The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 45, November 4, 2007, Article 10

MORE ON THE AFTERMARKET FOR NUMISMATIC LITERATURE

Regarding our discussion of the pricing dynamics of
out-of-print numismatic literature, Scott Semans writes:
"I've become cynical regarding complaints about high
aftermarket prices on out-of-print works.  I deal in Asian,
African and Ethnographic monies, and their literature, so
obscure specialized references are what I'm about.  I began
carrying these books long ago to help my coin-collecting
customers and encourage more research and publication.
Since I was making money on the coins, I considered the
books a sidecar and sold them as cheaply as I could,
always at a discount  below list.

"But once a book goes out of print, the whole dynamic
changes.  Suddenly I get orders for the book, from the
collectors who have been price-shopping or putting off
buying it, AND other dealers who know they can ask what
they want for it.  Do I continue being the good guy and
keep my cheap price until it sells out?  No, I charge
what the traffic will bear.  I'm still sitting on stocks
of other titles that will soon become obsolete or will
always be kept in print, and have to be blown out below
cost in today's super-competitive Internet-driven market.

"Some time ago I took it a step further, and made a
distributor-level investment in a very good, but very
specialized book which I knew would never be in enough
demand to reprint.  The self-publishing author got his
money back quickly, collectors initially got the book
from me at a good discount, and - years later - I had
enough copies left to ask 10+ times my cost for the
remaining books, and get it.  Those last books went to
collectors who really, really wanted them, and the excess
profits went to me, not to intermediary dealers.  Futures
trading in numislit commodities is just another survival
strategy in a competitive market.

"Moral for the collector or researcher: If it looks like a
solid work on a topic that interests you even slightly,
shop for a good price, and buy it when it's in print.  You
will likely be supporting an author who published out of
love of his subject, you will at least learn something, and
the book could start you on a series you will enjoy immensely.
Pecuniary side benefits include making money when it goes out
of print, and outwitting greedy speculators such as myself!"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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