Web booksellers—their usefulness to libraries

Libraries selling withdrawn books on TradeMe

“…Prices reached on TradeMe are never as much as might be reached in a truly international market, and one respondent estimated that New Zealand prices will be about one‐third of prices on eBay. If this is then considered in the light of Kruse and Holtzman's (2003) estimate that eBay sales fetch lower than ordinary market prices, this suggests that selling second hand books on an auction site in New Zealand will realise much lower prices than might originally be anticipated. This, though, does not allow for occasional auctions that “take off” when bidders fight each other; for such items the end price seems well worth the effort.…”

“…Library managers also need to examine the potential for partnerships. Kruse and Holtzman (2003) mention putting links to dealers on the library's web page to get the linking fees. Partnering's relevance to second‐hand book sales might lie in working with dealers who will take unwanted books from the library and give a commission for subsequent sales, or in selling online but doing so in partnership with an individual who uses TradeMe on a regular basis.…”

“…A difference of just a few dollars makes the difference between a sale or no sale. Prices paid by dealers are usually only 20‐30 per cent of retail and ex‐library copies are worth even less because of stamps and other marks (Kruse and Holtzman, 2003). Nevertheless, the prices reached by online selling will often be higher than the small amounts reached in most local sales.…”

“…A thorough calculation of the time spent to sell one book on eBay arrived at the figure of 65.5 minutes, which covers everything, including the drive to the post office (Hill, 2004)! Another cost that is easily overlooked is the need to store the books until they are sold, especially if turnover is slow (Kruse and Holtzman, 2003). The administrative costs include credit card fees, if they are used.…”

“…During this time the 60 books had to be stored, and the Library had no off‐site storage. Staff said it was depressing seeing the books sitting unsold; echoing the point made by Kruse and Holtzman (2003) that storage space is necessary and is a cost.…”