BookFinder's "most sought after" book list

Bookfinder.com has published its report on Out-of-Print Books in the News. To compile the report, BookFinder crunched a year's worth of data to come up its list of "the most sought after out-of-print titles in America."

It's well worth spending some time chewing on this list, it has top 10 lists in Arts & Music, Biography, children's, Craft & Hobbies, Fiction & Literature, Mysteries & Thrillers, Popular Science & Technology, Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, and Society and Culture.

It's also fun to check for these on Marketplace. Many of them are unavailable, and it's hard to understand why some of the more sought-after books can't be reissued. In the meantime, we can keep hoping to stumble onto a copy.

Here's a snippet:

Voices of Moccasin Creek chronicles the story of another Arkansas farming family. William Henry Page and his family moved from Mississippi to Arkansas in 1868, settling in Pope County, Arkansas. Tate Cromwell Page, former dean of education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, traced the story of his ancestors as one of the first new immigrants to what is now part of the Ozark National Forest.

The American Woman's Cook Book by Ruth Berolzheimer was first published in 1939, and was reprinted in various editions through the 1970s. Recognized by the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, the work was influential in its time, helping feed hungry families as they economized during the war years. Some collectors are particularly interested in the cookbook's World War II era "Victory edition," dedicated to Douglas MacArthur and featuring tips for cooks contending with limited access to various staples.

Q&A: What's my tax deduction for donating unwanted books to charity?

QUESTION: I'll be donating more than 1,500 books to my school at their annual charity fundraiser, so it's tax-deductible. Do I need to itemize every book title? Or would "1,000 paperbacks and 500 hardcovers" suffice?

Also, I never pay more than 25 cents per book, I only do bag sales. Is the "fair market value" -- a quarter? The school will be selling them for 50 cents to $5. They want to write a decent amount on the donation slip for me.

ANSWER: I'm the wrong guy to ask. I've never had the patience to find out how charitable tax deductions work, so I give away my discards.

The last time I tried to figure out how I could claim a charitable tax deduction, I pulled out my copy of Small Time Operator and gave up after reading this:

"Sole proprietors, partnerships, LLCs and S
corporations cannot deduct charitable contributions.
Only C corporations are allowed a business deduction
for charitable contributions."

Does that mean I could give my wife the books and she could claim them as a charitable deduction on our joint return, since she's not part of my sole proprietorship business? I don't know and I just don't care enought to find out. This stuff gives me a headache.

However, for those of you who want to research this further, I found a item on "Google Answers" that addresses book donation charitable deductions. If you scroll down it has several links to further information.

If anyone wants to chime in -- anonymously if you wish -- with a comment below on how you've handled this in the past, it would be greatly appreciated.

Bookshop employee irked by naked teens

Well here's one more distraction I don't have at at my Home-Based Bookstore: roving gangs of naked teens.

Q&A: Should I list my scarce book above Amazon's price?

QUESTION: I just found a copy of Le Vol de la Joconde, it's an old French text/workbook. Amazon has it listed for $27.50 new, but says it "usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks." Right now there's two used copies priced at $57. It has a sales rank of 234,000. My copy is in good condition with no writing inside.

Is it possible Amazon is out of stock, or might have trouble getting this book? I know if I match their price, my book will sell. However, I'm thinking I should price this higher for someone who is needs this book immediately.

How would you price it?

ANSWER: I think you're right, Amazon probably can't get it. If they could, Barnes & Noble would probably have a listing for it too, but their detail page is dark. There's only one copy on Half.com for $30. Most of the real listings I see on Addall.com are overseas sellers.

With a sales rank in the 200s, there's clearly demand for the book and Marketplace sales are happening somehow. Perhaps a month ago there were several copies on Marketplace and they've all been snapped up with school being back in session.

If I were you, I'd price it at $75 to $100 at least, if not more. I don't know anything about the book so maybe it's worth more.

Ahhh, the smell of Capitalism in the morning.

The two Marketplace sellers who are listing it at $57 probably don't have a copy, they look like drop-shippers to me. They're planning to buy a copy on the cheap if they get a sale -- except they won't be able to find one. Heck, you might want to buy that copy on Half.com while you're at it, and corner the market.

During the past year I've had a similar situation with a book I was lucky enough to buy in quantity. I had about five dozen copies of Art of Peruvian Cuisine. There's demand for the book but some kind of distribution problem and nobody can get it. About six to nine months ago it had a sales rank of around 30,000. Amazon had it priced at $30 (retail price is $50) with the same notation, "usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks." But Amazon couldn't get it, so I was making most of the sales.

I was selling a few copies at week at about $100. When I got down to my last 11 copies a few months ago, I deleted the listing because my remaining ones weren't in perfect shape and my listing condition was "new." I decided to leave the listing offline for a while to see what would happen. I just checked the price and it's up to $300. Sweet! I guess I'll relist now.

Update: Looks like one of the Marketplace copies of Le Vol de la Joconde sold, good for you.

When I relisted Peruvian Cuisine, I saw a Buyers Waiting order for $23.75.

Gee, that's tempting, but I think I'll hold out for a bit more ;-)

MediaScouter says it will transfer ownership

One day after it announced plans to shut down, MediaScouter said it will continue operating under new ownership:

From: MediaScouter Support
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 12:13 PM
Subject: MediaScouter's transfer of ownership

Dear Customers,

In some recent events, one of MediaScouter's customers has expressed the intent of acquiring MediaScouter. He plans to bring additional resources in the areas of customer service, programming, web development, and business management. Therefore, MediaScouter will continue to exist. We are asking current customers to continue using MediaScouter. The new owner is a current, loyal customer who knows the strength and weakness of the product. We anticipate no disruption of service during transfer of ownership. In the near future, I look forward to continuing support of MediaScouter. Please let anybody interested know this. We will also continue accepting new subscriptions.

Thank you,
Simone

Provider of book price-lookups goes under

For better or worse, cellphone price-lookup services have revolutionized book scouting in just a few short years. These services let you see a book's current price on Marketplace by entering the ISBN into your cellphone or wireless PDA handheld computer. With a little barcode scanner, you can even avoid the drudgery of typing the ISBNs.

No more guesswork, a book is a buy, or a no-buy.

In the past six months, a new wrinkle on this was pioneered by MediaScouter, promising bookscouts better speed and stealth. With MediaScouter, you download prices into your PDA before you go scouting. Quick lookups, and no dependence on having a good wireless signal.

Unfortunately, MediaScouter is pulling the plug on its service, according to this message sent to customers Thursday evening:

From: MediaScouter Support
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 7:50 PM
Subject: Announcement

Dear Customers,

Due to increased competition in the area of media scouting tools, we feel that we do not have the resources to maintain competitive in the market. We intend to cease business operations on November 30, 2006.

During this time, we will continue to provide support and daily data updates. Unless you choose to cancel before then, we will cease to collect subscriptions on October 31, 2006.

We appreciate the business and customer loyalty we have received. We hope the time frame eases the transition from our product to viable alternatives.

Thank you,
Simone Maynard

Meanwhile a new competitor named neatOscan is getting some buzz. Service is $50 a month (ouch!), but get this: It will automatically list books on Amazon as you find them. (That last part sounds scary, can I think about it for a minute?)

Looks like these services are really getting popular. Word on the Net is that ScoutPal will be offering something like this soon. The downside: you need to spend at least $225 on the PDA gizmo -- unless, of course, you're so geeky that you've already got one in your pocket.

IRS may target online sellers

Gee, yesterday it was the Postal Service threatening us, and now the IRS. Pass the Rolaids, please.

Will Amazon and eBay be providing data on all our sales to the Taxman? Looks like some people want to head down that road:

One remedy the IRS is considering is third-party reporting, or having an outside source, such as an online auction site, report information to the IRS.

Representatives from eBay stressed that maintaining their clients' privacy was of the utmost importance, but that they would turn it over to if the government request were accompanied by a subpoena.

It will be interesting to see where the cutoff line is: Who is the hobby seller and who's running a "business."

I guess it would be a pretty straightforward process for Amazon to report our sales made with Amazon Payments. But eBay -- what a nightmare that would be.

Postal authorities threaten sellers with customs fines

When you're mailing a book to an overseas buyer, what do you write in the "Value" box on the green customs declaration form, Postal Service Form 2976? It asks for an amount in U.S. dollars, and I've got to admit -- I've fudged it a few times.

I remember when I was a new seller, and this came up on the Amazon discussion board. One of the old hands advised, "We write $2 for the value of all our books -- that's what we pay for them." But the value written on the green form is supposed to be what the customer paid.

Writing a low dollar amount in that box keeps your customers from paying high duty fees, and keeps the package from looking attractive to thieves. And I can say from experience that if you mention something over $20 in that box, it's much more likely to be stolen.

But it looks like a crackdown is on the way. Postal administrators in several countries have complained to the U.S. Postal Service that the stated value of packages isn't matching the invoices included in the packages.

Apparently the Postal Service is leaning on eBay, which put out this announcement this afternoon:

The correct value of each item is required on customs forms as it helps determine the proper duties and taxes, and whether they should be applied. Some countries will soon begin taking steps to address this issue, such as levying fines on the addressee when the declared value is determined to be lower than the invoice.

Ouch! I can see the negative feedback now: 1 out of 5: Seller falsified the customs form and I WAS FINED 50 POUNDS!!! NEVER AGAIN!

This is just about the final straw for international shipments as far as I'm concerned. I've already eliminated it on most of my books. I like having my listings available to every buyer possible, but I'm no longer willing to put up with the headaches.


The eBay announcement doesn't address the common practice of indicating that a package is a "gift." But I've heard it's best to avoid this -- that customs officials expect a gift to be giftwrapped, with a card, or something that makes it look like a gift. I've gotten the request from overseas buyers a few times, requesting that I mark the form "gift." It makes me a little queasy -- I think I'm being set up.

What's your take on this?

Q&A: Should I trash this slow-selling book?

QUESTION: About six months ago I purchased 500 copies of a book at a library sale, all new in the carton. It's a nice Civil War hardcover but a slow seller -- the Amazon Sales Rank is 850,000-plus. It's being sold on Amazon for $5 in like-new condition. I'm not sure it would be practical to keep them -- or try selling them at $5. Should I destroy most of the books and keep just a few? I don't want to make the market worse by donating them.

ANSWER: This is a tough call. I never like to see books destroyed -- especially good ones!

If storage isn't a critical concern, I'd consider holding onto them. You might find some use for them, and there's a remote chance they'll recover in value.

But I wouldn't recommend beating your brains out to sell them for $5 apiece on Marketplace. It's not worth your time, plus -- as you probably know -- cheap listings attract lots of problem customers. The person who pays $5 for a $30 book tends to be the same person who complains about paying $3.49 for shipping, and leaves you negative feedback when the Postal Service takes three weeks to deliver the book.

With a sales rank over 800,000, this book is only selling a few copies a year on Amazon. So the price isn't likely to recover soon.

You might be able to unload some of these books on eBay. If you wrote up a long description using lots of unique keywords from the book's introduction, you might be able to find some buyers -- people who were looking for Civil War memorabilia but accidentally find your book.

Or you might be able to use this book as a giveaway in an eBay Store, especially around the holidays -- "Buy any of my books and get this one free, makes a great gift."

Or you might be able to sell them in a bulk lot in eBay's wholesale books category. You might find somebody who'd like to buy them for a school or a library system.

And it's always possible the book will be in demand someday. If the author is able to write a new book that sells well, demand could really shoot up for the earlier book. I've seen Marketplace prices double or triple within weeks when an author comes out with a new bestseller. When that happens, Amazon usually recommends the author's previous books, and all the low-priced listings on Marketplace are snapped up immediately.

It would be a shame to destroy good quality books. My understanding is hardcovers can't be recycled into pulp.

OK, I'm out of ideas. Anyone else have a suggestion?

Q&A: What kind of bookshelves do you use?

QUESTION: Bookshelves are expensive and heavy. What do you use?

ANSWER: For the past five years I've been using these beige plastic utility shelves, which I get for about $40 at Home Depot. I've also seen them at other retailers.

These babies are cheap and durable, and hold a tremendous amount of weight. I use each shelf as a bookshelf, and also use the back side to hold another row of books facing the opposite way. I also put books on the top shelf steadied by bookends -- or I'll put boxes of books up there I've got in long-term storage.

These shelves assemble pretty quickly, what you see here goes together in five minutes. When we moved last summer, it was pretty easy to knock them down and reassemble them at our new place.

The product description says these hold 250 pounds, but I've had over 600 pounds on these things with no problems. The set of shelves itself only weighs about 15 or 20 pounds.

These shelves come in two sizes -- 18-inch depth and 12-inch depth. I use the 18-inch depth so I can shelve books on the front and back, with room for about 250 hardbacks. Then I put a removable sticker on the spine of each book with my SKU on it.

You can buy these on Home Depot's Web site but the shipping is about $25, which isn't good. I'm sure most people could find these locally. Here's the part number for Home Depot:
Internet/Catalog #100010588
Store In-Stock SKU # 625961
Store Special Order SKU # 423623

Q&A: How can I remove stickers from books?

QUESTION: What's the best way you've found to remove stickers and residue without damaging the book?

ANSWER: I've had great luck with "Goof Off" and "Goo Gone." They're both solvents you can buy at hardware stores. A small bottle or can will last you a long time -- a dab of the stuff takes adhesive residue and lots of other stuff right off. Let it soak for a couple of minutes before wiping off the book.

Sometimes when a book just looks dirty, a quick wipe with Goo Gone will make it look a lot better. Sometimes when I can't find my Goof Off or Goo Gone, I'll use the lubricant WD-40, which works OK.

Just be careful to do this in a well-ventilated room, and don't light up your cigar until you're finished. Any other tips out there?

eBay offers 10-cent auction fee, free gallery on Store items

eBay is holding a two-day promotion where insertion fees are reduced to 10 cents when you move an item from Store format to auction or fixed-price. You'll also get free gallery display on the listings.

Full details here.

Amazon adds 'seller comments' to packing slips

Amazon will add item condition and seller comments to the packing-slip printing function in the "Manage Your Orders" tool within seller accounts. Here's the complete announcement:

Dear Amazon.com Sellers,

Based on seller feedback, we are making a change to display the item condition and comments in various places after a buyer purchases your item. This change will be visible in the next few days.

This change will be rolled out in phases. Initially, we will display the item condition and seller comments in the order details and on the packing slip in the Manage Your Orders tool. You can see an example of what the packing slip will look like in the attached screenshot image.

In the future, we expect to display the item condition and seller comments in other places where it will be useful, such as when the buyer leaves feedback for the seller. Keep an eye on the Seller Success board for future announcements about this issue.

Thank you for selling with Amazon.com!

Back to school, back to work

Do you ever wonder how many copies of bestsellers Amazon moves in a day? A ton.

A couple of years ago, I bought 2,000 copies of this hardcover, "Essential 55," for $2 apiece when the paperback came out. I usually sell about 15 copies a week -- it's not a brisk seller outside the back-to-school season.

Sunday night, the back-to-school rush must have kicked in. I turned my computer off Sunday at 10 p.m., and when I turned it on at 7 a.m. Monday, I'd gotten 420 Marketplace orders for the book overnight. Yep, 420 orders for one book in nine hours.

For some reason, Amazon stopped carrying this hardcover after the paperback came out. So that allowed me to get most of the sales instead of Amazon.

This book must be assigned reading at lots of classrooms, the Amazon Sales Rank was 3 this morning. And I'm out of mailers.

Using MySpace to drive your book sales

Booksellers are always looking for that extra edge to compete. Detailed descriptions. Spotless feedback. Listing inventory on eight Web sites. Repricing. Checking your e-mail every 45 seconds.

On and on.

Well here's an idea that might be new for you: MySpace.

MySpace? You might be thinking, "Isn't that for high-school kids?"

Sure, that's the stereotype. MySpace is popular with kids. But with nearly 100 million members and the No. 1 traffic rank on the entire Internet -- clearly there's more to it than loitering schoolkids.

MySpace is one of a growing number of "social networking" sites. They work by linking up people with the same types of interests. Each member has their own small circle of like-minded "friends." After you become someone's MySpace friend, you have access to their friends. And each of your new friends has more friends.

What does all this have to do with bookselling? Well, as you probably know, most of us online sellers develop a specialty. After some experience, we settle into a niche of whatever works for us -- science fiction, antique cookbooks, textbooks, modern first editions. It's usually something we have some interest in, and we just get the knack for recognizing valuable books from across the room.

Well, MySpace is the kind of place where you can hook up with people who are interested in that same exact thing -- whether they're book buyers or booksellers. You can probably meet more people on MySpace that share the same quirky interests in 20 minutes as you could from a lifetime of going to book sales, parties, conferences, or classes.

After hearing so much about MySpace, I created my own profile here a few months ago, but have never gotten around to using it. (If you're on MySpace, please add me as a "friend." I only have three so far, and it's kind of embarrassing.)

Anyway, I nearly fell out of my chair this week when I got an e-mail from my friend Jane, who's a full-time eBay bookseller. She's been active recently on MySpace and it's resulted in a big increase in traffic and sales at her eBay Store.

Jane generally prefers auctioning books on eBay, but also sells certain books on Amazon at fixed prices. She can't give any definite numbers on how many of her sales are coming from MySpace -- who has time to ask each customer how they found you? All she knows is, she's been networking like crazy recently, and she's gotten a ton of "hits" and "views" on MySpace, and at the same time, sales at her Store are up.

Here's the three main ways people find Jane on MySpace:

1. They go to a page where she appears as someone's friend, and click on her name.

2. They do a keyword search (like "books," "booksellers," or "eBay.")

3. Jane gives out her eBay Store name *and* her MySpace link whenever she e-mails customers on eBay or Amazon.

Jane also has links to her MySpace profile on her blog, "The Passionate Booker." She's also got a MySpace blog. This way, her customers really get to "know" her as a seller, and sometimes they'll also join MySpace, add her as a friend, and the networking continues.

Whether her buyers choose to participate in all these "extras" or not, Jane believes (and I agree) it leaves a positive impression. Anytime you can make a personal connection with a customer -- instead of being some faceless counterpart in cyberspace -- it's a good thing.

Since Jane knew I was writing this, she was generous enough to send along these tips for working MySpace. They're really good:

1. I try to keep my MySpace fairly streamlined and clutter-free , making SURE that if anyone does see it, they can EASILY get to my store. I put links to my store everywhere I can. I use attention grabbers (no, not pictures of nude men and women, but things like the moving, scrolling book list (which reminds me, that needs to be updated).

2. I join Groups which have interests that pertain to the books I generally sell and, even better if they allow bulletins or ads about book listings at other sites (some do, some don't, so it is important to KNOW the group terms). Related groups I've joined include : Bibliophiles, cooking groups (I sell specialty cookbooks from time to time, Writers' groups (because writers also READ books), childrens books, homeschooling, Ebayers etc.

3. I make a point of keeping my name updated out there on MySpace by getting something on my MySpace blog and then sending a bulletin of the blog entry to all my Friends. I am working on more interesting blog entries but at least it is a start. I thought "What fell out of that book?" was decent but I guess it appealed mostly to other booksellers.

4. I touch base with my Friends at MySpace at least once a week if I can, even if it is only to say "Have a great day, hope you have wonderful sales this week!"

5. The population at MySpace tends to be trendy, hip, etc., and they come there for MANY reasons, so you need to try and eliminate the ones who are trying to sell you something or want to "hook up" for a quick date (unless those are also your wants; they aren't my focus for being on MySpace).

Many people are just trolling for dates, etc..but you can tailor your profile to meet your needs and even specify age groups and income. If you just want to "Network" and not date, you can specify that limitation (which I've done, I think). That way, you eliminate some of the Spam invitations from potential "Friends". But you'll still get some Spam.

6. Don't feel obligated to accept every Friend who asks to be a friend, however flattering it may seem. And DO make sure your TOP 6 Friends, reflect your interests and business and are likely to make the right impression on visitors to your page. I've got Stephen King there just because a lot of people probably look at that page on MySpace. Id love to be in the top 6 Friends on THAT page!

My opinion is, if MySpace is going to be a professional asset, it should look professional. Consider the fact that people WILL check out your friends and MySpace's usefulness can be watered down by having too many friends who don't relate to your interests, aren't readers or writers or booksellers, turn your customers off, etc. I KNOW I bend this rule a bit because I have a wide diversity of friends but I try to keep my top 6 (the ones that show on my home page) related to books and bookselling.

7. Use all the various parts of MySpace to their MAX- the blog, the groups, the home page. You can even get a counter to keep track of how many people are visiting your page

8. You do have to work MySpace to keep the hits coming. Putting up a page and never visiting it or tweaking it does little good. But, considering the cost (free), it is a resource I feel compelled to use.

One more thing. Those of you who are active on Amazon might be interested to know that Jane is one of the Amazon "Top Reviewers." She's currently ranked 114 out of some 2 million. You can see her recent reviews here on her Amazon Profile. Reviewers are ranked on how many reviews they write and how many "helpful" votes they receive from other Amazon users. As you can see, she's very prolific, with 738 reviews already in the can. I don't know how in the world Jane finds time to be a full-time bookseller, MySpace power user, Amazon Top Reviewer, write two blogs, and have a family too.

MySpace has gotten a lot of bad publicity lately, with reports in the news about people peddling pornography on there, and predators trying to contact the children who use it. And I think this is a danger, we don't want our businesses somehow getting painted with the same brush. I hope MySpace will be able to police the site better. But at the same time, I think its problems have been blown out of proportion. Anytime you have 100 million people congregating, there's going to be a certain number of them up to no good. I hope we can all keep it in perspective.

Q&A: What should I do when buyers ask for refunds?

QUESTION: I'm a new bookseller and wondering how to handle cases where the customer claims nonreceipt. For example, I have a customer who says the package arrived open without the book inside. I can't see how you can give refunds in all cases and stay profitable.

ANSWER: You'll have to accept a certain amount of mishaps as a cost of doing business. Providing cheerful refunds is just part of the game. I cover most of the Postal Service screwups out of my own pocket. And you might want to consider doing the same in this case, just to protect your new feedback record.

Whether you're at fault isn't the issue now, it's about staying alive to fight another day. If your feedback slides too much, you'll never be able to compete effectively. And it's a good idea to give customers the benefit of the doubt, unless there's a strong reason not to.

Having said that, I distinctly remember when I was a new seller with no track record, and getting lots of dubious demands for refunds. I'd also get regular inquiries from buyers asking if I'd sell the book outside Amazon at a lower price using PayPal. No doubt, a certain number of people try to take advantage of new sellers.

After you get a longer feedback trail, you'll see a decrease in the weird contacts from customers. I've also gotten into the habit of referring customers to Amazon's A to Z Guarantee in cases where I'm certain I've fulfilled my end of the bargain.

You don't have to have a huge confrontation with the customer in referring them to A to Z, if you phrase it this way:

"Let me assist you in getting a refund. Here's a link to their claim form: https://www.amazon.com/gp/a-z-guarantee/submit-claim.html

The form will ask you for your order number, which is XXX."

Don't send the customer to A to Z unless you have a tracking number for the package, or the customer's claim will be approved. Amazon will deduct the funds from your payments account, and you might get negative feedback too.

Whenever I suspect a customer of trying to pull a fast one -- which isn't very often -- I refer them to A to Z using the language above. Ninety percent of the time nothing ever comes of it. My hunch is that most people trying to take advantage of a seller think twice about filing a false A to Z report -- after they read the language on the form stating it's against the law to file a false report.

Q&A: How can I discover what a rare book is worth?

QUESTION: How do I know how to price a book when there are no others listed on Amazon? And how would I know if there were a buyer waiting? The latest book I've come across is a Spanish novel, ISBN 8424506464.

ANSWER: You can tell if there's a pending order by going to the book's detail page on Amazon (by searching for the ISBN) and clicking "sell yours here" and list the condition as "new." Click through to the next screen and, if there's at least one pending order, you'll see an orange box labeled "BUYER WAITING!" like the one shown here. You can close your browser before clicking to actually list the book.

You're right, the ISBN 8424506464 is pretty uncommon, at least in the United States. Usually you can find listings for English-language books at the AddAll search engine or BookFinder.

This one, 8424506464, has only a few Google results. If you're really interested in determining the value, you might be able to find some overseas store listings for it and convert the currency to dollars. Not sure if it's worth the trouble -- just because the book is scarce doesn't necessarily mean it's in demand.

When you come across books that aren't listed on Amazon, but you do see listings on AddAll or BookFinder, you can usually list it on Amazon at a higher price and get a prompt sale, assuming there's some demand for the book.

Occasionally I'll sell a foreign-language book for a good price but honestly most of them never sell. I guess if you aren't fluent in other languages (like me), it's hard to scout non-English books.

There are lots of pitfalls with pending Buyers Waiting orders. I wrote two long articles for BookThink where I discuss just about everything I know about pending orders. Those articles are here and here.

You can also view the top pending pre-orders here on my site, and read a bit more about it in my book "The Home-based Bookstore."

eBay scammers target "books" categories

Recently I've noticed auctions for expensive high-definition televisions showing up in eBay book categories. The picture here shows the top results I found in eBay's "Books" category on Friday by searching for "HDTV." As you can see, these listings aren't for books about HDTVs, they're auctions starting at $1 for TVs that retail for over $1,000.

When these TV listings started turning up in book categories several months ago, I didn't give it much thought -- I figured it was someone trying to get extra exposure for their auction by posting in an unrelated category.

But someone who's done a bit of digging into this, Ina Steiner at AuctionBytes, says it appears that scammers are using these listings to escape eBay's fraud-detection measures. She recently turned up 31 listings for plasma TVs that all showed warning signs of being scams.

Among other things, the suspect listings usually ask buyers to "e-mail me" or "contact me for the Buy-It-Now price." Then the unsuspecting buyer is offered a great deal if they pay immediately. Some of them do and -- guess what? -- they don't get the TV and never hear from the scammer again.

Shoppers who pay for an item before the auction ends aren't covered by eBay's buyer-protection program."

I've also seen these TV listings popping up recently in eBay's wholesale books category. For some reason, eBay manages to quickly delete these bogus listings from its wholesale categories, but not others.

Amazon launches rival to Google Ads

Amazon launched a contextual advertising service called Omakase, designed to compete with Google's AdSense program.

Google's AdSense appears on many commercial Web pages, and its small text ads correlate to the content of the Web page. But Amazon's program leapfrogs Google's a bit -- Omakase is more personalized because it's based not only on the content of the site, but on each visitor's Amazon purchasing and browsing history. In other words, the Amazon ads you see here are based not only on the words you're reading now, but on the books you've bought or viewed on Amazon. At least that's the way it's supposed to work, Omakase is still in beta testing.

Trivia point: Amazon's name for the program, Omakase, is Japanese for "Leave it up to us." It's a term used in Japanese restaurants, where the chef improvises a meal based on his knowledge of the diner's preferences. Cute.

This could become an important program for online booksellers who operate their own Web site -- and for those bloggers who are getting only chump change from Google for uncompetitive keywords. The compensation plan for Omakase is the same as for Amazon's regular Associates program -- most participants will get a 6.5 percent commission for book sales resulting from clicks to Amazon. I've reprinted a chart of Amazon's "performance" commission structure at the bottom of this post.

I've posted a banner Omakase ad above the masthead on this blog and another on the right sidebar. If you're an Amazon Associate, you can display these ads on your site too. Here's more background from computer guru Dave Taylor, and here's a link to Omakase for Amazon affiliates. If you don't have an Amazon Associates password yet, here's the cream from the FAQ:

What are Omakase Links?
With Omakase Links, Associates can now automatically display the products and content that visitors to the page are most likely to buy. Adding Omakase Links to your pages is easy. Use the Build Links tool to select the appearance and behavior of the ad, and then simply cut-and-paste the code into your template or Web page. Your page will now display Omakase Links and after a short learning period, the ads will be optimized based on what the Associate has been successful with in the past; what that user has been interested in; and what the site is about.

Because Omakase Links optimize on more than just the page itself, Associates may see a range of different products in their links but they will also see that the links learn what their visitors want. In fact, because Omakase Links aim to show the right product to the right person, each person visiting their site may see different products.

Can I use Omakase Links with other ads on my site?
Amazon.com does not require exclusivity for the use of Omakase Links. That means, Amazon.com does not prevent associates from using other companies advertising schemes (such as Google AdSense) in conjunction with Omakase Links. If you have questions as to whether another provider of advertising permits the use of its advertising on the same page as Omakase Links, please contact that provider. Amazon.com does not require of its associates that they use the Amazon.com advertising exclusively.