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A.
As in any kind of business, the principle is always to make
as much profit as you can and this is the same in books.
Definitely, in order to get a lower price for an item, you have
to buy a reasonable volume or quantity. Have you considered what
kind of books will you be concentrating in? The world of books
is so big and even Borders, Barnes & Noble, and the other
big ones cannot even complete their selections in one store. For
sure, you may have already set your eyes on some specialized
categories, therefore the only thing left is to find the
companies who distribute such books.
You can check at the search engines for a listing of
Publishing companies who carry the line of books that you intend
to carry in your store. Then write them about your interest to
establish a business relationship with them and you can show
them a picture of your store, and where it is located. You can
also give them information about your new business.
Of course, as a beginner, you may not get much cooperation
and support from suppliers and very often, you will be required
to pay in cash. You may have to build your credibility to the
suppliers until they will be comfortable with your operation and
they will avail you some credit line.
But, books are similar to the record industry. There is a
tremendous volume of different titles and sometimes, you never
know what will sell and what will not, but you are still
constrained to carry inventory. For a beginner, it is not
practical to carry a non-moving inventory as it can spell your
outright downfall.
On the other hand, I know of a friend who started his
bookstore by selling used books, in particular, used
encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Classics, etc. He goes around yard
sales, swap meets and auctions where he can buy sets at
practically giveaway prices. Then depending on the printing year
and condition of the sets, he prices them almost 100 to 200
percent above his buying costs. From the profits he made, he
started buying later editions and later on opened another
section in his store which now consist of a much varied mix of
topics. Still he kept on buying and selling old encyclopedias as
opportunity presented itself.
Actually, it depends on the capital that you have on hand but
the idea is always, buy your inventory at the lowest possible
price.
Good Luck !
About
the PowerHomeBiz.com Guide:
 Nach Maravilla is
the Publisher of Power Homebiz Guides. He has over thirty years
experience in sales and marketing of various products, which
covered as he jokingly describes, "from toothpicks to
airplanes" He also had extensive experience in
International trading and he always excelled in special promotional
ideas for retail outlets.
The opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author, not of PowerHomeBiz.com.
Users
should not treat the Guide's response as legal, accounting, or
professional advice as all answers are intended to be general in
nature. Such advice can only be properly given by qualified
professionals who are fully aware of a user's specific geographical areas or circumstances, such
as
an attorney or accountant.
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