Anodyne
Sunday, December 05, 2004
 
ART (Aesthetically Rejected Thing): Deadbeat Amateur Used Book Dealers

(verbatim from the Alibris dealers-only message board):

"The best way I've found to price a large amount of books is to first call my girlfriend on my cell phone -- if that's possible -- to ask her to look up a handful of the best looking titles to see if they're worth anything. I figure most lots contain from 60-75% toss outs. My offer will be up to ten percent of what I estimate the best priced books to be. For instance, if I think there's $500 worth of books, I'll offer less than ten percent, and if they won't go for it, gradually raise my offer to up to ten percent."

For comparison's sake, we pay a minimum of 35% of retail, and, quite often, 40-50% of retail for scarce or interesting books. Many of my most memorable phone calls involve me trying to explain to a once-burned, twice-shy civilian that not everyone in the trade does business like Dealer X.

Last year we bought a nice collection of hardcover Faulkner firsts, a signed William Saroyan UK HC 1st, and thousands of other prime titles from an estate collection. The executor had first called our insane competitor on the North Shore, whose proposed payment method was to pick up a bunch of spare boxes at the liquor store, fill them with books, then offer 'a crisp shiny $5 bill' for every full box. No thanks, said the executor, sensing bullshit. You won't do better elsewhere!, snapped Insane Competitor. Well, a little better -- we paid mid-four figures, and the executor and I were both happy.

- posted by cjb @ 10:38 AM


<< Home

Powered by Blogger

.post-title { display: none!important; }