All the fun of the Fair?

hi

I'm contemplating (rather unwisely you may say) taking early retirement and seeing out my days as a full-time bookseller. Having collected and dabbled for many years I have a fair idea of the pros and cons of the various internet platforms and how much (or little) can be made from selling on these.

My question is more about book fairs - i'd be interested to know what sort of return can be expected  from an average provincial bookfair, or are they more of a shop window. 

I'm also interested in any recommendations for inventory database/software, and web hosting providers.

I'm assuming that the occasional bookseller still passes this way occasionally

thank you kindly

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All the fun of the Fair?

I have never done a book fair, but I know somebody who has on a regular basis. He has confirmed from experience the generally held belief in the trade that the small run of the mill provincial book fair is a dead duck.

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All the fun of the Fair?

I am not at all surprised to hear of the demise of Book Fairs.

They have always seemed to cater for fellow dealers and those seeking specialist or

antiquarian books.

Woe betide any member of the general public who wanders in and asks if they have any Mills & Boon!

 

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All the fun of the Fair?

Hi Monty,

 

Just another thought. I assume that you have an abebooks account, if not open one, if you are serious about this then you should sell enough on there to justify the monthly fees.

 

They have a forum board with a special section for 'mentorship' and you can learn loads of good advice by posting a similar question there. Remember though that it is a world wide site and a lot of answers will come from america where the market may be different. When posing your question make it clear you are a UK seller and what type of books you will generally sell.

 

Sales on both Abe and Amazon are uncommonly slow at the moment even allowing for the time of year, and sales on ebay are holding up, if not improving, may be as a backlash against Amazon, but also no doubt due to AZ's woeful carcrash of a book database where finding the exact book you want is a bit of a nightmare if there are multiple editions.

 

Oh and best of luck, its tough out here !!

 

Jim

 

 

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