Sunday, May 2, 2021

Back to Books, Happy Again

I've been happy in myself all week, since quitting the store's social media.

It's like how I felt this winter, after the dentist pulled a molar that'd been low-grade infected for years. 
A trickle of energy had been ebbing away, silently... And now it's not.

Yesterday I was so happy to be at work in the back (and Saturdays are light on managers, while some weekdays we have three (three)), I was inspired to mop my work area and shared work spaces, which never happens.

I love the BOOK'S--there was never any problem there, and now I feel perkier and have rearranged the Fiction & Lit section.

I cleared a shelf for F&L, so I could face some sections forward. Books definitely sell better that way. (I like browsing the covers rather than the spines myself.)
Since then, some books sold that had been around for ages.

I raised some prices too--mostly because of the ReSellers who scoop up all the $valuable books for a buck or two.
This drives me crazy, mostly because almost none of the resellers seem to care about books at all. (I've talked to them.)
They could be bots, standing there scanning ISBNs with their phones.

So, lots of books are still .33 ––.99 cents each, but recent, high-interest books in good shape (i.e. resalable) are now $2 and up. Still cheaper than Goodwill and Half Price Books.
(I need to make a rack to better show off bottom-shelf books.)

BELOW: Kids' Books
A volunteer used to do this section--I miss her.
I plunk the books out in no particular order. But then, they speak for themselves...
Now that I sort/price toys too (also formerly a volunteer job), I'm mixing toys and books more.

I need to change the price sign-- all kids' books were 49¢, but I changed the price of slim, little paperbacks to 25¢ each.
And again, I priced the resaleable picture books (
crisp, recent) higher, up to $1.99.

Capitalism--it turns you into a jerk.


BELOW: I paired these Giant Covid & Flu virus plushies with a couple old, newly relevant books.
The stickers on The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance read, (Ha ha ha) (1994) (27 years ago) 1.99.

(The Hot Zone is only .33 because it's beat up.)

The best displays never last long--these items sold quickly.

Now I'm not taking photos for the store's social media, I can take them for myself.
Did I already post this book cover? I don't care, I love it so much, I'm posting it again---that wire art!

1 comment:

  1. I love the idea of placing toys amongst the books, that will get people's attention and draw them in. Our thrift shops here do very badly with books, most would have maybe a tenth of what you have there. Our local one has more, because I've been culling my own shelves and giving them there. I knew I was never going to read them again and I am short on space here.

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