mutterings and ravings no. 4
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 14:37:28 -0800
Sender: Bibliofind News and Views <NEWS@BIBLIO.BIBLIOFIND.COM>
From: Harry Nudel <nudel-soho@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject: mutterings & ravings & the new era
1) 10 per cent off is a courtesy and as a courtesy it should be
extended to other 'real' dealers...2) rather than concentrating so much on the "dealer' base,
part-timers, amateurs, people deducting their garage, their living room,
their attic, their basement, their kitchen table..the real change is in the
customer base...3) the 'collector' in the old sense is dead..'viva le roi.."...the
new collector is the great public a few billion strong...anyone of whom or
any 100 of whom will pay let's say a $1,000...for any particular
book..remember...that's (don't check my math) .00000l of the customer
base...because they want to and have the money, uncle george wrote it, they
heard about it on Oprah (just a matter of time...), they think it;s cool,
it's a good innvestment...96 other reasons..4) the old "collector' with a 1,000 half-decent books..will now have
to spend at least a 1,000,000 to replicate it and extend it..prob. more
like 5 to 10 mill. for any decent collection in any field...photography...
artist's books...good modern 1sts (faulkner, joyce, kingsolver,
hemingway)..while this is only 1 0r 2 modern paintings...the "old
collector' really can't and/or won't compete...he remembers this as a
nickel and dime bizness..and his mind set is pre ABE...it's always a good
idea to be nice to 'some' people..but in 30 years of doing this...the
amount of customer loyalty i've seen..can be put into a midget's thimble...5) in the new world the difficulty is not selling the book but finding
it....this again means rethinking the relationship between seller and buyer6) sleepy bed time...more muttering...next......dr.n.
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