| Types
of Online Bookselling Database Online
bookselling databases come in two basic flavours - the 3As (ABE,
Albris and Amazon)
and the other, independent sites. The
3As
The 3As allow little or no direct contact between customer and
dealer. They are currently flooded with badly described books listed by hobbyists
with little knowledge, who are aided by tools that favour the lowest common denominator.
They are all essentially
corporate in nature and show little interest in the complexities of the out-of-print
book market or the relationship between booksellers and their customers. For
instance features such as automatic ISBN matching and Image matching are often
inappropriately applied, making it more difficult, rather than easier, to know
with certainty what you are buying. ABE,
the largest secondhand bookselling site on the internet is the latest to embrace
this philosophy. A
growing number of booksellers are raising their prices by at least 10% on the
3As to compensate for escalating costs, and at the same time encouraging their
customers to use the independent sites, were they can benefit from lower prices
and better customer service.
The
independents
The
independent bookselling sites provide a
marketplace where professional booksellers can list their books on the internet
and promote contact between buyer and seller. The best of the independents encourage
dealers to conduct business to the same standards as they would if you visited
them in person, in their bookshops or at book
fairs. Many
of the dealers listing on the independent sites have decades of experience in
selling out-of-print books and are able to offer informed advice about the books
they are selling. They will also quote you the actual shipping costs which may
well be cheaper than the 3As. None
of this really matters if you only want to buy a secondhand paperback copy of
a recent novel. But if you care about the book's condition, or if edition and
issue points are important, then you really need to know that the person you are
buying from understands these things. An
analogy with Supermarkets and Farmers Markets seems appropriate: if buying cheap
books is your primary concern, you will probably be happy with the 3As. But If
the quality of the book and informed personal service are important, try the independents.
And remember, as many dealers are effectively selling their books for less on
the independent sites, you could benefit from lower comparable prices and reduced
shipping costs on the books you really want to buy.
Stuart Manley
of Barter
Books has a page entitled Booksearch, which includes a star
rating for the various databases.
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