Book dealer etiquette query...

If you don't plan to do business with him again, tell him to stick his
"discount" up his ass.
If you feel that you may develope an ongoing business relationship, 10% is
about right these days.

--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon</a>
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm</a>
......................................................................
"Jonathan Brodie" <jlbrodie.DeleteThis@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:f9376c36.0408191421.269989d4@posting.google.com...
 > I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
 > received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
 > a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
 > it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
 >
 > How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?
 >
 > Thanks in advance for helping me learn some manners...
 >
 > Jonathan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

jlbrodie.DeleteThis@earthlink.net (Jonathan Brodie) wrote in message news:<f9376c36.0408191421.269989d4.DeleteThis@posting.google.com>...
 > I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
 > received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
 > a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
 > it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
 >
 > How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?
 >
 > Thanks in advance for helping me learn some manners...
 >
 > Jonathan

I wouldn't do it, "fancy New York dealer" or not, unless you're
reasonably sure you'll be doing business with them again, which chance
in this age of free-for-all web commerce is nil. And I'd at least
confirm that they'll reciprocate this courtesy down the road.

--
Ht<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

"Jonathan Brodie" <jlbrodie DeleteThis @earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:f9376c36.0408191421.269989d4@posting.google.com...
 > I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
 > received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
 > a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
 > it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
 >
 > How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?
 >
 > Thanks in advance for helping me learn some manners...
 >
 > Jonathan

Manners, or business? We're talking two different things.

Since he's a dealer, he's buying for resale....and wouldn't be
thinking about your book unless he can make a tidy profit.
Now, he wants a lower price so he can make even more
money. It's within his rights to ask. It's within your rights
to stick to your price.

Many dealers offer "reciprocal discounts", meaning that
they give YOU the same percentage off as you give them.
Most others don't offer a discount unless the purchase
meets a certain amount.

It depends how much business you want to do with them,
and in which direction.

Here's some dealer terms:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=antiquarian+books+%22dealer+discount%22" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=antiquarian...oks+%22</a>

Kris<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

jlbrodie.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net (Jonathan Brodie) wrote in message news:<f9376c36.0408191421.269989d4.TakeThisOut@posting.google.com>...
 > I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
 > received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
 > a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
 > it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
 >
 > How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?
 >
 > Thanks in advance for helping me learn some manners...

If you have a normal helping of "manners" (and I
believe you do) you don't need to acquire new ones
to sell books. I have already read some responses
to you, and I respectfully disagree with the
explanations you were given. Really, the situation
is simpler than people make it out to be: You are
being targeted by a "whittler." The whittler's game
goes like this. Initially, he will offer you a fair
price. Psychologically, that usually creates an
atmosphere where the seller is more predisposed to
dealing with the whittler. But before he actually
pays the money, he always manages to find a reason
to whittle down the price (the the one he quoted to
you over the net, on the phone or wherever). I would
just tell the person point blank, I don't do business
with whittlers. If they can't handle the bad news,
too bad. And don't think for a minute that a "fancy
New York dealer" could not possibly be a whittler.
Quite the contrary.

It is very common for someone to go into a whittler's
store under the distinct impression that he or she was
going to get $300 for a very rare book. The next thing
seller knows they are walking out in a daze with $30
and feeling lucky to get that! (Forget the whittler:
If your book is truly valuable, someone else will want
to buy it.)

Mr. Palmer
Room 314

 >
 > Jonathan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

On 19 Aug 2004 15:21:37 -0700, jlbrodie RemoveThis @earthlink.net (Jonathan
Brodie) wrote:

 >I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
 >received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
 >a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
 >it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
 >
 >How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?
 >
 >Thanks in advance for helping me learn some manners...

20% is the traditional standard dealer-to-dealer discount, as I'm sure
other old farts around here will tell you. The question is whether or
not your mark-up has a 20% buffer built in to it; many don't, and that
kind of discount can kill the profit on a sale. If you sell close to
the mark, you're under no real obligation to offer any discount, but
if you're selling at, say, twice what you paid or thereabouts you
should be okay.

And, yes, it can stand you in very good stead to have a dealer with
whom you have a good working relationship.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

 >
 >Since he's a dealer, he's buying for resale....and wouldn't be
 >thinking about your book unless he can make a tidy profit.
 >Now, he wants a lower price so he can make even more
 >money. It's within his rights to ask. It's within your rights
 >to stick to your price.

This particular dealer will, I know, offer the book for resale at three times
the price that I'm asking for it. As a matter of fact, the idea has occured to
me (despite the fact that I am a naive amateur bookseller from provincial
Wisconsin) that they might want to buy my copy just to take if off the market.
Do such things happen in the book business?

Even if they agree to a reciprocal discount, I wouldn't be able to use it. 10
or 20 percent off books that are three times more expensive than they it
should be is no deal.

So I think I'll say...Thanks but no thanks.

But I also will say thanks to all of you who have given me advice.

Jonathan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

On 19 Aug 2004 20:11:55 -0700, Htn963 RemoveThis @peoplepc.com (Htn963) wrote:

 > I wouldn't do it, "fancy New York dealer" or not, unless you're
 >reasonably sure you'll be doing business with them again, which chance
 >in this age of free-for-all web commerce is nil. And I'd at least
 >confirm that they'll reciprocate this courtesy down the road.

*sigh* No doubt you're right, but it just goes to show how far the
profession has fallen; there was a time, and not all that long ago,
when the discount was given freely and without obligation. It was
simply assumed to be SOP, even if you didn't think you'd be dealing
with that seller again. The thought was it would be paid up and down
the line until it got back to you, as it is with many traditions.

The InterNet is terrific for research, but Christ, what it's done to
bookselling....<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

 >
 >jlbrodie@earthlink.net (Jonathan Brodie) wrote in message
 >news:<f9376c36.0408191421.269989d4.DeleteThis@posting.google.com>...
  >> I'm on the verge of selling a book to a fancy New York dealer. I just
  >> received an e-mail from the shop asking if I would be willing to give
  >> a "dealer discount." I have never sold to a dealer before. I suppose
  >> it makes good business sense fo me to do so. My question:
  >>
  >> How much of a discount is usually offered in such a circumstance?

Really need more info. Is your asking price a trade price? If you have just
contacted the dealer who specialises and your price is considerably below trade
then no discount should be given as he will already make a good profit.

Normally the trade discount is given where you are a dealer and your price is
the market value and you are selling on to another dealer who has a customer
waiting and he needs the discount to make something for himself.

Stan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

In article <2okqjmFbnejjU1.DeleteThis@uni-berlin.de>, RWF wrote:
 >If you don't plan to do business with him again, tell him to stick his
 >"discount" up his ass.

You never say this; it's very rude and will likely result in no sale.

Instead just a simple "sorry, no dealer discount"

As has been said, most internet only dealers offer no discount; while
most traditional dealers (such as ABAA dealers) offer 10%-20%

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.grobebooks.com" target="_blank">http://www.grobebooks.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

Stan asks:

 >Really need more info. Is your asking price a trade price? If you have just
 >contacted the dealer who specialises and your price is considerably below
 >trade
 >then no discount should be given as he will already make a good profit.

Here are the details. The book ranges in price on ABE (depending on condition)
from 75 to 900 dollars. I bought the book for 150 and am asking 300. I used
the ABE prices as a guide to my pricing. My book seems to match the condition
of the books being offered for 600-900 dollars ...so I thought my price was
fair..and even a deal. And I'm always happy to double my money and give a good
deal to someone at the same time. And guess who is asking 800 dollars? The
same dealer who wants to buy my book! This is what prompted me to believe - as
I alluded to in a previous posting, that perhaps he wants to buy the book, not
only to try to re-sell it, but also to take it off the market because the
presence of my book on ABE is not helping him sell his 800 dollar book which is
also on ABE.

There is another issue here that goes beyond "dealer discounts." I am a
collector (as you folks are probably sick of hearing about by now) who
occassionaly enjoys selling a good book at a good price. And, furthermore, it
is also important to me to know that the book is going to a good home. By
selling the book to this dealer, I know that I'm not selling a "good book", but
merely a commodity. I wish I could put on my ABE page that I will not sell to
fancy New York dealers, but only to people who love books. I know this sounds
wacky...but there you have it.

I come by this honestly. When I was a kid I worked for a wonderfully mad
bookseller who would not sell books to people if he didn't think the book was
going to a good home. Needless to say, his wife, also a bookseller, set her
husband up in a another shop. Her store made the money and supported them
both.

But I do have a bit of the merchant in me as well. I enjoy doubling my money.
If I make a tidy profit I can buy more books. And I would rather double my
money from the pocket of a FNYD (fancy New York dealer) than from a guy in
Huron, South Dakota who likes to read. For him I have a better deal.

I suppose a sensible goal is to be a child of both the husband and wife
booksellers of my childhood: be crazy and at the same time try to double my
money.

Probably not possible...but I can always try...

Jonathan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

"Bud Webster" <budwebster.DeleteThis@mindspring.com> wrote
 > The InterNet is terrific for research, but Christ, what it's done to
bookselling....

Old fart dealers are, without a doubt, feeling the pinch of the internet.
But collectors are having a field day, finding books that were at one time
considered rare of HTF at deep discounts.
I know my Hardy Boys collection would not be at the level it is today
without access to online sales, esp. eBay.
--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon</a>
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm</a>
......................................................................<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 15:07:10 -0400, "RWF" <diespamdie.DeleteThis@yahoo.com>
wrote:

 >"Bud Webster" <budwebster.DeleteThis@mindspring.com> wrote
  >> The InterNet is terrific for research, but Christ, what it's done to
 >bookselling....
 >
 >Old fart dealers are, without a doubt, feeling the pinch of the internet.
 >But collectors are having a field day, finding books that were at one time
 >considered rare of HTF at deep discounts.
 >I know my Hardy Boys collection would not be at the level it is today
 >without access to online sales, esp. eBay.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. My flying saucer collection wouldn't
be nearly as complete as it is had I had to depend on mail-order or
walk-in sellers.

But as much as we've gained, Bob, look at what we've lost: pride,
dignity, the genteel business of supplying/acquiring those objects we
most hold dear. We've lost so much of that in recent years. I've had
a bookshop owner invite me to search the back room of her shop,
knowing full well that I was a dealer myself (I never misrepresent
myself), and then when I'd picked out a boxful...SHE LOOKED THEM ALL
UP ON THE INTERNET AND PRICED THEM AT TOP VALUE.

You *never* sell out of your back room to a dealer at full retail,
it's a deliberate slap in the face. I didn't buy the books, and I've
never been back.

She wasn't a bookman. I miss the bookmen, Bob, even when I'm buying
_Shambleau_ for under $30 in near-fine condition.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Book dealer etiquette query... 

"Bud Webster" <budwebster.TakeThisOut@mindspring.com> wrote

 > But as much as we've gained, Bob, look at what we've lost: pride,
 > dignity, the genteel business of supplying/acquiring those objects we
 > most hold dear. We've lost so much of that in recent years.

Without a doubt, I miss the old used books stores.
There is certainly no comparison between browsing "Ye Olde Book Shoppe" and
doing business online.
Yet as an avid collector I'm thrilled to find long sought-after books
online.
Would I rather find them in a used book store or other haunt of the die-hard
collector?
Yes but doing so is getting harder and harder these days.
Guess that's the price of progress.

--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon</a>
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm" target="_blank">http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm</a>
......................................................................<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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