Antique shop books

I know that people are always searching for new places to buy inventory, so I thought that might be an interesting thing for me to write about. I myself had been looking for new places to look. I had originally had a business model where I would go in after a sale was over and pay a bargain price for the remaining books. I found that too be a bit of a hit or miss though. Some sales it would be great with lots of pre-isbn numbers that couldn't be tagged by the scanners, but most were just filled with penny books. I got myself a scanner and decided to be the first there and take home all the great books. That has actually worked for me several times. One time in particular I was able to find almost $2000 in inventory within three hours (I had to leave after that since I had a big test back at college..). When there weren't good sales going on though I had to rely on going to thrift shops and hoping to find a good deal there. Which is hir or miss.

Recently I had a free day and on a whim decided to hit up the local antique shop. I found a large section of books from several dealers. I hadn't really dealt in the area of antique books before so I decided I was going to learn. I picked out books that I thought were going to be real winners and took pictures of them with my cell phone. I ran (well, drove) home and looked them up. I actually had a pretty good nack for what was good. I ended up finding just under $1000 of books there. It was a much different model then what I was used too. While at the other book sale I was talking about where I found $2000 of inventory, it costed me $100 for several boxes of books. At the antique shop, it cost me around $70 for 9 books.

I'll keep you posted on any other ideas.

Endicia update

Endicia has been working moderately well for me. I have been able to save a lot of my time and a lot more of my mom's time using their software. I was really concerned if I messed up the postage at first if I would be able to get that money back, but it looks like it will be fine since there is an option on there to get an e-refund for items with delivery confirmation or you will need to mail in the problem items to them for a refund. I have had to do both methods already. I haven't recieved my money yet, but I'm confident I will.

I actually had to make an unexpected visit home today because the printer "wasn't working." Turns out the cord was just far enough out of the power brick that it wouldn't turn on. Those are the times you just laugh and try not too think about it too much.

Endicia update

I got home from college yesterday and to my delight a large box was sitting waiting for me.My endicia package had finally arrived.  Honestly, as geeky as it may sound, it was very exciting. It showed up just in time for my birthday which is today (well i guess its technically sunday now.. my birthdays over and i am officially no longer a teenager. There goes a whole host of excuses..). Anyways, I tore open the box, installed it all, plugged it in, and checked it out. Like I had mentioned before in an earlier post, I got a dymo printer, pelouze scale, and the endicia software as a bundle. It was a much better deal then buying it separately. 

It was a tad tedious and a little confusing to install. I accidentally printed a whole bunch of test postage accidentally and couldn't figure out how to stop it... I think that while this may end up being a very powerful tool, it will take a little getting used too. Since my situation is different than most, the learning curve may be tougher. Since I am in college right now, I obviously can't be here all the time (i come home on a lot of weekends though to work) my mom takes care of shipping the books for me. I wanted to get endicia because I felt so bad for all the time that she would spend shipping books for me. The reason it is going to be difficult is because she is not at all technologically literate or savvy. It's going to be a challenge, because thus far I have been a little confused on the whole system myself. 

So far I am very pleased, but am still waiting to see. Luckily it's a long weekend with MLK day coming up monday. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

CPSIA

I have recently found out about the new CPSIA rules that are going to be in effect starting February 10. The gist of the as applied to booksellers is that any children's books published before 2009 are going to need to have certification that there is no lead in them. While I don't really specialize in children's books, I still have several boxes of them worth a decent amount of money. It is not however enough money to afford to get all my books tested.
As I have been reading about this new law I have been upset at how it does not make any consideration for small businesses that are making a living selling children's books, toys, etc. The entrepreneur is the backbone of the American economy and I understand the need to protect our children, but there needs to be some thought about protecting the economy too.
I ended up writing a letter to my senator, Arlen Specter, and as expected I received a generic email explaining the reasons behind the bill, but it didn't even come close to touching on points that I made.
I encourage you to contact your congressmen about this issue. Nothing will change if we don't talk to the people that are to be representing us.

Endicia

The shipping has become too time consuming and I have finally given in and bought the endicia software. I actually went with one of their bundles. It seemed like a really good deal. Check it out at endicia.com. I am really excited to receive it in the mail. Has anyone else used their service? How do you like it? 

I will be sure to keep you all informed on how it goes. 

My first blog

This will be my first blog ever, but no need to be frightened. I will get better. I want this to be a place to talk about selling books online. A place where we can have a discussion about the best tactics, tips, and advice. I will share a little anecdote or bring up a topic and it would be great if there could be a discussion on it. 

It might help to tell you a little about myself.. I am a relatively new seller. I've been selling for about a year now. I've learned a lot from the amazon message boards, there is a lot of great info there, but I was wondering if anyone else thought it might not be the most productive place to go to get a question answered. I always felt I was going to be flamed if I asked a question deemed to be a newbie question or "answered a million times here already. " Maybe this could be a more helpful place. But really what I am thinking about is starting a new website. A website for discussing book selling online and in brick and mortar stores. Instead of just an amazon base it could cover abebooks, alibris, fillz.com, AOB, bookscouting software and much more all at one accessible place. Any ideas?