Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my area...

[darkwing_duck1]

in that it basically has dried up. I looked all over town looking for some Treklit I'd decided to pick up and virtually every used bookstore in town told me the same thing: they don't do Trek lit any more. If they have copies, it's old ones they haven't gotten rid of yet, and they don't buy "new" old copies.

And it isn't the economy (though that certainly isn't helping). Almost to a store, I was told this has been going on for at least 4 years now. I was basically out of Treklit during that time, so I didn't pick up on the trend.

Does this match up with the situation where you live? Or is it (as some would say) just an indication that I live in a cultural "backwater"?

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

I've noticed in a few book stores the shelf space allotted to TrekLit has decreased over the past year. Don't know what it means, if anything.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Does this match up with the situation where you live? Or is it (as some would say) just an indication that I live in a cultural "backwater"?

Star Trek fans are known to be early adopters of technology. Maybe fans just deciding to start getting into ST literature (or back into the market) are choosing not to buy any hardcopies, not even when they are cheaper and second hand. These fans may be eBook-only readers now. (That doesn't mean they're madly downloading ST titles - yet - but it may mean they're choosing to do all of their recreational reading electronically.)

More generally, suburbs that used to boast two or three second hand book stores are lucky to have one. That whole market is rapidly diminishing or going online. Remember that Amazon's second hand sellers are a more recent addition to Amazon. Why go to a local second hand shop and wander the aisles, with fingers crossed, when you can ascertain online exactly which shop - worldwide - has that one second hand book you want, and then you order it online?

It's ironic that you chose to stop buying and reading ST novels at the same time many others did; had you and they not done so, the market would be healthier.

Finally, this type of popularity was always cyclic. Once collectors have scrounged all the back copies they are missing, they are - or were - often happier to buy crisp new copies of the new titles. If they can find them in stores, because the stores all know that ST fans were early adopters of Amazon, too, and reduced their book orders in anticipation of reduced over-the-counter demand.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

It's ironic that you chose to stop buying and reading ST novels at the same time many others did; had you and they not done so, the market would be healthier.

In my (and their) defense, Therin, we weren't doing it out of some desire to hurt the used book market, but from a perceived lack of value for money in the books themselves.

As for Amazon and e-readering...I'm not a fan and never will be a fan. I'll Amazon a book if I just can't get it locally OR if it's an expensive book and I think I can get a really good discount, but when I want a book, I want a book "right now". I want to look over the selection, maybe sample a page or two, make a decision, and walk out the door with a book to read, not hunt around for a decent synopsis, futz with ordering and scheduling, and then wait a week or two for shipping. And e-readers aren't a good investment for me, given how few books I buy.

 

[JD]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

^Actually Amazon and most of the other online bookstores do give you the back cover text letter for letter, and usually let you read the first chapter or so. I know it doesn't change the walking out with a book right now part, but it's really not as bad as you make it sound.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

^Eh...I find it cumbersome and unsatisfying myself. Maybe on this issue I am being a Cogley, but that's the way I feel about it.

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Back to used bookstores for a sec... this is what happens when things that were once wildly popular aren't popular any more. Local used bookstores used to be overflowing with Trek books that no longer sold. Wouldn't surprise me if they stopped buying them here, too.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Due to the decline in Trek's popularity I rarely come across second-hand books from the 2000's.

As far as new books go, one store is down to two Trek novels and the other has six. With three exceptions this decade (Voyages of Imagination, The Empty Chair and I can't remember the third), I've bought all my new Treklit online. I'm not the sort to read 50 pages in the store before buying. Internet scuttlebutt's all I need to choose.

Buying online's cheaper, too.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Heck, my local used-book store stopped buying Trek books a couple of decades ago, back when Trek was quite popular. The problem was that they simply got in too many of them; the market was glutted.

I figure that these days, ST isn't as popular among general readers as it once was; perhaps the people who buy ST books are mostly fans who keep them rather than casual readers who sell or donate them when they're done. And as stated above, ST fans tend to rely on online buying a lot; that includes buying used books. So the brick-and-mortar used-book stores wouldn't get their patronage as often.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

My local Half Price Books has EIGHT shelves of Star Trek books, mostly older ones from the 80s and 90s, but a few from 00s and they're not shifting them. When I went in to sell some of large number of books I had amassed, they offered me $13.50 for about 80 ST books...an offer I did not take then, but which I am considering now as we are moving from a house to an apartment.

When I do eventually get an eBook Reader, I will definitely get my books that way, but as my wife pointed out to me, with eBooks you can't sell them on--something you can do with dtf books.

 

[JD]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

We have a huge used entertainment store in town called Bookman's (along with books they also do comic, magazines, movies, and CDs), and the last time I was their about a year ago, they a whole bookcase of Trek Lit. But, I don't know what it looks like now though.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

A local mom & pop book shop in my area once had a decent collection of used Star Trek books--even going back to the Bantam era--but not anymore since the local Waldenbooks store closed up...

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

The used book store near my house has at least 10 shelves filled with them. The older stuff is 25¢ or so, but anything from the last seven or eight years still costs around $4

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

The other thing worth noting: many second hand bookshops are now represented on Amazon, and they often adjust the prices of ST novels they stock to take account of the sliding demand for certain titles. Any bargains and rarities on their shelves get snapped up via online buyers, who can browse by genre, by author, by title, and from any country in the world, whereas in the shop, it's sometimes hit 'n' miss.

A shop near me closed about 18 months ago when its owner died, but where he may have priced every ST novel at a flat $3.00-$5.00 a decade or two ago, in more recent times he'd become very price savvy - and would set huge prices on secondhand "harder to get" titles, such as "Mission: Gamma". I'd watch people arguing with him: "All your ST books should be the same price!"

In the early 80s, many second hand bookshops were more usually "book exchanges" and they used to boast that "Mills & Boon", "Agatha Christie" and paperback science fiction novels were their high turnover items. But the idea was to encourage people to bring them back, so they could sell them again and again and again. One shop near me had to ration their Agatha Christies! The sign on the shelf said, "Return an Agatha to buy an Agatha!"

I also recall during the 20th anniversary of ST, when Bantam Spectra repackaged the Blish TOS adaptations into three chunky, illustrated volumes with new intros (plus there was a re-release of the Mudd stories), many fans replaced their old twelve volume sets - and glutted the market by selling off their old copies. ST IV and TNG brought in a huge number of new fans, but that peak in fandom is long passed. Stores started to turn away Blishes, which used to have a very high turnover.

I well remember when the shops began to get very selective on what they bought. People would come in with a huge grocery bag of books and you'd see their smiles droop as most books in the bag would be rejected. Paperback SF was no longer considered a must-stock.

In my (and their) defense, Therin, we weren't doing it out of some desire to hurt the used book market, but from a perceived lack of value for money in the books themselves.

Which is why I find it ironic. You spoke with your wallet, as is your right, and the market responded. As it always will.

 

[tmclough]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Here in my town, there's a used books store that has a large, and growing, collection of ST books. When I first started getting back into ST about 3 years ago, they had one full bookcase of ST books, plus a couple of small piles on the floor. The last time I went there, they had two full bookcases, plus (I believe) more on the floor. There were at least one or two books from the past couple of years, but mostly "oldies".

One of my two regrets of buying my ebook reader is that I no longer have much of reason to shop there. (My other regret: no longer shopping at the new books store, which, thanks at least in part to my ordering habits, now actually stocks ST (and SW (not that I ever ordered them)) books.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

Here in my town, there's a used books store that has a large, and growing, collection of ST books.

It certainly makes a difference when the owner is a fan, or at least an appreciator. You can usually tell - at a glance - the reading preferences and interests of a second hand bookseller, and whether they're anally retentive about genre, dust, neatness and/or alphabetical order.

 

[pookha]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

well if like in 2009 they had published more star novels i was interested in..
in 2009 i got and read..

Losing the Peace
A Singular Destiny
Over a Torrent Sea
Synthesis
Full Circle
Unworthy
The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing
Open Secrets
Errand of Fury, Book Three

in 2010 so far nada.

taking the abrams verse books out left a giant void and it seems we wont get individual titan or voyager books this year.

sorry i am not going out and buying every star trek book just because it says star trek.

as for star trek in used book stores..
the biggest mckay has really over all decreased their sf as well as star trek section.
but it is as big almost as the star wars part and it has in interesting selection across the years.

one of the other smaller stores requires you trade in sf for sf and star trek for star trek.
and while not as much they always have some.

i do wonder how many of the stores will be impacted by the new media.

 

[Sxottlan]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

We have a huge used entertainment store in town called Bookman's.

Are you in Tucson? I've been to that store. It is pretty nice.

Years ago there was a used book store near me in a plaza. I recently drove through there again and it's gone. The whole store. They used to have several shelves of recent stuff and piles on the floor too. Although by "recent stuff" it was mostly from the late 90's/early 00's.

 

[JD]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

No, it's the one in Phoenix. The only problem is the distance. It's a fair ways away from where I live, and I don't drive so I have to rely on my mom and she doesn't want to go that far just for a few books that would probably come out to less than the gas to get that far.

 

[SicOne]

Re: Discovered something disturbing about "secondary market" in my are

It does depend upon traffic, price, and tidyness.

On one end of the spectrum our (Omaha) Half-Price Books has two shelves of Trek books, mostly from the 90s to current, and not much churn from what I can tell. But for all I know, they sell them and then purchase more of the same titles from people bringing in books to sell. But then again, they don't give very much money for books and I have noticed people just tell them, "Thanks, anyway" and taking their books back to the car...I think they thought that just because the books sell for half cover price that they'd get at least quarter cover price for selling them, but it's more like $0.25 per book when the store makes their take-it-or-leave-it offer.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is a store across town that sells used books along with old albums and such, and that dirty, dusty backroom has had the same Trek books on five shelves since time immemorial. You could get them all for $0.50 apiece (hell, the owner would probably give you the whole kit and kaboodle for pennies on the dollar), but the flying dust would choke you.