posted on April 21, 2001 09:23:44 AM new
In a recent thread pertaining to Goodwill Industries there were several posts which asserted that it was virtually impossible to find saleable books in these outlets, implying that “the good ones” were somehow removed from potential sale by employees between the time they were donated and the time they should have been placed on the shelves. I don’t have an insider’s knowledge of what goes on at thrift shops, but common sense tells me it wouldn’t matter if this kind of practice was rampant. Good books would still make it out onto the floor, lots of them, and I know from experience that they do. It puzzles me why anyone would assume that a thrift store employee had any significant knowledge about books in the first place—I mean, to the extent that more than a small percentage of the best titles were confiscated. Certainly some obvious blockbusters could be sorted out, but my gosh, there are untold millions of books in circulation, and nobody, not even experienced booksellers know everything, or even close to it. Also, I’ve been in dozens of these places where so-called “valuable” titles are put behind glass, along with other collectible items, and it’s often downright laughable which ones are flagged as worthy of interest. Trust me on this: knowledge about books at thrift stores is scant. EXAMPLE: Several weeks ago I purchased a book at a thrift shop that contained several thousand short biographies and pictures of clergyman of a particular denomination, a sort of religious Who’s Who. When the clerk looked at it, she shook her head and said, “I almost threw this out. I didn’t think ANYONE would ever be interested in it.” I smiled at her and gave her my $.50. Ten days later it closed on eBay at nearly $40.
I’d like to share what I consider to be some essential facts about thrift stores, based on my personal experience, and also offer a few suggestions on what to look for.
The first thing you need to know about thrift stores is that they’re everywhere. Everywhere. Once you begin to look for them it’s amazing how many suddenly spring up. When you develop a nose for spotting them, you can almost sense that one is coming up before you even see it—for example, as you approach an older or previously or partially vacated shopping mall. Many of these businesses seek--and in fact can’t exist without--low-rent retail space. Depressed parts of towns will suddenly take on a new beauty because you know there’s gold nearby. A good place to start your search is at smartpages.com. Type in “thrift shops” in the “type of business” box and either a city name or zip code in the box below it, and in all likelihood a fairly long list of stores will come up (with links to maps, directions, and phone numbers). Try looking in nearby towns as well. Sometimes a drive of an hour or so is more than worth your time and gas. Also, revisit the better stores every month or so. You’ll be surprised how many new titles there are.
In general, I think it’s important to keep your expectations at once both high and low. Keep them high in the sense that you expect to find books that will sell for at least $10 and preferably $20 or $30 or more. Don’t waste time looking for things that you can only get a few dollars for (most fiction titles, for example). Even if you can realize, say, a 1000% profit on something, it just doesn’t make sense to build an hour’s worth of labor into a $5 sale. Keep them low in the sense that you’ll often walk out empty handed. If you visit a dozen stores in a hour or two, it’s likely that you won’t find more than 8 or 10 worthwhile books total. The good news is that your profit on these books could easily exceed several hundred dollars. Also, if you see something unusual but you aren’t sure about it, go ahead and cough up a buck. Even if you score on 20% or 30% of these hunches, you’ll come out way ahead.
1st IMPORTANT TIP FOR IDIOTS: Look at the copyright information. If it’s a second or later edition or printing, chances are there are lots of them floating around. It won’t be worth your trouble trying to resell it.
2nd IMPORTANT TIP FOR IDIOTS: Heavy books, or even small books that feel heavy for their size, are more likely to have value than light books. Also, don’t be lazy and overlook booklets. Pull the damn thing off the shelf and look at it. I recently sold a small religious booklet that I purchased in a church thrift store for $.10 for over $120.
3rd IMPORTANT TIP FOR IDIOTS: Prefer books with dust jackets. They light up your buyer’s eyes.
4th IMPORTANT TIP FOR IDIOTS: Thrift stores are often excellent sources of technical publications (e.g., textbooks, manuals, etc.), items of local historical interest (histories of small towns, for example), and generally offbeat things. Look for them. An exception to this would be a self-published book of poetry. If you see one, avoid it like the plague.
5th IMPORTANT TIP FOR IDIOTS: Unless you know exactly what you’re doing, your chances of finding something worthwhile in the fiction category are nil. Likewise the cookbook category. You’ll be utterly dumbfounded at how many microwave cookbooks there are. What could those publishers have been THINKING???
Anyone else have any tips?
Craig
[ edited by bibliophile on Apr 21, 2001 09:27 AM ]
posted on April 21, 2001 09:46:35 AM new
Well, if someone here reports that their thrift has no good books, I am inclined to believe them, because there are various flavors in my town: A: worth regular visits; B: only worth it when they have a sale [to get paperbacks for trade at the used book store]; C: never worth the gas money. Our Goodwill fits that category, I don't know why, they just do.
Our Salvation Army gets loads of books from a nearby city/regional center. From time to time these include brand-new books with publisher's info inside, which I take to be mostly review copies. These are excellent and worth the $2 price tag. So this store is in the A category.
Another little thrift has once a month sales, and that's about the only time I buy, to minimize my already low risk. I generally look for oddities there, like books in foreign languages, old software guides, etc.
It's always fun to score the "find" which is often, as you say, something a "layperson" would never guess would interest anyone. But there is a question of how much it's worth your time and gas money to visit these places, unless you are driving by anyway. Only you can know if your local stores have "got the goods".
posted on April 21, 2001 09:48:20 AM newspazmodeus ~ Seems to me Craig is giving some tips that work for him. I don't recall him claiming that his perceptions are right. I'm sure many people find his information useful.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:06:18 AM new
I'm not really selling books anymore because I've decided to stay within my niche (which occasionally includes books, so I'm not totally out of the loop. ;-> ). I just wanted to add that last year on Ebay I did a thriving 4 figure business in mostly books and 99.9% of those books came from thrift stores. (I bought a couple books from my neighbor's yard sale, or it would be 100%). I never even looked at used book stores or library sales or any of the other sources you've so helpfully mentioned! So there IS plenty to find in thrift stores. You just need to have a good eye and BY ALL MEANS stay way, way away from fiction! Could never sell it unless it was an old Nancy Drew or kid's book. And of course I have to add that my all time best selling book ($180) was a first edition of a science fiction novel----but that was an unusual situation and it was already in my personal collection, not a thrift store find.
Anyways, I would add just one amendment to your list: I never specialized in cookbooks but I had consistent sales in regional cookbooks. However, they had to be unusual. Something like "Uncle Pierre's Cajun Cooking from the Bayou" would sell great. Something like "Good Housekeeping's Guide to Southern Cooking" would NOT sell. Mass market cookbooks--definitely not. At one time I found a stack of nicely kept, softcover, recent year vegetarian cookbooks at our local thrift and bought it for a total of 3.00. Sold the lot for 40.00 and change. Stuff like that can happen. I would not recommend trying it all the time though. Cookbooks will not a part-time job make. But occasionally they can be moneymakers.
I would also like to mention that my purchases were almost exclusively the larger size softcover books you see on the second or third rows down at every thrift store. I stayed away from hardcovers for a couple of reasons: 1) they looked like mostly fiction (i did scan for older books) 2) they are heavier to ship and more bulky to store and 3) many of the books I specialized in (sewing, quilting, fashion, history, religion, etc.) never even came out in hardcover--or if they did, no one bought them/donated them. A memorable example of success in this area was a unremarkable looking, thin softcover book published within the past 20 years on medieval horse armor-cost was 25 cents, sold for 76.00.
It helps to be a reader, I think. I've always been a insatiable reader of nonfiction so I know what interests me, and when I discovered Ebay i found that many people share my general interests.
If you mainly read fiction and/or People magazine, this is going to be somewhat harder for you to judge. Not impossible, but somewhat harder. Mainly the thing I think is different is that fiction readers tend to think the outside of the book should be impressive. Many of the books that sell well for me on Ebay have plain paper covers and/or a distinctly boring appearance. Yet it's the info inside that people like me pay big bucks for.
I'm always looking for out of print books on textile history, for instance, and I couldn't care less if the cover looks good or if there is a library pocket.
Collectors vs. information gatherers are two different breeds---I've always been one of the latter and I prefer to sell to the latter. Others operate differently. Different standards completely.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:14:20 AM new
KEZIAK: I didn't mean to imply that I mistrusted anyone's assessment of a particular thrift shop. There are losers by the dozen.
BRIGHID: Excellent observation about the cookbooks, also the larger paperbacks. You speak with wisdom.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:16:02 AM new It puzzles me why anyone would assume that a thrift store employee had any significant knowledge about books in the first place—I mean, to the extent that more than a small percentage of the best titles were confiscated.
I stated rather clearly in the other thread that the thrift stores within driving range use "consultants" (read "volunteer" book dealers) who sort and price their books. I know because I have asked, prompted to do so by seeing collector's prices on what few books do make it to the shelves. "Oh, we have a very nice man who prices our books when they come in," the dotty old women explain. "He's a book dealer, so he knows what's what." Can't tell you how many times I've heard this. And while they balk when I ask if "the very nice man" takes any books for himself before they ever make it to the floor, the look in their eyes and the shabby selection on display tell me all I need to know.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:22:48 AM new
SPAZMODEUS: "Certainly some obvious blockbusters could be sorted out, but my gosh, there are untold millions of books in circulation, and nobody, not even experienced booksellers know everything, or even close to it."
I read your post. That's why I added the above to my observations.
MODERATORS: I request that you lock this thread. I'm done here. For good. The negative atmosphere is just too destructive.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:25:01 AM new
Let me 'ditto' the need to sell the book for $10 or more. Add up the time it takes to take, crop and upload a picture and write a description. Unless you can make $10 (more or less) on an auction it isn't worth running.
Although if you can get several copies of the same book and just hit the relist button, then you can make less per sale and still do well.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:27:12 AM new
Okay, everybody...I have been reading the booksellers series on these posts for a couple weeks now. I (in the past) have sold a few things on ebay...but mostly auction items that take TONS of storeage space. Did really well with some old Life Magazines, too! (My first attempt, which initially cost $10.00, netted me over $900.00 Luck?) Any way, I have been trying to come up with something to sell on EBAY that would at least cover the costs of doing it and maybe make a few extra bucks too, as I already have a full time job elsewhere. I want to Ebay after retirement to supplement the income, and it's fun. Books sounds like something I would love, as I love to read, I love books, and they dont take up so much room. However, I am one of those who doesn't know much about what to try out first. I have listed a few Golden books, and a couple non fiction (last night) Any body got any hints for me? How do I know what to look for as far as copyrights, first editions, historical, etc. I noticed a lot of people say it is marked "a" or "ijk" what does that mean? Anxiously awaiting replies!!!! By the way, there are TONS of thrift stores, used bookstores around here, cant wait to go look, but what do I look for?(not my ebay ID)
posted on April 21, 2001 10:31:59 AM new
I see. It's not okay to post differing opinions, even while you do it in your first post. You should state that up front, bibliophile.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:35:20 AM new
Please reconsider asking to have this thread locked.
I've been following the bookselling threads for some time now, and I've learned so much!
I often come across stacks and stacks of books during my figurine collectible searches. I scan the titles and wish I knew which of them were desirable. I've always felt at such a loss ... and I've moved on.
I started out in several collectible areas on eBay from ground zero. I've researched, listened and learned, and am now somewhat of an expert in some small niche areas.
I soooo want to learn about books but I've never known where or how to start. With literally thousands and thousands of titles to chose from it's so daunting.
Thanks to the generosity of many of you sharing your knowledge and experiences I feel like I've taken that first baby step.
I sincerely appreciate the time it many of you have given to these threads.
posted on April 21, 2001 10:38:51 AM new
I think one of the best pieces of advice from bibiophile [I apologize, BTW, if my reply came off negative, didn't mean to!] was to take the time and check your finds BEFORE you buy. Run the risk that books won't be there when you go back. Make lists [carefully] and go home and check ebay and half.com. See if you find any books that have proven track records. That way you aren't stuck with a bunch of books you can't sell.
There's just no substitute for research. Once you have experience you may be able to "sniff out" good deals, but it's really very hard to avoid stinkers. I get them all the time, but as my investment is low, I can hangle some mistakes.
For example, I bought an OP dog book by Barbara Woodhouse at a library sale, thought maybe it was as desirable as some other older dog books I sell. Nope - ebay, half.com and Amazon are loaded with copies. With any luck, the used bookstore will take it and give me 50 cents in trade credit.
Please don't stop posting...or lock this thread. Just ignore the things that bother you... These are by far the most informative and interesting threads here in ages, and I thank you for them.
posted on April 21, 2001 11:18:51 AM new
Bibliophile, I'm a professional bookseller, and I've learned a lot from your bookselling posts. I just wanted to say thank you!
posted on April 21, 2001 11:19:14 AM new
Craig has given some good advice in these three threads. But like all advice, the recipient needs to take that advice with a grain of salt. The recipient has to pick it apart and analyze it...then see if it applies to his situation.
Craig advises to scout used bookstores and thrift shops...including driving an hour or so to get to them (which would mean at least 2 hours of travel time). He acknowledges you may only find 8-10 books for a couple of hours searching. To use that advise one would need to decide if that was the best use of ones time...I know that for me that is not a good use of my time so I concentrate on auctions to obtain my books.
One size advise does not fit all. I agree with Brighid868 that common, recently published cookbooks are not strong sellers, but I disagree that only unusual cookbooks sell. Brighid868 gave good advise based on her experiences, my experiences differ. Somebody else may have another differing experience with cookbooks.
When we see advise like there has been on these threads we need to realize we can't blindly follow them but have to instead test them out and incorporate in our actions whatever part of that advise seems best to us. We need to remember that what works for one person may not work for another.
I have deleted your post. It may reflect your opinion, but we will not allow our Message Center to be used to disparage our members or staff.
spazmodeus,
Your posts are disrupting this thread. Please keep the principles of basic etiquette in mind as you post. Also, please remember that if anyone's posts bother you in any way AW's handy ignore button is at your disposal.
bibliophile,
I believe this thread can be beneficial to many of our members so I'm not inclined to lock it at this time. I will keep a close eye on it, however, and if the bickering continues, I will lock it.
posted on April 21, 2001 11:40:26 AM new
I am willing to believe that what you are describing and your experience are valid for your area. However I don't appreciate being classed as an idiot if my experience in my area are different. You presume entirely too much that if we think different it is because we are unobservant and stupid.
The Goodwill stores in the Detroit area all closed last month. I feel it was directly as a result of nothing good ever making it to the floor.
My wife would donate $1500.00 of clothing several times a year with good names such as Pendleton and Eddie Bauer. We never saw a sigle piece on the racks although we checked every day for 2 weeks.
Every time I looked at the books they were dog eared paper backs and hardcovers like reader's digest collections. I never saw ONE decent hard cover book.
I donated a scanner/cell phones/coffee maker
lamps and other household items. Never saw a single piece of it ever reach the floor.
The prices on the pieces that did make the floor were equal to what you could buy things new at Value City or K-Mart.
posted on April 21, 2001 11:52:15 AM new
Bibliophile: Thank you for your advice. Your posts are informative and helpful to me. I've made money this week because of what I have read in the Idiots series.
Everyone else: Thank you for sharing your advice as well. I like the spirit of comaraderie and hope we can continue along those lines.
posted on April 21, 2001 12:25:35 PM new
I have been enjoying this series of Bookselling for Idiots and hope it continues.
GRAVID: Bibliophile isn't calling anyone an idiot, he is simply "borrowing" the name from a series of how to books. Shouldn't take it personally.
Bibliophile: try and remember there are many, many of us lurkers out here who either never post or very seldom and you should consider us your silent audience. From one of the silent audience - THANK YOU!!
posted on April 21, 2001 12:33:50 PM new
Now I understand why some posters are touchy about this thread: "FOR IDIOTS". It seems that they are taking it personally.
For those that don't know, there is popular line of books that copies the "for Dummies" marketing tactic: "XXX FOR IDIOTS".
I think Bibliophile was simply using that wording for signify it's a beginners thread - no one should be taking offense!
posted on April 21, 2001 01:04:06 PM new
Responding to the last couple posts above, which have introduced this line of discussion into the thread:
I personally find the use of the term "idiot" insulting, regardless of how it's intended, or how it has been used in marketing.
Responding to gravid's comment about thrift stores:
I agree that by and large they are a dead end -- not only for books, but for all items worthy of resale. I think it's a gross violation of the public trust (that is, people who innocently make the donations believing that they will be offered for resale to the public) that employees and others have been siphoning off the choice items (and how many threads have we seen here complaining about such practices over the years) for their own gain. Personally, I don't bother with thrift stores anymore. I agree with gravid and amy that they are not viable venues to procure resale stock.
posted on April 21, 2001 01:07:41 PM new
Thanks so much for all the posts. I have several hundred books that are a hundred years old. Or most. GA Henty, Alger, Tom Swift.
Only Henty seems to sell, and often not much more than I paid forty years ago.
Maybe i am doing something wrong.
Just getting rid of things my children will ot want.
Mostly the old boy's books. They do espouse the old ideas of hard work, opportunity and success.
ABe
posted on April 21, 2001 01:31:16 PM new
PAT: It’s your call on keeping the thread open, but I respectfully disagree with your decision. I think it would be better to lock it and simply let someone else begin another thread on the same subject. I’ve tried to be patient about the negative energy that keeps surfacing here. However, I can see now that it’s going to continue. It already IS continuing in this thread. I have no problem with disagreement on issues, only with animosity. You’ve already lost some good people here due to the same problems. I know my attempts to improve things have been futile. That’s why I’m leaving, not because I’m upset. Thank you to all who have given me the benefit of the doubt in my posts and not made knee-jerk assumptions about my motives or intent, especially in the use of the word “idiot” <g>--and also, thanks to all who have shared their knowledge with a genuine spirit of helpfulness. Perhaps I’ll see some of you on eBay’s book chat. Things are much more amicable there.
posted on April 21, 2001 01:39:03 PM new
I don't sell books, except a few of my own I sold a while back, but I love books and love reading so these threads caught my attention and I love them. Thanks for starting them bibliophile- please don't stop!
I have learned a lot, and when searching sales, thrift stores or whatever, I look at books differently now, and instead of passing them over, I am looking and learning. I might never do anything with what I have learned, but I have enjoyed every minute of it.
I wish people who want to be negative just stayed away - there are so many of us out there who don't post often, but who read and enjoy. I love the fact that people share and take the time to try and educate others, it's heartening to feel there is a place to get help - so if you don't have anything constructive to add - stay away!
[ edited by touchofeurope on Apr 21, 2001 01:40 PM ]
posted on April 21, 2001 01:49:54 PM new
Hey, bibliophile, I too hope you reconsider as I enjoy the posts that come out of your threads.
I have access to approximately 20 thrift stores between work and home. Some are better than others, and I firmly believe it's all in the timing. Walked into a Goodwill in North Hollywood first thing on a Saturday and came away with a Harrod's Cookbook and two early Patricia Cornwell firsts...hesitated on a Martha Stewart book (dork!) and when I went back an hour and a half later it was gone. I find Goodwill and Out of the Closet in Southern California to be two of the better thrifts, if you are persistent.
posted on April 21, 2001 01:50:09 PM new
I agree with touchofeurope. This is a lot more interesting than the endless and repetitious shipping charges/feedback/Ebay's down/Paypal threads.
Bibliophile: sorry, but the Book Chat at Ebay is a poor substitute for the information you've given us here. I can't get used to the structure there. I always feel like I'm reading upside-down! LOL. Can't blame you, though.
These are by far the most informative and interesting threads here in ages, and I thank you for them.