Books aren't selling

debodun

debodun

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Location
way upstate in New York, USA
When the library had a book sale, people are lined up out the door for it. I have hundreds of books (all types - see a few examples) I've been trying to sell for years and there is hardly any interest. I even have most of them sorted by genre. Why would people flock to a library to buy books and give the cold shoulder to mine?

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It's the topics. People are only interested in topics.

I would buy woodworking do it yourself books. I don't read fiction at all and find it difficult if not impossible to start reading any book now.
 
As Camper6 says, it's all in the topic. Most people are looking for novels. The rest are looking for a specific narrow topic. Cookbooks are hard to sell now because it's so easy to get a recipe off the internet. Except for a few of us die-hard Luddites who love the feel of a book in hand, everyone else is getting their info off the internet.

Are you asking a competitive price for your books? Folks at garage sales are looking for bottom dollar....25 cents for a paperback, 50 cents for a hardback, or even less. Perhaps they don't mind paying a little more at the library as they feel that they are contributing to a charity.

Outside of novels, I've never had any luck selling books at garage sales. I've usually ended up putting them in the "free" box.
 

People that go to the library for book sales want books specifically.

People who stop at your yard sales aren't necessarily shopping for books. Some may be, but not enough to "line up"
 
I think book lovers go to library sales because they know there will be a big selection. And, it's fun to browse. At least, that's why I used to go. I say used to because I haven't for years. If I want information about some subject, it's much quicker and easier to find it on the internet. And, if I want fiction, most classics and many new books are available free that I can read on my Kindle e-reader. My Kindle is easy to hold, I can alter the text size and typeface, and it always keeps track of where I'm at.

I still have a few shelves full of books that mean something to me. But, I haven't bought a real book for a long time.

Don
 
Vega_Lyra said:
Most people are no longer interested in reading.
Sad and true....:upset:
Click to expand...

Well actually we still do a lot of reading. It's just not from books. You have to read if you go on the internet and read the news or communicate like this forum.

And then for those of us like me who are hard of hearing, we have closed captioning on the television set. So I probably read about 2 to 3 hours a day.

And on top of it we have to use our typing skills.
 
My wife buys books at yard sales for 25-50 cents. When we have a stack of read books, we donate them to the hospital auxiliary. We donate all magazines. We do put a few books in our yard sales just to flesh it out but seldom sell any.

I read a lot of books that I either buy as Ebooks or check out of the library. Did you know that Kindle has a number of books in a lending library?
 
I couldn't sell my books either. I ended up giving them to good will. I have a huge collection of cookbooks and they also don't sell. Those I will keep. I still like to thumb through them once in awhile.My kids can dump them when I'm gone.
 
debodun said:
Why would people flock to a library to buy books and give the cold shoulder to mine?
Click to expand...

Because the library sells bags full for next to nothing, and they are mostly selling much newer books. An outdated reference book is worse than no book at all. Why don't you donate them to free up space and reduce the fire hazard?
to free up some space and reduce the fire hazard?
 
The internet has killed the need for many cookbooks and do it yourself type books, we live in a YouTube world.

I have a couple hundred cookbooks but when I want a recipe it's easier to do a Google search and find what I need. I only read the cookbooks when I want to share the writers experiences and get a feel for how they lived, celebrated holidays, etc...

I also have about 1,000 books on local history that used to have some value as collectibles and antiques, those books have lost a significant amount of value since the print on demand services started scanning copies and reprinting them or putting the text on the internet for free.

It is definitely a changing world where books are concerned.

I am working on reducing the number of books, the easy ones have already gone to the Salvation Army, this summer some of the scarce older books will go to a charity book shop with the hope that they can make a few bucks and a few will get foisted off on friends and kindred spirits.

The hardest part is not buying/rescuing interesting books that I see at the local flea market.

Note to self, If you find yourself standing in the bottom of a deep hole, stop digging, LOL!!!
 
One huge bit of evidence that people don't read anymore is the misspelling and horrible grammar on the internet. Even supposedly well educated typists posting for professional sites are just as bad which implies to students and others that it's no longer important. There are constant book drives that go on for school children who don't have books at home though. Our local online garage sales always trying to sell books.
 
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