As Good as New: Booksellers on Selling Used Books

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At Boulder Book Store, used books are labeled with green "recycle" stickers.

Booksellers agree that selling used books can be a daunting task. Selecting titles, buying, pricing, and shelving is admittedly a lengthy, labor-intensive process, but, when it’s done right, it’s understood to be worth the extra effort. Five booksellers spoke to BTW about how they incorporate used books into their store and why they think they’re a valuable part of the business.

Building an inventory

Booksellers’ main way of acquiring used books is through their customers. “There are so many people that read books quickly and then don’t really know what to do with them,” said Jennifer Doucette, manager of Books on the Square, in Providence, Rhode Island. “Or they just let them sit on a shelf. So we offer to buy them back.”

Additionally, many booksellers, including Ray Nurmi, owner of Snowbound Books, in Marquette, Michigan, purchase used books from big book sales or library sales. Mary Magers, co-owner of Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis, Minnesota, occasionally makes house calls if a community member has a particularly large personal library that they are interested in selling.

All five booksellers use similar pricing models. Used books are sold in the store at a price that is significantly marked down from the book’s original price. It is purchased at a fraction of the cost at which they plan to sell it, and customers who bring in used books for sale are given the option of being paid in cash or receiving a slightly larger amount in credit to be used toward any item in the store.

“It’s a small amount, and we’re not sneaky about it,” Doucette. “We tell people, ‘If you’re looking to make money, [Books on the Square] is not the place.’” When people come into the store with a box full of books, that small fraction can add up. “So it’s a really great way for our customers to gain credit to buy something else,” said Doucette.

Finding used books is not the hard part of the process, booksellers said. They made it clear that their customers are well aware of the service they offer, and stores regularly receive used books by the box. However, knowing which books to buy and knowing where to draw the line may prove to be more difficult.

As Eric Wilska, owner of The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, put it, “There are far more used books in the world than buyers.” His solution: limit the buying time. The Bookloft buys back used books on weekends only, limiting the flow, which gives staff members more time to sort through them.

Conversely, David Bolduc, owner of Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado, thinks it is important for customers to know that they can bring in used books at any time. “It depends on your size and what you can manage,” he said. “But we’re buying every day of the week. There’s a place in the store where customers know to go, and there’s always someone there to receive them. It’s like, if a grocery store is only open one day a week – not many people are going to go there.”

However, Boulder Book Store – as well as The Bookloft and Books on the Square -- either limits the amount sold or completely eliminates used books during the holiday season since there is too much activity, the booksellers said, and customers seem to be less interested in used copies at that time.

Pick and Choose

Every bookseller who spoke to BTW admitted to being extremely selective when it comes to choosing which used books to carry.

“When we select used, we spend a lot of time looking at books before we buy them,” said Bolduc, who pays close attention to Boulder’s existing inventory when deciding which books to buy. “And the condition has to be very, very, very good,” he said, which means there cannot be any writing in the book or tattered outside covers. “Sometimes our used books look brand new.”

Since Books on the Square is a small store, Doucette feels the need to limit her selection because of limited space. Similarly, at The Bookloft, Wilska keeps a very small, constantly rotating used book section “so we have to be somewhat discriminating,” he said. He excludes many genres from his store’s used section, like business and sociology.

Booksellers agree that knowing which books to carry, much like buying new books, comes from experience.

“Basically, we know what our customers are looking for,” said Doucette, who looks for the same genres and titles that she sells new at Books on the Square. “And we’ll bring in other authors every once in a while to try them out and see if they go.” It’s important to know your store’s limits, she said, adding, “Used cookbooks really don’t sell.”

Putting the books on the shelf

The majority of booksellers shelve used books alongside new books with the idea that it better represents their inventory as a whole, and gives customers the choice of which copy to purchase.

The Bookloft is unique among the five bookstores in that it does not place any used books on the same shelf as a new book. Wilska, who had previously owned an exclusively used bookstore, is fixed on keeping the two separate. He segregates used books for practical reasons. Since he has such a finely tuned rotation system, it’s easier to sort out used books when they’re all in the same place.

“And it definitely has a lot to do with aesthetics,” he said. The Bookloft carries many valuable first edition books, which are understood to be in less-than-perfect condition. Wilska believes that their value may appear lower if shelved next to a pristine, new book.

Another part of keeping the store aesthetically pleasing, according to Wilska, is keeping used books free of additional markings or stickers that brand a book as used. At Snowbound, used books are distinguished by the price written in pencil on the inside cover, while new books have a sticker price on the outside cover. Boulder Book Store, Books on the Square, and Magers and Quinn label used books with a colored sticker.

At Books on the Square, Doucette shelves new and used books together when there is space for them, she said, “because so many people love going to find a book on the shelf, and finding a used copy. That’s such a great feeling.” Space issues, however, prevent her from shelving every used book with its newer counterpart. The store has a couple used book cases, as well as a rolling rack on the sidewalk “to catch people’s eye,” she said.

The Bookloft puts many books on a sidewalk table, too, said Wilska, who stressed its importance, especially since his store is located in a tourist area. “People that would normally walk right past the store stop to check them out. It’s extremely lucrative.”

Magers started out in the used book business, and her store continues to carry primarily used and discounted books as well as remainders.

“We buy from so many different outlets that to keep them separate doesn’t make sense,” she said. “If someone is looking for a particular book, they’ll see a used copy sitting right next to a new one and they can determine which they want.”

At Snowbound Books, Nurmi shelves used and new books together so his customers are aware of every book that is in stock. “The best way to describe it for us is that the new books merchandise the used books,” he said, recalling the number of times customers have come in looking for a specific title and then opt for the used copy.

“I think that having two sections seems to be more burdensome,” he said. “If you divide them up, some people might just look at one section or the other. By separating your books, you’re separating your customers. Just put them all together and let them go at it.”

Additionally, Boulder, Snowbound, and Books on the Square all have a “newly received used book section” in the front of the store, where regulars usually stop first.

Marketing

All five booksellers said that they do not market used books any differently than the way in which they market new books. It’s mostly by word of mouth, they said, starting with the booksellers themselves.

If they know there’s a used copy in stock, they allmake sure their customers know about it, and they see it as a great service that they’re providing for customers with great rewards for the store.

At Books on the Square, Doucette wants to make sure her customers know their options. “There’s this really amazing feeling of having a customer come in to get a book that they’re really excited about,” said Doucette, “And saying, ‘You know, we have a used copy of that, would you be interested?’ And their eyes glow. And that doesn’t mean they won’t come back and buy a new book later.”

The Bookloft bargains with a sense of humor. “I hold the new book in one hand, and the used in the other, and say ‘$14, or $7?’” said Wilska. “It usually gets a laugh, and because I give customers that option, it makes them feel really good about The Bookloft.”

“That kind of service,” said Bolduc of Boulder, “in terms of giving people the choice, especially in difficult economic times, tends to amaze people. And I think that’s the retail landscape now.”

Turnover Rate

Wilska uses what he calls a “Filene’s Basement approach” to selling used books. If The Bookloft decides to keep a book, it is coded with a letter signifying which month it was put on the shelf. If the book has not sold in four months, it will be marked down, put on the sidewalk, or disposed of.

“It definitely helps keep the stock fresh,” said Wilska.

The other stores have similar – albeit slightly less urgent – approaches to rotating their stock.

Three years ago, said Nurmi, Snowbound took a really hard look at all of their books, getting rid of any book that had not sold in the past two years. They ended up cutting their used book selection in half.

Since summer is a quiet time for Books on the Square, Doucette said that’s when she makes significant markups. Most used books’ total shelf time at her store is about nine months.

Buyers Beware

Bolduc of Boulder Book Store stressed the importance of having a system to keep track of inventory.

“You have to watch for scams,” he said. “Buyers have to be savvy and willing to really take a hard look at their sale.”

Occasionally, people may take a book off the shelf and try to sell it back to them, said Bolduc. To avoid this, staff members often look up the titles in the computer and check the shelf to see if the numbers match up.

The value

All five booksellers urged others in the business to include used books. All it takes is a different point of view, according to Nurmi.

“If [booksellers] have reservations,” he said, “they probably have to think of it differently. You don’t have to have ragged, ex-library books on the shelves. You can have books that look virtually new shelved right next to your new books. And the markup on them, for the dollars invested, can be quite lucrative.”

Sometimes, said Magers, stocking used books can give booksellers a leg up on chain stores. When Magers & Quinn opened, there was a Borders across the street that would often refer customers to Magers’ store for out-of-print titles.

Carrying used books could even be a way to compete with technology’s effect on bookselling, said Bolduc, which is something he believes he is accomplishing at Boulder Book Store.

“As technologies get more competitive and developed, like e-books, you have to consider, what’s your strategy? Some of my friends are doing espresso machines, and maybe that’s one way to do it. But as e-readers get more traction, used books would be one possibility to partially replace some of those sales.”

So, after all is said and done, is it worth it? All five booksellers responded with a resounding yes. By purchasing books at such a low price, the profit margin of used books exceeds that of any other item in the store. Furthermore, customers are often drawn to the bargains.

“It’s definitely worth the effort,” said Nurmi. “The problem that independent stores have is price, and competing with the convenience of buying books online. Selling used books offers our customers a good deal and that’s what keeps them coming back.”

“I really believe you need both in order to maintain a healthy business,” said Magers.