The problem is that used copies are sold side-by-side with new books, often for pennies, on Amazon. A huge percentage of new sales are instantly diverted. Any book you want can be found in a two second google search of brick-and-mortar used bookstores. The dynamic has changed. There is absolutely no reason to buy new in this market. Even if you want a pristine copy for you library, that is easily found. All sites let you sort for “New.”

It may not be a “huge” percentage, though. One of my posts is here on Dear Author discussing evidence that people do still buy new. I agree that the dynamic is changing rapidly, but the basic economic logic isn’t; I would bet that of the studies I discussed, most of the findings still hold true. My article on DA:

Read for Pleasure Makes the Case for Used Book Sales v. New

In a nutshell:

* In 2004, only 3% of general-interest book sales were used. In-store used book sales are flat, but online used sales have climbed.

* One economic analysis that I discussed found that of all used book sales on Amazon, only 16% replaced new book purchases. (That’s 16% of 3% of total book sales. Half a percent.)

* From that study: “The remaining 84% of used book sales apparently would not have occurred at Amazon’s new book prices.” In other words, 84% of used book sales represent an increase in readership.

In addition, some well respected economists point out that Amazon would lose money if their used book sales displaced too many of their new book sales.

The above link from nytimes today is about used books vs new books. Interesting article. The article writer mentions some bookstore closings used and new and mentions books going for a penny plus shipping on the web.

…editor, Dan Frank, said that the rise of resellers like Heather Blue meant that there was no longer a set price for a book at any one time. If you want it during those first few weeks when it is new, you will pay a premium. If you can wait, it might be only a pittance. “These cracks and fractures will only grow bigger,” he said.

I’m an author and I don’t want the law amended. I’m fine with used books. I’ve been paid, and consider the book the property of the person who bought it. That person is free to lend it, sell it, give it away–anything short of copying it.

I’ve always considered used books an excellent way for readers to sample an author, or to find OOP copies.

I do have a definite problem with Amazon’s policy of advertizing used copies on the new book page, especially when that book is still fresh.

Also, people sell ARCs on eBay?? Huh. I have whole shelves full of signed ARCs. Who knew I had a potential gold mine? Too bad I has possessive issues. Mine! No touching.

…next would be used CDs…

Eh. Somebody by the name of Garth Brooks already tried that in the ’90s. It didn’t go over well then, either.

Somebody mentioned Amazon, and I do have to admit…I think it was really lousy of Amazon to put the buy it used option up right with the new books.

I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I think it’s lousy too. But then if you do buy used, you still have to pay the S&H while if you buy enough new, you get free shipping so hopefully that helps balance things out.

As for royalties at UBS, I don’t think it’s a good idea. While I can understand some authors wanting for all books sold, it for sure would put the UBS’s out of business if this were to ever come about. And as a number of authors mentioned, many authors are first discovered via the UBS. I know that’s how I did it for years. But I buy most of my books new now, but if I do find an author I particularly like and she has a large backlist with many OOP, I’ll search for them in UBS’s. I’d hate to have this source dry up.

I’ve got enough of a headache dealing with people pirating my ebooks-I think authors in general would do better to focus on the illegal copies out there, explaining how that has a major impact and not just to the author’s income…but I’m rambling way off topic.

Anyway, nope, I have no problem with UBS. While yeah, I think it would lovely if there was a way to earn something off the used copies sold, I’m not interested in doing it if hurts the book industry in anyway. It’s already on shaky ground and I’ve no desire to add to it.

Bottom line, not everybody has the money to buy books new. They shouldn’t have to go without reading-that’s not fair. We want to encourage the love of reading, not discourage it. UBS get people to try out books they might have not tried new, and when they get hooked on a new author, they aren’t always in the mood to wait for a used copy-they want it, and they want it now, so they buy new. All of them? Nope, but that’s life.

Somebody mentioned Amazon, and I do have to admit…I think it was really lousy of Amazon to put the buy it used option up right with the new books. I like how B&N and Borders do it much better.

Ann Somerville – if anything, USBs hide the level to which an author fails to satisfy readers, because the publisher doesn't have the unsatisfactory product returned to *them*. .. ..Why should they carry the can for the failure of the publishing industry to reform?

I agree. If a book fails completely (readers hate it, and it sells poorly) the UBS will likely have 10 copies of it. And the same goes with major blockbusters. The Da Vinci Code was HUGE when it was new, and now that everyone and their grandmother have read it, we have a surplus. The UBS I work at has 20 on the shelf.

Now, I’m probably wrong, but here goes. If UBS were to have to pay the author for selling their book, what about the UBS having 5+ copies in?
1. We have to file them which takes a huge chunk of shelf space.
2. We clean them which takes time and supplies (water, soap, washcloths).
3. We have to box them up and put them in storage when we get an additional 20 copies.
4. We handsell them to customers looking for something to read.
5. We have to pay employees.

So by my thinking the money that would have gone to the author for UBS royalties is now tied up in fees from UBS to stock and store the author’s books. And how would that help anyone but the USPS (for mailing the bills back and forth)?

No, eliminating the first sale doctrine would throw the entire secondary market of selling goods into chaos and no one would benefit, not the stores, the resellers, or the authors.

Because if they win, next would be used cd and used movie sales. Then used tshirts that have a copyrighted image or text…where would it stop? Even major retailers like Hastings would have to drastically raise prices since they make a huge profit on used goods.

Selling a used book should never be illegal except for the jerks on Ebay that sell ARC’s (advanced reviewers copy) for major profit. No one but Ebay and the seller make money on that one. Not even the publisher.

I know that half of my personal book collection wouldn’t exist without a UBS. I’d never have found them at the major chains, and certainly couldn’t have afforded them all.

Besides, if that goes through, how about the UBS workers that hand sell a book? What would we get for providing the sale of an author’s work and the publicity for the author? Everyday I get asked “What would your recommend?”. I can’t begin to quantify how many sales I’ve had specifically because I had read and loved the book enough to tell the customer about it. And I know that many of my customers do by new, but can’t afford to buy 20 new books versus 3 new books and 17 used.

The math:
1 new book=$6.99
1 used book=$3.50
1 used book with a trade credit=$1.75

Duh….

And there is nothing as amazing as watching the little kids come into the store, and pick out a book and pay with their allowance. For the price of one kids book ($3.99) they can get four used books. And I would much rather kids pick up a book and read than sit there and watch mind numbing television.

the publishers don't know what books UBSs sell and so they don;t get a whole sampling of what readers want

Nothing stopping them finding out by surveys, is there? And surely used book sales will mirror new books sales to a certain extent – if anything, USBs hide the level to which an author fails to satisfy readers, because the publisher doesn’t have the unsatisfactory product returned to *them*.

I can’t see how USBs hurt anyone, and I would staunchly defend their right to exist, and to operate exactly the way they do now. Why should they carry the can for the failure of the publishing industry to reform?

I try to get new books, I like to tell the industry what I am reading. But if I’ve been burned by an author in the past I will not buy another new book buy them, so I’ll try something used. If there’s a new author I’m usure about I won’t buy them new if I don’t have much money, but if I see a used book I may try to read that. UBS help unknowns because they aren’t a risk.

Many people, myself included, only try new writers at the UBS. I’ve been burned too many times to do otherwise. As for Amazon, I would never buy used from them. The best thing about Amazon is that I don’t have to pay taxes or S&H, but if I buy used, I do. I don’t see the logic of buying a book then paying $4 S&H for it. I would only do that if it were some author I can’t find anywhere else.

IMO, this is not a time to be attacking a bookselling venues.

My mother owned a bookstore for a while when I was little, selling both new and used books, so I learned early on just what challenges booksellers face in the market (the major one for my mother being that her daughters hijacked half her inventory before she could shelve it…) In my fifteen years as a published author, I’ve never met a bookseller of either new or used books who was in it for the money — they sell books because they love books, it’s that simple.

Secondhand booksellers already have a complicated enough balancing act to perform between sales and expenses, and a lot of them are struggling as it is. Forcing them to calculate and pay royalties would only, in my view, upset that balance to the point that many of them couldn’t make it work, they’d have to close their doors.

And then where would I go to get that feeling that I get when I am wandering around a used-book store? To smell that lovely musty used-book smell? That thrill of discovery when I find a favourite author’s book in hardcover tucked almost out of reach on a top shelf? I love that feeling, and I wouldn’t want to lose it.

As for secondhand books being available on amazon etc., if someone is already shopping online and they’d rather buy a used book than a new one, they’ll do it anyway, won’t they? If the link’s not there on amazon, they’ll just go to alibris or abebooks or somewhere else, so taking the link off amazon achieves nothing. Besides, in my case some of my early books have fallen out of print, or were never published in the US, and having the “Buy it Used” button on amazon.com means that readers at least have a chance to find a copy.

Readers aren’t trying to hurt authors. I think most readers here at DA understand that, to publishers, we authors are only as good as the sales of our last book; that if our sales figures fall or even stay level we’re going to get dropped by our publishers; that we have absolutely no control over what format a book is brought out in, or how it’s priced, or how it’s shelved, or…well, the list goes on. And so I’m grateful beyond measure when a reader buys my books new — not because it earns me royalties (which are at any rate less than 10% of a paperback’s cover price) — but because it means my sales might reach a level where my publishers will find it worth their while to buy my next book.

But I understand completely that not everyone can buy a new book. Some will buy it used, and some will get it from the library, and I am just as grateful to the readers who do that. I found a lot of my own favourite authors that way.

I’m afraid I just don’t see the problem with how things are now…but I do see a problem with what Ninc’s suggesting.

As for used book stores – for those copies the author has already been compensated and received their royalties. I see no need to impose additional costs on the used book seller or the buying public. I frequent used book stores for a lot of reasons – not the least of which is the ability to purchase more books for less money. Additional royalties on used books would change that habit as well.

Bad idea, in my opinion.