As Amazon says on its website, “An honest appraisal of the used and collectible items listed for sale at Amazon Marketplace is the first step toward ensuring a great experience for both buyer and seller.” Toward that end, it is incumbent upon every seller who wants to be successful to take pains to grade and describe their books accurately and consistently, to inspect each book carefully in a well-lit environment so that you don’t miss and/or fail to disclose its flaws, and to avoid the silly trap of trying to improve a five-dollar book’s sales potential by glossing over a flaw whose non-disclosure will upset a buyer sufficiently to leave you damning “customer feedback” that will cost you a lot more than five dollars in sales.
One of the challenges that we face with the explosion of the online used book market is that it is likely to attract a growing number of customers who lack familiarity with the jargon, abbreviations, and terminology employed by used and antiquarian booksellers to describe their wares. While the phrase “good reading copy” may communicate to an experienced buyer that he is buying a book whose only value is that it will survive fairly well through a few more readings, many of us have learned the hard way it is no longer sufficient to rely on that phrase to describe the book to the uninitiated:
“What do you mean – ‘Good reading copy?’ There was a name and phone number inside, and three pages were dog-eared, and there was highlighting and underlining in Chapter Twelve!”
I trust that you catch my drift. You don’t (I hope) want to be the kind of biblio-snob who slams his potential customers for not knowing the difference between a “good reading copy” and an “advance reading copy,” but on the other hand you need to have a clear sense of the terminology that your customers are equipped to understand so that you can use that terminology to communicate with them and market to them rather than to eliminate them
In any case the beginning point for any used bookseller must be to familiarize himself with the terminology of the trade, including the gradings and definitions shown in the box on page 104, the Book Collector’s Glossary in Appendix 1, and the various abbreviations and descriptive phrases shown throughout this chapter. The glossary is especially helpful in learning the trade’s names for the parts of a book, whether or not you decide to fill your descriptions for your customers with references to “boards,” “leaves,” and similar terms.
Booksellers have worked long and hard to codify a simple and straightforward set of gradings for used and antiquarian books, and for the most part they have tended to be fairly consistent with one another. Let’s start here at the most simple, straightforward level, with a table on the next page that shows the gradings stated by Amazon on its own Marketplace site, since these are the gradings and definitions most often seen by online used book buyers. These gradings and definitions are quite strict and clear and you will only be setting yourself up for a fall if you over-ride them. Several things are especially worthy of note about these gradings and definitions:
· Many new books that you can find on the shelves of a new book physical bookstore are not up to the “perfect condition” standard cited by Amazon, and generally accepted in other grading systems, for “new” books and “like new” used books. Some online booksellers use this discrepancy as an excuse for unilaterally lowering the standards so that they apply to their books, but they do so at some risk to their own business reputation and to the overall customer experience in the online book market.
· Amazon’s definitions imply, without clearly stating it, that a hardcover book lacking its original dustcover should never be listed as “Good” or better. This is not consistent with other grading systems that we have seen, and is apparently a result of Amazon’s arbitrary concatenation of gradings for book and dustcover, which used and antiquarian booksellers have traditionally separated in gradings such as “VG/G.” If you are going to over-ride this definition, the risk is as described in the previous paragraph, and the responsibility is clearly yours to state as boldly as possible that the otherwise “good” or better book lacks a dustcover.
· Amazon’s “Unacceptable” grading makes a clear policy statement that uncorrected proofs, advance reading copies, and “books that are distributed for promotional use only” must not be sold on Amazon’s Marketplace. “Books that are distributed for promotional use only” means review copies, unless I am missing something, and goes to the heart of an age-old debate for used booksellers. There have been some large and prominent used bookstores in Manhattan that would not have existed if it were not for their ability to acquire review copies, but publishers have generally claimed that they should be able to control, from on high, the secondary markets of their review copies and have occasionally gone to great lengths to “persuade” booksellers not to traffic in such forbidden fruit. These publishers would have reviewers destroy review copies once they are through with them, which often is the day they arrive in the mail. Used booksellers have countered with claims that it is the book-buying public that pays for the production of review copies in the first place and should have the opportunity to buy them again at retail, somewhat more cheaply, and that a book is, let’s put this prettily, a kind of “living thing” whose life should not be snuffed out because of the economic claims of a greedy publishing industry. In any case, at this writing there are thousands of advanced reading copies for sale not only at Amazon, but in virtually every brick and mortar used bookshop in the United States, so the efforts of publishers to control the market that they created in the first place have been utterly futile.
But we digress.
Let’s be clear here about the fact that Amazon is not the only source or the definitive source on the definitions of these book condition gradings. We have decided to lead with them as a simple gesture of deference to reality, because it is clear that more book buyers and booksellers will come into contact with Amazon’s grading definitions than with any other set of definitions this year and for years to come. We’re going to be selling some books in Rome, so let’s make sure we know what the Romans are doing.
If you would like to compare the Amazon definitions with some other sets of grading definitions, we suggest you visit Bibliomania (www.bibliomania.net/Lesson1.html) and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (www.ioba.org/desc.html).
Once you select the appropriate rating for a book, you’ll want to post a description that adds other detailed information letting prospective buyers in on the rest of the story. There are several challenges; the first is to fit your description into the 70-character line that Amazon allows for regular used books posted manually. (Amazon allows a 200-character description for new and collectible books as well as any books loaded automatically, in bulk, through its Inventory Loader or Book Loader functions).
The ethics of providing accurate used book descriptions demands the disclosure of all flaws in a book you are listing, but the space limitations of Amazon’s 70-character description field can make full disclosure a very challenging task. Half.com moved early in 2002 to expand the description field available to sellers, and one would hope that Amazon would move quickly to take the same step, one that would certainly be consistent with improving the overall customer experience.
In any case, your first job in making yourself a good describer of your books is to familiarize yourself with the terminology of the enterprise including the names given to a book’s parts, the jargon used to describe common book flaws (such as “foxing”, which is not an early Valley Girl expression for cruising the mall looking for dudes), and the common abbreviations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with the glossary and descriptive abbreviations found in the Appendices at the end of this book, and then try to come to your best judgment as to what balance you should strike between jargon and abbreviations on the one hand, and accessible common parlance on the other.
Some sellers believe they should never use abbreviations such as “dj” for dustjacket or “mm pbk” for mass market paperback. Call me a hopeless optimist, but my instinct here is to believe that buyers can figure out abbreviations when the word behind the abbreviation is not too obscure.
After all, we are talking here about people who are buying books, not athletic socks. But remember that obscure abbreviations and jargon may just confuse the buyer and lead to a bad transaction, so don’t try to impress your potential buyer with terms he has never seen before.
You can save yourself valuable space by avoiding descriptive text (such as “mass market paperback”) that is redundant with the material already provided by Amazon for the ISBN that you are using to post the book. While it is true that traditionally a bookseller’s descriptions have been standardized to include Author, Title, Publisher, Publication City, Publication Date, Book Description, Price, Format, Edition, and Description of Condition, only the last two of these items needs to be in a Half.com or Amazon Marketplace book description; the others are probably redundant unless there is a marketing reason for including them.
Whether you are entering titles manually one at a time or using a bulk loading function such as Amazon’s Book Loader, you will want to employ some shortcuts both to speed up a slow process and also to help you establish consistency in noting the important distinguishing characteristics about your books.
One useful trick involves the “Auto-Complete” function in recent versions of Internet Explorer. With this function, you may have noticed when filling out an online form that is you begin typing in your zip code, 0 … 2 …, it will complete the field and give you a choice of all the zip codes you have recently entered that begin with the digits 0 and 2. I also keep a Word file of my descriptive one-liners open when I am posting, so that I can easily cut and paste tried and true descriptions into the entry field if one of them applies to a book I have in front of me, ready to post online. (This kind of description recycling also takes the pain out of what can otherwise be one of the more nudgy and time-consuming elements of the posting process, which is trying to stay within the 70-character limit). I also suspect, without any scientific data to back me up, that is can be reassuring to potential buyers to see the same descriptive phrases again and again (assuming, of course, that they are accurate!) rather than having to figure out exactly what a seller means (or is trying to hide) with some new turn of phrase.
Of course, one of the best ways to strengthen your approach to writing good book descriptions is to see what some other top-notch sellers are doing in that regard, so let us direct you now to a few Amazon storefronts where once you arrive you can click on the link that says: “See all dunesstudio’s zShop listings” to view the clear and concise book descriptions that have helped earn these sellers their five-star customer feedback ratings:
· Dunes Studio (www.amazon.com/shops/dunesstudio)
· JunebugBooks (www.amazon.com/shops/junebugbooks)
· Lcplbob (www.amazon.com/shops/lcplbob)
· Watafind Shoppe (www.amazon.com/shops/watafind)
· Meremc (www.amazon.com/shops/meremc)
| Some Tips on Writing Good Descriptions · Don’t claim that a book is first edition unless you can provide proof; if you aren’t sure; you can always fall back on “possible 1st edition” or “stated 1st edition,” for what they are worth. · Don’t ever overstate a book’s condition or make claims you can’t back up, or you will learn the hard way just how often such practices can come back to bite you · A book that one might list as “rare” in a neighborhood bookstore may not be “rare” online, so beware of putting off knowledgeable customers by making such generalized claims · There’s nothing wrong with using a little graphic impact such as a few asterisks or an upper-case word to make a listing stand out from others, but don’t become a carnival barker – this is bookselling, and we pretend to a certain level of decorum, even if you are posting books in your pajamas · Avoid being subjective or describing a book in the context of its age, e.g., “pretty good for its age” or “well-preserved.” Describe the book’s condition, and give the publication date if that is applicable and not redundant, but don’t get one mixed up with the other. |
If you have the space, don’t be afraid to have a little fun with your descriptions. Our esteemed colleague Forrest Proper of Joslin Hall Rare Books passed along this description in the listing of a first edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in the Biblioctopus Antiquarian Books catalog (www.biblioctopus.com): "the leather is smooth as caramel and the pages are whiter than Dad's legs". A little personality never hurt a retail enterprise. Well, almost never.
Some Bad Book Descriptions
Here, with absolutely no attribution to or permission from their very creative authors, are some book descriptions seen recently for Used Books listed at Amazon.com and Half.com. They should be embarrassing to the sellers in question, but much worse, they damage the overall Marketplace, particularly since many buyers don’t pay sufficient attention to the descriptions when they buy the book in the first place.
· 1998 edition. Not this book, but it's still a book. Nice!
· Like new - name label on inside cover
· Like New - small scratches/ bent corners on cover, a few passages hi-lighted
· Collectible Like New - 1982 Holt Reinhart and Winston, HC, BCE, Dust Jacket shows edge wear, small half inch tear upper left
· New - NEW MANUFACTURERS OVERSTOCK FRONT COVER REMOVED
· Like New - Brand New, no dust cover, owners name on 1st page
· Like new- highlighting
· Acceptable: blood stains on front cover and some inside
· Good - is very good shape little creases on spine mint condition.
Vg+ condition in vg+ dj. Light ex-Lib of Congress markings to opening pgs., rear hinge just barely separating
Amazon Marketplace
Condition Guidelines: Books
New and used books must be listed at a price that is at or below the Amazon.com price. They may be sold at any price when the item is listed as out of stock or out of print by Amazon.com. Collectible books must be signed, out of print, or otherwise unique--you will have an opportunity to detail why your copy is collectible. Such books must be listed at a price that is greater than the list price.
· New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condition.
· Like New: An apparently unread copy in perfect condition. Dust cover is intact; pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. Suitable for presenting as a gift.
· Very Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.
· Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dust cover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels.
· Acceptable: A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes--in pen or highlighter--but the notes cannot obscure the text.
· Unacceptable: Moldy, badly stained, or unclean copies are not acceptable, nor are copies with missing pages or obscured text. Books that are distributed for promotional use only are prohibited. This includes advance reading copies (ARCs) and uncorrected proof copies.
