Update Announcements, #76, 4 September 2006

How many times have you opened a seemingly swell book only to be met with a gaping, unsightly split hinge? Not quite the kiss of death, but a significant flaw nonetheless - and yet, sending it off to be repaired rarely makes sense because the subsequent gain in value would likely be offset by the cost of the repair. However, there's another option - repair it yourself. Too difficult, you say? Well, BookThink's Book Repair Editor Gail Altman begs to differ, and she's here today to explain exactly how it's done.

Also today - the July installment of Pamela Palmer's Top Ten on eBay. Some familiar faces appear, some new ones as well, and apparently several sellers encountered some unusual problems selling at the top end. Pam elaborates. A reminder - if you're interested in seeing item numbers that match up with the featured books, you'll need to subscribe to our special list. It's free. Write me at editor@bookthink.com and I'll get you set up.

Look for Catherine Petruccione's interview with Sue Connors, Director, Sales and Account Management at Abebooks in next week's BookThinker. Like the Alibris and Biblio interviews that preceded it, this is another illuminating piece that addresses a number of important questions that have been on the minds of many Abebooks' sellers. And get ready for more altered perceptions.

August's Gold Edition and 50/50 were delivered last week (and please let me know if you didn't receive yours). The 8-issue Gold Edition series on becoming a full-time bookseller has been completed, and we'll now turn our attention back to the more familiar format of examining important market niches. The September issue will focus on buying and selling yearbooks. This is one of the better kept bookselling secrets: If you know how to buy and sell yearbooks - and can exercise some patience - this can be a very profitable niche. We'll show you how to make it happen.

50/50 will undergo an alteration in format as well - actually, it already has. We've done some thematic issues in the past, but now this will be our permanent approach. Last month for example, the theme was classical music, and the September issue will focus on vintage fashion. Subscribe to either premium newsletter here.

Finally, here are my August results using BookHunt. I should point out that I had significantly less time to devote to this activity this month, so I purchased only 29 books (down from last month's 52), but my time invested was correspondingly low - certainly less than two hours overall.

Estimated resale value (conservative): $1885.00 or $1447.50 gross profit - and 5 have already sold at expected prices.

Again, this was accomplished using only two search queries, both relatively simple, and BookHunt ran in the background while I worked on other things. IMPORTANT: If you've purchased BookHunt, have used it for at least one month, have also studied BookThink's Gold Edition series on buying inventory online and seriously attempted to apply it, and haven't yet gotten satisfactory results, let's discuss it in the BookThink forum. We're here to help. Mastering this doesn't happen overnight. Also, BookHunt is only a tool and can't do everything for you - that is, it's most effective in the hands of those who have already learned how to purchase online inventory. Keep in mind that practice definitely does make perfect, buying mistakes are inevitable, and it will likely take some time to develop the necessary nose for consistent success.

If you haven't tried it yet, BookHunt is only $19.99 ($29.99 bundled with the Gold Edition series mentioned above), and this price includes free upgrades. Click here to purchase to purchase either or.

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Questions or comments?
Contact the editor, Craig Stark
editor@bookthink.com