Order Drought

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (tess) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:06:41 GMT

We have some odd experiences with order flow.

We can have a very poor week, where we feel as though Alibris has ceased to love us and may in fact be carrying out a vendetta of some kind against us.

Followed then by a rush of orders, where we feel the love flow again and even perhaps special treatment from our dear old Alibris, with whom we have listed for nigh on 10 years....

It's kind of, you know, bipolar.

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (MSager46) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:11:58 GMT

Sales seem to have dropped off the last ten days of October. They have started to pick up last week, with what I assume to be Christmas items. This is across the board, on all sites and not unique to any one site. The boards on the other sites, including the Chrislands talk group, are all talking about the drop in sales.

My own feeling is that people are aware that Christmas is coming and they are saving their buying for gifts they need. I know I have cut back on spending,...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (Bookfynder3) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:15:33 GMT

...just sold a $12.50 book via Alibris (for B&N). It's my first sale since Oct. 22!!! Partly my fault, well, actually probably totally my fault, since I'm hobbled up and add very few books to my inventory these days. But still, this is slower than slow. I'll ride it out for awhile but if it doesn't get better I may simply switch to sites which don't charge ANY listing fees. Won't sell much, but won't have the sites (in my case, that's Alibris) hit my...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (IAmTheRealOtherGuy) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:07:46 GMT

Bookfynder3 -

Jammers are available from several sources in various configurations. Search the internet.

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (Joyful Alternative) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:18:00 GMT

http://alibrisdealersforum.yuku.com/reply/9983/t/Order-Drought.html#reply-9983

I've got the same complaint about Half: half of what I list can't be listed there because there's no ISBN, and for much of the rest, the ISBN gives me the wrong book or edition or publishing details. And when Half developed the habit of selling again what it already sold, a couple of...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (Bookfynder3) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:08:48 GMT

Re the post about "jamming" scanners. Is there such a machine? I've never heard about one, but I'd love to use one...if there was one. I suspect there isn't one on the market, or that it would be expensive if there actually is one. -- Gary

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (DrZilboorg) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:20:54 GMT

Alibris listings are visible on eBay, through HDC. We discussed this a while ago on that board.

My sales here have been steady since I dropped to the <1000 inventory level (here) and pay the extra vigorish: about 1 a month. Books under $11.50 or so aren't seen here.

My sales overall since this thread started in June have been keeping up with last year, same time. Most weeks I've met my goals which are some 15% higher than last year, but some weeks I...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (IAmTheRealOtherGuy) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:11:15 GMT

djclausewitz, I know what you mean about the scanner people at sales. I'm considering acquiring a jammer. These people come through and just rape library and private sales.

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (M5453) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:52:30 GMT

Not a single Alibris order over the weekend. This has NEVER happened to us before...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (djclausewitz) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:50:17 GMT

I get a steady trickle of half.com orders via Alibris. Virtually all of them are low priced paperbacks and most of them are the kind a student would order - not textbooks but other readings.. I have gotten at least one - maybe two orders from ebay soon after the Alibris announcement but nothing in a while. October is usually a less active month and it has been for me too. However, I have had a pretty steady flow (for me) of low priced ($1.99 - 5.95) paperback and clearance sale book sales....

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (fabficbks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:02:43 GMT

I don't mind manually listing books on Half.com. Manually listing there is no worse than manually listing books on Alibris or anywhere else, or into a book data base. At some point you have to sit down and actually enter info in to a system, any system, about the book you want to sell. My grype with the Half.com system has been that their system only covers mainstream titles with ISBNs. A considerable amount of my material is older and has no ISBNs, or is small press or odd press and...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (Simon) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:43:37 GMT

Gee, thanks for the civics lesson, Bob. Like I wasn't aware that this is a Republic... When Americans go guns blasting into places like Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't remember our political leaders and the mainstream media propagandizing about spreading constitutional republicanism around the world. I do hear a lot of empty rhetoric about spreading democracy around the world. Maybe we could use some democracy here, before we embark on our missionary activities abroad, eh? Just because...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (tess) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:32:26 GMT

I think we can pretty much count on this recession/depression taking a fearsome toll on our sector.

On the one hand, there are fewer sales which will in turn push some marginal operations out of business. On the other hand, with so many people out of work, they will turn to selling this and that in the informal sector (ebay and the book sites) to try to pick up a few bucks. So, more stuff will be listed, prices will be further depressed, and the misery some of us are feeling now...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (fabficbks) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:59:08 GMT

Er...sure Simon. Like, whatever.

Perhaps Simon was overdosed on Halloween candy yesterday when he posted this latest rant. But on the off chance he was actually serious---

California and every other state in the US of A only gets two senators because that's the way it is set up in the Constitution of the US of A. The House of Representatives is apportioned by the population of each state, so California gets many more Representatives in that body than New Mexico or...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (Simon) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:56:50 GMT

My Alibris sales have been declining ever since they redesigned the search page, where the booksellers' descriptions are hidden from view. There's no way to differentiate my books from the schlock offered by other dealers; it was better when their misspellings and ludicrous descriptions were visible for all to see. Most of my orders on Alibris these days come from Borders and Chapters, where I get stiffed with the 20% commission. Last week has been absolutely dismal. However, as I...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (oddballbooks) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:05:12 GMT

Not to mention the 10% official unemployment rate -

And if you add those that have fallen off the rolls of the unemployed that number climbs DRAMATICALLY.

Then factor in the under-employed. Was talking to a guy here in Los Angeles that has worked for years on film sets doing lighting... this year he has part time temp work at Toys R Us for Christmas and that is the first job he has found since spring.

Things are not getting any better in California yet...
...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (IAmTheRealOtherGuy) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:03:26 GMT

Yeah, I believe this has also been my worst week in the 5 years I've sold on Alibris. This despite a massive review of listings, repricing inventory downward and adding new inventory. I believe people simply have other financial priorities.

Here, property taxes are due Monday.

Holidays are coming up, but I doubt that much business will be seen in the book market. The government would have us believe the economy is in a recovery stage despite the evidence to the...

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (oddballbooks) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:05:28 GMT

My sales have been bad on all sites - but Alibris has fallen the farthest.

I was going though some old paperwork and looking at how many books I shipped to Sparks last year - had batches going 3 - 4 times a week. Now I am sending one or two books a week - some weeks none.

It is getting very scary ....

John

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (brainstormer) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:55:09 GMT

Well, if society is being dumbed down by the powers that be, the large commercial interests
who don't want people to stop buying high sodium and hydrogenated fat "food," then it
is us bookdealers who have a need to smarten back up! We need to have a concerted effort,
even go door to door...how else are we going to sell these books? Who wants to help me
canvas my neighborhood?

Re: Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (SueLarson) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:02:26 GMT

We also noticed a terrible slow down the last week and a half. Finally yesterday, things started picking up again. Hopefully, it continues. We had the lowest sales this past week then we've had since we first began. Wonder Why?

Order Drought

feeds@yuku.com (dkossy) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:29:13 GMT

I don't usually like to complain about the ups and downs of orders, but I'm wondering if anyone else out there is having a drought in Alibris orders. I haven't had an Alibris order for over a week. Had been getting about an order a day. After their big upgrade, orders seemed to fall off a cliff. -- Donna