QUESTION: I’m confused by the apparent disconnect between the prices for books on eBay and prices quoted on Abebooks for the same title. And sometimes the titles are totally absent from eBay. Are there simply not that many “collectible” book buyers on eBay? Do people really go to ABE and buy what they could find on eBay for just a few dollars?
ANSWER: I agree that there is a real disconnect between the book sites and eBay. I suspect it’s a different situation with every book and buyer. I think buyers (and sellers) get used to one site, they tend to stick with it. They get comfortable with it and end up doing most of their buying and selling there.
I don’t sell that much on eBay currently, but when I do I’m always amazed at the price disparities with Amazon. And there’s only a couple explanations — the eBay buyer either doesn’t check prices on Amazon, or would just rather buy on eBay.
And we should make a distinction between “collectibles” and books that are simply scarce.
I think there is lots of collectibles book action on eBay that doesn’t go on at Amazon, for the simple reason that sellers can post a bunch of pictures of the actual book on eBay. I don’t think anybody would pay more than $1,000 for a collectible book on Amazon (the way it’s set up now) when it’s not obvious to them how to contact the seller or view a photo of the actual book.
But I have heard through the grapevine that Amazon is going to set up a section of their site devoted to collectible books. If they did that and publicized it well, it might not only take some of the collectibles book business away from eBay, but could actually expand the market for collectibles — just as Amazon has expanded the market for plain old used books by exposing more people to the option.
I think it’s safe to assume that 95 percent of the book-buying public is unaware of ABE. On the other hand, most collectors probably have.
It’s a lot easier to “discover” books on Amazon compared to most other sites because the site is personalized for each user and Amazon’s computer makes book recommendations on your past purchases.
Lots of people who have never thought about going to a used bookstore in their life now buy lots of used books on Amazon. So my hunch is they could do the same with collectible books, if they do it right.
On the other hand, I think booksellers are having trouble getting good prices for books on eBay these days unless they are truly unique books. So that may account for the dearth of titles you see there.
![[Google]]( http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/wp-content/plugins/easy-adsenser/google-light.gif)
Q&A: Why are prices so different on various bookselling sites?
QUESTION: I’m confused by the apparent disconnect between the prices for books on eBay and prices quoted on Abebooks for the same title. And sometimes the titles are totally absent from eBay. Are there simply not that many “collectible” book buyers on eBay? Do people really go to ABE and buy what they could find on eBay for just a few dollars?
ANSWER: I agree that there is a real disconnect between the book sites and eBay. I suspect it’s a different situation with every book and buyer. I think buyers (and sellers) get used to one site, they tend to stick with it. They get comfortable with it and end up doing most of their buying and selling there.
I don’t sell that much on eBay currently, but when I do I’m always amazed at the price disparities with Amazon. And there’s only a couple explanations — the eBay buyer either doesn’t check prices on Amazon, or would just rather buy on eBay.
And we should make a distinction between “collectibles” and books that are simply scarce.
I think there is lots of collectibles book action on eBay that doesn’t go on at Amazon, for the simple reason that sellers can post a bunch of pictures of the actual book on eBay. I don’t think anybody would pay more than $1,000 for a collectible book on Amazon (the way it’s set up now) when it’s not obvious to them how to contact the seller or view a photo of the actual book.
But I have heard through the grapevine that Amazon is going to set up a section of their site devoted to collectible books. If they did that and publicized it well, it might not only take some of the collectibles book business away from eBay, but could actually expand the market for collectibles — just as Amazon has expanded the market for plain old used books by exposing more people to the option.
I think it’s safe to assume that 95 percent of the book-buying public is unaware of ABE. On the other hand, most collectors probably have.
It’s a lot easier to “discover” books on Amazon compared to most other sites because the site is personalized for each user and Amazon’s computer makes book recommendations on your past purchases.
Lots of people who have never thought about going to a used bookstore in their life now buy lots of used books on Amazon. So my hunch is they could do the same with collectible books, if they do it right.
On the other hand, I think booksellers are having trouble getting good prices for books on eBay these days unless they are truly unique books. So that may account for the dearth of titles you see there.
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