Reseller Retrospective: Books that have sold in the last month

 

My wife's book pricing system on her desk. 

     So it's been about five weeks since I announced that I was going to promote a proper eBay store and not just sell the occasional book here and there. It's been really tough holding back on selling some of them, and then ready to move on with selling some others. It turned out I have a ton more books than I thought, but then also less at the same time. Sooo many damn hard covers.. so heavy and take up so much space. I wish I could get rid of them all. For this quick post, I though I would go over what sold, for how much, and how much we made. The amount listed of each sale is before shipping (I charge $5 for PB and $6 for HC) and includes estimated eBay fees.

• $18 - The Origin of Crabs - Guy Smith - First PB
• $17 - The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe - First Timescape PB
• $30 - The Black Horde - Richard Lewis - First PB
• $20 - Chapterhouse Dune - Frank Herbert - First/First HC
• $25 - Children of Dune - Frank Herbert - BCE HC
• $16 - God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert - BCE HC
• $25 - And The Put out the Light - ECR Lorac - First PB
• $15 - God Emperor Dune - Frank Herbert - 1983 PB
• $10 - Dragon in the Sea - Frank Herbert - 1956 HC no DJ
• $12 - Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert - 1980 PB
• $75 - Encyclopedia of Fairies - Kathrine Briggs - First/First HC
• $12 - Alone Against Tomorrow - Harlan Ellison - BCE HC
• $10 - Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert - 1970 PB
• $15 - Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein - 1968 PB
• $13 - The Belgariad Part One - David Eddings - BCE HC
• $11 - Children of Dune - Frank Herbert - 1984 PB 22nd Printing
• $32 - Chapterhouse Dune/Heretics of Dune - Frank Herbert - 1980's PB lot
• $12 - Conan The Treasure of the Tranicos - Robert E. Howard - Ace First PB
• $15 - Shadows Linger - Glen Cook - First PB
• $10 - Count Zero - William Gibson - 1987 PB
• $10 - 25th Spc Ed. Dune - Frank Herbert - 1990 PB
• $15 - Children of Dune - Frank Herbert - Ace 1987 PB

Cute little custom bookmark and stamp

     Total amount earned: $721.37, 26 sold, currently sitting at 162 active listings. Almost selling a book a day, but I noticed that people wait until the weekend to shop, so we always have a few to mail on Monday mornings. I pack the books and my wife lists them, we have a good system. We bought a cute little stamp pad and our talented son drew us a custom logo; I stamp each bubble mailer, and the custom book marks that are library cards we put with each order, and of course everything comes in a protective bag with some cardboard backing. In the time that we have sold 26 books, I have been to three book stores and found at least another 25 books that would count as listable, I.e.: Books with a high rate of sale over $10 in sold auction value. 13 of the books sold were Dune books, which I have a ton of, doubles, different printings, you name it. I've read the books and don't have a crazy attachment to them, and I see and have found a few out in the wild already to replace the ones sold for one or two dollars each. In short, this is something we could keep up for a long time with the current inventory.

The goals of this project are: 

1. Learn how to run a small retail business with my wife without killing each other
2. Learn more about books and what sells (It's Dune, at the moment, but these Choose your own adventure books are interesting and rare)
3. Make money and pay down some bills
4. Use what I know about marketing and sales to be successful
5. Manage a target inventory of 500 books
6. Have fun

     So far we're having a blast, posting more books, and making new memories. I love seeing and touching and opening boxes of books that have not seen the light of day for over 10 years, researching and planning, and of course reading some of them again. 

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$25 Fill a Bag - Small Business Saturday

Here is my bag. I filled it. Dog for scale.

     I find myself back again at the Paperback Exchange Book Store in New Port Richey. It's their fault I'm back, they told me it would $25 fill a bag, and they provide the bag. Nice canvas one too, with pockets. There were a few rules:

1. No "Rare" books. You know because it says rare on the price sticker.
2. Has to be at least 3 years old
3. Can't have the "No Credit" sticker on it
4. Has to be over 25 books as all white sticker books are $1 each all day
5. Rare books are BOGO

   In total I put 64 books in my bag that qualified. I could have fit at least 10-15 more in there easily, but I didn't want to take advantage. Some of the books I had in the bag had a sticker on them for over $15, so I felt like those few books alone, the value was more than met. The mathematician in me says it was right around .40 cents a book, which is right around Yard Sale pricing... my favorite! 

Some really cool old pulp short story mags from the 60's and 70's. There was TONS more of these, but they were from the 80's un through the 90's.

     Random selection of old paperbacks in varying conditions. Some beat up Zelazny to spice it up.

     Lot of crusty and decent condition Heinlein. The Starman Jones really caught my eye. Not in the best shape, but have never seen it in the wild before. Around this time the owner handed me an Asimov 60's BCE hardcover that I already had and passed on.

    Some really not bad examples of early Asimov, with the End of Eternity the standout. There were about 10 mixed Sci-Fi short story collection books edited by him that I picked up as well.

     Some nice old Lazer PB's, Neuromancer, and a lot of random stuff that I have but I know has a little bit of value. Couldn't pass on the ACE double, even though it is already in my collection. 

That's it! Stay tuned for more book adventures.

Warrior of Scorpio Editions

    Going to Sandman Book Co. the other day got me thinking about their incorrectly priced book, Warrior of Scorpio, by Alan Akers.(Ken Bulmer) I love the cover art by the way, but I was unsure about the edition. Nothing is really written on this, so I thought I would clear it up. 

   The pictures in this blog post I took on my coffee table, with the real first edition of the DAW original. I researched for a bit too long to verify my claims, but having both editions I've determined that they are both first editions, but different printings. The book above is the real earlier First Editions/First Printing, and the other copy is the First Printing/Second edition. Neither are remotely valuable however..  Obviously the cover art is different, but some of the reprints retain the same cover art, covered by a yellow border.

Sandman Book Company

(The only picture I did not take)

     Seeing several reviews on reddit.com about collecting rare and hard to find to books, two people from two different posts asked me if I have ever been to Sandman Book Company, in Punta Gorda Florida. Having proudly visited 90% of Florida's used book stores in traveling, I had to admit I never had. Being less than twenty minutes away from the house, what excuse do I have? I bet I've driven by fifty times or more, one time in 2014 even looking through the window when they were closed, having seen the "Book Arch" on their facebook as it was being built. Shame on me. I once stopped by for their grand opening week, only to not buy anything and go home.

     Well from the picture above, with me standing under their masterfully built Book Arch, I obviously made time to go down and check it out. The chalkboard right in front of my feet says to touch the arch, take pictures, etc. There was small lights installed in the arch, and is much cooler to see in person. A ton of work went in to making something so creative, so much so I'm wondering if I should build one in my house! God knows I have enough books. 

     This place is massive. It's obvious it has undergone several expansions over the years, as each section had it's own feel, custom built bookcases- or bookcases bought and altered for this purpose, chairs, stools, and crown molding throughout. The size is comparable to the Books-a-Million in the Edison Mall, but packed with way more books. I get the nerdy/hipster feel to the whole place, while staying appealing to mostly everyone. Romance novels are partitioned in another huge space to keep the old ladies out of the way of real book collectors like me, and I appreciate that.

     I'm really not in the business of reviewing stores, but I honestly liked this place so much, I found myself just taking pictures of all the little curiosities. I had feeling, a strange feeling mind you, that someone invited me here.. like the owner or something, and we are friends and I'm happy to accept their invitation. My wife made the remark, "If they had coffee, I may not leave." The selection of vintage Science Fiction and Fantasy paperbacks and hard covers, is by the far the largest I have seen outside of Tampa, and that is saying something. The organization is similar to the way I have my books put away at my house. The anthologies are separate, popular authors, you have your area over here. Tolkien lovers, please come this way.

     As some people know from previous posts, I'm a HUGE fan of Ace Doubles, which are very hard to find in the wild, but can be had easily enough on Amazon and eBay for a few bucks a pop. I refuse to by them on eBay because of shipping variances, and the whole market flux has been driving prices up for no reason at all really. Sandman Book Co. has two full shelves of Ace Doubles, another shelf of old science fiction mags, and countless sets, boxed sets.. I mean the books were literally everywhere. If you noticed, the books are bagged and well taken care of.

     They use a shrink wrap machine, or bag any book deemed "rare", and they have two different kinds of stickers, no trade stickers, yellow stickers, I could go on. Each book is in inventory, and is priced individually. This is a giant undertaking for the amount of books that are in this space, and I understand now why they have volunteers who work for them! Back to the pricing for a second, and I think the only reason I may not make this a regular trip. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely in love with this book store, and want to move in right away and never leave. The individual price on the books often does not make sense. The average price for a paperback is around $3.50, with some of the harder to find uncommon books hovering around the $7-$9 range. Rightfully so, often times that is the selling price or going rate on Amazon, Ebay, etc. See above, Warrior of Scorpio, an uncommon book at $98.00 in wonderful shape. Typically sells for around $6 on eBay, but is way undervalued in my opinion. Who came up with this price, and why $98.00? Master of Five Magics, on the other hand is right in the ballpark. I have both books, and did not need them, but started to wonder on the validity of pricing system. I noticed at least ten different items that were priced incorrectly, at a glance. Overall, pricing is medium to high, but I would rather give my money to this locally owned book store than random ebay/amazon sellers. One last small thing: The books that are not bagged or wrapped, the sticker is placed on the book itself. On some of the older books, this could be an issue, but I prefer this to the dreaded stamp of doom. Better of two evils... and so it goes.

     Rarer offerings were locked up in a few display cases scattered around the store. Easton Press books are my weakness, but everything was priced as new, no deals here. A signed copy of "The Last Unicorn" was priced to sell at $300.00, which with signed books, may or may not be a deal depending on edition, and if the person is still alive.. etc. In this particular case, I know Peter Beagle is alive, touring, and still signing books at conventions. My book intuition is telling me the owner is a young 30-something who would prefer to hold on to this book for the love of the movie/story/culture. I love rare books, I love this place, I'm saying it again. At this point in my tour a black cat stopped by and loved on me for a second, which gave me the warm fuzzies and solidified my choice in coming, yet again.

     I took one last look around, took a few more pictures, scooped up family playing checkers under the arch, and made my way out the door. I bought seven books, spent $38.00, which is way over my budget. This is not the kind of place that I would go to weekly looking for deals or things on a bargain shelf tucked away, but this is a place I will go to at least once a month, referencing pictures of the shelves I've taken to see If I need anything. I know what I need and what they have me on.. those damn Ace Doubles! I need around half of them, and I might have all of them.  Movie tie in books! They have their own section, which delights me to no end. This is one place I can honestly say has more books than I do, even in my select genre(s). I could easily spend $500 in this store and still want things! I'm almost certain the inventory from One for the Books, and the Book Rack may have ended up here in some way. Anyways, Thank you Sandman Book Company, I will be back, and I'll raise more money for next trip. This post is going long, so I'll put my haul on a different post.

Sandman Book Company - @sandmanbooks #bookbridge
16480 Burnt Store Rd. Punta Gorda FL
(941) 505-1624
Website - Facebook - Kittywankenobi - Email Contact


Bonus: We ate at The Celtic Ray - Public House in down town Punta Gorda.

     

     

Robert Asprin: Thieves' World

    It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Thieves' World. Growing up, and especially in middle school, anything Robert Asprin was my kind of fantasy. Mix a little humor, with equal parts high fantasy, and add a splash of random nuttiness and you find yourself at one of the greatest fantasy book series collaborations of all time.

     For me it started back in the early 80's, and reading the back of this book in the library started a whole realm of free thinking and imagination brewing in my adolescent mind. Some of the authors I followed through the years, most really, originated in the storytelling in this very first book. Robert Asprin also caught my attention with other series, notably, MythAdventures and Phule's Company. Admittedly I did not read Phule's Company until I was an adult, but loved it all the same.

     Another few authors that have contributed a lot to the series, Jody Lynn Nye and Lynn Abbey, kept my interest in other series all through the 80's and early 90's. These are still common to find books, being available in a multitude of different omnibuses, comics, and reprints. A first edition first printing paperback sells for around $15 on ebay. The role playing game Sanctuary fetches around $50, and anything autographed by Asprin or Abbey can drive up the price a little bit, but the books are not in high demand at the moment. I've had a great deal of luck getting first editions on Amazon, ebay, and thrift stores around my area.

     Do yourself a favor, buy these books while they are cheap. They have a cult following for a reason, the world is immerse, the characters priceless and the stories you will remember forever.

*Note* I took all the pictures at my desk in my office. The autographed copy I have is the book cover only, given out at conventions during a book promotion tour for the original Thieves' World. Yes I used my broken iPhone, but i realized it still takes great close up photos!

Rainy Day Book Haul - Daw Dray Prescot Score

    Had beer to drop off at several locations, and bring home dinner for the wife, and wouldn't you know, I drove right by The Book Rack, a store I have posted about several times before. I've been working on the woman who works there for a while on some books in a box (also posted that before!) and I think I'm going to give it another shot and see if she will come off the price.

Click to enlarge panoramic picture

     I looked for the box of Daw originals at the front desk and did not see them this time, and my heart sank. Did someone buy them? I breathed a sigh of relief when I turned the corner and they they all were on the shelf for .75 cents a piece. For those who are paying attention, I'm trying to collect all the yellow spine Daw originals between the late seventies and early 80's. This book store I picked through long ago, but they had the first 38 Dray Prescot novels in a box with a hefty price tag. I lucked out today! Typically they go for $7-$8 each on feebay, more as a collection. All that aside, it's long series, 52 total as of 2014, and a good read. I've read the first eight.

     Look at the covers, condition is really good. Spines are perfect. Some are missing, but I have the ones missing in the book case in the living room somewhere. The last bottom right hand picture is the other books I picked up for about .50 cents each, some pretty good old ones in there. The Forgotten Realms book, Viper Hand, has eluded me for a long while, and even considered getting it off Amazon to finish off the Maztica trilogy. The lady working the counter told me they no longer take credit cards, so had to haul my ass back out in the rain with a car full of kegs to get to an ATM. Totally worth it. Spent around $25 total, and I'm very pleased with the outcome!

    Thanks for reading, until next time.