Some Big Ticket Sales Too

Though most of her sales are under $50, like all booksellers she still gets excited about the big ticket items.

“One of the first special ones was a lovely first edition copy of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” It was just in an ordinary box of donations and shelved by a volunteer. I found it when doing a regular review of the shelves before a sale. It would have made some customer’s day to get it for $2, but I’m happy that the Library received the full value instead.”

Recent sales of donated items include a first edition of “Slaughterhouse-Five” (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.) and a six volume set “The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom” (G. E. Cokaye).

She recalls that, “the two highest value books we’ve sold were both library discards.” These were “Examples of Chinese Ornament Selected from Objects in the South Kensington Museum and Other Collections (Owen Jones).”The title makes me laugh but the book itself was a stunning collection of chromolithograph plates.”

The other, “The Wares of the Ming Dynasty" (R. L. Hobson) was sold to a buyer in Beijing, which was fun. I enjoy sending books around the world and chatting with collectors.”

Local Company for Leftovers

Even though Indianapolis prefers to do its own online marketing Geib says, “We use a local company for the leftovers from the public sales. We used to have to clean up and recycle the books that didn’t sell – and there’s always a lot left even after selling it at $5 a bag full.

“Sometime in 2010 we were approached by a man who offered to do all the clean up for us, sell what he could, and share a portion of the profits. We come out ahead just by eliminating the labor costs of clean up and, admittedly - to my surprise, we do get regular checks from him.” 

In her view there are several reasons why other libraries have turned to vendors who offer to take all their unwanted books:

“In a large system there’s just so much material to deal with, and the hassle factor is huge with public sales.  Librarians don’t have the time or expertise to screen books and organize sales. 

“Volunteer groups don’t often have much expertise and the core group dwindles and exhausts itself.  It’s just easier to give it all to the professionals and take a percentage than to mess with it. 

“I remember a story about the Seattle Public Library in which the librarian said that it was simpler and that they made more money than doing it themselves. And you don’t have to deal with crowds, unpleasant customers, and extra accounting - or the latest wrinkle, the rise of amateur book sellers using scanning devices.”