address is correct;

You might check at the local post office...they are probably holding the book for your pick up...

We ship same day...very, very fast. And, as you will see from our feedback, we complete all of our transactions quickly...

I have never actually "lost" a book in the US mail... And I doubt that yours will be the first...

If you don't receive the book in the next few days...and if it is not at the post office awaiting your pick up...Email me...

And I will see what I can do to resolve the situation for you...

Best Regards,

Etc....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note:

The book is almost always at the destination post office...the first delivery attempt failed for whatever reason. And sometimes there is no second attempt made... Merely a "pick up" slip hidden amid the other mail the buyer recieved that day! Of course it likely gets lost! And the buyer sits, and sits and sits...getting madder and madder ...that you did not send their book!

Meanwhile the package is sitting at the buyers post office awaiting pick up...

So buyers must be aware that failed deliveries are not "lost books"... In fact, I have never "lost" a book in the US mail. Now the Italian mail...perhaps... But never in the US mails.

Also note that I verify the address immediately... This can stop any issue of obsolete addresses at the book selling venue like Amazon or ABE. And there could be a "typo" But, I ALWAYS copy and paste my addresses to eliminate any possibility of typos...

Finally I let them know that I'm not buying the "lost book" scenario...at least until they check their local post office...

Also note, I never mention a "refund" directly...

This could put ideas into the buyer's head that are best left unmentioned...ie demanding a refund!

Rather, I promise to "resolve" the situation...

But in some serious cases where I think the buyer may be on the verge of panic... I out right tell them that I bear the risk of loss in the mail...not them.

This also has the effect of making the buyer more agreeable to waiting a little longer for their book... After all, it's my loss now, not theirs if the package never arrives...so we split the difference... They are protected and I get more time to get the package delivered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recieved an email from this buyer the next day saying: "Thanks! The book was at the Post Office..."

Another potential problem solved!

Selling "Coffee Table" Books...

2008-02-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

Large sized...or "Coffee Table" books are not quick sellers...

They tend to be specialized books with lots of pictures...and the content is generally ephemeral.

But certain books are worth having... Books about very high end areas like Martha's Vinyard, or Jackson Hole or Aspen will have a following... Perhaps well off people want these books for their "coffee tables" at condos in the area...

People are not shy about buying large cookbooks... There are several deluxe editions out there that are sort of collectors items...they have a following.

Books on Fung Shei and Japanese Gardens are good bets.

Art Books are a good area IF you know that to buy...

Generally out of print books about blockbuster exhibitions are worthy additions.

Also, art exhibition books for some lesser known artists are often the only resource for that artist's work for years to come...

I would definitely consider picking up "exhibition books" for lesser known artists just on "spec" that they may be more popular in the future... Imagine if you had some early Andy Warhol exhibition materials...!

Generally you don't want the best and most well know artists...they are too popular...and the printings will be huge. I'd rather look into second tier artists...who are still established in their genre...and whose work will be studied in the future.

Some important historically significant, but second tier artists will only have "solo exhibits" at key museums every ten or twenty years... These exhibition catalogs could be money in the bank for the bookseller.

I have stacks of oversized books in my inventory...and they do sell... I order special boxes (12X12 inches) to mail them in. They also usually take a 14 inch mylar DJ cover... Although having a big 16 inch might be needed for huge atlas sized books.

People will "cherry pick" your inventory just as in other kinds of books... It's amazingly how the customers can focus in on the very best books...

They know what they want...and they go for it.

Children's Book Collecting Blog....

2008-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a blog about collecting children's books from a person who catalogs childrens' books at a Utah university....

Charing Cross Booksellers: Then and Now.

2008-02-13T20:13:00.000-08:00

I have an old directory of booksellers in England from circa 1969....

Back then Charing Cross Road was still fairly the bookseller center of London...with several shops on adjoining roads like Cecil Court for example...

I'll be listing all the old sellers here soon...

And yes, that does include Marks & Co! Which was the bookstore in the movie 84 Charing Cross Road.... Probably the best "book movie" ever made...

I will include addresses and specialties where noted...

Of Course there are still bookstores on Charing Cross Road...but they are the big mega stores...for the most part....

That said, Cecil Court still has a few old style bookseller shops....and you can see their photos at the Cecil Court Web Site...! Yes, they do have a web site...

Click here to see it...

The problem with glued bindings on old trade paperbacks.

2008-02-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

Older trade paperbacks usually have glued bindings... The signatures are basically glued to the cover...and that's it.

Over time some glues will dry out and the binding will crack...leaving loose pages or even a total seperation of the cover from the pages.....

Often a book will look fine...to the bookseller....but once the buyers tries to open the book and read it...the pages quickly loosen...and you get an angry or concerned email about the bad book you sold them...

Perhaps booksellers should test these old bindings not just for their cosmetic appearance at the time of shipping...but also for their ability to function... when the book is actually used and read?

I will often place a cloth tape re-enforcement between the FFEP and the cover if it looks like the cover is about to seperate....

Or if it has already seperated...I always re-glue...and that is an even better solution.... Apply the glue...stabilize the book... and let dry over night.... Should be "like new" in the morning...perhaps even a bit "too tight."

Unfortunately some books look OK to send...and you hate to "alter" the appearance with tape ....so you take a chance that the buyer will assume responsibiity for any "future" damage....

Well some do...and some don't.

Older trade paperbacks need special examination for these dried out bindings...just to be safe.

New Arrivals...

2008-01-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

A book on "Medical Entomology." A technical book on forestry. A book about digging for treasure! That should be a good one. Battle Cry the first novel of Leon Uris...? A 1970's book on cooking in Nice and Provence. And a nice hunting book: Hunting Trophy Black Bear.

These small press hunting books have a significant following. Sold Goats and Goat Hunting to Colorado for $195 recently and I was the cheapest available globally...the book was out of Safari Press. Worth looking for.... I never pass on small press hunting books...the odder the animal hunted the more expensive the book...

Had a negative feedback on Amazon removed...

2008-01-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

As usual it was all a big mistake by the buyer... Sometimes people can make you crazy. Forgive and forget and just move on to the next... It's seems I'm always dodging bullets.

THE DAILY MUSE....

2008-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

When you send someone an older book that is a bit worn...they are never really happy with it. There is always that sense that approval is limited...a bit of a disappointment really. Why bother with less than perfect books... Or maybe they just expect too much from a book that is 30 years old and long out of print. Any copy should be welcome...unless of course a new copy is available.

Birding is a popular topic...and Audubon biographies should never be passed on...

Asian religions and martial arts are worth having...

Books on pop culture...from the '60's onward are always sought...Hoody Doody and Rocky and Bullwinkle...sure tosell...and this pop stuff should be bought when available.

Sold a book on voice training to Australia today... The Aussies still have that Anglican choral tradtion like the UK... It's totally absent in the US outside of Utah and the Mormons...but then they are directly tied to the older American English stock that has been lost as an intact culture nationally....but still shows up in vestiges in Utah.

First Books by American Writers: An Exhibit.

2008-01-01T21:08:00.001-08:00

Bookselling Goals for 2008.

2008-01-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

What to do in '08...?

First, I'd like to get my on-line inventory up to 10,000 high quality books.... Then perhaps see if 20,000 is doable...or necessary. Also consider adding more CDs and DVDs to the inventory...they are small, easy to store and cheaper to mail... All good things!

Second, I'd like to expand to other selling venues...and not be so dependent on Amazon.

Third, I'd like to learn more data base applications...multi venue selling is all about data bases.

Fourth, per usual, buy only... old, odd and seriously out of print books.

Fifth, consider expanding by buying other booksellers on-line inventory.

The Daily Muse...

2008-01-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Asimov is a good seller... I can sell his work constantly...and it's fairly easy to find in first printings with priced mint DJs... I never really pass on a mint Asimov in Jacket....it will sell eventually.

Books on roses seem to have a following...and it goes beyond the usual "gardening" people... Old books about old roses are worth looking for....Rose history is in demand by Rosarians.

Current novels that are about mysterious medievel manuscripts...or that have a some kind of middle ages subject matter are worthy additions. This could be some residual from the DaVinci Code...but I think there is more to it than just that.

I am always looking for movies about books... So far my favorite "book movies" are 84 Charring Cross Road and Ninth Gate... Love them...even have the "vintage" movie posters for both movies. Too bad there aren't more book themed movies... There seems to be a following in the book world, and these movies have staying power that is not unlike that see in Christmas movies... Or some Cult Classics like My Dinner with Andre.

Sometimes finding, wrapping and mailing books gets tedious...day in and day out...but then not selling books would be even more worrisome.

I have no idea what makes one book sell and another just sits... Just when you think you've got a handle on it...the anomalies start up again. What's hot What's not...the eternal question. The impossible Koan of the bookseller...

Winter Visitors: At the Birdfeeder.

2007-12-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

In December only the year around residents are still at the local birdfeeders...

As usual hundreds of sparrows abound...mostly House Sparrows and Tree Sparrows.

A few Black Capped Chickadees will grab a seed and fly off...coming back again in a few minutes for another...

Another seed grabber is the very small and stubby tailed, Red Breasted Nuthatch....I have one visitor that comes back everyday for a few hours.

There are Starlings...loud and noisy fighting amongst themselves for the suet blocks.

Also Cardinals, male and female... And the occasional Blue Jay to shake things up a bit at the feeder.

Additionally, the very well behaved Mourning Doves...about five or six at times... These birds are ground feeders...they seldom perch. They are truly passive and none aggressive among themselves or with other birds. No wonder the Dove is the bird symbolizing Peace...

There are, naturally, squirrels...red, grey and black! The Black Squirrels are small and not easily frightened. Amazingly the birds seem to tolerate the squirrels feeding among them...there is no fear of squirrels probably because the squirrels are seen to be after the seeds... not the birds...!

Finally, the neighborhood cat will show up... everyone scatters...and waits for the cat to move on....

Selling High Spot Books.

2007-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

High Spot books are the ones you want to sell...!

I consider these to be used books selling at fifty dollars and up.

I've sent a few high spots out this week... One a cookbook.... Joy of Cooking 1946 printing...in a DJ with a few chips to the top and bottom but fully intact otherwise...

Another high spot was a very hard to find book on James Strang the Mormon apostate who colonized Beaver Island in Michigan in the mid 1800's...

Some books on "repair and maintainance" of rather exotic equipment command high prices... I sold a book on "How to Repair Spinning Wheels" for $100++ recently.

Stated First Printings of very famous books, like "Silent Spring," are easy to sell at good prices. I did sell that title for several hundred a while back.

An early Steinberg cartoon collection was listed over $100 recently.

Art and Photography books are worth looking at...especially large books about older edgy blockbuster exhibits from the past.

Also retrospectives of artists who are well know to the art community, but who don't command such great public attention that their exhibition catalogs are printed in huge quantities...

In other words...NOT Andy Warhol...but perhaps some lesser know German Expressionist... Get the picture...?

I sold a book called "Banana Splits" recently...it's an avante garde photoraphy book...

When I first got the book I listed it immediately on Amazon at a "guessed at" price...

Then I went to Addall to check on what the book was really "going for"...and noticed that the only book available was mine! Globally...!

Anyway, eventually the book sold to some guy in Hollywood...then I checked back on Addall to see if any more copies had been listed...and there was one other...in London...going for $700+...!! And I let my copy go for $150...

Well, I have my money on that deal...and that guy in London is still holding on to his book...!

Some of the older books by Presidential candidates can attrach a following...

For example, Robert Kennedy's "To Seek a New World" still sells for over $50 in jacket. Herbert Humphrey's 1964 Book: "Beyond Civil Rights" has a higher price in nice jacket.

Some odd and out of print geneological material is very pricey....

Some vintage "True Crime" can sell for big bucks...if they are long out of print...and someone still remembers the incident.

True Crime is really a sleeper catagory for some bookdealers...it's exciting for many people to read about crimes...

And this translate into their willingness to pay the price to get these long out of print books.

The problem with High Spots is that often you can't tell that they are High Spots just by looking at them...

Some books seem to have a "cult following" and therefore command high prices...

Some fairly recent books about certain Rock Bands are very high priced....others just about average.

It really depends on the size of the printings...and how long the book stayed in print.

What is needed to be a High Spot is reasonably strong demand...usually from a small "cult" of people who are seeking the book...for whatever reason.

But NOT so much demand that the publisher will put out another printing...or bring to book back into print...!

As long as the book stays out of print...and the demand is higher than the supply available...?

Book buyers will bid up these out of print books to High Spot status...and booksellers will make money...

IF they can find these high demand...low supply books....

Hiding the Defects on a Book...

2007-12-22T12:52:00.001-08:00

Used books come with a history. Sometimes it's a history you'd rather not advertise.

Worst is the underlining and highlighting usually found in textbooks or assigned reading college books... There is not much you can do with these except disclose the defect: "Some highlighting throughout." "Some highlighting, not much." Etc.

If there is writing in the margins or underlining...I sometimes say: "Some insightful Marginalia included at no extra charge!"

Ex Libris...? "Delightful Ex Libris on inside cover" Sometimes I describe the Book Plate especially if its vintage, or fits the book in some way. I sold a History of the Coast Guard with a Rockwell Kentish "fish" motiff Book Plate... This is a plus for many buyers.

Owners signiture on the inside cover or FFEP (First Free EndPaper)...? I'd Say: "Prior Owners signiture FFEP."

Or, "Prior owner's notes inside cover."

Some people don't sign their books, but have stickers or even embossed seals!

Others sign their books in unusual places... I had a couple sign the title page...not the author! Another signed the first page of text...! Go Figure...

If a price...usually low like 50 cents...is on the FFEP...and you've sold the book for $20+...sometimes s discrete black marker just the size of the offensive price will do the trick...

This also works for those odd: "Not for Resale" stamps you see in some books... Why raise unneeded questions in the minds of the buyer... Why is this book "Not for Resale"...? Who Cares...it was probably "comped" to someone at a university or at a book fair...it's still the same book.

Assuming it's not an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) or Uncorrected Proof which are often considered to be "hyper-first editions," even though Amazon won't allow you to sell them... Some collectors will pay extra for ARCs or Uncorrected Proofs...especially for block buster best sellers.

If a book has really odd marks on the FFEP or inside cover sometimes one of your own "Ex Librises will cover the defect...although occasionally the defect will still show through on the other side of the FFEP. But a new ExLibris does dress up a used book at times.

On really old books check for dead insects...moldy backs and water damage...always check the back of the book inside the DJ...that's where they hide...

Bumped corners can be hit with an appropriate marker to "color" them back up... Really scuffed corners can be "re-built" with a dab of bookbinders glue that drys clear.

Then alas, the "remainder mark" which is usually on the pages edges...but often hidden near the spine...nothing you can do.

Also beware of "remainder spray" which is a marbling look on the page bottoms... No it's not decoration! Although I think it sometimes looks nicer than a black mark!

With old library books that are stamped up and rebound...sometimes there is an extra FFEP which if removed...will rid you have 80% of the Librarians "damage" to the book. A vast improvment...and only at the cost of a sharp razor blade...!

All this extra effort can make an old book look better than you found it...

The Best Color for Dust Jackets and Their Repair...?

2007-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Black DJ's wear well. They are the Best!

They can be cleaned up and touched up to like new appearance especially when put in new mylar.

White DJ are the worst! They show every mark, scratch and bump... And if you try to repair them they just look worse.

Matte finish DJs, usually on older books, should never be cleaned with liquids...water or alcohol...they will shred immediately. Erasers will abraid them quickly...making whatever the problem was even worse... And well, matte finished white DJ's...! Yeah Right...

Other good DJ colors are red, blue and dark green...these touch up nicely with colored makers or "Sharpies."

The best touch up for black and white photos...usually of the author on the back cover...is a regular pencil... Finding really good light grey colored markers is impossible...they are usually too "black" and ruin the look.

Another odd fact is that "True Crime" books almost always have black DJs... Go Figure. Just look in the True Crime section and your bound to notice this... True Crime is also a good seller...there is always someone who wants to read about horrid crimes! Perhaps they are mystery readers normally...?

Holiday Sales Over... Only one "crackpot" feedback.

2007-12-22T12:19:00.000-08:00

The on-line portion of the Holiday rush is over. And all the books are in the mail...so far so good. No complaints.

I was however hit by one of those "out of the blue" bad feedbacks from an elderly woman in the DC area who thought the paper in her book looked "20 years old"...

It was a Plume Edition trade paperback on that "pulpy" paper that some publishers use these days... And, it does oxidize fast.

I will probably take a hit on sales for a while because of this 2 of 5 "crank" feedback... But hopefully it will be buried soon enough with other feedbacks and it's influence on buyers will dissipate.

This particular "crack pot" did not take well to my suggestion that she remove her feedback.

The book, by the way was new...but sort of limp from the kind of paper used...but still obviously un-touched and un-read.

This crack pot started sending me three page diatribes about her kids and how rude I was and on and on.... I decided to just let it lie.... Shes dangerous... And I'd rather take my hit and move on because Amazon is big on "customer harrassment" issues. And Holiday sales would likely be ending soon any way...

Of course the nightmare scenario is having two "crackpot" feedbacks hit at the same time.

Most people on Amazon don't leave feedback...only about 1 in 20 bother...so the field of potential posters is salted with cranks, crackpots and other nut cases that are best left alone.

Curiously, none of these cranks and crackpots would need to post negative feedback, with me at least, if they would just email their issues first...

In the case above, I refunded her money and told her to keep the book as a gift...which naturally she twisted into an some bizarro attack on my credibility...

Well, this is not an easy business...Shit does happen occasionally. But we move on to the next and sooner or later forget the unpleasant ones.

Postscript: The crank feeback was removed by the buyer later in the week... So I've dodged another bullet on Amazon...! Still at 100%...

Lists of the best out of print books to buy

2007-12-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

This link provides information on the best selling out of print books for booksellers to buy... All the the titles have a certain "Cult Status"...and they provide a rough guide for purchases outside of the list as well.

In other words, the "concept" of why this or that book is desireable...not necessarily the title itself...

Advise to New Booksellers: Which books to buy?

2007-12-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Newbie:

Remember the Three O's...Old, Odd and Out of Print...

If the book is about something you think no one would ever be interested in...buy it!
List it, and sit back and wait...

You may be initially attracted to books by popular authors you have heard of...or subjects that you are interested in...but that simply means that there are millions and millions of those books out there! And probably 300+ on AZ...starting a a penny!

Also, always buy only as new or very good+ books...don't mess with defective books or DJs...

Holiday Book Sales Soar....

2007-12-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

The holiday book buying has been the best yet... It seems that many people don't want to shop locally and would rather have the price and selection available only on the Internet...

Of course the Malls are crowded...and the recent mall shooting in Omaha...is not reassuring. All the more reason to stay on the computer and shop from home or work...

I've been packing and shipping books all day...and most of the night... Have not had time to add new books to the inventory... Although some of the books from my recent trip to Colorado and New Mexico were added on the spot from the Condo computer where I was visiting in Colorado.

An Interesting Collection of Booksellers Labels.

2007-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

These booksellers labels are worth a look... They are those tiny stickers that bookshops used many years ago... Usually found on the inside covers, front or back, near the bottom of the board.

Booking a Trip...

2007-11-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN ONE BOOK FROM HOME WITH YOU ON A "BOOK TOURING" TRIP... WHY...?

WELL BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO BE BUYING INTERESTING BOOKS ON YOUR JOURNEY...AND THE BOOKS FROM HOME WILL JUST BE IN THE WAY...

ANOTHER PLAN THAT I USE IS TO MAIL THE NEWLY "FOUND" BOOKS HOME VIA US MEDIA MAIL...OR BOOK MAIL IN GENERAL WHEREEVER YOU MIGHT BE...

US MEDIA MAIL IS QUITE CHEAP...AND THE COST GOES DOWN WITH EACH EXTRA POUND...SO THAT A 20 POUND PACKAGE COSTS ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN A 5 POUND PACKAGE... USE THIS TO REDUCE YOUR BAGGAGE AND LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD WHILE TRAVELING.

THIS ALSO MAKES YOUR AIRPORT BAGGAGE ORDEAL MUCH LESS STRESSFUL...

Book Tourism...

2007-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Whenever I go to a new city I immediately look up the local used and rare bookstores...

The New York Times has an interesting Travel Page article about Book Tourism in the Massachusetts area... See Link.

I'll be in Denver for Thanksgiving week, and I'm planning on hitting the "Book District" at Broadway and 1st... And Capital Books downtown... And of course Tattered Cover Books...which has three super stores in the Denver area...including the flagship store at the end of the 16th Street Mall. I might even look up John Dunnings old store in the 6300 block of Colfax Ave...Old Algonquin Books. Dunning being the author of Bookman's Wake and other Janeway mystery books that have a bookseller/bookscout theme...

In Salt Late I go to Sam Weller's... In Detroit it's John King... In Ann Arbor there are many great used and rare bookstores...Dawn Trader, Westside Books, and David's to hit the high points...

Here are my postings at the Amazon "Seller Soapbox"

2007-11-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

The order is not clear but there are over 400 to date... You might need to be signed into Amazon to see this link...

Mostly about books, bookselling, technical aspects of listing, selling and mailing...and a lot of ordinary stuff...mostly book related though... My Amazon name is: Cabinfeverbookshop. Click the title of this posting...or HERE.

Religion and Poetry Books do sell.

2007-11-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

Religion and Poetry are two genres that sell better than you would expect.

Books on the Occult also have a following...especially in the area of UFOs and Wicca.

Martial Arts and Eastern Philosophy/Religion books are worth having in stock.

Arkham House Books are instant collectibles.

2007-11-14T22:20:00.001-08:00

What I like about Arkham House Books is that they hold their value. Arkham House is a small publisher of Horror and Fantasy Books. They are perhaps best known for their ties to H.P.Lovecraft and his circle.

Lovecraft is still popular today...although few think of him as a technically great writer. Lovecraft's influence on entire generations of Horror writers is well documented. Indeed Stephen King arknowledges his debt to Lovecraft's books in fashioning his own writing style.

But even Lovecraft had mentors. Lovecraft considered himself to be influenced by Lord Dunsany and Poe who were early writers experimenting with the Horror/Fantasy genre which became so popular in the later part of the 20th Century.

Arkham House still has a large number of books by Lovecraft and his circle in print. And they are probably good investments as well as good reading.

What sells...in cookbooks

2007-11-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Deluxe cookbooks sell...unless they are out in massive editions.

Certain famous authors like Beard are easy to sell especially the older editions that are now considered to be collectible.

Regional cookbooks...especially from the South.

Books about hot and spicy foods...like chilli and hot sauces...

French cooking and particularly introductions to French cooking are very fashionable in NYC.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, or "Wept Big Tears!"

2007-11-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was researching my vintage copy of the Tale of Peter Rabbit, by B. Potter... This is an early Warne printing...it's kind of in rough shape as most of these books are, after generations of little hands handling these small books. And amazingly Potter insisted on the smaller size format for that very reason...so children could actually hold the book while it was being read.

Interestingly the main "point" on Peter Rabbit is on page 51. When Peter gets caught in the farmer's net...He...in the first few printings..."Wept big tears." In the fourth printing and following that is changed to "Shed big tears...."

Alas, my book caused me to "Shed big tears..."

See the link for more on this at Bookride.com a really good link that every book person should keep...

What books sell?

2007-11-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

The common newbie bookseller question is: What books sell...?

And of course the answer is everything and nothing... For most B&M (Bricks and Mortar) bookstores...the books that sell are the books that just went out the door...

Essentially, people are looking for entertainment, enhancement, self esteem, or something different when they buy a book... A book is something you do for yourself...or for the person you're buying the book for... But in the end picking a book is a selfish pleasure... Sort of like buying the fancy french mustard instead of the $1 yellow plastic squeeze jar...

I like to buy (drum roll) the OLD, ODD AND OUT OF PRINT...

These are the books that are hard to find... The average Bookscout on Amazon (AZ) isn't going to pick these books.... They usually go for the recent stuff...with 29.95 on the glossy DJ...

I like the out of print stuff...defunct publishers...granular topics... eg. The Third Day at the Battle of the Somme...

Granular topics and highly specialized books...are usually printed in very small editions... And most of these books are eventually remaindered... or just scraped... Who knows how many are available...

Generally, I like to see 20 or fewer available GLOBALLY...

You can find this out by going to Addall.com Addall is a great aggregator site of all the bookselling sites in the world...
They don't list books...they list the listers of books for sale...

A great way to check the price on an odd book....

Hit 300 feedbacks on Amazon....

2007-11-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today someone posted the 300th feedback to my Amazon account...! Of that number 299 were positive...one was neutral... I sent a MMPB to a guy in Hawaii..."Spitfire," a WWII book... Great condtion... He gave me a neutral "3" saying: "Aged Brown"... Now the book was perfect and there were only a few available globally and I think he paid $10 for it... And it was not seriously age browned... Perhaps a bit around the edges like you'll see in older MMPBs... But not like the old pulp paperbacks that were seriously brown...

But what can I do... I emailed him to complain... But then I just said What the Hell let go... move on...

Welcome to Used and Rare: A Booksellers Blog.

2007-11-14T20:34:00.000-08:00

The Honest Blog of an On-line Bookseller...