Dan Gregory Talks Tech for the Trade

Gregory believes that “one day electronic books will become a conventional part of literate society. But,” he adds, “that day is not here yet."

Similarly, antiquarian bookselling on the internet, despite being about 15 years old, is still “very immature.” He says in his own experience, “books above $5,000 or $10,000 do sell on the internet. But they sell on the internet with much less frequency than those same books sell through print catalogs.

“Books sold on our website average four times the price of books we sell elsewhere on the internet, but these sales still average only a third of the price of books we sell through our catalogs. So while our internet sales grow every year, we still derive more of our income from print catalogs and private quotes.

“Ultimately the progression we strive for is from a random online purchase, to more expensive and repeat purchases through our site, further to even more expensive repeat purchases through our catalogs. Each element is a key component in a larger chain that we have deliberately constructed so that we take control of our profitability and minimize the role that other outside companies have in our revenue.

“We must educate our buyers individually or collectively, that the best books are bought and sold off the Internet. I am confident in predicting that the best books will always will be bought and sold not online, but offline.”

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Susan Halas is an antiquarian dealer based in Hawaii

Reach her at halas@hawaii.rr.com

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Much of this article is excerpted and condensed from a recent speech Gregory gave to ILAB members in Spain. The link to the entire text and other links he thinks are worthwhile follow:

Between the Covers

Full text ILAB speech

Colorado Book School 2011