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Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do
Last Post Apr 14, 2009 6:42 AM by: satnrose
Replies: 327
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casadejunque
Posts: 1,292

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 28, 2003 10:35 PM
I thought maybe some of you old timers (as in book sales experience, that is!) could toss out your best quick advice for new booksellers on what NOT to do/sell on Ebay.

Here's my two cents:

Readers Digest Condensed books are worthless . Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Book Club Editions are usually worthless, but there are some exceptions. The more experienced booksellers can probably explain this better than I could.

There are several good, free used book sites on the internet where you can check to see what your book might be worth.

Next?
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mindelec
Posts: 1,521
(1 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 28, 2003 10:42 PM
"Readers Digest Condensed books are worthless . Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. "

mostly, but several months ago there was one that went for several hundred dollars. i believe it was one of the first ones published.

my advice "for every bookselling rule there *is* an exception"

;)

robert
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midoridrunk
Posts: 3
(2 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 28, 2003 11:02 PM
my advice "for every bookselling rule there *is* an exception"

;)

robert

So true. :)
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mrs_bees_treasures
Posts: 21
(3 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 12:02 AM
My advice on what not to do could apply to any category or item, not just books.

Don't do the following:

Negative / Harsh / Limited options for TOS.
Blurry or no Photo.
Keyword spamming or saying it is like another name brand or author.
Music, Gifs, moving cursors, or anything else that's annoying and/or takes forever to download.
Unreasonable TOS such as only giving 3 or 5 days to pay with money orders being the only accepted payment.
Giving only a one line description of item.
Not mentioning condition or flaws.
Not being honest about the item, TOS, or anything else.
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tomato_sloop
Posts: 6
(4 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 2:39 AM
Yet another exception:Blurry or no Photo.

From personal experience: I was very interested in a particularly hard to find author's signed book - and lo and behold, there it is, up for auction, but *gasp* not a single pic, with the advisement, that none are available! Two people bid, one successfully(?),for $61. Not I. So there is that for an exception.
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satnrose
Posts: 35,289
(5 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 2:54 AM
The biggest problem every usedbookdealer faces, whether a one-person operation or a megachain, is what to do with the bottom level books. Don't let yourself be buried under a sea of carp. Know when to give up on a book and toss it to the FOL. Know when to trade it up. Know when not to buy it in the first place. Know when not to even try to eBay it. Life's too short to sell bad books.

But if you have to think twice, buy it. The one time you are right will make up for all the times you are wrong.

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fiziwig
Posts: 9
(6 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 10:25 AM
satnrose, Amen to that. When I opened my very first brick and mortar used bookstore many years ago it took about a year for the customers to cherry-pick my inventory and I was left with nothing but junk. It was a costly lesson.

Now that I have a better idea what to look for I go cherry picking in other people's bookstores. :)

One big no-no is to not specify shipping costs in the auction listing. I have an auction I won a week ago and so far three emails to the seller asking for shipping costs have gone unanswered. It's just a book, how hard can it be to mention the shipping cost. And his listing says pay with PayPal and get it sooner. Yeah, right! How can I get it sooner if the seller takes forever to answer a simple request for the shipping cost? Very annoying. I think that from now on I won't even bid on auctions that don't list shipping cost up front.
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ctbooks@starcomm.net
Posts: 99
(7 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 10:38 AM
1. Spelling counts.
2. Punctuation counts.
3. ALL UPPER-CASE LETTERS ARE BAD.
4. all lower-case letters are bad.
5. runtogetherwordsarebad
6. Music, too cute cartoons, flashing neon signs, and busy backgrounds are bad.
7. L@@K and other overdone words are bad. RARE is overdone.
8. Really big pictures of the item are bad.
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thebabyhawk
Posts: 11
(8 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 11:22 AM

9. failure to list any condition
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readytorumble
Posts: 21
(9 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 7:50 PM
Please say more about "really big pictures are bad". I don't understand. If possible, please show an example.
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mmishaps
Posts: 266
(10 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 8:14 PM
My husband just told me that someone had asked me to look for a book--gave me the title, and there's only one presently listed, ends in 6 hours, and there is absolutely no description. Lots of TOS, but not one word of description about the book. Fortunately, it's not a collectible, it's only wanted for reading, and I'll gamble--since there's little chance of getting a response from the seller before I head to bed. This is NOT the way to sell a book. The seller has feedback in the 800's, has been an eBay member for over 2 years, and has listed almost 900 auctions, many of which were books, all starting at $1 in the last month. Most ended without bids. Wonder why?
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gardenofbooks
Posts: 15
(11 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 8:21 PM
Really big pictures take too long to load. A lot of your bidders will just hit the back button.
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boodust
Posts: 1,932
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Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 8:39 PM
Do not under~value / devalue your offerings.
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brokerc
Posts: 281
(13 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 9:04 PM
No book should ever see a dumpster.

Give away what you cannot sell.

Take a tax deduction for the charitable donation of your unsalable books.

Someone, somewhere wants the books you can't move. Find them a home, or at least an appropriate conduit to further use.
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kookidz
Posts: 4,590
(14 of 327)

Advice Column For Newbie Booksellers Suggestions On What NOT To Do

Jul 29, 2003 9:18 PM
Don't just list the book without researching it first.
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