Observations on the subtle selling techniques of Rare Book Dealers!

“I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.”-Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell)

My father-in-law Michael Ginsberg, is an Antiquarian book dealer.

This year I had the opportunity to work with him at the 41st Annual Boston Antiquarian Book Fair.

What a fascinating subculture of book dealers!

Over the course of two days, I observed how book dealers apply their craft.

1.Networking:

Rare Book dealers are part of an exclusive club of collectors. They see each other a few times per year at book fairs across the country,and around the world.

This creates a close community.

If they do not carry a specific book, they are happy to send a potential customer to one of their competitors.

This is a great example of giving value with no ask in return.

2. Expertise:

They are the experts in their field.

At my father-in-laws booth, a customer had a question about Camels in the US in the mid 19th Century?

He had a book called Uncle Sams camels. Despite this not being his specific field of interest,he knew every detail on the subject matter.

Subsequently I learned that in 1855, the U.S. Congress funded an experiment…The importation of camels in order to test their fitness for military purposes in the SOUTHWEST.

The importance of being a subject matter expert (SME) was on full display.

3. Price point:

I saw books priced as low as $75 and as high as $55,000.(Hemingway, First book,1923,Three stories and 10 poems).

Knowing how to price your collection is critical and understanding the value of a book is key.

Value dictates the price, not the other way around.

The Rare Book dealers i encountered, exhibited a unique approach………..collectively they never seemed interested in selling their books.

Yet when the lights went down at the conclusion of the fair, thousands of books were sold.

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