Re: Alt Books.

 Mark,
     I both sell and buy books on E-pay frequently ( 10 to 20 per month
typically) ........... Prices goes both ways dramatically, sometimes
cheaper on Ebay, sometimes cheaper on a On-line book site...... ..... On
Ebay I will sometimes buy a book in a section, read it , then relist it in
the same section 10 days later and sells for significantly more ( probably
because I write a book report for a ad) , but sometimes it sells for
less!..... I found that the higher end collectable books that typically
list on Abe's, Alibris , or Amazon, for several hundred dollars or more,
can usually be bought on Ebay much, much cheaper...... So who can figure?
          Many times the in depth description and photos of the book's
content , typical with the Ebay ad's, is very helpful so the buyer just
goes for it and does not worry about the few dollars he might save
elsewhere........ Plus bidding a auction is exciting a lot of fun, (
especially if you win..)..
     I agree with you though that standard procedure should be to do
your homework and shop the on-line dealers prices before you bid ...

John Cremati.

----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Mark Andrews" <mark@dragonbones.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 11:40 AM
Subject: RE: Alt Books.

> John,
>
> My personal experience with eBay and books is that they almost always sell
> for significantly more than they should and I have personally never found
a
> book on eBay which couldn't be purchased easily somewhere else. Recently a
> copy of The Silver Sunbeam sold for $125.00 when higher quality versions
> were available for $45.00-75.00. A fine version of your referenced Alt
> Process book below can be purchased for almost half of the current bid
from
> a reputable independent bookstore.
>
> So the way you find them is through Abe Books (www.abe.com). Abe is an
> online clearing house for books from over 13,000 independent book stores.
I
> have no connection with Abe or any of the bookstores, but firmly believe
> this is one area that folks get taken to the cleaners on using eBay.
>
> BTW, my above hypothesis may be in jeopardy since the Platinotype book
> referenced below sells through Abe for $55.00-150.00. We'll have to see,
> however, in 4 days at the end of the auction.
>
> Mark
Received on Sun Mar 6 12:26:45 2005