Books Book Industry Wonk Alert
posted by on August 1 at 14:31 PM
Amazon.com has just announced that, pending approval, they’re buying online used book retailer Abebooks.com. This is not great news. Abebooks was one of Amazon’s only competitors.
Both retailers sell used books in generally the same manner: used booksellers list their inventory on the online booksellers’ sites and customers go through Amazon and Abebooks to buy the books; the online retailers basically put up a tremendously popular interface and then deal as a middleman to get smaller used book retailers a worldwide customer base. I know some used booksellers who refuse to do business with Amazon, preferring to deal with Abebooks instead. And I know some booksellers who prefer Amazon because they disagree with Abebooks’ requirements for retailers. None of those booksellers will be happy with this.
UPDATE: This blog explains why this is troubling, and it also points out Alibris, which is another online bookseller that I forgot all about. Alibris has its own pluses and minuses for used booksellers, but it might have a very important minus now: they’re not Amazon.
Your link is showing up raw.
Have you tried Bookfinder? I've had the best luck finding out-of-print book through them.
The coolest online book service is the King County Public Library. You can now check out digital copies using the Adobe Document Library software (free download).
Bookfinder is owned by Abebooks, so now Bookfinder will be Amazon too. Yikes.
You can also check out music, movies (CD, DVD), and art prints from the library.
I like their Take A Pitbull Home For The Weekend program, and if you call them service dogs, you can even take them into grocery stores with you.
You do have to sign a waiver of liability for the last program, mind you ...
This is worse than the 20-cent tax on plastic bags. This is seriously bad news. If Bookfinder becomes Amazon, buyers and sellers of used books are seriously fucked.
that's awful. i specifically shopped thru abebooks because they had better prices/selection/ethics than amazon.
Well, that sucks the hairy root. Abebooks is quality.
Damn, I didn't know Bookfinder was owned by them! I loved their antique search function. Reminded me of shopping online in 1994, and was exactly the kind of UI I expected from a bookseller.
Sad news indeed.
I like the speediness of Alibris's booksellers. I've only shopped there 2 times, but I found exactly what I was looking for.
You mean there is someplace other than Amazon to buy books? Shocking!
(Am I the only one that shops at Powell's?)
Paul,
Thanks for linking to my post on this topic and the previous one about angry Borders employees.
Amazon will now own ABE, Bookfinder, Fillz, Chrislands and a minority stake in LibraryThing. Amazon now has competing interests in Shelfari and LibraryThing which is a bit odd.
The playing field for independent booksellers shrinks with Alibris and Biblio the remaining players. While quick changes likely won't occur, we can look at the history of Bibliofind, a previous Amazon acquisition, as a type of track record. (Hint: It no longer really exists.)
Long term, will Amazon put more money into ABE marketing, helping to squeeze out the other players in the space? Will they standardize shipping and make it a profit center, making it less attractive for sellers? Will they replace ABE's search with it's own, an improvement in my book?
And will the only other titan, Barnes & Noble, sit by and do nothing? In a few years we could see the sites consolidate, and when only a few options remain, sellers could feel the squeeze.
@11 - No, Powell's is sweet. I think it's the perfect alternative if Abebooks heads downhill. I could spend days in their shops, too.
Abebooks has already gone downhill. Tons of booksellers have pulled out of there in the past year or two. I routinely come up dry there on the type of stuff I never used to. they are increasingly turning into a clearinghouse for millions of copies of $1 garbage that's not worth shipping.
For the vast majority of stuff, this isn't really much of a change. Remember, you're not buying from Amazon or Abe; you're buying from the large network of independent sellers who sell through them. And that network is expanding rapidly. Unfortunately, there's a tradeoff, as a ton of amateurs is coming online who have no clue how to describe a book. That's one thing I'm not fond of with Amazon; their bibliographic standards are abysmal, and there's too much chaff. It's very often difficult to tell from the descriptions just what book you're getting. I mean even basics like the title -- wrong, wrong, wrong.
For most mass market junk this doesn't matter, but for more interesting, scarcer pieces it makes all the difference in the world.
What are the differences between PowellsBooks.com and these websites pre-Amazon? Retail versus wholesale?
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