Reflection

Prayers and very good thoughts to all who have served Past and Present.




I use to say when gong to work I am off to the book wars. I will refrain from that now, as war is very serious . Work can be hard but is play compared to what men and women do that serve us in the military.

Thank you all for your service.


Now I will just say I am off to the book games ala the Olympics . Hard competition , but a game none the less.

Money is in the specialy or niche book field

I am reminded of the old saying "that a trip of a thousand miles begins with the first step"
So take a step! Action is the stimulus that begets growth of ideas for a bookseller niche.
If you have an interest area ,go for it ( * )

* Free idea
Green is in and should be long term . Start dealing in books about going green and polution ,healthy life styles ,the environment, conservation , global warming etc.etc.

If you are new or thinking about selling books online ask questions. You have to buy before you sell. Check prices on the internet before listing. Maybe a cell phone look up service might help. Maybe taking a $50.00 and buying books then trying to sell them is a cheap way to learn.

Take a step , it might lead you on a long enjoyable trip or short one leaving you saying." Glad I did not go there."

I am slowly learning how to blog! " enuff said".

I am writing about building a niche or specialty book business. Scarcity sells, quality sells and there are other good ways to make money selling books on the net - more about that later.

I once took a rare book seminar. The presenter told the story of a bookseller that had little interest in mountain climbing books . However, he lived in the Pacific Northwest ; there was a built in market for books about the subject. The market being both books to purchase and interested, motivated buyers. In a sense he was "fishing where the fish were."

He was offered a small, but nice collection of mountaineering books. Though,it was not his speciality, the books were clean, in good condition and a few had "the look" of something special. He bought them, priced them and started a section in his shop.

He told a fellow book shop owner of his buy and about the new section in the shop. That bookseller told him that he had a few mountain climbing books he could have a good price. He bought them. Over the next few months he bought any and all mountaineering books he could find from the other stores in the area. He built a large inventory of over a thousand books. When anyone came into the other shops asking for books on the subject, they were sent to him. He successfully operated his mountaineering section for a few years and then sold the collection to another dealer for a good profit. Over the time he had the mountaineering section, he also sold a few really scarce titles.

In my opinion, selling specialty books on the net can mirror that scenario with a few modifications.

1. Do not buy the lower priced common books; some will come in "buys", but weed them out quickly. Some may be bought as a part of the learning process; you will make mistakes - again part of your specialty education

The internet has changed bookselling because of supply and demand.To quote an eBay bookseller, "What was scarce is now common, what was rare is now scarce." Selling books at eBay auction can be giving an unintended discount to other dealers and to the collector because of time limitations. A truly scarce title, with good descriptions, pictures and good seller feedback will usually sell at a good price.

3.Using other fixed price venues such as an eBay store, prostore website, etc. might be a better way; and of course there are many other venus to sell books other than eBay.

4. As you build your inventory and knowledge, books will be offered to you and people will seek you out online so that they can buy from a specialist such as yourself.

Creating a specialty of a cultivated interest is the quickest way to begin - be sure to keep an open mind to the unexpected.

Learning any trade has a cost of either time or money - most likely both.

This Game is about Timing ,Risk and Money

to paraphrase Howie on Lets make a Deal.

I am going to talk about MONEY.
There are intrinsic reasons reasons for selling books, I will blog about that some day.

Money or Profit is the score card for any business. The following will be tips to make and save money. These are suggestions, use what you can:

A simple daily business log . If a techy or advance gadget geek use a pda or smart phone to down load to some money management software .
I use a 99 cent spiral three hole punch notebook purchased in school supplies sections or at office supply store . This is a business. From day one treat it like one or if you have not ,start today. I will not give tax advice but information I talk about may used for tax purposes .Ask your accountant or adviser.

What to log ? .
a. First mileage start and finish each day I use my automobile for scouting books , mailing books, buying supplies to ship books or office supples.Trips to a big box Book Store to check out best sellers and maybe a few bargain books . A good idea is to log all automobile mileage and expenses. At the end of day decide were the miles business or personal use.
b. Books that I buy cost and location .
Location or where I buy sometimes shows me where I need to make sure to scout. (TIME MANAGEMENT}
c.Supplies , gas ,an occasional hamburger for a fellow book person as advertising he might buy some of your books, discussing books that is how to learn. , meals with a attorney .That is where the Big Buys may come from. More about that in how to find books
d. Daily bank deposits for sales .I keep a large envelope on desk for all receipts including bank deposits . If I do not receive a receipt it is noted in the log and sample one is noted on a small piece of paper ; book ,date ,place and amount. Usually this happens is at a flea market or yard sale.

You might say this is a lot of work ,not really. It is just a habit.

A GOOD Habit . You are not going to get rich selling books but a good part time home based business is very possible. It is possible with enough time in the trenches to be be able to do it full time.

Lets see, we now have a system to explain where we spend our money. This information can be used for profit and loss statements, tax purposes and how effective we spend our time.

MY system works for me ; use it or develop your own. Until you have some system you are playing ,not working. Ask a small business persons how they do their taxes and keep records . Be sure to keep that receipt for that spiral note book or that blackberry. lol *

*Note ! Do not buy a pda or smart phone if you do not have one until we talk about scouting in our next blog.

Next time

HOW DO I FIND BOOKS and more about money

thanks,bob

How do you start an internet based book business?

Not only start one , but nurture and make money from a Home Based Internet Book Business.
We are going to start a journey in this web log chronicling a new start up of this kind of business.

My hope is that new booksellers will have enough information to make good decisions. For the more experienced bookseller whom might see a new market or way of doing something to improve their business. Please challenge my ideas, thoughts and processes . I want to learn also. Many of the ideas will be about books ,some will be about business on the net in general . I will also take ideas from the bricks and mortar business past and present.

Why do this ? Aren't you afraid of giving away trade secretes. Second question first No! A person that wants to be a bookseller will do it . Those who have a vague interest will be able to see that it is not easy , requires hard work and commitment.

By publishing this give and take form I will learn. The booksellers that receive value from this journey will in my opinion be ethical, enthusiastic people who will bring added value to the book selling arena . That has to help me and my business.

Plus I expect and will demand we have fun!

My editor in chief is still a sleep so expect some revision when she reads this .

I will be out buying books the next couple of days and will have the first leg up soon. please comment or sign up for feeds

thanks,bob

Buying Selling Collecting Books

Book Blogery
Since the first words uttered they have been made up . What is a book blogery ?

A place that information is shared . My hope is that it will be a one stop meeting place for Booksellers of all types .Showcasing traditional book selling ideas and new information of the selling experiences of the internet.

In the next few weeks i will be doing some in house work on this blog . ( making it functional and pleasing)

We are up and running and I will be exploring and searching to make this a place you may find value.

thanks, bob


Hopefully you will find my humor at least marginally funny.