AbeBooks continues to amaze me. They act like a company with a borderline personality, courting the traditional bookselling community at every turn while doing all they can to push these same booksellers away.
AbeBooks has recently announced that they are adding a new search feature to their Rare Book Room.
“We have added a feature to the Rare Book Room search that automatically pre-selects the price range to show only books priced at $10.00 and over.”
Now their same loose definition of ‘bookseller’ is being applied to ‘rare’.
Remember this is the company that still claims that “Rare and antiquarian booksellers make up the core of our business.”
This initiative does nothing but further dilute the language of the book trade, it does not strengthen or help the traditional bookselling community in any way.
Wait, there’s more.
AbeBooks is now soliciting antiquarian booksellers to join their newly launched Rare Book Appraisers section. Only booksellers that are part of one of the major trade organizations are eligible.
I can hear the call now:
“Hello, I got your name through the AbeBooks. I need an appraisal for an old book my father left me.
I did a search at the Rare Book Room on Abe and …”
Why now? Well, AbeBooks just announced its new “Win A Bookseller For A Day” contest. The lucky winner will get a visit by a real live bookseller. The winner will have all day to marvel at this endangered species as he/she scours your collection to determine the market value for your books.
The image at left is the one currently displayed on the contest page. I guess the value is in the collection.
“The contest is being supported by a marketing push that includes magazine ads, email newsletters, site content, and publicity. The contest is part of an on-going campaign focused on antiquarian, rare and collectible books.”
Please.
Interestingly enough the contest is being co-sponsored by Fine Books & Collections magazine. The magazine is one of the tops in the trade and why they choose this route is a bit troubling. Granted they have had a lot of success with their collegiate book collecting contests but this one isn’t so pure.
I am sure the weeding process will produce an admirable winning collection but I trust Fine Books could have found a more appropriate partner. I wonder if it was pitched to the ABAA or ILAB. True, many of the booksellers list their books on Abe but for many this is a matter of economic necessity not desire. Fine Books advertisers are almost exclusively members of the trade or companies that provide services to the high-end collector. I just don’t see how this move will strengthen their brand. It might increase circulation and expand awareness but it in the end they are getting in bed with a company that believes rare books start at $10!
Lastly, AbeBooks is trying to trademark the term ‘passion for books.’ Legally this may work but in reality it is a bit of an insult. In the 10+ years I have followed this company a ‘passion for books’ never entered my mind as a company trait.
My hope is that sometime soon either AbeBooks will come around and show the passion for booksellers that they purport to show books or that an alternative online marketplace will emerge that caters to the pre-internet professional bookseller.
The time is ripe.