Selling Books on Consignment at Coffee Shops

Used bookstores are going out of business by the droves. My own store hit the skids a couple of years ago, but I found a way to keep selling books without the store front, and it was not by using eBay or Amazon or Alibris.

I had some racks in the store, pyramid shaped, that I could push around on wheels. When I closed the store I had tons of books left. I continued to rent a space in which to store them. I needed a way to get rid of them. And then those racks gave me an idea.

It just hit me. The local coffee shop had plenty of space, and was doing a fine business. People would sit and chat or bring in a book, but why shouldn't there be a supply of books there, waiting for them? Maybe I could put one of those racks in the coffee shop, pay the shop a fee, and sell my books there.

And if I could do this in one shop, why not many?

I did, indeed, talk to the manager. He agreed to let me try this. I put the rack in the shop and stocked it with leftovers from the store. I priced them moderately. Then I sat back and waited. As the weeks passed, the sales increased to a decent level. I would stop by every week with some boxes to restock the shelves.

The coffee shop employees collected the money and kept it in a cigar box under the counter. The manager was happy that the shop was making a little extra off of the books, and the customers were glad to have some books to browse through and buy.

It is a twist on the old consignment strategy. I am using their space and their employees to do the work, and in return, they take a cut. All that I have to do is stop in and refresh the shelves now and then.

I have more of these units to place and will be expanding my "empire" soon.

Now, there have been some problems. You have to make sure that all of the employees know about the payment system. At first I would count my books and far more were gone than had been paid for. Eventually, after consulting with the manager, this stopped happening, but you have to keep tabs on the books. Fortunately, while this represented a loss, since they were leftover books anyway, it didn't hurt too much. I see it as a cost of doing business.

You have to get used to letting the books be there, not under your control. The only thing that you can do to safeguard them is to get to know the staff a little bit, and keep in contact with the manager. It is easy enough to do. When you restock, stop and have a coffee break and chat with the coffee bar staff.

It is a nice way to live.