The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 #83, 4 December 2006

BookThink Update
11 December 2006>>>

Update Announcements

A Simple, Cheap Method for Bulk Listing on Amazon Selling on Amazon It's Steve Weber's turn again, and this time he discusses something you may not have been aware of - an Amazon tool that allows Pro-Merchant sellers to bulk upload listings. It's a great time saver. Find out how to do it today.

BookThink's Bookseller Profile Travis McFarland Travis McFarland is our brave bookseller this month - braving, that is, a Bookseller Profile. Would that all of you were so brave. In any case, Travis, though only two years in the business, has also braved something else - a business model that requires some sophisticated bookselling knowledge. He specializes in modern signed first editions, collectible children's books and other hard to find items. As always, it makes good reading, and don't forget to click into his eBay Store when you're done and buy a book or two. I guaranteed that it would happen!

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

Caught Any Carp Lately? Angling for Profits in Bookland Know any carp fishing stories? I do – two of them, in fact, both true, and, after telling them in "Caught Any Carp Lately?" I'm going to point you in the direction of some major bookselling profits.

BookThink's Top 10 on eBay October 2006 Today’s BookThink's Top 10 on eBay, October 2006, features some very familiar faces in the fiction category. Fleming, King, Pullman, Rowling, Tolkien ... yawn – and as often as these authors come up, I'm certain by now that all of you have committed pertinent issue points of their principal titles to memory and will be prepared when you stumble across your copies. Thousands richer, you will be. By contrast, the non-fiction category is unusual in that it consists almost entirely of titles that haven't made previous appearances. Notable among these is a book on carp fishing, believe it or not.

50/50 Issue #19
Dogs, Dogs and More Dogs
Now Available
Issue #19 of 50/50 is now available for purchase; its focus is "Dogs Dogs and More Dogs." Subscribe today here.

Introducing .... BookHunt Software Designed for Buying Inventory Online The bookselling theme we pound the hardest at BookThink is this: Sell better books. Agreed, some of you don't live in inventory rich areas, and this may be easier said than done. One solution I've suggested is to start buying some of your inventory online. After all, where are most of the best books located? For most booksellers, however, especially those new to the business, buying online is significantly more difficult than buying books in the field. Or was until now. Software developer Ian Ashbury has come to the rescue. Ian has designed a tool for BookThink that will greatly enhance your ability to not only locate inventory online but also save you countless hours you otherwise would've spent slogging through listings at eBay. It's called BookHunt, and here's more information.

Previous BookThinker update- BookThink Update
27 November 2006>>>

Update Announcements

When Less is More An Additional Observation on eBay Stores After the Fee Increases I've written a brief update to last week's eBay Stores article that may explain, in part, why my November sales are setting a record for me. If you haven't read my note in the forum about this, take a look at the article. There may still be time to give your holiday sales a boost.

How To Package Books Part I: Making a Case for B-flute Is it too early to start thinking about 2007? Heck no, and if you've been kicking around some ideas for growing your businesses next year, I have a zinger for you to consider: Upgrade your packaging method. If you're spending too much money on packaging materials or too much time packaging - or both - and still sending books off with a prayer that they'll arrive safely, the method I've used with success for almost seven years addresses all three issues better than any I know of.

Gold Edition #33 How To Buy and Sell Photobooks Issue #33 of the Gold Edition - How To Buy and Sell Photobooks - is now available for purchase. Purchase now.