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Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

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Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#71

Post by jrockway »

SageRaven wrote: post #28
edfrtghjkjh wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually of benefit - there is a book out there that I want but it's hidden in a library or garage sale in a city 1000mi away. This guy makes it available for me to buy at a price I set on Amazon - rather than the book ending up in the trash and me not having what I want.

Depends on perspective, I suppose. It can be a detriment to the local market. I frequent a local thrift store (Deseret Industries, run by the LDS church), where I always quickly scan all 6 book shelves. Every morning (that I've been there that early), there's one dude that rushes his way to the "new" book shelves (the ones that were just rolled out of the back and not yet sorted onto the shelves), towing a cart, and…

it kind of chaps my hide that this asshat with his phone might buy one of my tech-related softbacks for $1 and sell it on Amazon for $5 or more

This is easy to solve. Just start selling your book for $1 on Amazon.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#72

Post by [deleted] »

stevoski wrote: post #31
Jun8 wrote: post #30

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I detest these people. I see them always in big book sales: they come in very early, hoard all the books that they think are valuable, and I mean hundreds of books and then scan through them nervously. In the end they pick their selection and leave the mess in a corner. Meanwhile, I do not have access to those books!

Sure you have access to these second-hand books - at the going market rate on Amazon.

[deleted]

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#73

Post by roel_v »

DLWormwood wrote: post #32
tkeller wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. There's nothing dishonorable about arbitrage.

A big deal with this may be due to upbringing and what part of the country/world you come from. While part of me dreams of being able to do this kind of work (I’m the exploration type), I can’t, since I can’t drive, limiting my searching ability. Regardless, my background keeps a nagging sense of impropriety of arbitrage in my mind. To my parents and my childhood role models, it’s not “real work,” since it neither cr…

It does create something new, it creates value. I'm amazed at the 'arbitrage is bad' comments, I can't remember seeing it anywhere before. Someone who finds a buyer for a thing that couldn't be sold before (i.e., was worthless) creates value by enabling the transaction.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#74

Post by maxawaytoolong »

Jun8 wrote: post #30

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I detest these people. I see them always in big book sales: they come in very early, hoard all the books that they think are valuable, and I mean hundreds of books and then scan through them nervously. In the end they pick their selection and leave the mess in a corner. Meanwhile, I do not have access to those books!

People used to do this at clothing sample sales, which is why sample sales now have bouncers.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#75

Post by roel_v »

Jun8 wrote: post #34
stevoski wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure you have access to these second-hand books - at the going market rate on Amazon.

Let me explain more clearly (i) they quickly hoard together good books at the sale, cutting off access to other prospective buyers on location, like me, (ii) they buy a very small percentage of the books they hoard (guy in the OP says 1 in 30), the others books are just left in an unordered pile, so it's hard for other people to find them, and finally (iii) they create a mess for the sale organizers, I've heard many…

Well sounds like the people organizing the book sale are doing a bad job keeping their patrons in check, then. No matter where you go, there are always going to be assholes. I have friend & family who own bars & restaurants - I can tell you that a guy trying to monopolize the dessert buffet and causing annoyance to the other guests is going to find himself outside on the pavement real quick.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#76

Post by roel_v »

Maybe there's money to be made here in an automated way (call it the HFT of the used-book markets). I was looking for the Graphics Gems series on Amazon & Abebooks the other day, and the cheapest ones went for 1-4 dollars, while the expensive ones went for 40-60 dollars (not sure if they're getting sold at that price, but it's the asking price). If one would scan these sits and identify wide spreads, one could buy up the inventory at the bottom of the market and re-list at market price. Maybe one could deal with the transaction costs (S&H) by agreeing on bulk shipping or so, or letting sellers ship directly to the end-customer if one can be found within a week or two (agree with the seller that they keep the book in inventory for two weeks, if you find a seller within that time have it shipped directly, otherwise to your own storage).

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#77

Post by davidw »

johnwatson11218 wrote: post #24
tjr wrote: post #18

Semi-related: a few days ago I took two boxes of old computer and math books to a local Half-Price Book store. They don't usually offer a whole lot of money for such things, and I had been thinking of donating the books to the public library, but the library didn't seem interested in what I had. I figured I might as well get a few dollars rather than just throw them out. As expected, after about ten minutes of sortin…

Used book stores have a hard time figuring out how much math and computer books are worth. It seems like it was easier to sell them in the early 90s. Later there were so many new books being published during the dot com boom that most stores stopped accepting them. The books were becoming obsolete too quickly. The best used book store for tech books that I have ever seen is http://www.powells.com/technicalbooks It is…

Powell's technical is a fantastic place. Anyone who goes through Portland should visit both Powell's and Powell's technical, which is a distinct store about a block away.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#79

Post by balding_n_tired »

gjm11 wrote: post #50
lionhearted wrote: post #46

I respect this guy a lot. There's been enough times I wanted to get an obscure out of print book and I can only find copies that cost $60 or even $200+. Taking a book off the shelf, paying the used bookseller and freeing up their cash/space, and stocking the inventory in his home for the whole world to be able to buy the book online - man, the guy's almost a saint in my book. Some people are upset he's making a profi…

> Some people are upset he's making a profit. Is that really what "some people" are upset about? That's not the impression I get either from the article or from comments here. Some people are upset that he, and others like him, are making it harder or less pleasant for them to buy used books. Some people are (something rather less than) upset because what he's doing displeases them aesthetically -- books are meant to…

A fellow I know who works for Goodwill remarked on the folks with scanners some time back. My impression was that he thought it an odd way to spend one's time, but was glad to see the books go out the door.

As for the fellow at the library, I can understand how a retiree, able to exchange time for lower prices, might be annoyed.

Re: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

#80

Post by dedward »

gjm11 wrote: post #50
lionhearted wrote: post #46

I respect this guy a lot. There's been enough times I wanted to get an obscure out of print book and I can only find copies that cost $60 or even $200+. Taking a book off the shelf, paying the used bookseller and freeing up their cash/space, and stocking the inventory in his home for the whole world to be able to buy the book online - man, the guy's almost a saint in my book. Some people are upset he's making a profi…

> Some people are upset he's making a profit. Is that really what "some people" are upset about? That's not the impression I get either from the article or from comments here. Some people are upset that he, and others like him, are making it harder or less pleasant for them to buy used books. Some people are (something rather less than) upset because what he's doing displeases them aesthetically -- books are meant to…

I find it highly unlikely, given the sheer number of books printed nowadays, that we'd end up anywhere near scenario number 2.

Merchants could seize the opportunity here - if your store is full of resellers rather than the public, it's time to up YOUR game and start charging more for your used books.

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