Sender: Rare book and manuscripts <EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
While I agree that if Kevin KNEW for sure that he could sell the book
for $2000, his offer to the seller was rather low (better books
generally warrant paying a higher percentage of expected selling
price), the very old rule of thumb for booksellers in the used and
antiquarian business was $1 for the books (inventory), $1 for the
shop (expenses) and $1 for the seller (profit) - or 33 cents on the
dollar on average for inventory -
and the 33 cents for books needs to take into account the books that
might never sell, or will only sell after many years -
In the past several years, we have been to many open store closures
where even at 10c on the dollar much of the inventory remained unsold
- and these have been good booksellers, with quality stock, fairly
priced for the most part -
I just witnessed an eBay auction from a bookseller whom I know who
was leaving the businesss, and the 'list price' of his stock was over
100K - and the auction included reference books, fixtures and
uncatalogued stock - and the entire lot sold for just under $7,000 -
or less than 7c on the dollar -
this is not uncommon -
Chris Volk
At 12:37 PM -0700 8/21/07, Edward Levin wrote:
Somehow, I'm not sensing the same degree of indignation about the
ethics/morality of our hypothetical bookseller offering our
hypothetical private seller only 25 cents on the dollar. As to which
is better, at least Example A offered a transparent market
transaction and the possibility of a price closer to fair market
value.
That said, I'm delighted that Kevin got such a good deal either way...
Edward Levin
Kevin Kelly writes:
A. Kevin buys book at auction for $500 and sells for $2000. Consignor gets
$340.
B. Kevin buys book from seller for $500 and sells for $2000. Consignor gets
$500.
Which is better?
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Christine Volk & Shep Iiams, Booksellers
P. O. Box 696, Ione CA 95640-0696
(209) 274-6960 chris@bookfever.com
See our books at http://www.BOOKFEVER.COM
Specializing in modern 1st editions including mysteries, women authors,
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