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Bits and bobs
My apologies for the almost total lack of posts recently.
It's partly due to costochondritis, which I've had for months now and is taking its time about going away. It is improving overall, but it still means I tire very easily, and lifting heavy things like babies and boxes of books is generally a bad idea and makes my chest hurt.
Oswin is gorgeous. She takes a real interest in things around her and likes me singing songs to her. She's very strong legs. She can support her own weight, but you have to hold her to stop her toppling sideways. She can't crawl yet, but I'm sure she's ready to take over the world once she gets mobile.
The bookshop is doing well, though our biggest problem is getting good quality stock. I'm getting better and better at predicting which books will sell and I'm getting a lot more confident on pricing. Usually we price just below Amazon/ABE, but several time recently I've priced a book a few pounds over the Amazon minimum and sold the book in a couple of days. Likewise, some of Amazon's high prices are also wrong. The people selling on Amazon often price using computer algorithms rather than actual knowledge of books and this can lead to very silly results on occasion.
We've got a fair number of regular customers now, and we're getting to know what they like. We don't reserve books for people, but we'll often point out ones we know they'll like and we have boxes in the back room for Observers/Ladybird/Enid Blyton/Agatha Christie/fishing and a few other things that won't all fit on the shelves and we regularly bring those down for people to look at.
Taking the time to chat to customers and find out their interests can really pay off (both for us and for the customer). Sold several 1940s knitting books to a lady I was talking to, as she mentioned the interest in old knitting patterns and I knew I'd priced several recently. Likewise, a conversation on old books led to the sale of a lovely set of 100 year old gardening books.
We're selling a lot of Folio Society books this week as we've got them in the window. We could really use more of those as they're lovely editions, but we don't get that many donated.
Old books with lovely bindings always fetch a reasonable price, though it helps if the subject is interesting.
Just put a 1908 copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the cabinet for £80. The cover is in poor condition, but 33 illustrations by Arthur Rackham are absolutely lovely.
It's partly due to costochondritis, which I've had for months now and is taking its time about going away. It is improving overall, but it still means I tire very easily, and lifting heavy things like babies and boxes of books is generally a bad idea and makes my chest hurt.
Oswin is gorgeous. She takes a real interest in things around her and likes me singing songs to her. She's very strong legs. She can support her own weight, but you have to hold her to stop her toppling sideways. She can't crawl yet, but I'm sure she's ready to take over the world once she gets mobile.
The bookshop is doing well, though our biggest problem is getting good quality stock. I'm getting better and better at predicting which books will sell and I'm getting a lot more confident on pricing. Usually we price just below Amazon/ABE, but several time recently I've priced a book a few pounds over the Amazon minimum and sold the book in a couple of days. Likewise, some of Amazon's high prices are also wrong. The people selling on Amazon often price using computer algorithms rather than actual knowledge of books and this can lead to very silly results on occasion.
We've got a fair number of regular customers now, and we're getting to know what they like. We don't reserve books for people, but we'll often point out ones we know they'll like and we have boxes in the back room for Observers/Ladybird/Enid Blyton/Agatha Christie/fishing and a few other things that won't all fit on the shelves and we regularly bring those down for people to look at.
Taking the time to chat to customers and find out their interests can really pay off (both for us and for the customer). Sold several 1940s knitting books to a lady I was talking to, as she mentioned the interest in old knitting patterns and I knew I'd priced several recently. Likewise, a conversation on old books led to the sale of a lovely set of 100 year old gardening books.
We're selling a lot of Folio Society books this week as we've got them in the window. We could really use more of those as they're lovely editions, but we don't get that many donated.
Old books with lovely bindings always fetch a reasonable price, though it helps if the subject is interesting.
Just put a 1908 copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the cabinet for £80. The cover is in poor condition, but 33 illustrations by Arthur Rackham are absolutely lovely.
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You are an excellent manager! Congratulations on your great work in the shop, no wonder the customers come back.
I hope your health will improve finally.
Ah, I wanted to ask you if you still have your allotment? I am afraid of winter, I will miss my garden so much!
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