03/28/2026
📖31 things I’ve learned about book hunting and bookselling:
1. It would be a dumb venture to search for books without having fun. If it’s not fun and we take ourselves too seriously, adventures tend to lose their magic. Keep a light, open heart and be prepped to learn.
2. Don’t expect that you will find something every time that you go out hunting. Chances are, you’ll find a lot of mundane things. However, just because you find it mundane doesn’t mean that everybody else does. I mean, the books have been read by others. Use it as a learning opportunity to get to know what others are reading/getting rid of in your community.
3. The Internet can lie to you in terms of first edition points and special printings. There are tons of experts online, but not everybody reveals their secrets or sources. Have a hard copy of collecting pointers and first edition pointers handy so that you can continue to study and memorize those pointers for identification in the wild. The less you have to use the internet for that, the better.
4. When looking for things in a thrift store or secondhand shop, start with the things that you think you would like to collect or read about. This helps you hone in on your shop specialization rather than reselling with a more general framework. There are many other ways to get cheap, generalized book stocks. If you want to become specialized, start with the things that you know or want to grow in and learn more about.
5. It’s always worth checking famous authors’ books to see if they’re signed. It doesn’t matter the printing if it’s a first edition or later. You’d be surprised how often people pass over books by popular authors without opening them up. It happens all the time.
6. The same kind of thing applies to celebrities: If it’s a book about a celebrity or an autobiography of a celebrity, check to see if it’s been signed. It only takes two seconds to open it up to the first few pages to see if there’s a signature compare signatures to online resources.
7. If it’s possible, always find 3 to 4 different reliable places in town that you can rotate being a customer in every week. You’ll get a sense of the stock rotation. You’ll also get to know the workers in the store well. Being a part of the local social economy is always great.
8. Keep in mind that whatever you buy, always come up with a plan to sell high. This looks different to different folks, but it takes a bit of thought. That means you have to take into account the price of what you buy items for so that you have plenty of confidence that the sale will be fruitful in the end with all of your sales, shipping, and online fees (if applicable while selling on a platform). I generally buy books that I know, and that I’m confident they will sell for at least 10 times as much as the price that I bought them. That’s my rule every time I purchase stock. What’s yours?
9. Find places that sell books for cheap. Generally charity shops sell for much lower than Goodwill or savers, but not always. That’s part of the fun in hunting is also finding places that meet this criteria. Frequent these cheaper places more often as they rotate stock more often. This is usually because of other book hunters doing the same thing you’re doing… but they can’t be there every day. You will inevitably find treasures in these places just give it time. Your time will come.
10. I believe we’re living in a time where much of the wealth of older generations is being distributed out into the public as they pass away, because there are too many tangible assets that their family members cannot possibly handle by themselves. Find places that have a more antique book stock going in and out of it as an indicator. I believe we’ll see a lot more of that antiquarian stock in the coming years - people just simply can’t handle all of it. Be on the lookout and keep your store visitation rotations active.
11. Making a judgment on which books to keep and which to sell immediately might be difficult. Trust your gut first of all. There are major authors, like Stephen King or J. K. Rowling or other contemporary authors that are very well known who are already collectible and eventually there will come a time when they, too, will stop writing for one reason or another. Find these authors and their work (first editions and special editions if you can) and set them aside or in storage (storing them correctly and safely, of course). These authors most likely will be passed down to the next generations of readers. Desirability and demand is something that you’ll never know, but at least you’ll have some diversified stock for the future.
12. Books on science and mathematics can be tricky. There are some lectures and teachings within science and mathematics that are timeless and others that are momentary because they get superseded so quickly with newer knowledge. Textbooks that are older are often not worth much unless they are based off of fundamental knowledge and taught a very specific way - like where the pedagogy or methodology is important as a historical study.
13. Non-fiction seems to always sell - religion, history, biography, how-to - you name it. But people collect special edition fiction, historical literature, and compelling fiction also. Keep track of these trends in fiction so that when you run across these books, you can pick them up for pennies on the dollar and immediately sell them due to the trends you see happening.
14. Local authors, history and folklore always sell, but make sure you get an accurate price point to compare to. Each book seller can be wildly different from one another in terms of how they price things out of state. Get to know the areas from whence the books are derived, history of where you live, and you’ll get a more accurate reading of how desirable these subjects are, and therefore reflect the value in the pricing more accurately.
15. There are times where you can grow fond of books that are waiting to be sold after you’ve listed them. It’s perfectly OK to take them out of your stock and keep them. Your bookstore is a reflection of you in some sense, so it’s really difficult sometimes not to be tempted by the subject matter of something you want to sell. If anything, read that book and then decide whether or not you want to resell it afterwards. you have options and freedom; it’s your store.
16. This goes for gifting books too. Meaningful gifts can come from the stock in your bookstore. You have every right to gift people whatever you’d like to give them. In some cases, it ends up being one of the most memorable things you can give them.
17. I’ve noticed that people don’t seem to know the difference between book club editions and first editions. Do your homework, and be suspicious of any jacket interior that has “book club edition“ or “book of the month club“ on it and people saying it’s a first edition or 1st OP. It’s a little misleading. I’ve seen dozens of listings from book sellers who even have an ABA label saying that their BOTM or BCE is worth just as much or more than a first edition. Unless there is something in the printing that is special from the first edition (which is wildly rare) don’t fall for it, and certainly don’t pretend that it’s a first edition in your own listings. Be honest about what it is. There’s an ethical standard there that you shouldn’t cross, and it causes a lot of mistrust toward you from potential customers and fellow booksellers. Don’t be the cause of your own suspicious customer base.
18. Book hunting and finding treasures can be a real treat, but don’t cross the threshold into making it an obsession. There have been times when I first started this venture that I lost sleep, was a little distant from my family, was obsessed with figuring out his histories of printing, bindings, repair, work, etc. The list goes on - always planning and strategizing, and losing sight of what really matters. In this venture, I found that in the rotation of places to go, you only schedule those visitations in limited time blocks. Get to know the place first and think about how long it might take you to peruse all of the shelves, then only allow yourself that much time (or even five minutes less than your maximum time spent). Value your time and your energy, don’t go beyond your means, and don’t ignore what’s actually important.
19. If you were searching for books with some kind of pricing app, make sure to copy the ISBN, paste it into your Google search bar on your phone and compare listings from all the websites that pop up in the first page of the Google search. I found that the pricing apps don’t always keep current information and are generally showing a handful of popular websites. But people can compare to oddball websites or individual sellers just as easily as they can go to Amazon by typing in a web address or going on a Google search. Leave no stone unturned and be thorough.
20. When you find stock that has a high resale value, don’t just think about the price tag. Think about the value of the book and why that price tag is there. What makes it valuable? What makes it historically significant? Why do people want this particular author or content? Get to know these books and authors. Never settle for just reselling without a description or knowledge. Use it as a learning opportunity.
21. On a sidenote, I’ve always wondered why experienced rare booksellers know so many things about authors and histories; about settings and bindings and printings and editions. It’s because they took the time and opportunity to discover what it is that they were holding in their hands as to be a connection point to the customer. They were interested enough to learn about the material as they went along. And years of that practice will give you lots of knowledge. I aspire to that.
22. If you’re running a bookstore from your house, bookshelves are expensive and take up a lot of space. Don’t go beyond your means or your square footage. Be focused and humble in your means. Take it as an opportunity to gain pinpoint accuracy in the books that you do pick up for restock so that you don’t keep defaulting to expanding into more shelves.
23. When you’re starting out book selling, you will naturally find the number of books that you can feasibly oversee the inventory of by yourself. There will come a time where you will need help with inventory. Once you start having those thoughts about additional help, that’s probably around the point that you need to consider that your current stock is a little bit more than you can manage by yourself. Be honest about that - there’s less anxiety involved. This is supposed to be fun, remember?
24. If you have any opportunity, go to an annual rare or antiquarian book fair. It’s good professional development. It gives you the opportunity to talk to people in the field and see what they’re thinking as well as the trends that they are seeing and what they foresee. It also affords you the opportunity to get hands-on with books that you may never see or touch again. Hands-on learning is key in this business. Use it as an opportunity to look at price points and make comparisons, as well as ask questions about printings. You get to dive into the booksellers’ knowledge and specializations. They love when you ask them questions. It’s their joy to share their experience with you. You’ll also be surprised that there are lots of affordable options at these fairs support these folks and get to know them.
25. Estate sales can be a pain, but there can be some really good collections of books at those sales, and everyone knows it. If you ever find yourself in a crowded estate sale, you don’t need to be taking part in the reenactment of the toilet paper crisis of 2020. Don’t take part in the pandemonium. Show up early, stay calm, and get what you think is interesting, even if it’s only one book. Call that a victory.
26. Get to know the needs of the people in your community. You’ll be surprised at how many friends need help with unloading libraries that their parents or acquaintances don’t want anymore. A colleague of mine (who is also a musician) is the son of one of the old chairs of the music department at the university that I work at. His mother has been holding on to his father‘s library since about 20 years after his death. those books were rotting in his mother’s garage. He caught wind that I had a book business, and reached out to me. He asked if it was possible for me to swing by his mom’s place and take the stock of books. It was three or four tall shelves worth of books in the garage, many of which were rare music books that are scarcely printed and filled with great information. I’ve not only filled out my collection of certain authors and subjects of interest because of it, but I’ve sold a great many of those books and many of them went to the music library at the institution at which I teach. It was a mutual thing that helped everyone involved - his mom has more room in the garage, he has a trusted place where the old stock of his dad’s can go, and I feel as if my business was bolstered in trustworthiness just a little bit more in the community because of that exchange. It just took elbow grease, kindness/willingness, and a bit of time. Put yourself out there: make your love of books known publicly, put your online bookstore links out there on social media. You never know when a friend is going to be in need and wants to support you.
27. Booksellers have to develop patience. Books can take a long time to sell, but it’s really satisfying when a certain book that’s been waiting for its chance gets into the right hands. It’s worth the wait. That means you have to plan for the long haul if you want to sell books
28. Don’t short change your book values through too many sales that you put on. The book is worth what the book is worth. If you’re putting up sales often, you might want to check in with your rules for pricing at resale (in my case, the 10x rule mentioned earlier).
29. Condition does not always give a rare book its price tag. Keep in mind its historicity and desirability. People will take varying conditions of books if it’s a really great author or historic book. They could always rebind them or store them even in the condition that they’re in. It’s all up to them. However, it is your job to be honest in the pictures you take and the description you give in the selling post. The book will get in the right hands, condition and all.
30. It’s my experience that no book seller has a perfect batting average when it comes to evaluation. We miss things on occasion when we are evaluating condition of books or stray marks/underlines/ripped pages. Just admit the mistake and defer to the customer’s desire to make it right. Offer a couple of different options (like a full refund or pay for shipping to return it, etc.) if they don’t have ideas how to approach it. A seller’s job doesn’t always end after the completion of a sale. Sometimes your service extends to the customer in those places too, making them feel comfortable and calm - even if it’s for your mistake. Humility is the name of the game.
31. If there’s a subject that you’re uncomfortable with selling, then don’t. I’ve had customers ask me based off of my early stock about certain subjects, and I’ve had to say no. This also is wrapped up in the “your bookstore your business“ mantra. You can do what you want and sell what you want. Sometimes, there are morals involved, and that, too, is an extension of yourself represented in your bookstore. You don’t have to fall for or cave into the curiosities of your customers if you’re uncomfortable with a certain subject that they are suggesting you have. Sure, you may lose a customer or two along the way, but for the most part they came to you asking because they respect your stock, your knowledge, and are usually just curious. Chances are they will continue to browse your bookshelves because they respect your business. Be honest and cordial no matter what.
