The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 133, 9 March 2009

BookThinker Special Report, 6 April 2009 Update Announcements BookThink Special Report Selling a Signed First Edition on eBay Update, and a New BookThink Service An update on BookThink's auction of a signed copy of Gone with the Wind. [Read the complete article here.] Gold Edition Quotation of the Month Buying and Selling Catalogs Part II: Auction Catalogs, Issue #57 Auction catalogs, especially those published in recent decades by major auction houses, are one of the most profitable of catalog niches. Not only do these catalogs feature the most sought-after items in the marketplace but also support these items with superb photographic presentations, detailed, authoritative commentary and often up-to-date pricing information (either in the form of pre-auction estimates or post-auction results) - virtually everything a collector looks for in a resource. Moreover, in cases where reference books on a specific collecting niche either don't exist or are prohibitively expensive, auction catalogs are especially attractive. [Read the complete article here.]       BookThinker Special Report, 23 March 2009 Update Announcements       BookThink Special Report The Frugal Bookseller Part I There's no question that a comprehensive knowledge of history is a great asset for a bookseller. There are many reasons why, but perhaps one of the more important (and obvious) ones is that it empowers your instincts when scouting, enabling you to snag books that have value because they address or are contemporaneous with important historical events, people, periods, etc. [Read the complete article here.] QMR Book of the Month Neaderthin Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body Here's an interesting idea for a diet: "Never eat anything that you cannot get naked, armed with only a sharp stick." In case you haven't noticed, the so-called Paleo diet, which essentially attempts to mimic what cavemen would've eaten back in the day, is hot stuff these days - and this book, Neanderthin, is selling hand over fist at $40 and up. BookThinker Update 16 March 2009 Update Announcements

BookThink's Top Ten on eBay February 2009 The saga of Aegard makes clear that what you see on eBay isn't always what happened. After a long run in the Antiquarian Top 5, Aegard is now not a registered user and his auctions were pulled. In this column, we report what eBay shows in search results and in individual listings. What we don't - and can't - usually know is whether what we see there is true. So take a grain of salt along with Top 10, and we'll keep trying to get it as on target as the information allows.

BookThinker #133, 9 March 2009

From the Editor

 

Looking Backward How to Cut Costs (Maybe) and Increase Profits In every business there's a cost of doing business, and bookselling is no exception. If you're like me, your cost of doing business has been going up, up, up for years. And it happens by degree, one small thing at a time, until you wake up one day and realize that you're putting out big bucks every month for a suite of services that may or may not be luxuries in an economic downturn. [Read the complete article here.]

 

Big Savings with Multi-D Cutting Costs by Cutting Boxes In these tough economic times, anything that can relieve some of the shipping and packaging costs can be of big help, especially with postal increases happening now every twelve months (or less), and the prospect of Amazon increasing our shipping allowance to cover these extra costs is pretty much wishful thinking. One of the more recent trends in packaging has been the awe-inspiring Multi-D. [Read the complete article here.]

BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books Issue #6 Issue #6 of BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books is now available for purchase. Purchase now.

Previous BookThink Update >>>>>>>

BookThink Special Report
2 March 2009>>>

An announcement: Issue #6 of BookThink's Quarterly Market Report is now available for purchase. This issue lists and annotates in detail 100 books that typically sell for $30 and up online and includes only those books that surface with some regularity at sales and other viable venues for purchasing inventory. Also, the commentary portions of this report have been expanded to provide an even clearer explanation why these books have value and in some cases also point you to related books that have similar value. Purchase it here.

Reminder: The complete Gold Edition and 50/50 back issues package is still on sale for $99.99. Purchase it here.

Finally, have you noticed? Bookseller forum traffic has been down everywhere, probably for many and various reasons, most of which are likely related to one thing, the economy; but I'm telling you, THIS is the time for booksellers who still want to be booksellers after the downturn to come together and start discussing survival and/or new profit-making strategies. BookThink's forum, if you haven't visited it, can be a serious tool for bookselling - and for this issue specifically. There's a hoop or two to jump through to get registered, but to sidestep all that and make this a clean, one-step process, email Pam at Pamela@bookthink.com with a word or two that will at least give her some reason to believe that you are either a bookseller or somebody interested in books (and not spamming the masses), and she'll usher you in.

BookThink Special Report The Great Depression Why History Matters in Bookselling There's no question that a comprehensive knowledge of history is a great asset for a bookseller. There are many reasons why, but perhaps one of the more important (and obvious) ones is that it empowers your instincts when scouting, enabling you to snag books that have value because they address or are contemporaneous with important historical events, people, periods, etc. [Read the complete article here.]