AEM: Dealers would seem to have few objections to higher basic listing fees that in no way block their ability to deal directly with book buyers. Listing fees have been very low. Dealers would seem to be willing and financially able to pay higher fees. Will Abebooks be willing to give dealers an either/or arrangement where the either is “I pay more for the listing but I deal entirely with the customer on my own” and the “or” is I pay a lower listing fee and a processing fee on all books sold.
ABEBOOKS: This relates to an earlier question, about how we freely publish the contact information for our booksellers. At the moment we know that high-priced books that are listed on Abebooks are sometimes purchased or negotiated directly between buyer and seller. Of course we would hope that the sale take place through Abebooks, but this is not something that we currently enforce.
We also feel that the monthly rates are low enough to appeal to dealers who may wish to continue to develop relationships with buyers, and who may not want to use Abebooks credit card services to register the sale.
AEM: You offer a “Wants list” service. Is this very popular? What kind of customer uses it? What percentage of Abebooks sellers use the wants list service? This has seemed to us to be an extraordinary tool. Our own site will soon permit members to develop categorical lists of wants for virtually any subject in the Americana field. Being able to upload such lists to Abebooks will allow collectors to target a specific range of books and to be able to know about them as soon as they come on line. We expect this to be a very attractive service for collectors.
Rare Book Monthly
Abebooks: Internet Visionaries
AE Monthly Feature Article
