| Some Hints for Selling Your Books to a Bookstore: It's impossible to evaluate a book over the phone. Don't even ask. (Well, sometimes we could tell you if it isn't worth anything... but that requires more questions and time than a worthless book is worth...) If you have more than a couple of dozen books to sell, it is often worth phoning to make sure they are interested in looking at them, when they can look at them, or if you will have to leave them and come back. Many stores don't pay cash for books - they only give credit. Some stores will offer 2 prices - you might be offered $20 cash or $30 credit. Most stores already have far more books than they want, but keep buying more (generally, we're compulsive, that way). How much is it worth? I might offer you $10 for a book because I know someone who wants it. If I didn't have that customer, I might offer $1 - or nothing. Many - if not most - of my books will never sell. For the most part, I don't know which ones. Out of the ones that do sell (for money, not credit) I have to pay rent, heat, light, and wages. The markups are high but the profit is low. That's why you are being offered $1 for a book that I might price at $5 or $10. A year from now, I might be putting it in the 50 cent bin or donating it to the Salvation Army store. There are books that almost no-one will buy - old Harlequins (unless the number on the cover is lower than 50), Reader's Digest Condensed Books, National Geographic magazines less than 40 years old, Book Club books. Hard cover fiction, generally, and without a dust jacket almost never. No matter how old, rare, or meaningful a book might be, if no-one wants to buy it, it has no dollar value. Really Old Books: Most old books are not saleable. There are exceptions, such as leather bound and not falling apart or they have very decorative covers. Usually still not worth much - but at least saleable. When they get back before 1800, they start to get more interesting. First editions: People often forget that every book has a first edition - and most never have a second. I sell Stephen King firsts in near mint condition for $5. If I'm lucky. I try to avoid buying them. Find a 'first' of Stephen King's first book and that's a different matter. When it was published, they didn't know how it would do, so the first printing was small. And no-one was collecting his books. A few years later, his first editions are printed in huge quantities and thousands of people save them. They will never be worth anything. There are also a dozen other 'types' of 'firsts' that are not 'true firsts' and usually of no interest. Condition is everything! Not quite, but it's important. With 'collectable' books, a missing or torn dust jacket might make the book unsaleable. With older and rarer books allowances are made. Some books never had a dust jacket. Specialist bookstores: You have an old book about the American Civil War? I might not be interested, but there are stores that specialize in that. They might be very interested. (or they might have 6 copies in the stockroom). Different kinds of bookstores. There are stores that are dark, dusty, and unorganized, but full of treasures and with knowledgeable owners. Or not. There are stores filled with nothing but beautiful books - rare first editions, numbered leatherbound books, signed books, and so on. Every one a treasure. And priced accordingly. There are stores where the focus is more on content than form - if it's 'interesting' or well-written, they don't care if it's the 5th edition, no dust jacket, library markings, and dog-eared pages. And priced accordingly - but still treasures for the right customer. There are stores that focus on recent paperbacks, or science fiction, or war. Some are fussy about the condition of their books, and some aren't. Each has a market. A good bookstore is one that has the books that you want to buy, and is more likely to want the books you want to sell. Good luck! Have fun. Read Books! |
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| A Town Without a Bookstore is not a Real Town |
