Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Horse Trader's Gazette

I promised I would keep you apprised of the outcome of my online horse trading, so here goes. The books I bought from my customer arrived the day before yesterday late in the afternoon so I didn’t open them until yesterday morning. One look at the very well wrapped box alleviated any niggling fears that they might be damaged in transit, so I felt no rush to make a mess of my kitchen right before dinner. As it turns out, the inside wrapping was as good as the outer. Shhhh – don’t tell him – but he wraps better than many, if not most, booksellers. This guy could go into the biz, except of course the biz needs another seller like Warren Buffet needs another dollar. Which is exactly the point of this post.

As you know, my research was exhaustive on this. As you also know, I joked that the prices were probably about as stable as the Dow Jones. As it turns out, that little bon mot may have been prescient enough to point my way to a rewarding new career as a fortuneteller. One of these titles was locked in at a solid $150 last week, yet has now dropped to $125 with one idiot actually clocking in at $11 including shipping from Canada! Of course I picked that one off like a lone bowling pin, so it’s gone, at least for an hour or so, until the next idiot comes along. Of the ten titles I listed yesterday all but that one remained more or less stable. I am not, however, breathing a sigh of relief for the remaining books, as I looked up a couple of my fairly new listings from last week just for “fun” and found myself undercut on all but one.

It’s interesting to me that sellers are so lacking in creativity that they can’t find any other way to compete. It’s a tough market and a tough economy – I am well aware of that – but I also think that maybe with a little brain power it wouldn’t be necessary to kill what’s left of the online book trade. I’m not suggesting that we aim for the moon and price books outlandishly, but I AM suggesting that we protect our businesses and make sure we earn enough profit to pay our bills and keep the lights on. Some time back I read on Abe’s forum the laments of a seller who thought he was making money only to be informed by his tax accountant that, in fact, he was simply recycling the same dollars over and over. The only amazement I found in that remark was the fact that he’d actually reported his income. Most sellers don’t. If you find that hard to believe just bring up the subject of taxes in a book sale line and check out the blank stares.

Last week I attended a planning committee meeting for the 2012 NOBS (Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society) annual book fair. The talk turned to an idea that had been brought up previously to offer interactive activities as part of the fair – book appraisals and a panel discussion on book collecting being two possibilities. We bandied around names of possible panelists and somehow this led to the remark that a seller I’ve known for years holds a Ph.D.. Never has he so much as whispered a word of this, so I was quite amazed. But I was even more jolted when I realized that three of the handful of people sitting around the table held one too, as did the absent wife of one of them, and of course the late great Doug Gunn, a seller who’d earned a Harvard Ph.d. and I never knew it until I read it in his obituary. I bring this up not because I think advanced degrees are a requirement (if they were I’d be ousted faster than a sloppy drunk at the corner bar on a Saturday night), but because it points out where bookselling began and where it’s ended up. Even 14 years ago when we started  Garrison House Books bookselling seemed a genteel and serious occupation requiring knowledge, intention, research, a deep and abiding love for the “product”, and a head for business. Today -- well, today  let’s just say that electronic wizardry doesn’t shoulder the entire blame for the state of things.

As for the books I just bought from my customer here’s the verdict in a nutshell. Overall it worked out okay, but I say that primarily because of the subject matter. If prices go too wacky online I couldn’t be left holding a better topic than hunting and fishing. Not only can we sell them handily in the store, but Eric will be traveling to two shows later this month and in early September, both of which are attended by buyers who hunt and fish. The big question though is would I do it again. The answer? Maybe. But ONLY in this category or American history up to Reconstruction. Anything else – not a chance.

4 comments:

Saturday Evening Post said...

Tess, I hope someone tells this guy what you said. When you say he wraps very well, it's like Lebron James saying you play basketball well, or Einstein saying you're a fine scientist.

tess said...

Well, thank you! I had not thought of it that way, though I DO consider myself a pretty good wrapper. I told him that very thing myself. I think he was glad to hear it.

Anonymous said...

You are a very learned book seller. This is not just a hobby for you, but a career. You have earned my admiration in a new way with this post.

tess said...

Thank you. What a nice comment.