I worked at a used booked store in nj it was the happiest I’ve even been at a job. There is nothing better that being able to share my love of books every day with customers everyday.
Wow, Dumbing Us Down... I don't know of many that have read that! It's mostly talked of in the homeschool circles. Wow...Thomas Sowell too... My goodness, so many books you rolled off the cuff are ones I have loved. I have to say though, Gibbons is tough. I have a 3 vol. set....and I've only gotten through book one (and that was many years ago.) It is no wonder you ended up a bookseller, as so many topics are of interest to you, and you use books to explore them. Your enthusiasm a decade in shows you're on the right track. Thanks for sharing!
I actually book picked Gatto's place in Upstate, NY, never meant him but know his nephew well. I made a video of it but never said it was his place for certain legalities at the time. His book definitely took me down some worm holes of further study. I left out Will and Ariel Durant's massive work on a study of civilization, I've read the first book of the set and really enjoyed it. Another scholar that had access to material the general public did not have at the time and probably still don't is Arnold Toynbee, in particular his work titled, "A Study of History" unabridged. I've collected most of his work and talks, he used to teach Rhode scholars. It's not every day I run into people like yourself that have read some of the things I mentioned, that's pretty cool, there was a lot I left out for particular reasons but anyhow. Glad you enjoyed the video, someday I'll "conquer" Gibbons!
@@thebookpeddler That must have been an interesting pick! (But then again, I'm sure most are!) I'm making a note of Toynbee. Have you read any of Philip Matyszak? I have a dozen or so of his...covering the rise of Rome. It's lighter reading than Gibbon. I was thinking you may like 'Peter Santenello' a channel that covers the various cultures of today, from inside visits/interviews. He's gone to the Amish, Hasidic Jews, a Muslim community in Dearborne, various tribes, the Cajun community. It's intriguing to hear how/and why others live as they do. I'll conquer Gibbon too...when I'm feeling a bit more academic! Thank you for the new author suggestions.
@@useupwearout5029 I don't believe I've heard of Matyszak, I'll make a mental note, thanks! I've watched his videos before they are pretty cool, he does a good job. Appreciate your comment :)
Mate - great video! I think most people have romanticised the notion of owning & running a book store, and don't see the hard work that you have to do 24/7/365. A lot of people think all you do is sit around all day and read books! They don't see the sourcing, cleaning, pricing, customer service - both from buyers and people coming in wanting to sell books, listing online, packing, postage, marketing, follow-ups, opening / closing / running a store, the paperwork, finances, taxes etc etc. It's more than simply a 'lifestyle', and if note managed carefully, can lead to burn-out and/or becoming jaded and actually disliking books! You're a brave person running 2 stores! All strength to you and I don't know how you manage to do all that's required + provide online content. Fortunately, it's often the 'thrill of the chase' and finding great stuff - which you seem to do and I'm very jealous. Top work and wishing you all the very best from here in Australia :)
Thanks for the comment really appreciate it. It's by far one of the most difficult things I've done, a lot of stresses, it's definitely affected my health throughout these years which I have to get a hold on sooner than later. I definitely know why every seasoned book dealer told me not to do a shop, I never want to discourage someone from it but I wouldn't recommend it for 99% of people, I really have no clue how I've maintained some form of sanity through the years haha. But when I choose to get out of the business when the day comes it'll be on my own terms. Thanks for watching and commenting
Very kind of you to say, thanks Grant! Kids tend to like me haha for a year I worked with "troubled" kids and they all listened and respected me, they loved their "Mr. M"! I think it would have been a good occupation for me as well... another life maybe. Thanks for the donation and again for the kind words.
I think that last point is very interesting. As a part time book seller, I've thought that I'll never get to full time status until I can overcome the material obsession I have for books. It's hard to not want to keep a lot of the great books I find. While the passion helps, it also extremely hinders, being so attached to the books. Sounds like you are really becoming a true and great book seller! God bless!!
I still struggle with some of that, it can be tough. These last couple of years I've been so business focused, I barely read anymore, something I loved to do before starting this kinda got ruined a little bit, I have to time management better so I can read... anyhow it's been a bit of a downside in that aspect. My hopes are that if I can setup my shops in a way that doesn't always require me to be present then I can get that time back to some degree. Good luck to you!
You cracked me up when you said you were shouting at those women that your opening hours are a lie! 😆 Love these videos, Phil. From the business tips though to personal thoughts on various topics. Given all you've said, I can definitely see how a brick-and-mortar store would be a lifestyle choice. Also sounds like you have a great, supportive family.
Hahaha I've come a long way with certain things hahha, those poor women! Glad you enjoyed the video. It's definitely not easy but nothing really is probably, no substitute for hard work! Thanks for watching! :) - (And yeah my family is truly incredible)
Wonderful video. Concise yet informative and engaging! You have a plethora of experience to draw from and stated your concerns as well as highlighted the positives. Thank you for your sharing of such!
Have you heard of these rare 19th century books with green covers that have a toxic arsenic coating? I’m curious if you’ve had the opportunity to purchase any. I can see how these would become highly collectible.
Hi Phil, great info as always. Wondering what your thoughts are on the value of joining professional associations like Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA)
I've actually thought about making a video on it but don't feel like putting up with some massive backlash for my personal opinion on it. I'll just answer in short. I don't see it being as valuable as it once was. Sure you get a stamp on your card and maybe some sort of "prestige" that goes along with it, a stamp of authority, that can't hurt I suppose but everyone is pretty accessible these days, I just don't think it holds the weight it once did.m, or the necessity. I've had some of the most reputable book dealers around offer to write on my behalf a letter of recommendation to join but there are more so private reasons as to why I'm at this point of time not interested at all. It'd make for a juicy video I'm sure but for now I'll keep those reasons to myself. Thanks for the question!
How do you price your in-store books? What POS and do you label them with stickers? I run a small used bookstore, most of my income is from eBay but we have tons of books in-store. None of the books out on the shelves are priced, inventoried, or labeled. I have been selling $10 hardbacks $5 paperback for a while with a buy 2 get 1 free deal. I realize this might not be the best system and I'm trying to figure out the best way to inventory, label and price them. Do you think it's possible or worth doing a hybrid online/instore inventory? I use the Square POS and was thinking about putting each book in the Square inventory and printing out barcode labels for each book.
To be honest, I may not be the right guy to ask on this. I've run my shop similiar, the inventory I have listed is my list basically and I'm revamping the organization of it currently for shipping purposes. I've never felt the need to catalogue all my books, sometimes I'll go on a pick and just outright flip the majority to another dealer, it just seems like it would take an incredible amount of time that I don't have to begin with. I don't do my own labels, nothing like that. I have two shops now. So the one I'll be running similar to you, the goal is to move the lower end high volume material for cheap so no internet books will be on those shelves, turn and burn. The other shop the vast majority is internet books, I label the shelves so when it sells I know where to find it and it's either in the main shop or in my storage. Those books I price competitivly but run sales etc. For taxes I do estimates inventory, I add it all up at the end of the year, every pick I go on I write the miles, money spent and estimated inventory. If I was to index all those books I'd never have the time to sell the freakin things. For insurance purposes I have the online listings I'd use as my "list" and anything not on there I know exactly what it is, it's those books where I have more of an investment in generally speaking so I'm not overly worried about the cheaper material. I've always been a cash business but this year I'm getting a card reader, I'm going to check out "zettle" a system a dealer I know uses. Look some dealers catalogue and index everything others don't, I don't necessarily know if there's a right or wrong per say but find someone who does it and ask them what the benefit of it is and see if what they say makes sense. I've started penciling in under the price I write in the book a code that lets me know the year it was purchased, if it's sat too long it's either overpriced or undesireable and it'll end up in the building where I want to move volume or an auction. I just want to keep it as simple as possible on myself but if you think that'll make your life simpler in the long run and more efficient by all means go for it. Hope that helps, wish you the best! Reach out anytime
Thanks Phil great advice. You are making really good videos but your thumbnail is not catchy. I think if you improve your thumbnails you definitely grow.
I know you're right, maybe someday I'll take the time to learn how to make a good one and do that for many of my older videos as well. Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoy the content.
