Don't buy it in the first place.

I can't believe how often I disagree with the common wisdom of bookstores.

There's a lead article in the Shelf Awareness site about how "Don't fall in love with your inventory."

About how you need to be ruthless in your "turns" and "returns."

Well, here's an even better idea.  Don't buy it in the first place if you don't think it's good enough to keep.

So, if you buy a classic book, it stays a classic book.  If you buy a cult book, it stays a cult book.  If you by a quirky book, it stays a quirky book.

More to the point, if the book has worthwhile content, it stays worthwhile content.  Even bestsellers have some longevity, if the book is worthwhile.

I think running a comic store is great training for a general bookstore.  We don't get to return anything.  Not only that, but most of what we have has a limited shelf life.

The shelf life of even the slowest moving book is incredibly luxurious compared to almost any comic. 

The returns system seems destructive and wasteful and stupid and people fall back on it, but at the same time the system takes a slice of you with every return and it's time consuming and complex and again -- it let's stupid and thoughtless people think they can get away with being stupid and thoughtless.

Instead, think about every book you buy.  Is this a keeper?  This book I want in my store?

Yes, even  "Am I in love with this book?"

So much smarter than the idiot above who spends all his time thinking about how to get rid of books he shouldn't have bought in the first place.