From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

 Most new bookdealers burn out within three years...

[Satnrose]

[lludwig]

.

I am always delighted to see hints from others on this thread so don't be shy if you have a bookselling or ebay hint that you would like to share with others. 

From the Collected Works of Booksellers' Hints . . .

Do what is interesting and exciting first. Don't wait, don't delay.

This business can get real boring real fast.

If you get overregimentalized, you'll burn out.

[Satnrose]

[bookthink]

I am always delighted to see hints from others on this thread so don't be shy if you have a bookselling or ebay hint that you would like to share with others. 

From the Uncollected Works of BookThink's Hints ...

Read bookseller's memoirs - and don't stop at one. Read a dozen or more. You'll see patterns in these booksellers' successes that will give you a feel for how to move your own business forward. Three of my favorites >>>

A Rare Book Saga. H.P. Kraus.

A Dukedom Large Enough. David A. Randall.

Infinite Riches. David Magee.

[lludwig]

Bookthink/Craig - haha re: Uncollected! Thanks for both the laugh and the hint. 

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Fine bindings are collectible.

Most books that are leatherbound are valuable as decorative "furniture": meant to be seen and never read.

Some binding materials: vellum, morocco, calf, sheep, chevre, pigskin, suede, etc. But any kind of leather can be used, even human.

Many of the great bookbinders would print their names in small letters on the verso of the front free endpaper: Zaehnsdorf, Riviere, etc. (sometimes the name will be on the binding itself, or elsewhere).

"Victorian publishers' bindings" are also quite sought after: these are clothbound books with elaborate gilt and/or colored pictorial covers (sometimes these are signed with initials in the design: "MA", Margaret Armstrong, is one such).

[Satnrose]

[lludwig]

.

From the Collected Works of Bookseller's Hints . . .

Don't be afraid of the Book Board.

Don't be afraid of asking questions.

We're all bark and no bite....

Woof!

[Satnrose]

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[sigmapsidelta]

Isn't 'all bark and no bite' a pretty good description of a tree?

.

[lludwig]

sigmapsidelta - haha! Good one!

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Sometimes the people here on the Booksellers Forum
act a little crazy and mean and irrational.

Don't worry about it.

Our bark is worse than our byte.

[Satnrose]

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

For those who have never bought a Modern Library book...

You are generally not looking for the millions of titles that you see at sales and in stores all the time.

...You are looking for the older small books, about paperback size, with flexible leatherette covers. These are generally saleable in the $10 to $15 range on ebay if they are in acceptable (decent) condition. The leatherette covers date the books to 1930 and earlier.

...better yet, you would like your ML's to say "First Modern Library Edition" with a date on the copyright page.

...and best of all, if you can find any of the early issues in dust jacket, you are guaranteed a nice sale.

As a general rule, Modern Library should be avoided if they are not early and are not first Modern Library Editions and don't have dust jackets. Someone here on the bookboard is bound to find a good one soon if they keep their eyes open during the Spring sales season.

[Psthomas]

[bookthink]

Thanks, Kathleen. Perhaps a few updated observations on ML would be in order since this was something of a "vintage" post. 

The leatherettes - which, BTW, are frequently misrepresented as leatherbound - never, as a rule, rocked, with high-spot exceptions noted. But now they have tanked pretty much big time. Dust jacketed stuff, however, continues to rule, in some cases more so. And the usual suspects dominate.

This little dude - an ML First - sold for almost eight bills before Christmas >>>

[lludwig]

bookthink - Thank you Craig for both the update on MLs and the info about the ML Great Gatsby.

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

The Internet has made many scarce books common, and many rare books not so rare.....

[Satnrose]

[emmbook]

---

@bookthink wrote:

Dust jacketed stuff, however, continues to rule, in some cases more so. And the usual suspects dominate.

---

I'm always surprised by how many booksellers, even experienced ones, don't know how to accurately date Modern Library books in dust jacket. Everything one needs to know is online, thanks to the very thorough ML collector base.

ML dating key:

http://www.modernlib.com/General/DatingKey.html

[lludwig]

emmbook -  Nice coincidence! I read your post and within minutes sold one of my MLs. However, it was one which did not have the list of titles on the verso of the dust jacket so I dated it by dust jacket style and binding style. I ballparked the year issued using information from the website "Collecting the Modern Library" by Scot Kamins which has the link to the Dating Key you gave. Scot's site just keeps getting better and better. http://www.modernlib.com/

EXAMPLE:

Publisher/Date: NY: Modern Library (c. 1942) Based on the binding style this volume was published in 1967-1969; however, the dust jacket style was used Fall of 1965 to perhaps through 1966. Given the overlap of styles and the price on the dust jacket ($2.45), it most likely was issued in 1967.

Style & Price Binding Style 13 In Use: 1967-1969 Dust jacket style: l2 [L2] In use Fall 1965 to perhaps through 1966. Price on this dust jacket is $2.45 which was in use for some titles in the 1965 Spring catalog ($1.95 and $2.45) and for all titles in the 1967 Spring catalog.

[bookthink]

Re the ML ... there are two "standard" bibliographies - Henry Toledano's Modern Library Price Guide and George M. Andes' A Descriptive Bibliography of The Modern Library: 1917-1970. If you can only afford one, buy the latter. It's far more user-friendly in that it's a straighforward compilation of First Edition descriptions, alphabetized by author, including complete collations. If your needs are more focused on dating later printings, you'll be more interested in Henry's guide, though he does provide guidance on identifying First Editions as well. The difference is you might pull out some hair learning how to master his system.

BTW, there are interviews with Henry and Scot Kamins on our site. Both good guys and ever willing to help if questions come up.   

[lludwig]

Bookthink/Craig - Scot is great at answering questions.  I've contributed info to his site. Usually the oddball finds. lol 

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

It costs money to sell a book.

If you sell a book for 2¢ you're losing money. That should be fairly obvious to anyone. The key factor is the value of your time. If your time is worth $300 an hour, you shouldn't be selling books at all. If your time is worth nothing, a 2¢ book still costs more than it profits unless your TOS is more than your postage, materials, gas, maintenance, storage, insurance and breathing fees. And the cost of the book itself. So where is the dividing line? Do you make money on a $2 book? A $5 book? A $20 book?

When you sell out of a retail location, you can engage in the practice of selling "loss leaders", i.e., books that you can sell at a loss because they draw people into the store where they may or may not buy more. This works quite well. If they buy one book from you they're almost certain to buy two. But this doesn't work on the Internet, where reputation counts for next to nothing, and very few repeat customers are even aware that they've done business with you beforehand.

[Satnrose]

[lludwig]

.

As we enter into the season of booksales,

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

If the choice is between buying something negligible or admitting you've wasted all your time, don't buy anything.

[Satnrose]