Charity Shops and books

[watervole]

 I've started helping with the books at a hospice charity shop in Wimborne.  My stress levels are running pretty high at present (unemployment) and this helps as it's something I know well and I can make a difference without having to focus too hard.  Also, it's giving me an excuse to get the bicycle out several times a week.

This shop is really working well for me.  It's a new shop, only just opened and I'm the first person to take on the books. That means that there are no pre-existing bad habits to be broken and no staff with investments in an existing system.

When I suggest something, the shop manager is happy for me to go ahead and do it.  (as long as the result looks good.  ie. she preferred printed shelf labels to hand written ones and that's fine by me)

Best of all (and I fought for this for over a year at my last charity shop without ever getting it), she's able and willing to give me the weekly sales figures. That means I can look over the book sales and see if what I'm doing is actually improving sales.

Last week, I alphabetized all the fiction paperbacks and sorted the non-fiction into categories.  That increased books from 4% of shop sales to 6%.  This week, I'm working on the display, adding book ends to create space mid-shelf where I can put a book face-out to show the cover.  Sold a cookery book within an hour of making it visible (it had been there for two weeks previously without selling).   Faceouts also help make categories more visible.

Fiction hardbacks weren't moving at all (they never sell well in charity shops, people usually prefer paperbacks as they're smaller).  I've made those 'buy one get one free' and they've started selling.  Interestingly enough, not all the people who bought one took a second, but the sign made people spend longer looking at the shelf.

We're very short of paperbacks.  Hardly any in the back room at all.  They've been selling well, but I expect that to slow down due to lack of new stock.  At some point, I'll start taking off the ones that have been there longest and passing them to other shops (if they're good ones) and to the dealer if they aren't.

We sold our first collectable book today.  I found an old law book (about 200 years old) with a fascinating chapter on the laws relating to town militia.  Sold for £15  to a friend of mine who runs the local militia reenactment group!

It'll be interesting to see how the next few weeks go.  I'm hoping we'll get more donations from people visiting the shop and I've put an appeal on the shelves for local history and military history.  They usually sell well.  (I've already sold two military history books off the top display shelf)

Comments

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Having read through what you have done all I can say is you have more ideas about making books desirable than some chief librarians I have worked under. One other thing that might help with slow moving books, if the shop has the space, is special displays. For example combining books with dvds in a 'From Book to Screen display., the classic novels and film and tv series of these books. The Way We were, cookery books, fashion, books cars knitting etc from all periods you can lay your hands on, combined with history books both fact and fiction. These were two of my more successful displays. It doesn't have to be a large display, it can be done on a single shelf with half a dozen books all front facing, just make sure there is a stock of replacement books some where easy to get at so sold ones can be easily replaced when you aren't there

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

This is good news! Well, I know what it is like to be unemployed...
I am sure you will sell many books:-)
Good luck!

[rpdom.livejournal.com]

As a volunteer librarian I can say your ideas are very sensible. Some of them are things that our little library does already, although we'd prefer it if people brought our books back and didn't have to pay for them!

Good on you for making a difference :)

[mingmerciless.livejournal.com]

I was amused to learn that ECW re-enactors frequent charity shops looking for the thickest paperbacks they can find so they can be used for making cartridges. Cartridge-making at musters occasionally grinds to a halt because of people starting to read the cartridges rather than filling or sealing them!

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I now wanna browse your shelves.... our local op shops tend to have Mills and Boons and cookbooks :(

[drplokta]

If stock is your constraint on selling paperbacks, you should put the price up.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

That's certainly a valid point. However the books are all individually priced (depending on condition) so repricing the whole existing stock would take too long.

I may well add newer paperback stock at a slightly higher price and see how it goes.

I'm already pricing above some of the local charity shops. I need to go and do some research on the rest. I know I can get away with a slightly higher price as people are often willing to pay a bit extra when the books are properly sorted and well displayed.

[eledonecirrhosa.livejournal.com]

Can you come to Bristol and alphabetise the books in my local charity shops, please? The only one that seems to follow that policy here is the Oxfam that specialises in academic books (it's right by the university).

How does your charity shop decide to price books? Does the fact you can buy pretty much anything second hand off Amazon for £0.01 plus postage have any impact?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Amazon's minimum postage actually makes the vast majority of charity shop paperbacks cheaper than Amazon - it actually works to our advantage.

I generally price on a combination of condition and age when it comes to paperbacks.

When it comes to rare books (when I spot them, which I'm reasonably good at) I check prices on Amazon and ABE and then try to price just below their cheapest equivalent copy. Again, I find it handy to be able to tell customers that they can't get it cheaper online.

That still allows me to price rare books at £60 or whatever they're worth. (My best find in my previous shop was an early Giles annual in very good condition that sold for £90)

I also price by subject. Popular subjects like local history fetch more. Religious books are hard to shift at any time.