Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:36:48 -0500
From: Paula Hammett (Sonoma State U.)<hammett_at_sonoma.edu>
Subject: Responses re online sales of gift books query
Dear folks,
Just before the holidays I sent out a query regarding selling unneeded
gift books online. Thanks
to all who responded. Most responses were of the "We're interested, too"
mode. However I've
included the other responses below:
Library #1:
How did your library select an online bookseller?
Our procurement office wanted a competitive process, so we identified three
online booksellers and went with the one we perceived would give us the
biggest return. It ended up being a local company whose up front costs were
lower because we avoided shipping charges.
Do you use more than one bookselling avenue and, if so, why?
Yes, we have a quarterly book sale and sell online. I'd heard/read that the
customers for the different venues bought different types of material, e.g.
you can usually get a better turn over rate and return on pocket books
at an
in-house book sale than you can online. We haven't been doing this long
enough for me to confirm that assertion.
Are you happy with your choices of bookseller(s)?
Yes. It's a local start-up company with lots of ideas and lots of energy.
Has income increased with online sales?
We've only had our material online for two months. The first month we made
about $680 and the second month $730. At our fall term quarterly book sale,
we brought in about $5,000. In the past, we had an annual book sale that
brought in about $10,000. We'll see how the year goes. If the past is a
predictor of the future, then our income should increase.
Overall, your current approach to sales worth the effort?
I hope so. Only time will tell.
Any additional comments are welcome.
Our gifts coordinator is the person who sorts, boxes and prepares our
surplus material for both the online book sale and the in-house one. A
student assists in this process. The in-house sale is extremely staff
intensive because we recruit volunteers from throughout the library to help
set-up, run and take-down the sale. We continue to hold the in-house sale
not only for the money but because it is a form of community outreach. Our
library has had a book sale as long as anyone here can remember and many of
the local and regional community look forward to the event.
------------
Library # 2:
We haven't tried this but I just bought a book from a third party vendor
through Amazon. When it arrived, I wasn't happy to discover it was a
library discard, complete with date due slip, old mylar cover, and call
number. It isn't even stamped "discarded". If libraries are going to
sell online, I hope we prep the discards better. Otherwise, I think the
process holds potential, if the costs balance out, and will be curious
to hear the results of your survey.
------------
Library #3:
How did your library select an online bookseller?
We first started with librarybooksales.org. Though I don't remember how
I heard about it, there was something intriguing about a site that sold
only books from libraries and friends.
Not too long later, we started selling books on amazon.com. There was a
lot more exposure there and entering books to sell was fast and easy.
Do you use more than one bookselling avenue and, if so, why?
We are still using both. We first try amazon and, if the item is not
listed, we put the book on librarybooksales. We're selling about 2-3
books a day on amazon and only 2-3 books a month on librarybooksales.
The latter has a limited customer base and is not indexed on meta search
sites like abebooks, bookfinder or addall.
Are you happy with your choices of bookseller(s)?
We'd always like to sell more; but, both sites have their strengths and
weakness. Overall, though, we're happy.
Has income increased with online sales?
Definitely. Books would otherwise sit around for up to a year waiting
for the annual Friends' sale. And then, many would not command the
prices we get online. BTW, we don't list anything
under $5 online and the Friends' sale starts at $2.
Do you have a policy/procedure document for selling the process? If so,
may we see a copy?
We don't; but, that's a good idea. It's probably more difficult to put
down on paper than it is to do. There are several decision points in
what to sell where and at least 2 people involved in the process.
Overall, your current approach to sales worth the effort?
Not really having costed it out (time, materials, postage, etc. vs.
income), I guess it's worthwhile. We're bringing in money and putting
books in the hands of people who want them.
Any additional comments are welcome.
Selling books is fun. It's also a lot of work, especially in writing
accurate descriptions and pricing. It takes a certain mentality and
aptitude, too.
We don't sell ex-library books ... just a personal thing, I guess.
------------
Library #4:
How did your library select an online bookseller?
At first I selected half.com because they paid by check at that time.
After I obtained our internal
banking info (necessary to be paid by automatic deposit), I switched to
Amazon. I looked at other
venues (abebooks, Alibris, Barnes & Noble, eBay) but rejected them
because they either charged
a listing fee up front (as opposed to Amazon, where the commission is
subtracted from the proceeds)
or they required a much higher volume of selling that I was able to handle.
Do you use more than one bookselling avenue and, if so, why?
As described above, I started out selling only on half.com, because they
paid by check and
because for some reason I could sell titles that weren't in Amazon's
database. I guess other sellers
had the ability somehow to enter titles that were not already there.
Later they stopped paying by
check, which made them less attractive. When later they were acquired
by eBay, they cleaned up
their database and removed basically anything without an ISBN, which
made selling there even less
attractive for me, because I lost my ability to sell books which were
not in Amazon.. At that point,
I stopped selling on half.com. I also think that Amazon's user base is
much larger than half's. The
nice thing about half.com was that your listings never expired (Amazon
gives the seller 60 days, then
they expire and you have to relist your titles if you want to keep
offering them); however, the downside
of half.com was that you had to actively keep checking to see that your
prices were competitive,
whereas with Amazon you just click to each of your listings from the
emailed expiration reminder.
Are you happy with your choices of bookseller(s)?
Yes, although sometimes I wish I could sell on Alibris, because those
users are mostly academics and
some of the stuff I sell is pretty esoteric. I sometimes feel that the
market for my stuff is not a great
match for Amazon's user base, but I think do as well as I can with my
options.
Has income increased with online sales?
Yes, this beats a selling price of $ .25 or $ .50 per book selling from
a little shelf at the circ. desk, which
is what we used to do. Under the old scenario, the university got that
money, which annoyed me, so I
arrranged for my Amazon proceeds to go into the library's materials
budget. Last year, my proceeds were
around $2,200 and we were able to buy additional books with this money.
Do you have a policy/procedure document for selling the process? If so,
may we see a copy?
Nope, don't have a written policy. This is a one-person operation: I do
everything -- I list the titles
for sale, retrieve sold ones from shelves in my office, package them for
shipping, and email the buyer
to say that their book is on its way. If a book sells for over $10 on
Amazon, then I will probably list
mine for sale (unless there are tons of available copies, which means
that supply is much greater than
demand). I like it when I am selling a book that no one else is
offering, because I can pick whatever
price I want. I also like when there is a buyer waiting for a title to
become available, because that can
be a quick sale. I do exercise a little leeway in selecting what to
sell, as others do. For instance, if the
exact edition of what I want to sell is not in Amazon, I pick the best
record available and very carefully
explain how my book varies. Usually I select a price lower than anyone
else just to get my title visible
on the first screen of offerings for a given title -- unless the
condition of my book is better than the
cheapest copy, in which case I price mine higher. After 60 days when
the listing expires, I again look
at the lowest price and adjust mine accordingly. My $10 limit applies
here too -- when I have to lower
my price to under about $10, I give up and do not relist it, because I
feel it is not cost effective.
The whole process is somewhat labor-intensive. The listing process
takes time because you really need
to be careful in finding the correct or the best record on which to list
your book and also very careful in
describing the book's condition. When a book sells, I include a copy of
the listing and send it along
with the book and the packing slip, because you don't want your buyers
coming back and complaining
that what you sent is not what they thought they were buying. Refunds
are easy to process, but you'd
rather not have to go that route, because the idea is to get rid of your
stuff, not get it back. If someone
complains, I require that the book be sent back to me before I process
their refund. I got burned on
this once -- a buyer complained, I refunded their money, and they never
returned the book! Since I
began including a copy of the listing, I don't think I've had anyone
complain that I sent them the wrong book.
Overall, your current approach to sales worth the effort?
Absolutely! It's really sort of fun, looking at how the prices change,
how the market works in terms
of supply and demand. A limited supply makes for a better price, unless
there is no demand whatsoever!
-----------
Thanks again for the helpful responses.
--Paula
---------------------
Paula Hammett
Collection Development Coordinator & Web Coordinator
University Library, Sonoma State University
1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-3912, 707-664-2090 (fax)
hammett_at_sonoma.edu
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Received on Tue Feb 08 2005 - 22:43:06 EST