Review: The Home-Based Bookstore
The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Website, by: Steve Weber (Falls Church, VA: Weber Books, 2006).
Bookselling online is becoming recognized one of the fast growing sectors of the publishing industry. There is no doubt that sales are booming. Relative to other industries, this trade has an incredibly low barrier to entry, making competition incredibly cut-throat. New sellers will embrace this book as a comprehensive manual that further erodes this barrier, older and professional sellers may have their reservations.
No matter what your beginning apprehensions, one cannot doubt the clarity and comprehensiveness with which Weber’s book is written. While anecdotes and narratives are sparse, the book moves quickly given its informational nature. Weber’s writing style is simple and to the point - a perfect technique for this type of book.
On the negative side, I would say the book is too focused on Amazon. It is clear this is where Weber’s expertise is, and on that level the book is comprehensive. Regarding alternative sites, one might be searching for a little more depth. In addition, the book fails to mention this humble blog. Of course, I think this is a faux pas, but that is just my humble opinion.
I am not sure the experienced online bookseller will find more than a few new pieces of information in here, but nascent sellers would be well advised to wrangle up a copy and I highly encourage them to do so.
