Comments on: Are You An Optimistic Book Seller?

By: Easy Auction Deals

Easy Auction Deals — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:05:06 +0000

I am very optimistic every time I find a new back roads used bookstore or flea market that I have never visited before, I aways find something interesting.

The more you know about the niche or category of books you plan to deal in the easier it is to find the deals. So I think the knowledge level of the dealer greatly influences optimism – mainly because you find more deals if you know what people are buying.

My brother is a master of 70s records. He can walk a flea market and find all the albums that sell for $1 there and bring $20 plus on eBay.

By: Dayton Fairfield

Dayton Fairfield — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:27:14 +0000

I am fairly new to online bookselling and as you all know if you are setting up a new site, it takes about a year to have any significant impact on Google. On the optimistic side, I know that time will come and it is worth the patience that it requires.

By: Rob Metras

Rob Metras — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:21:37 +0000

Increase the optimism with a new way to attract and retain your interested customers. Instead of them having to come to you. Set up a Virtual Book Tour where they can call in to you on a Teleseminar at their convenience and hear you the seller interviewing the author. Set it up as a weekly or bi-weekly event and your customers can be entranced by the author with you being the beneficiary. You can do it fom the office, at home or even at a coffeeshop and extend your range and reach. See http://www.vbtaction.com for al the details.

By: A visit to the Boston Antiquarian Book & Ephemera fair | Bookshop Blog

A visit to the Boston Antiquarian Book & Ephemera fair | Bookshop Blog — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:30:35 +0000

[...] funny that a recent post here was about optimism, because no where is the typical bookseller’s lack of optimism more evident than at a book [...]

By: prying1

prying1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:40:42 +0000

I find I’m much happier when I am optimistic than when I am pessimistic. Even if I’m not actually selling books today I know I will tomorrow…

Where’s my copy of Pollyanna?

By: Chapter 164 Optimism « Book Hunter’s Holiday

Chapter 164 Optimism « Book Hunter’s Holiday — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:08:42 +0000

[...] you are so inclined, click on over and read my article. [...]

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:55:23 +0000

As a die-hard optimist myself, I salute you! And as a bookseller, I totally agree. The stores I know that are doing well — both new and used — are those with owners and staff that are excited, forward-looking, enjoying their jobs, and full of confidence that they can succeed. As one bookselling colleague says (she runs a new age bookstore), you create your world with your thoughts about the world. And I’v observed that that’s not mystical mumbo jumbo — it’s as practical as going to the sale, over and over, and being delighted by each treasure you find. Congratulations on loving life and bookselling, and best of success to you!

By: Nora

Nora — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:45:42 +0000

You don’t necessarily have to identify the exact treasure when bookhunting, just the general shape.

Think of it like quality control. We have no problem believing that an inspector watching a production line can spot the bad cookie, oddly colored widget, shirt with the upside down logo, etc. The guy off the street can’t be expected to do that on the fly, but the trained inspector may view that many items in an hour on a conveyer belt. A book seller is just looking for the good in the sea of bad, rather than the bad in the good.

You don’t have to know EXACTLY what it is or how valuable it is, just that one of these things is not like the other…

And I’ll admit to be a used book dealer that carts off box loads of books. I’m not looking for a $200 book. I’m looking for the $20 and have a good idea what it “looks” like. I take more books to make same volume of sales. I usually only go on the supercheapo and free day. But even then, after the serious dealers have picked over stuff, I’ll find some $200 books! I’ll haul home an equal amount of drek and blockbusters. It’s a bell curve. Found a $1000+ one that way that dozens of dealers had passed over. It hadn’t fit in their scan range, so they’d passed it over. I picked it up thinking it was in my $20 range. I got it for free!