Lessons Learned From Owning & Operating A Used Bookstore
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2023
- In this video I breakdown my personal experiences of owning and operating a brick and mortar used bookstore. Things I believe to have done right, what I would have done differently and aspects of the business I learned along the way. What has worked for me may be different for you, there are more than one way to skin a cat but I try to give relevant information if you should start your own pursuit in owning and operating a small book store. I hope you find value and relevance in the video.
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The Book Peddler is located at 5266 State HWY 41 Smithville Flats, NY 13841. Hours are: Fridays & Saturdays: 12-6 PM OR BY APPOINTMENT!
The Book Peddler Warehouse is located at: 5259 State HWY 41 Smithville Flats, NY 13841. Hours are: Saturdays: 10-4 PM 
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All thanks to God for blessing me with family, close friends, great customers and supporters on this channel, none of this would be possible. You all keep me grounded and encourage me to push forward! Special thanks to my Mom and Dad they're the main reason for my successes. Nothing but love for you all.
The rule about social media & a business is 20% sales (posts that try to sell) & the other 80% should be fun & entertaining (ask followers their fav. Books, genres, do polls, etc.
I live in an area with a lot of people, and only corporate bookstores and so few coffee places. It sorta gave me whiplash as I was from Madison WI with a lot of shops. I have a growing itch to start a bookshop with a small coffee shop. My demo would be young adults who want a community that doesn't involve alcohol.
Good luck to ya!
Love that!! I’ve found it’s difficult to find a community and place to be with at doesn’t involve alcohol or school (I don’t drink and i jumped right into the entrepreneur road and skipped the college path)
Amen!!! I found your RUclips by accident. I have been having very bad months running my bookstore and today after I viewed your RUclips and listened to how freaking honest you are and the exact things I have been going thru for months. I did not know what got over me to 1st buy a bookstore, 4 hours from my home, keep the original staff, continue to work my full time job and drive there every weekend, until it crashed. Then my friends asked that I move the store closer to me, I did and it went well until COVID, then the struggle began and I'm still struggling. Rent has gone up (cannot afford to buy a building) and so has everything else, even books and I just wanted to give up. I'm still working my full time job to keep the store going, barely. Luckily, my best friend (she is retired) runs the store during the week and I take over on the weekends. When I listened to your RUclips, my whole heart just cried and open and cried again. I can do this. I'm not giving up hope or faith. Thank you so very much for giving me the strength to keep going.
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video. Definitely not an easy business to be in as you know but I wish you the best. How long have you had the business? Keep truckin, there's a solution to be found. Wish you the very best, reach out anytime, I'll try to assist in any way if you ever wanted to give a ring. - Phil
Hi, as of November 1, will have been in business 10 years. Hope and pray I make at least a few more years. Thanks@@thebookpeddler
I think more bookshop owners should consider having a space available for sitting and relaxing. Not sure if you have this or not but consider places like starbucks where people go to study or be productive and they end up buying something at Starbucks while they are there. The big barnes and noble stores also realized this was a good combo and they have chairs in their stores where people can sit and buy/drink a coffee. I think if you make your store into a third place where it is easy to sit and relax you will see more business.
@@SuperSilverJay Yes, we have a very nice sitting area and provide coffee and tea since the closet Starbucks/coffee is over a mile away. Our high tables should be arriving in a month (took so long for shipping). Thanks
I was fortunate to work at an incredible store for 2 years in college, often alongside the owner. Great to hear another person’s perspective on the profession, I’ve become a teacher but nothing rivals the education of working with literature.
I am a humble little book collector. Not much really, just a regular guy. I do have some nice pieces that I got at little brick and mortar stores all over Europe and from a road trip in New England couple of years back. Point is that I treasure those because they came out of little used book / antiquarian shops. So having a brick and mortar is a unique selling point in its own right. At least for me (and hopefully many others out there) So, keep it up! My thanks go out to everyone who manages a used bookstore in this day and age. You are heroes and your work is important.
Thank you for the comment! Much appreciated. I think it's special as well, I remember which book store I got each of my books from that I have bought throughout the years. Again, thanks for the kind words.
I appreciate your willingness and time to pass on information on the book selling business. I sell some books on eBay.
Thank you for the comment! Glad you enjoyed it, did my best!
I don't see myself having an open store, sell online at present, but still enjoyed this video. Thanks Phil, for all you do on this channel. Very enjoyable to watch.
Appreciate the comment and your support on the channel. Wish you all the successes! Thank you
Good video. I don’t have a bookstore per say but I have a large room full of mostly books at a local antique mall. Been there five years. Started with a wall of books on shelves and gradually expanded to my own room. I do fairly well. The mall takes care of the hours (open 7 days a week) and provides the staff so I don’t have to be there other than to restock. I’m free to go to book sales and estate sales at my convenience. And the networking with other vendors and the store owner has increased my ability to source books. I don’t really have the desire to open my own bookstore but I feel like this is a good middle ground. Thanks for sharing this video.
Sounds like an excellent situation, I know others who do the same in larger areas and do well. I sort of envy your situation!It's an enjoyable business for the most part, if I did it again it would be a bit differently perhaps if Iknew then what I know now. Best of luck in the on-going venture! Thanks for the comment and watching my video.
I think this is a great model--I sell about the same amount of books (in monetary value) at one of the vintage boutiques I'm in as in my bookstore--my bookstore is to a large degree my processing center, warehouse (for B&M and online) and the place I can curate and sell the books that I want to in order to create the space I want to have. I have spaces in 3 different vintage places and I can curate them slightly different depending on the demographic (which takes some time).
Your situation really allows you to do the best parts of the business sourcing and curating (and collecting money) without having to be stuck at the store all the time.
Great video Phil. One thing I would add is to ask yourself are you a collector or can you let material go. People can get emotionally attached to certain books. If it tears you apart to sell then skip this business and know you are just a collector at heart
Definitely agree! People ask how I'm able to sell some of these books and for one I can't afford to keep them and for two I don't allow myself any attachment when I bring them into the shop, they are brought in to sell. Only a couple of times throughout the year will I keep some for myself but none of the ones I keep have a high monetary value.
I'm one of those people who fears failure and fears success. It's rough! I'm working on it though. The more I put myself out there, the better things get. I've got a long way to go but folk like you really help me learn, adapt, and grow. Thank you!
You'll be okay, don't put yourself in a position where you'll ask yourself "what if" punch fear and everything else in the face and move forward. You're doing great I'm sure, good luck, wish you all the best. Reach out anytime and thabks for watching 😊
@@thebookpeddler"Punch fear in the face" - you're speaking my language, pal! I appreciate that. Thanks from Manchester, England (UK)!
I know I can trust a man wearing a Chris Knight hat. Interesting video. I was particularly surprised about the last part about the lack of local support for the bookshop. Maybe, like you say, people just want to buy everything online but they are missing out on the search. You never know what you will find! What a shame. And though I do order books online from various sites, it's not as enjoyable because I didn't get to search the shelves, talk to the book seller, etc. Maybe that's what people want these days? If so, that's sad. Have a good week, Phil.
Hahaha darn right! - - - I know I've never talked about it before but it has always been very surprising to me, it used to make me very bitter. It affects my Mom I think more than myself anymore because she sees how hard I work and hears it all. It's been an unfortunate reality that I never expected. Other bookstore owners have shared similar experiences with me, so I know it's not just me. The people that really appreciate the shop from outside of the area (mostly city/downstate) always say that shops like mine don't exist anymore from where they are from and I think they just appreciate it more and miss the personal experience that they grew up with, It's probably the nostalgia more than anything. Local support of people coming in to buy is probably less than 5%. Maybe in other areas it's much different however. Thanks Amy Beth, you have a great week as well!
@@thebookpeddler This is the case for me, too. Very few of my family and friends have ever stopped by my store (and even several of these were ones visiting from out of town)--I'm in the small part of downtown Spokane that lies north of the Spokane River, which is outside of the main shopping area, and a lot of our customers are from out of town and those that are from the area often just discover us as they are out and about walking by or waiting for brunch down the street, so they could be described as local tourists. Only a small percentage of our customers are local repeat customers and this is also helped along by our lack of a designated free parking lot.
You're absolutely true about the nostalgia factor--and I always say we don't sell books we sell two things: nostalgia and aspirations.
Thanks for the video. Felt like a support group--Booksellers Anonymous! Good to see more of us "younger" people in the business too
--Bobb
I don’t have any aspirations to sell books ( I sell sports cards on eBay as a side hustle) but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to put this video together. As some have said before, you presented some real nuggets of first-hand wisdom for running a successful business of ANY kind. I subscribed and wish you and your business continued success !
Thanks for taking the time to comment and for the subscription, glad you enjoyed it. And same to you, I give all my best wishes for your successes!
This has been so helpful 😁 thank you so much!
Casually following you for awhile now, and I hope to visit your shops someday! And congrats on new building. I’ve been doing this over 25 years myself and also inherited the folks antique biz, so I thought it was neat to hear you say you had antiques in the beginning. I was mentored a bit by a crusty ol bearded hippie in overalls who had a shop nearby mine. 😂 we never stop learning, and that includes making funny and informative content online 😂, old dog, new tricks…
Thanks for the comment Rod. I try to have fun with it! IT can be overwhelming at times but I keep going at it. Much success to you and your business, you're always welcome here.
BTW I follow you on Instagram now and enjoy your videos too when I catch them - keep up the good work!
These are all fantastic tips! I would say the biggest thing for us has been building relationships with our clients! Anyone can buy anything online nowadays, but they can't get the personal experience anywhere other than a brick & mortar!
Very important! of the upmost! Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video :)
Thank you so much! I needed to hear that right now 💚📚
Thank you for the frank discussion.
I have an online bookstore since 2010. I really want a physical store. I do like what you said about owning your own building. That would be very lovely.
Well good luck to you if you ever decide to take on the venture! Thanks for the comment
Thank u for this. what i needed.
Thanks for making this video, all love from Egypt.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
I’m 18 years old and opening a bookstore been my goal for longtime thanks for helping and all of this advices
Oh wow you're young! Best of luck to you! Feel free to reach out anytime if you have questions
This is outstanding!
Thank you, did the best I could! Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for this video, I found a lot of inspiration in your words❤❤❤ Greetings from Russia❤
Hello! Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching 😊
this was a great talk!! i had to take some notes 🌹📚
2:15 bookselling is a lifestyle
*i am guilty of the fantasy, a writer who owns her own bookstore*
5:09 bookselling seems to get harder and harder, be persistent
8:04 use social media
10:31 collaborating marketing
11:02 apprenticeship
12:12 know how to budget costs proper bookkeeping
12:44 stay consistent
15:00 be knowledgeable, you have to love it to do it
*it's harder without barcodes*
15:31 learn to niche
*i actually say this my niche is authors & artists, heavy emphasis on knowing illustrators
16:00 start small
*i love this advice! my friend started and i gave her all my manga books
20:10 creat processes of excess material
20:33 stop giving away books for free
22:45 take a strong position
23:45 consignment is not recommended
25:00 location location
28:00 be wary of picking up everything take emotion out of it
29:59 the reality of small biz support
30:56 that part of support hit home, i actually mention this kind of animosity in my makeup video, some ppl don't want you to do better than them
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found value in it. It's great you did some "notes" on it as well. Those are just some of my experiences, for others it may be different obviously, but I figured if some people had a little more awareness and grounding of what to potentially expect it may help them. Thanks for watching! :) And best of wishes in your future endeavors!
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. ❤
Thanks for watching!
Awesome vid on not only book sellingbut running a small biz in general. You nailed it. I ran a law practice for several years and its the same basic principles. Now im retired and selling on line. And part of it is books. Just found you.
Welcome to the channel, thanks for watching and commenting glad you liked it. Did the best I could! Good luck on your book selling ventures my friend!
Thank you so much for this video!
You're very welcome, thabks for watching!
Love your attitude - killing it bro!
Alpreciate that man, thanks!
Not boring at all, very grateful for the information you’re sharing!
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it!
This is so useful. Thanks for making this. In fact, it came to me just at the right time. It was the inspiration I needed. Bless you and your store.
You're welcome! Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video!
Always been my dream to have a used bookstore. And I live in a city that only has a Barnes and Noble. Just starting to follow you. Thanks for your mentorship!
Joey Andolini
iGottaGuy Books
Thanks for the comment Joey, best of luck to you if you ever decide to take the leap! Feel free to reach out if you ever needa bit of help! - Phil
Turning my antique shop into mostly books. I knew most of what you said, but still some tidbits in there I needed to learn. I hope your shop is still going strong!
Keeps gettin better - appreciate the comment, glad you enjoyed the video and best of luck in your endeavors!
Phil, I love your channel. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. You keep your chin up buddy. You are doing a fine job! I am rootin’ for you and I’m praying for your health and success. I HAVE bought books from your ebay store before. I think you are a decent person and I wish you every success! I am in the midwest but If I was in your area I would definitely frequent your shop. All we have around here is a B&N…keep up the great work my friend. I appreciate your enthusiasm and genuine love for the book.👍🌞
Thank you so much for the comment and your support, it means the world to me it really does. I'm doing the best I can! I'll keep it moving forward! Hope you've been well, thank you so much!
Great video thanks Phil. You are lucky to have such supportive parents. Crabs in a bucket!! This is the sad truth of most people.
Thanks Wesley! Very blessed, very grateful for it. Yeah I got a bit annoyed at the end there thinkin on but it's been my reality anyhow. Believe you me I restrain myself from delving into it too much so I flat out don't. First time I've ever mentioned it on my channel, but it is what it is. Always am appreciative of your support. Thanks for watching!
Old guy here encouraging you to keep growing. Well done keep the positive attitude. i subscribed early to your channel and have enjoyed the content.
Good to hear from you, thanks for the encouragement and much appreciation of your support. I'll keep truckin along. Thanks for watching, I'll do the best I can!
Today is Great day! I found you chanel!!! Thank you!
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the content!
Even though I don't have a bookstore, I found this video really interesting. I think anyone starting out in the business, or thinking of doing so, would be wise to consider your advice. You are very knowledgeable and I learned a lot about what it means to run a small bookstore. You are right that people have no idea unless they have done so themselves. I'm glad that you have such a strong support group with family and friends. I would love to come to your bookstore but I don't travel outside of my city. I used to buy books online, but stopped several years ago. I now only buy from local bookstores. You are also right that running a YT channel isn't easy. I started a comic book channel earlier this year but have only made a few videos since I deal with a lot of anxiety. It can be hard to put yourself out there.
I'm glad you liked the video, one aspect I think I missed on was how incredibly lonely it can be. I value my alone time but this place becomes satan's playground when there is limited to zero human interaction during the week. I love doing this still but that's what the reality has been for me. Yeah RUclips isn't easy, people make it look easy but it's not! It's a hurdle to get over being on camera, it's not natural to be! Well, I always appreciate your support Tom, good to hear from you, hope all has been well.
@@thebookpeddler I can imagine it would be really lonely spending so much time by yourself. It would be great if you could hire a trusted assistant for companionship and relieve some of the work, but that's probably more difficult than it sounds. They would have to know what they are doing and the training could be intensive. Also, there is the cost and a lot of the aspects of running your shop couldn't really be done by someone else.
@@TomElvisSmith Actually this year I was able to hire someone and things have been working out great. She picked up on things quickly and yes it has relieved certain aspects of the business for sure. She helps with the online listings now and has been a huge help in my new building so things are going well in those regards. Sometimes though I feel like I'm working for her! Hahaha got to keep sourcing her the material to list! But things have been going well, a lot of upside.
@@thebookpeddler I'm so happy to hear this, Phil! Sounds like you made an excellent hire, and the two of you are working together really well!
A brilliant video - a great combination of sound frank business advice and inspirational motivation for those seriously considering entering this field. Unless you have a pile of cash and intend merely to be a gentleman/dilattente type dabbler (not that there's anything wrong with that) you really have to search deep within your soul and personal circumstances before venturing into bricks & mortar bookselling -it really isn't for the faint hearted. It is a business first and foremost - and a very tough one at that. I've "dabbled" myself, most enjoyably, but ultimately realised that I was really just a serious collector and avid reader but not really a dealer, but I was so glad to have indulged in a lifetime's ambition for a couple of years. I still very much enjoy collecting, reading and visiting other people's bookshops - and very much appreciate those who own and run them - they're very special people and Phil's one of the best. :)
That's a really great comment, thank you so much for taking the time to write it! I do my best. I'd say you're very much so on the money with your comment and thanks for it! Appreciate the support - Phil
I giggled at the thought of sipping hard liquor after being in the business 🤭 would be a hot toddy for me hah! Just found your channel and find it very informative! Wishing you much success in the upcoming new year 🎉
Haha chuggin hard liquor is more like it haha. Thanks for the comment, I wish you all the best as well!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your donation!
There is so much value in this video. Thank you !!
I’m about open my brick and mortar in a few weeks. This information and authentic presentation is gold !
Thank you so much for the comment! I wish you the best of luck! Reach out anytime if you need anything, I hope your store thrives!
@@thebookpeddler Thank you for this much appreciated response 🙂
Impressive how u did it!
Thanks! Always still working on it! Appreciate the comment, thanks for watching
Great advice, I'm a book seller and had experience owning B&M business.
Thank you!
for the ones who don't just watch and listen but learn from this, your knowledge is invaluable.Thanks for the advice 🙏
Sorry I would buy you a coffee but don't have a credit card :/
Your comment is more than enough support! Thanks for the kind words, I do my best.
Just found your channel. I sell primarily online and focus a lot on media. Very good point you made!
Glad you enjoyed it, welcome to the channel! Thanks for watching!
Well said about the politics! For real, I stay away from all that. When I tell people I don't like politics, they think it's a code for being some kind of way; it's not. It means: I respect everyone and everyone's right to believe as they want but I prefer to avoid division and thus stay out of that stuff. That means whatever view, no matter how mundane or extreme, I am not interested in engaging in. I have sold every kind of political book imaginable. Just here for the humanity. Great tips bro!
Thank you so much. I took so many notes. I would love to start next year with a mobile christian bookstore. And im trying to get all the business knowledge I can. So please tag me in any videos that would help. Like information ation on llc, EIN, hidden fees and taxes I need it all please and thank you. ❤
This is the most real video about running any kind of business I’ve listened to in a while.
Thanks for the comment, glad you thought so, tried to get it all out in terms of my experiences. Appreciate it.
Very kind of you to share all of this information! I LOVE books but could never put in the work you do...where can I find your online store if you have one.
Thanks for the comment, appreciate it. I sell on Ebay: "Book Peddler Phil" you can check it out through that!
I have always worked in restaurants, and what I've seen is that we have a select number of regulars, people who order all the time,
and a lot of the business is people I haven't seen before,
The interesting part is that we survive off our regulars, specifically because they keep coming back.
It would be humorous if some of your online sales were local people.
I've bought books through an online source called Abebooks.
They are booksellers like yourself from all over the planet.
This gives them a humongous inventory.
It really does seem that some kind of online presence is necessary for just about any business these days.
Anyway I loved the video and got a lot out of it.
Always wanted to have a used book store of my own, although I'm not so sure I'm cut out for it.
At least I now have good basics for trying if I ever do go into it.
Thanks for that.
It's funny you say that, but actually yes, people have bought off of me locally online and they're one town over! I always of course invite them to my shop and some do know I've had the shop so... pretty interesting haha. Glad you enjoyed the video and appreciate the comment, thanks for watching!
Hi Phil,
I just found your channel today and plan to watch all your videos. I live an hour north of you in Moravia. I never heard of Smithville Flats before. 😜 But I’ve been to Greene a few times. That’s a nice area of this state. I go to estate sales and sell on eBay as a side hustle. The most valuable book lot I ever purchased was at an estate sale in Greene maybe three years ago. I rarely travel so far. If I ever get near Smithville Flats I’ll stop in. You have a great RUclips channel. You deserve more subscribers. Best wishes from a fellow bibliophile. 👍
Well thanks so much for the comment and support. We may have been at the same one 3 years ago! Did it have the knights of malta book set there that you remember? It was being advertised? If that was the same sale I did very well at that one too, lot of cool stuff was there. If you're ever passing through absolutely reach out. Good to hear from you 😊
@@thebookpeddler It was two sisters selling their father's estate. An unremarkable house on a hillside. They had a poor Facebook ad. My son and I were the first people there. The Brickhouse Salvage guy showed up a little while later. You must know who he is. There were several early Arkham House books (1940s) in great condition with nice dust jackets. I had never heard of Arkham House and horror is not my genre, but I had a gut feeling they were something. And they were. Sometimes we pickers hit a good sale just right. Most of the time we don't. 🙂 I think the sale was on a weekday too. That's usually a good sign. The sisters just wanted to get rid of things.
@@herrickkimball I know Steve! He's just up the road from me :) Arkham House is a great desirable publisher, sounds like you hit that sale perfect, I wasn't at that one! Love the weekday sales. Congrats sounds like you had excellent finds!
A very generous video full of insight and information. There are a few points I have:
1 You say you own the building in which your shop is situated and therefore this reduces your costs. Yes But I think you have to factor the interest your investment on the building would have earned had you not parked it in a brick and mortar shop.
2 I think it is good to develop a niche interest as that would help expand business while also serving your own taste.
3 I agree there has been a sharp decline in reading and so am not surprised when people don't come to bookshops.
Your videos are good and I enjoy them.
Thanks for the feedback! Did the best I could, appreciate the points you make!.
In response to number 3, people don't have to read to buy books--books are great decor and symbols of status and culture. All they need to do is to aspire to read one day. Until then they can have the books that look good on a shelf and have an interesting topic, knowing that at any moment they can walk over to the shelf and pick up the book and peruse it ever so briefly and say to themselves, "What an interesting and beautiful book, I should really read more often. Maybe when I have more time," as the replace the book upon the shelf.
@@bobbdrake8164 Very good point. One of the largest bookstore operations I know on the east coast dominates in selling books for decor. I was shocked last year by it and being taken through the process. So even if they aren't reading there is a large swath of the population that decorates, color patterns etc.
I just bought a used bookstore with an apartment above that I moved into in Oswego, NY...So hello new bookstore friend and no so far neighbor! thank you for your video...would love to connect for further advice that you may have as I'm just diving in and absolutely over my head... but loving figuring it all out. I'm especially interested in best practices for inventory tracking and whether you recommend doing a shopify store to then send out to the Amazon and ebay channels or just do each for their own uniqueness for varied items?
anyway, appreciate the video. keep it up! best wishes!
No kidding! Good luck to you, feel free to reach out anytime. Your questions are too long for me to answer on a comment but give a call or drop an email anytime and I could give ya my two cents if you'd like. What is your shops name? Would love to visit in the future! Good luck to you, best wishes! - Phil
Ohh...thanks for Your video. This weekend was in our country capital, so I visit couple used bookstores. One - its normal 50m2 room, but to narrow aisles between shelves. No confortable :) a lot of books, but as You say, a lot of people buying online, just for price. So, I also didint buy enything....Second used bookstore its more caffe, than bookshop. But its in old town, in centre of city. So, people come to sit, work with laptop. I also spend couple hours working. There are used books, but carefully selected. Sci-fi only 60 books.... But I buy two books. The price is the same as on the used book platform and no plus shipping. So, they get money from cafe and sell books cheaper.... Now I live in small town 30k people. In city are two bookstores which sell new books. As you say, reduce expectations. I want open bookstore, but if talking about money, only need good place to storage books and sell online. Now I rent 35m2 room, so try to organize books, make beautiful shelves, stack books....Thanks for Your video. Its very good to see some talking about books, about bookstore. :) keep going :)
Thanks for the comment! Every book store has a different model, what works for one may not work for another! Yeah in this day of age unless if you really want to have an open shop and love to do it, it probably in many cases makes more sense economically to purchase a building to use as a warehouse and sell online. Appreciate the comment, glad you enjoyed the content :)
I found this interesting Phil. What surprised me though was you saying the lack of local support, does this perhaps come down to not being readers/book lovers perhaps? All of my local second hand booksellers have closed down and I travel far and wide to visit a few of my favourites, hang out and be one of those weirdo's who touch/sniff/handle ( and buy up big ) old books anywhere I go.
In my immediate town of Smithville in itself has never been a surprise to me, it's the town 4 miles up the road in Greene where the surprise has been. Greene is where I grew up, Smithville is the sister town of it. It's a small town but much larger than Smithville with more "professional" types that live there. It's much more affluent than Smithville and has a beautiful setting. Very very few people from Greene come here every year, it's MAYBE 1% of my business and that's where the disappointment has come from.
People in Smithville although not readers support me in many other ways, they are good to me overall. But people in Greene where I know many and have always held a good name never come out, peoples parents, grandparents, people with children, they never have come here, never have even given it a chance. Again from what I've gathered small businesses in the past who have set up in the immediate town of Greene have experienced the same apparently. It was a shock to me for the first few years of being open, that's why I advised in the video to just lower your expectations on who will actually support you - It would mean a lot just someone from there coming in and saying hello and to see how I'm doing but nothing... even on that base level. It's kind of sad to be honest. And if I went out of business tomorrow, I guarantee people would say "that's sad, people should show support for their small businesses" "Phil had to pack it in, that's too bad" but the people saying it I guarantee never came out to begin with. It's just been a harsh reality that I never expected.
I don't even care if they buy anything, I make the vast majority of my money online, a simple walk in saying hello would be nice is all.
I've obviously never spoke about it publicly, my friends and family know obviously but that's the reality, that's the truth.
Good stuff but from what I understand the entire success is predicated on the fact that you own the building outright. I mean, if that is the case, then how can you possibly fail ? Most brick and mortors rent their space because they don’t have the luxury of outright ownership, and most fail because of it. I feel like if you don’t have rent or a mortgage literally anyone can do it. By then it becomes the same as an online shop. Low sales online won’t lead to eviction or foreclosure. And I Don’t mean that as an insult. May I ask how to came to own the building? Enjoying the channel.
I think it's an extremely important aspect of it all but you still have to be able to pay your bills and eat, so if you are heavily dependent on in-store sales and the sales aren't happening then having an open shop doesn't make a lot of sense, if you yourself could rent out the space and would make more money than having an open shop taking up the space then that would make more sense, hence the bookstore would be one that failed. I think it's pretty easy to fail actually having the open shop even if you own it, you have to keep sourcing good material which is time and money and if you're not continuously learning and adapting to the market, you'll suffer the consequences. You're always one deal away from bankruptcy or riches it seems! I was lucky to enough that my Dad helped me buy the building to start and I would pay him a low monthly rent when I got started, I was blessed in this regard because I had very tough months/years and thankfully it wasn't the bank knocking on my door. I've gotten to the point now however where I don't even think about that monthly rent and was able to purchase for myself another building up the street for my books, also acquiring a stable employee this year. I live in a very poor county, one of the poorest in the state so real estate is very cheap here, they are both older buildings so cost of maintenance sometimes can be burdensome, I've come a long way from where I started that's for sure! I appreciate the comment! Thanks for watching.
Hi. So, if you charge a dollar or two for each book sold, how much would you give a buyer for each book he brings you?
I'm assuming you're referring to a large book pick? I don't buy the low end books, my offer is never on those books and the seller is made aware that I can take it all (most cases) but the offer is only on the books I actually want. When I'm taking the access material that's a service in itself that people would pay for.
Some dealers will pay 10 cents, 5 cents for low end books, I don't bother, those books can end up getting handled and moved around many many times, they take up space, my focus is always on the higher valued material.
Thanks for the comment, hope that answers it, follow up if you'd like.
Thanks for answering my question. That helped. Wish you all the success in your business.
Great advice! I've been selling online for just under 4 years now and hope to expand to a warehouse/small retail space over the next five years. I couldn't agree more with your statement about owning real estate, I think it is the key to longevity in this business! You gave a lot of great advice, thank you for making this video!
Thanks Jacob, glad you enjoyed the video! Good luck with your future endeavors, it's a lot of work but it is pretty fulfilling. Appreciate the donation as well, means a lot man, thank you!
My advice to anyone who wants to operate a successful
book store is: sell books during daylight hours and turn the bookstore into a strip club by night. 😂 I've never met a book dealer who's married with children. 😂 Hustling books doesn't provide the income necessary to make a mother-in-law happy.😂 The loneliness of a book hustler is for a select few.
Joe I almost said if you want to get married and have a family don't get into this business! My God I'll tellya, well I don't even have to tell ya, learn to be friends with loneliness there's plenty of it in this business! Sometimes it makes me crazy... and I always valued my time being alone before this venture. I used to go out a lot in the beginning to get some social interaction.
Between you and me and whoever reads this comment, looking back it would be the main reason why I wish I had done something different at least at first because I've wanted a family for at least the last 5 years but can't seem to obtain it, this business doesn't seem to aide in having it either that's for sure... oh well.
Thanks for the comment, valuable!
Haha! My now ex-wife and I bought a book store 11 years ago and have been happily divorced for the past ten! At the time I had very high paying job in the same building so it wasn't even just the money. It's a tough business to be in if you aren't on the same page about so many things including seizing opportunities to buy books when they are available--you should have seen her when I came back with a mini-van full of books I had purchased very cheaply from a used book store that was literally closing down the next day. Now I have the book half of a book and record store (among a few other ventures) and I'm sure my record partner would love to have it a strip club at night!
@@thebookpeddler The trick is to have a wife who makes a bunch of money. The guy we bought our first bookstore from was married to the CFO of the regional utilities company and she sponsored his business to a large extent just to get him out of the house and out of her hair especially on weekends!
@@bobbdrake8164 🤣that is hilarious! Not the divorce part of course! I've had girlfriends and other women that will question my buying all the dang time! "Are you sure about that, that's a lot of money? "Why are you buying all of those books??" Well shoot my Mom does it at times! It's hilarious. Yeah, if you're not on the same page, forget about it!
@@bobbdrake8164 I wish man!
Thank you so much for making this video! I am working on opening a bookshop and it’s nerve wracking! I’m hoping to open in the fall and we have a lot to do before that day happens. I may be coming back to this video before then and after. 🤍
Glad you enjoyed it! Best of luck to you, I wish you much success!