Welcome to our latest newsletter - it feels like winter is definitely coming to the Manawatu so it must be time to get another update out.
OUT OF STOCK BOOKS
We frequently get asked 'why do we show out of stock books on the website?' Most other used online booksellers only show the books they currently have in stock on their websites, so why are we different?
Two main reasons:
1) We have a wishlist / notification feature on the website which lets you add an 'out stock book' to your wishlist and get an automatic email alert the instant that book comes back into stock. If the out of stock books were hidden on the website you wouldn’t be able to use this feature to get alerts
2) We can restock these books onto our website faster. It means that when we get another copy we can update the database with slightly less effort. Less effort equals lower costs for us which equals lower prices for you.
However, we understand that it can be annoying when you search for Terry Pratchett and find that we have 73 different editions listed on the website, and only one is currently in stock (and probably none by the time you read this). I should point that there is a 'filter and sort' button on LEFT side of each page which lets you filter out of stock items from your search results.
Please let us know if you think it would make more sense to hide the out of print books completely – this would make it easier to search for books you can buy, but you won't be able to get alerts for out of stock books.
RAILWAY BOOKS
We recently acquired a largish collection of railway books from a serious local enthusiast.
These will be coming onto the website over the next month as we work through them. So if trains are your bag, please keep your eye on the recent arrivals section of the website, or on the Rail category.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY! Aka the deal of the month
I recently listed a children’s book, ‘Tinkerbell in the Realm of the Never Fairies’ on the website for $7 - about $2 more than most of the children’s books we sell because ‘it looked nice’.
It never occurred to me to check its value but when it sold an hour later, I thought ‘quick sale, book about fairies, I wonder what that book was really worth?’ Turns out a Good copy like the one we sold can fetch around NZ$100 overseas.
So someone (who shall remain nameless!) got quite a bargain thanks to my unfamiliarity with fairy-related books.
SHELVING - Moving books from banana boxes to shelves
We are now over half-way through the project of putting all our books onto shelves. The warehouse is looking much tidier already, and another month of hard work should get all our books onto shelves.
Darryl and The Book Express team
