Abe Increases Rates;<br>Alibris is Going Public.<br>What’s Next for the Book Sites?
- by Michael Stillman
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What does this mean? Perhaps Google will feel compelled to move seriously into the book search business while it is still the overwhelmingly dominant search engine. You snooze, you lose. And, if Google passes on books, there’s no guarantee that Yahoo and MSN will pass too. It’s hard to imagine that not even one of these giants will attempt to use its searching power to become the leader in used book searching.
How might a Google (or Yahoo or MSN) book search work? Google already has the capacity to target searches to specific websites only. It would not be difficult for them to give booksellers a format as to how to offer books on their own websites. Rather than posting their books to a bookselling site, the dealer simply posts them on his own website, using a format designed for Google searches. The dealer incurs no listing fee. If they are too small to have their own website, either Google or an outside service could rent space on a server to that dealer for a fairly nominal cost. Once the dealer signs on with Google, Google adds his or her site to those searched for used books. Anytime a consumer goes to Google’s book search to locate a title, Google searches the sites of all dealers who have signed up for their service and posts the results as it now does for web searches.
How does Google get paid? Here’s a real advantage they have. While Abe looks to collect a commission on sales, which leads to the problem of buyers buying the books they find offline, Google can simply charge the way they now charge other advertisers. Google charges advertisers on a per click basis. In other words, every time someone clicks on one of their ads, Google collects a small fee, frequently just a few pennies. They could do the same with their book search service. Click on the listing Google finds and Google gets a couple of cents. It doesn’t matter whether the customer buys the book online or offline, or even at all. Each click brings Google a couple of pennies. While not every click results in a sale, the cost per click is sufficiently low that this may be a cheaper cost per ultimate sale for dealers than that of current commissions systems. And, since Google never has to deal with customers, complaints, charges, or anything else themselves, since all they are is a search engine, costs are minimal to them. They are in a strong position to undercut competition. Whatever they make, it’s all plus business. If Google doesn’t like this idea, there are two other search engines waiting in the wings who might.
Now there’s one more colossus out there we haven’t even mentioned: eBay. eBay isn’t a typical bookselling site. It’s an online auction. Nonetheless, it has become one of the world’s largest booksellers. They are drawing off more and more sales that otherwise would go through traditional bookselling venues (if you can call internet bookselling “traditional”). eBay is an amazing success, perhaps the most successful internet company ever. They have achieved total domination of the online auction business. Abe has its Alibris, Amazon its Barnes and Noble. eBay has no one of comparable significance behind it. They can do as they please, and one of the things that pleases eBay is selling more old books.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
