Starting a bookstore is a dream many people have. At many Friends of the Library booksales, I’ve overhead people more than once saying they’re stocking up for a bookstore they want to start for their retirement. There are a lot of readers who can think of nothing better than working around books.
Here are some thoughts for someone who has had a bookstore and has been selling books on eBay and Half.com for years.
Major Steps
First of all, it occurs to me that the best way to ease into the business is by selling on Half.com. It will allow you to stockpile the books you will need to stock for your store while making some money, it also allows you to establish a model for selling that can be used at your bookstore. You’ll be able to supplement your retail sales at the store by having the books cross-listed on Half.com. With rising overhead from rent, light, heat, and so on, you’ll need whatever money you can get.
Friends of the Library used book sales are terrific sources of books. Ask friends and relatives if they have books to get rid of. They may surprise you and hand over half a dozen bags of books they’ve been holding for no good reason, just as my sister did. Yard sales and garage sales can be useful, although often people try to get much more for the books than buyers are willing to pay. Always consider that you need to buy them cheap enough to turn a profit when they sell. That won’t happen with a one dollar book.
Second, take advantage of any classes that are available on starting a small business. Pay attention. The real test is the success or failure of your business.
Location, Location, Location
Third, start looking for a store. A good location is imperative. I had a bookstore once locatied across from Lincoln-Douglas Square in downtown Alton, IL. It was inexpensive, small, and it was a few doors down from Broadway, where antique hunters spent the weekends going up and down the street from shop to shop, usually ending at that corner. Even with a sandwich sign on the corner pointing down to my shop and a table with an array of books out front of my shop (some of which got sun faded), I just didn’t seem to get nearly as much business as I would’ve expected.
So look for a spot that will get a lot of foot traffic. The bad news is that may price you out of the market.
As an alternative, if you can create a unique experience, advertise, and/or develop plenty of publicity, you can be located in Podunk, Iowa and still draw in plenty of clientele from miles around. I’m not talking about sinking a lot of money in any of these options, because you won’t have a big margin to work with. But if you can make visiting your shop an experience by providing a reading area and occasional special events, you can build your regular clientele.
So, think in terms of book signings, lectures, offering groups a free meeting place if ebnough space is available, and have a contest now and then. When I took over my bookstore, I held a naming contest and offered $50 or so credit for the best name. That gave me an opportunity for a story in the local daily and a small follow-up announcing the winner who’d offered the name The Second Reading. (My friend John Dunphy still runs it in Alton, Illinois).
Another Approach
The History and Hauntings Bookstore has been in Alton for a number of years now and it takes another tack. It doesn’t try to be everything for everybody. Half the books are on ghosts and hauntings, the other half are on select topics such as Illinois history, the Civil War, the Wild West, true crime, H.P. Lovecraft, Sherlock Holmes, and so on. The store hosts an annual open house for the American Ghost Society where writers from across the country give a day-long series of talks about ghosts and haunted sites. They sell lots of books at those open houses. Naturally, you can select your own specialty or specialties, such as local history, gardening, or writing, with an event featuring four or five speakers. Just make sure you have plenty of books to sell on the topic and get out a press release.
Promotion
Learn how to write press releases and remember not to hardsell your business in the story. You can send out releases when you have special guest appareances, lectures, all that stuff I mentioned before. Also, like any other business, any time something relevant to your business appears in the press, feel free to use that as a springboard for a press release containing your tips or comments on it. Don’t expect this opportunity to be handed to you on a silver platter. You may have to be a little creative in finding a link to the original story’s topic. You can even prepare a story with a much broader base…such as buying used in your town to save money in the sour economy…and slip your shop in one of the listings.
Even if you have a daily paper, don’t overlook other outlets like shoppers that carry limited news and weeklies. Often they use anything that comes over the transom. Publish the story on your website.
Fourth, just as you are selling on Half.com and perhaps some select volumes on eBay, you need to consider a website. As with your bookstore, find a way to make it interesting and worth revisiting. Make sure your website links to your online book offerings. You can feature on your website itself a handful of daily specials you want to highlight. An updated calendar of local would draw repeat visitors.
Some Additional Tips
Search out magazine articles and books on operating a bookstore.
Set up a Google Alert on the topic of starting your own used book store or select another similar key word or phrase. This will bring you a daily listing of news and blog stories with links on the topic of your choice, such as “starting a used book store”, sent direct to your email address. Simply put “Google Alert” into your search engine and that’ll take you to the sign-up page.
See how different stores charge for their books. Often, the sale price is half the cover price. It can vary. In addition, you need to develop a book trade policy. Some stores will not trade at all. An alternative is to offer a credit equal to half the cover value of each book traded in. You can even offer an even trade, with a slight cash fee, such as 24 cents per trade. You must always keep your overhead costs in mind.
