2006-06-09T21:03:20Z My days in the used book trade. I own a used bookshop in Durham, North Carolina. tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2006, richardevanslee 2006-06-09T21:03:20Z 2006-06-03T11:46:48Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14.10261 2006-06-03T11:46:48Z

A funny and interesting articles on the use and abuse of BookScan data: There's an etiquette to BookScanning. You BookScan your enemies to take joy in their failure or to aggravate the agony you feel at their success. You don't...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Richard Evans Lee Nielsen service tallies retail sales from chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, from Amazon.com, and from stores like Costco. 2006-06-09T21:03:18Z 2006-05-24T14:19:37Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14.10250 2006-05-24T14:19:37Z

During our Homebase database crisis I did download our listings from ABE. It was a revelation. Have you ever wondered how book descriptions come to be Unknown/Unknown? Not long after starting to sell used books online I stopped using standard...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Used Bookdealer Ever wonder why some ABE bookdealers' inventory shows up as Unknown/Unknown? 2006-06-09T21:03:18Z 2006-05-24T13:54:33Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14.10249 2006-05-24T13:54:33Z

For a time recently we discovered that a fair number of orders from Amazon's Marketplace weren't arriving in our inbox. Our annoyance with that was more than offset by discovering we'd made more money than we thought. Checking the spam...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Do agressive spam filters send communications from Amazon.com into oblivion? 2006-06-09T21:03:25Z 2006-05-24T13:44:16Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14.10248 2006-05-24T13:44:16Z

The power went out one night. We leave Homebase open and the computer crash - I guess it took the UPS past the battery's limit - put some microscope dent in the Homebase data file. I don't have a copy...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Used Bookdealer Corrupt Access database would've meant loss of important data. Luckily I found my backup: database repair can be expensive. 2006-06-09T21:03:21Z 2006-05-16T15:10:26Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2006:/usedbookdealer//14.10240 2006-05-16T15:10:26Z

From an article in slate on the vanishing of small bookshops: Unfortunately, many virtues of the new order are relatively invisible. Consider the used-book market. It was much easier to find a good used bookstore 20 years ago. Yet it...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling How the web is putting an end to the indepedent book retailer. 2006-06-09T21:04:06Z 2005-12-27T23:11:35Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9148 2005-12-27T23:11:35Z

Today we got an order for a book via Amazon's marketplace. The Homebase book number which Amazon converts into the SKU was wrong. It was off by one digit. Never had this before and hope to never see it again....

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Homebase book number and Amazon SKU mismatch. 2006-06-09T21:04:06Z 2005-12-14T00:24:47Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9128 2005-12-14T00:24:47Z

I remember back when I was a Wired reader (a very long time ago) waiting for the dematerialization of the book. It hasn't happened yet. (And who would trade scholarly reference books for Wikipedia entries?) But: U.S. publisher HarperCollins said...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Used Bookdealer What will happen to the market for used books when people can just download out-of-print books? 2006-06-09T21:04:06Z 2005-12-13T13:56:00Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9127 2005-12-13T13:56:00Z

A couple of weeks ago we got an email from someone on eBay apologizing for failing to pay for something. But no one owed us for anything. Holding the cursor over the reply link showed that while the visible text...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Phishing exploit aimed at Amazon.com Marketplace and zShop merchants. 2006-06-09T21:04:06Z 2005-12-03T22:52:19Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9094 2005-12-03T22:52:19Z

This is the most hilarious description of a book I've seen in ages, emphasis mine. Looks brand new-gentlyused!!! I believe in 100% accurate book description!!! Every page is inspected in detail and accurately reported!!! Minor self wear!!! Every page is...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Bad, silly, preposterous, unlikely descriptions of used books. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-15T18:53:49Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9032 2005-11-15T18:53:49Z

Been a long time since I posted a bit of bookish cheesecake. But this happy pair of bookends Edward D'Ancona was irresistible. Edward D'Ancona Gallery...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Richard Evans Lee Two pretty pin-up girls as a set of bookends. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-14T23:22:19Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9028 2005-11-14T23:22:19Z

Standing on the store's porch smoking a cigarette I watched a young man start picking up litter in our parking lot. A litter fetishistic or someone almost dementedly annoyed by scattered wastage? He even picked up a dozen cigarette butts....

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Secondhand Music An attempt to get me to sell a compact disc for very little by one of the odd inhabitants of Durham, NC. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-09T19:02:06Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9014 2005-11-09T19:02:06Z

One day I'm going to make a list of all the amazingly dumb book descriptions I see. My latest favorite says "Pick me!" Sort of like a begging schoolchild hoping to be chosen by the teacher. The listed reward for...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Badly described used books on Amazon.com. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-08T21:30:36Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9006 2005-11-08T21:30:36Z

Another transitory "collector's item." Remember when Lynne Cheney's softly lesbian Sisters was hotly sought after? An inscribed copy of The Apprentice: A Novel, which Libby wrote in 1996 when he was a relative unknown outside Washington, was on sale on...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Used Bookdealer Foolish collectors pay too much for The Apprentice: A Novel. Nobody will want it a year from now. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-07T22:55:14Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9001 2005-11-07T22:55:14Z

I remember when I first started buying books online. It was from Powell's, a bookshop that was very early on the web. And I recall how annoyed I was that they didn't describe condition (at least back then, haven't bought...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Used book search engine led me to my first venture into web retailing and eCommerce. 2006-06-09T21:04:05Z 2005-11-07T22:38:36Z tag:www.edifyingspectacle.org,2005:/usedbookdealer//14.9000 2005-11-07T22:38:36Z

I suspect Bookfinder being sold to ABE feels like a kick in the stomach to many of us in the trade. Despite Amazon's A9 you don't think of an impartial search service mixing well with a vested commercial interest. And...

richardevanslee http://edifyingspectacle.org/ polyfetishist@gmail.com Online bookselling Best wishes and luck to Anrivan, hope it works out well.