Maybe it would make sense to limit multiple books so they are not buying just to flip but to add to their collection. Just my two cents.
Maybe it would make sense to limit multiple books so they are not buying just to flip but to add to their collection. Just my two cents.
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
FOR SALE OR TRADE
Dark Tower 7 Artist Edition n/a
The Waste Lands 1st Edition in Shrinkwrap $200
1984 Grant Gift Edition of The Talisman $400
Lisey's Story ARC $50
.
.
WANTED
Signed 1st Edition of Storm of The Century (Paperback)
Buy low. Sell high. Good luck in reselling.
I'm with Becca here.
As it's david's business (and he can decide what's his business model), I believe that he would like the books to end up at collectors hands and not on eBay.
As far as I remember, I've never seen several copies of high demand books like david had today for sale at once (but maybe I'm wrong) with 2 buyers buying them all.
I also think that almost all the publishers limit the purchase of high demand books, partly because of this reason.
If it was me, I would put a purchase limit in this case. But it's not me, I don't know all the details and I'm not in the market for these books, so my opinion only worth 2 shekels (probably less).
I think David's "if you're not fast you're last" business premise is just fine and many other businesses also use it.
I've managed to grab great items from David in the past - and also missed out on items I'd have loved. He's an online bookstore and I agree with Rick. He shouldn't care who buys his stock.
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win." - SK
WTB:
- S/L 'Storm Front' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
- S/L 'Fool Moon' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
David can do whatever he likes, of course, as it's his business. I was only stating that maybe on high demand items like the IT s/l, a one edition per person might not be a bad thing, especially for the market. It seems to me with the influx of so many new collectors, many sellers/flippers are inflating prices. Maybe these ended up in a collection, or not, but it would give more people a chance to acquire a book at a somewhat "reasonable" price.
And maybe the one per person could be a limited time period - a few days or a week? He probably would have still sold them all, and very quickly. Again, just a suggestion. (And I wasn't interested in a copy, I still think this one is too high, regardless of the demand for it).
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
Well. I can say that I was UTTERLY SHOCKED to see all those IT collectibles sell so quickly. I knew market for IT items was "hot" but never in my dreams did I think the items would sell so fast. As I said on my site, two long-time customers cleaned out the IT items, one order was massive...collector tells me that they now own 5 IT S/Ls after buying all 4 that I had for sale.
As for the comments made above...all I can tell you is I run my business to try to be as fair as I can, but I don't care if I know customers are buying to keep or resell. One of my top 5 customers (in each of past 5 years), is a competitor and buys stuff from me SPECIFICALLY for resale. I could care less. Roughly 75% of what I sell is on consignment and my job, as I see it, is to get a good net price for the consignee. We (consignee and I) agree on all prices before they are posted, and all price cuts are authorized by the consignee. As long as I get the item sold and the $$ to the consignee, that is what matters. If I make a few bucks as the middleman (and I do), then I am happy too.
There are too many people that would LIKE for me to keep a "want" list, but my biz is too extensive to keep track of these formally. But I will tell you that in the case of a King item that I KNOW many people want, it goes up for sale to whomever is quickest to pull the trigger. IT S/Ls qualify. I've had multiple people ask me to keep a lookout for one, so if I do get one, how could I sell to one customer over another, unless I kept track of what date did they want me to find a copy...too much to track...so I post these items for everyone to have a shot....and in terms of limiting a buyer to one copy or maybe two...it has been rightly said above that I run the risk that the other copies do not sell. Then I am doing a disservice to my client by not selling when I could have...so I therefore will sell multiple copies to same person if they want them....going forward, another example...tons of people looking for a New Lieutenant's Rap and any extras that come with it. I know of at least 7 customers who want one...if I get a copy, I can't just pick one of those seven and sell to them, leaving the other 6 out in the cold....my style is to put up a "teaser" announcement and then let all my customers have a shot....you have a right to disagree with my methods or thinking, but that is what seems most fair to me...give everyone a shot.
Enough said on this topic...for me anyway...but do carry on...interesting reading!
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
BTW...new job is going well and happy to be working from home again and able to re-open Betts. Working 3pm til midnight Sunday-Thursdays...eventually will move to 5pm to 2am.
But I am quite happy to be working again...two full-time jobs, not so much, but you gotta do what you gotta do to support your family.
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
That's cool. Was there a teaser for these? I didn't see it.
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
Congrats on the sales David!
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
You could always post advance notice here too.
point taken. :-)
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Also I think we need to understand that Betts is a consignment shop for most of its listings. His primary objective for a consignment is to sell the books for his customer. It's probably more up to the customer to place a "One person per book" limit.
I think most of can agree that David bends over backwards to help us all fill our collections. He also is extremely generous when he does sell stuff from his personal collection or resale.
I wonder how many people who felt is was unfair, and posted their feelings, would have paid thousands for one of the books (and kept it for years..).
Just wondering.
EDIT:
BTW, the real loser here was the person who consigned the books at a price that became BIN in minutes (plus David's commission that would have been more).
They probably should have asked for 50% more initially. Then the books would have lasted at least a day or so.
I moved recent posts to the
Buying things specifically to sell for a profit.
thread.
From Betts Today...
"Well, my wife and I drove up to Orrington this past weekend to look at the house...the story/association was just too good NOT to investigate. Jury is still out on whether we go forward on the house but the potential Betts space (25x46 feet) would be awesome and would bring Betts Books back to Maine, where it began in 1938....as I said, we only went to look at the house...lots of things to mull over, but still it is fun to think about!"
Yes.
Mull... Then yes.
Mull... Then yes.
Yes...
When I saw that house was for sale, I wondered if someone here might buy it, just to have something no one else has in their collection! That said, if someone here does buy it, be careful... The barrier was not made to be broken. There is more power there than you know. It is old and always restless.
Brian
Founder and publisher of Lividian Publications. My other website is BrianJamesFreeman.com. Please always feel free to email me or send me a PM if you have any questions about either!