Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2015 Issue

Old Books On-line, The Words of an eBay Bookseller

Vincent Pannequin

Vincent Pannequin is a professional bookseller who closed down his physical bookstore, Dioscures, in 2013 to sell books exclusively on eBay.fr. A good move, as the last year of exploitation had been quite disappointing. Nowadays, his pseudonym Amaterasu55 (more than 3,000 sales and 99.8% of satisfied clients) is known among buyers, as his selection of books from the 18th and the 17th centuries is regularly updated with interesting books in good to very good condition. Though a touchy topic among booksellers, eBay is one of the best places to buy books in France. Indeed, the offer is important and the prices usually reasonable. Far from the “eBay craze” of the early years—when common books sold for unexpected prices— the market has regulated itself. But eBay.fr has just changed its classification and it might cause an important change in the business.

 Vincent Pannequin, when did you start selling books on eBay? I had an eBay account, Amaterasu55, before even opening my physical bookstore in 2002, but I was only buying with it. The name comes from a trip in Japan. “Amaterasu is the goddess of the Sun and “55” is a lucky number. At first, I only sold incomplete or defective books on eBay, those I couldn’t list in my catalogues. It took me a few years before I decided to sell nicer books.

How is the market on eBay today? The eBay market is good, better than a few years ago. But on the other hand you have so many new sellers, who list hundreds of books. As a result, the site is overcrowded and the good dealers are losing visibility.

What’s the difference with a physical bookshop? Ebay still has a very bad reputation among a few “regular” booksellers in France. How would you explain that? There is less and less difference. Of course the buyers can’t touch the books, but pictures make up for that. And I may add by experience that sometimes I prefer not to be in a bookstore to avoid unfriendly colleagues (laughter). Joke aside, I have the feeling that the book collectors who buy on eBay also go to the bookstores. And I think that eBay doesn’t have the very bad reputation it had few years ago when many booksellers saw it as unfair competition. Now I think they see eBay as a place to buy books between two auctions.

You told me that eBay is a touchy subject. Why? Maybe that was an old reflex...But somehow it is true that “regular” booksellers do not like to be known as buying on eBay. Maybe they consider it a less noble way to do business. But it changed a few years ago when some of them started to sell their stock on eBay under their real names, and that was a small revolution

What do you think of faked sales, or “disguised reserve prices”, on eBay? It does exist, I won’t deny it; but it is usually so obvious that you can see it right away. And I honestly think it doesn’t happen more on eBay than at physical auctions, where so many books are being sold over and over again...

It seems like prices on eBay are far lower than in “regular” bookshops. Do you agree? Do you think some books belong on eBay while others should be sold elsewhere? Yes, I do agree but only for the most common books, which booksellers refer to as the “small books.” For the others, I’m pretty sure that they sell for very good prices, such as the 1762 edition of Lafontaine’s Fables by Les Fermiers Généraux, which is always an eBay star. But for sure, books costing dozens of thousands of euros are not the most salable there, and I wouldn’t propose them myself. But it is a personal opinion and I know some dealers who do not hesitate; good for them, they are bold enough to do it.

It seems like eBay is growing less efficient as far as selling old books is concerned. Do you think it will stop being an interesting selling point one of these days? On eBay France, which in my opinion is the most important eBay place for rare books, I didn’t think it was less efficient until recently. Yesterday, the 13th of October, eBay France decided to regroup all rare books in a unique category and it is clearly a regression. (Indeed, it’s no longer possible to select books by centuries. Consequently, one has to go through hundreds of “books printed before 1900” before finding a book from the 18th century. Many buyers and sellers are currently urging eBay.fr to go back to the old formula but the website is not known for paying much attention to its users – editor’s note). This is no good news, and they took the decision without consulting anyone. I know a lot of people are already complaining as books have become quite hard to locate now.

What is your recipe to have a “good sale” on eBay? I always try to give the best description possible, or at least to point out all defects so that when the buyers receive their books, they think they look better than described. And of course I download a lot of pictures for each book; and good ones. I don’t mean artistic but informative ones. It takes a lot of time, but it is necessary in order to build a solid reputation.

What are the required skills for an eBay bookseller compared to a “regular” one? I do not think there are more or less skills to work on eBay.

You’re based in Ireland today. Is it a matter of taxes? Is it still interesting when you probably have to “import” your books, and then ship them back to France—with more expensive shipping fees? Nothing to do with taxes: my companion is Polish and was already working and living here; that was my main motivation. Life is less stressful here so I have no regrets. I do import most of my books from France, indeed, but it has become quite cheap and easy to work with online sites that discount couriers. For example a 20 kilos parcel costs 30€ only. Shipping fees are more expensive for my sales, yes; but the quality of my books makes up for it and buyers know it.

Is France your main market? Is it a specific market? France is my main market, indeed, as I mostly sell books written in French. It includes de facto Belgium and Switzerland. It is a specific market in the way that France is the place in the world where you will find the most book auctions—a few ones every day—and the largest number of book collectors. But eBay France attracts collectors and booksellers from all over the world and the USA is my second best market.

What do you think of Paypal? Paypal is a very useful tool as you are paid instantly but it has quite a cost (4 to 5% of the sales and shipping fees). And the downfall is that their customer service almost always sides with the buyers when there is a problem. They advertise a warranty for the buyer but it only consists of taking back the money from the seller.

What could eBay do to be more efficient as far as old books are concerned? EBay France should come back to the old system they had with sub-categories, where you could properly list your books. But if they come back to it—and nothing is sure, since they are well known to ignore their customers—they should clean all the rubbish like magazines or cheap modern books, that pollute the “rare books” section.

Thibault Ehrengardt


Posted On: 2019-08-13 08:41
User Name: joshuadollar

yes i agree


Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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