It seems to me that this is the direction most bookstores are going and I don't get it. In my bookstore, the more books I buy, the more I sell.
Gifts are iffy. They may or may not sell. You usually have to buy them in bulk, at least a dozen of each. Some within that dozen will sell, some won't. That's why I stopped buying most cases of toys a few years ago and look for toys I can buy singly.
What's more, with gifts you have to have more than a few to sell a few. For instance, our jigsaw puzzles had stopped selling before Christmas. I bought fifty more and they started selling a little.
If you buy a dozen of any gift item, they start to look really lonely and abandoned somewhere around half of them gone, which in essence forces you to buy another case to fill in the gaps. This is a constant process.
So if you sell half and buy more and then sell two thirds of that and then sell through an entire batch, you might make money. But more likely that 30 to 50% gap will never get paid for.
Opposed to individual book titles which, if they sell, you can order another single unit, and then another and then another. Same principle, just much less gamble. And books never look lonely, because there are always other books.
Gifts have a limited shelf-life before they get shopworn. Books have unlimited shelf-life unless a customer actively damages one. Dust and sun and manhandling will make most gifts look less than pristine very quickly.
So, yeah, give me a choice--as a bookstore, mind you--and I'll pick books every time.
Opinions? I have more than ever but I'm spouting them less than ever.
I'm laying low. But I still think I'm right. I'm a majority of one.
2 comments:
They all need to read your small business survivalist book. It was enlightening.
I do believe you are the ONLY one who ever read it. :) For that I thank you.
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