Sell Rare Books
Sell Rare Books
There are many book lovers out there and most of them collect books. On the other hand, some may just want to find a certain book that their parents or grandparents had read to them, or one that a relative wrote long ago. If you can find these books for them, whatever the reason, you are in business. Charge your customers 20% above the cost of the book, with a minimum of $20. This is your “finder’s fee.” Your service will make many people very happy!
Specializing in finding these specific books for your customers could be a great ‘business idea’ to get started in. This type of business should especially appeal to a book lover. If you can find these wanted books for your customers, whatever their reason for wanting a certain book, or books, you are in business.
Many people that are not skilled in finding things on the Internet will especially want to use your service. Yes, there are still a lot of people that do not know how to find things on the Internet! The Internet will be one of the best sources for you to use in finding some of these hard-to-find books, even books that have been out of print for decades. At the end of this article, you will see a list of just a few sources that you can use on the Internet.
Other places to find these older books are; used bookstores, estate sales, garage or yard sales, thrift stores, libraries (they have regular sales of books not kept), auctions, etc. It takes a keen eye sometimes in finding some of these books, but be persistent.
Because there are many book lovers out there and scores of them collect books, you should have a very successful business. Finding customers will be work once you have established reliable sources for your book finding. Advertise in local newspapers and magazines if you can. Try to pick a unique business name that represents the aim of your business too. Place your business in the yellow pages also if you can. You might also check with your local libraries and see if you can post a flyer with your business information on it, for those book loving people that are searching for a specific book to buy.
Charge your customers 20% above the cost of the book, with a minimum of $20. This is your “finder’s fee.” This should cover the cost of your efforts to locate the books your customers are looking for.
After you have been in business for a while you may notice a trend with some books that people are searching for, pick these up whenever you get a chance, knowing that you will have a customer asking for it in the future. You may find that you will need to maintain an extra room set aside just for storing certain popular books that you have found in your searches. Because your commodity is books, you will need to keep them stored in a dry, safe place and try to keep them in an easy to find organized fashion. Maintaining your stock in this way will make your business more enjoyable and you will have less hassle finding the books your customers are looking for. When you see the joy on people’s faces when they are able to own a book they have been looking for many years for, you will love the business you are in!
If you decide to open a business like this on the Internet, be sure to ship the books insured and always wrap them in a way that shows that the book is of great value. This will usually include tissue paper and possibly extra cardboard to maintain the shape of the book. Don’t just throw the books in an envelope and ship them. You really want your customers to enjoy receiving their sought-after book and feel like they paid for an exclusive service that they may want to use again in the future.
Resources:
http://www.bookfinder.com/
http://www.alibris.com/
http://www.abebooks.com
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.ebay.com
