Libraries as Entrepreneurial Booksellers: Counterintuitive Cha-Ching

1. Libraries as Entrepreneurial Booksellers: Counterintuitive Cha-Ching Roselle Agner Better World Books ragner@betterworldbooks.com

2. Agenda • Introductions • Let’s get to know each other • Online Book Sales • Listing & Shipping & Questions, oh my! • Outsourcing • Move over IT, here comes Acquisitions • Q & A • You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers

3. Introductions: Audience

4. Online Marketplaces • Auction Marketplace • List any item, based on a listing name created by its seller for an open auction. • Ebay.com, Overstock.com, Yahoo!Auctions • Catalog Marketplace • List catalog items for sale (i.e. books, cds, dvds, etc.) based on their unique catalog numbers (i.e. isbn or upc) at a set price. • BetterWorldBooks.com, Alibris.com

5. Marketplaces Considerations • Size • Number of Categories • Listing Options • Popularity • Are you familiar with this site? • Costs • What are the costs associated with selling/buying on this site? • Competition • Multiple Sellers • Multiple Listings

6. Marketplaces Considerations • Search Features • It is easy to find items? • Reputation • Is this site known for certain types of items? • Seller Rating-Buyers feedback from previous transactions • Condition Rating-Overall condition of the item • Payment • Check, Credit Card, Money Order, etc • Shipping • Are there any shipping requirements for the buyer/seller? • Standard, Expedited, Consolidated

7. Online Book Sales • Sorting • Researching • Listing • Picking • Shipping • Returning • Customer Service

8. Outsource! • Let someone do the work for you!

9. Your job Sort Pack Ship Their job: Sorting Researching Listing Picking Shipping Returning Customer Service What’s involved?

10. Show me the $$$! • A percentage of net proceeds are payable to the library. • Net proceeds are defined as the sale price of the book minus any market place commissions and reimbursements.

11. Sign me up I have tons to send!! • Acceptance Guidelines • Some are more specific than others (type, volume, condition, etc) • Basic Guideline: Send what you would buy • Sorting and Prescreening Tools • Help determine which books to send • Continue to have multiple revenue generating projects

12. Discarded and Donated Material… ACCEPTABLE • Books that are in saleable condition • no water damage, mildew/mold, missing pages, spine damage, etc. • hardcover fiction/non-fiction • Textbooks (1998 or newer) • travel books (2003 or newer) • dictionaries • trade paperbacks • DVDs & Books on CD • Mass Market Paperbacks • rare/collectible books

13. Discarded and Donated Material… ACCEPTABLE • Ex-Library Books • Markings on the Spine • Stickers • Labels • Due Date Cards • Stamps • Plates • Etc.

14. Discarded and Donated Material… NOT ACCEPTABLE • Complete or Incomplete Encyclopedia Sets • Magazines/Periodicals/Academic Journals • Catalogs/Directories/Desk Reference Books • Tax Documents/ Government Documents • Volume Serials • Reader’s Digest Books • LP Records, VHS, Cassettes, or CDs • The Following Series: • Book Club Editions • Harlequin Romance Novels • The Modern Library Series • Reader’s Digest Condensed • Marquis Who’s Who

15. Additional Services • Online Sidewalk Sales • Affiliate Programs • Antiquarian, Rare & Collectable Processing • Book Drive Fundraisers • Marketing and PR Support

16. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions • What’s important to your library? • Costs? • Flexible Options? • Social and Environmental Impact? • Find a service that best meets your needs and those of your library