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Auctionbytes-Update, Number 58 - December 08, 2001 - ISSN 1528-6703
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Letter to the Editor December 09, 2001
Reading AuctionBytes: Letter to the Editor
[Craig Stark's] contention that getting great books in Used Bookstores for resale because of the fact that online dealers have the advantage of having their market being "the Earth" is totally ABSURD.
Does he think that brick and mortar bookstores don't own computers, and don't use the SAME online venues that online auction booksellers use to sell their books IN ADDITION TO their brick and mortars?
This is the case now with the VAST MAJORITY of brick and mortar bookstores of any size whatsoever, as they have found it necessary to do so in order to compete, and their pricing and other research is also done online, which gives them a DOUBLE advantage- they have the experience advantage over the majority of strictly-online booksellers, and use the same online tools.
...
-----NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: This reader is referring to a recent article by Craig Stark, who writes frequently for AuctionBytes about selling books online. You can view past articles in the archives on the site. I forwarded this letter to Craig, whose reply follows. I think we should always test our sales & marketing strategies - think of it as market research. It's the only way to know what works for you. - I.S.
It's true that some of these dealers also list books on eBay, but eBay, as you and many of your readers well know, is a time-hog. It eats up our lives by the bucketful. I've talked to many, many book dealers about this very topic, and most of them simply don't have the time or the patience to do auction presentations. Or, if they do list, their presentations are often less than complete and fall far short of the approach that I'll present in Part III of this series.
Another thought: your reader states that these dealers do "their pricing and other research" online. Of course they do, but this misses another point I make in the article: "books do not have a fixed value, a price that is somehow intrinsic to the thing itself no matter where it travels." Research is a good and necessary thing but only in offering a starting point.
I purchase books frequently from online dealers and resell them for significant profits on eBay. If I simply assumed that their price was THE price, the magic axis that the world turns on, I'd never buy anything. Once all three parts to this article are published, I think it will be much clearer why presentation is the great secret of success on eBay.
A final thought: booksellers get new inventory in all the time, and can't possibly be experts in all things, nor can they take the time to carefully research all things.
Also, there are some dealers who consciously under price things to keep them moving off the shelves and, like any other walk of life, a few incompetents. All of these factors translate into opportunities for us.
Please feel free to publish my reply. I have no discomfort at all with this type of controversy because I live by the advice I offer and succeed with it.
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