Advice on shutting down on-line book business
Hello:
My dad lives in DC and has an on-line book business that he wants to retire from. He has about 20,000 books on-line ranging from standard to first edition and rare books, and stored in various depots in the DC area. My family is trying to figure out ways to relinquish this business as my dad is getting older and just cannot run a business anymore.....both obvious ideas (finding a buyer) to more creative ideas that we haven't thought of are appeciated. SInce the books are in DC, I know that we are likely limited to doing things in that area or relatively neaby, but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with getting rid of a large amount of books, or general advice on how to proceed. We are open to any possibility.... giving a bunch of books away, doing something in which someone else runs the business and we devise a plan to potentially takes it over, etc., selling the whole inventory, etc. We don't want all of his hard work and inventory to be a total loss to him, as it has been his passion and life for many years, , and are hoping that we can figure something out that would work well for all parties. Any adivce, or people who you could refer us to for advice on winding down this business- or thinking outside the box- would be greatly appreciated!
Parent Replies
If you'd like an introduction to folks at the Internet Archive, who could be interested in digitizing books in the collection to share with the world, let me know. ("The Phantom Tollbooth" is one of my most favorite books... I've got a copy signed by Norton Juster!)
Do you know if he is a member of the IOAB (International Online Booksellers Association: hwww.ioba.org)? They support their members in time of transition and they might be able to offer you good advice even if he is not a member. I would also recommend you call an established bookseller in the DC area for their ideas. It is quite traditional for booksellers to buy the stock of booksellers who are going out of business, and, if the stock doesn't interest them, they will have other suggestions for you as they get asked the same question all the time. I am an antiquarian bookseller and a member of the national trade organization the ABAA - I would be happy to put you in touch with another ABAA dealer in that area or you could look them up on the ABAA website (www.abaa.org) - feel free to call me at our shop in San Francisco: John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller, (415) 986-5826.
What about transitioning to an employee /worker owned model? It's a great way for private business owners to retire and also continue their legacy. I recently heard a fantastic presentation from the nonprofit Project Equity. Google them. Their mission is to assist with this type of analysis and transition. They are Bay Area based, but work with small and medium businesses across the country.
When my grandfather passed away with a large personal library that had academic interest, we donated his library to a nearby university. Perhaps call around to local universities, colleges, or schools to see if any of them would be interested in the collection, especially if there are rare editions? That would likely result in a tax deduction.
Amazon has a bookstore in DC now. Maybe they would be interested. Or try to contact people who sell books through Amazon. Or, let an auction house sell them. Good luck!
Although it’s not a cash transaction, Baltimore’s Book Thing gives away books for free. You might check them out since the guy who ran it suffered a terrible fire a number of years ago and only just recently started back up. He’s a cool, weird dude.
Our in-laws had a small, used bookshop (that started as an online business for out of print and rare books) and because of my FIL aging and inability to keep it up, they just sold the store. They had the best luck finding not for profit organizations that might be interested in the inventory and existing business to sell their books - like a "Friends of the Library" group, or similar.
Asking around at booksales and libraries may be a good way to get leads - good luck!
Brooke
Hello! My neighbor runs a rare-book business in Richmond and I asked him about this. Here is what he said:
Contact my colleague Chuck Roberts (croberts [at] xecu.net) at Wonder Book & Video in Frederick, MD. He's also a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, works in the DC area, and has the capacity to process c.20,000 volumes in a close-out situation. He has a huge warehouse where such collections can be triaged, and I cannot think of anyone else more qualified to deal with such bulk of general and (hopefully) rarer books. Chuck may already know of this individual. If not, he would be able to inspect the collection and--most importantly--process it.
Both Amazon and Abebooks have seller forums. Try there, you can probably find some buyers who will buy in bulk.
I wrote you a long post with advice over a week ago and then it got deleted. One of the suggestions Chuck w/Wonderbooks was posted by someone else. I had to help my dad (a retired former library) get rid of his vast personal collection in DC. I reached out to a publisher (Jill details below) who sent me an email with more referrals (I'm crazy busy and this my 2nd time trying to help so I'm just pasting Jill's email below. Consider contacting Jill yourself since your situation is different than ours was so she might have additional recommendations for you. The only folks on her list I contact was Lauri Grishman with Riverby (202-543-4342 | riverbybookshill [at] gmail.com) w ho referred me to Chuck (chuck [at] wonderbk.com who buys books in bulk and who was already recommended by someone else under a different email). They were both helpful. Lauri let me send her some photos of the spines of Dad's books so she could get a sense if they'd have resale value; she said she does this when she can't inspect a collection in person. I sure hope that you'll get this in time for it to be useful or someone else will find it useful. I'd be interested if you post how it works out.
Jill Zacharie
Virginia Publications
Washington Book Distributors
4930A Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, Virginia 22304-4809
703-212-9113 703-212-9114 FAX
http://www.washingtonbk.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-Book-Distributors/146650318698092
From Jill (i.e. all the I's and We's below are from Jill's perspective not mine)
Here is the link for Riverby:
http://riverbybooksdc.com/
We did business for many years with the wonderful Steve Cymrot and his family who still run that location and one in Fredericksburg. Hopefully since you are on Capitol Hill they might come evaluate the books.
We also sold to used bookseller "Jim" Toole at Capitol Hill Books:
http://www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com/
There is a longstanding used bookselling chain called Second Story as well. Don't have any experience with them.
https://www.secondstorybooks.com/
There is a local used bookstore in Alexandria called Book Bank. Their site lists the categories they are interested in, which may be helpful to you in general:
https://bookbank1.wordpress.com/buying-policy/
Walls of Books in DC might be an option. I like their quirky Facebook posts. Usually.
http://www.wallsofbooksdc.com/