Thanks, Ex-Libris!

For some reason, Maritime List 330, our most recent offering, racked up an encouraging 60% of sold items.

My lists do pretty well, usually bringing in 40-50%. From conversations with colleagues, it seems that returns from most dealers who issue catalogs regularly are a little lower – 30-40%.

I’ve long since stopped patting myself on the back for these results. I mean, I’m still quite proud of them, but my arm is getting tired.

What got me headed down the performance rabbit hole this week was the fact that I hadn’t expected much from Maritime List 330. It was diverse – containing quite a few items I’d recently acquired that interested me but were not maritime related. And, while it wasn’t a bargain basement assemblage, there weren’t a lot of rares. The most expensive item topped out at $3000, and most of the offerings were in the $500 and under category. But I’d put out lists of relatively inexpensive books in the past and had never experienced such a high percentage of sales.

That got me to wondering if timing had anything to do with it? Was there a best time to issue an online-only catalog?

I know I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, but it’s worth noting here. In terms of lifespan, online catalogs are astonishingly different than hard copy catalogs. Back in the day, when I mailed out 6 catalogs a year, orders would come in for weeks. These days, online-only catalogs are like Mayflies, lasting 2 or 3 days at the most. This plays into the equation, but I’m not sure how.

I have about 2000 names on my list. At any given time, however, only about 100 of these names are “active” buyers, making purchases regularly. Over time, these regulars change, but their diversity of interests suggests to me that subject matter – the kinds of books I’m offering in any given list – is not the determining factor for the success of any given list.

That got me to wondering about day of issue. Maybe there’s a particular day of the week that’s best for getting eager eyes on the goods being offered. So I went back through the 8 previous lists I’ve issued in 2023 and compared results with day of issue. The results are as follows:

8/11/23 – Friday, 35% sales

7/10 – Monday, 45%

6/14 – Wednesday, 30%

5/8 – Monday, 15%

3/27 – Tuesday, 55%

3/7 – Tuesday, 50%

2/20 – Monday (President’s Day), 60%

1/10 – Tuesday, 40%

A couple of things to note here. I don’t do Thursdays or Fridays because I think people are distracted toward the end of the week. Monday seems to have yielded the poorest results, except for 2/20, another 60% sale. That was President’s Day. Most of my institutional customers were out of the office, but my retail people seemed to have plenty of time on their hands.

Excluding that outlier, I’d generalize that Monday and Wednesday are not particularly strong internet catalog days, and that Tuesday is best.

As you probably all know, Tuesday is the only day that Ex-libris, the interweb oasis where librarians gather, allows commercial announcements. I don’t always post my catalog announcements on Ex-libris, but when I do, I get occasional orders from people who aren’t on my list, perhaps because Ex-libris Tuesdays are days when more librarians and dealers tend to pay more attention to internet listings.

The matter certainly deserves deeper study, but my back of the cocktail napkin calculation seems to indicate that Tuesdays, Ex-libris days, are best.

So, how come this one didn’t sell last Tuesday with the rest of them?

Baskin, Leonard (Illustrator); Herbert Bronstein; Albert Friedlander (Editors). The Five Scrolls. New York: CCAR Press, 1984. 36 cm. xiii, 323, (2, etching and colophon) pp. Full page color lithographs, signed limited colored etching. One of Baskin’s masterworks, This is copy #5 in a limited edition of 175 copies, with a signed limited colored etching. Hebrew test on recto, English translation on verso. “Ecclesiastes,” “Esther,” “Song of Songs,” “Ruth,” and “Lamentations.” Thirty seven color plates plus original colored etching. A monumental piece of publishing. Fine condition, bound in green morocco over boards, with green morocco cover labels, lettering in gilt. With publisher’s slipcase. $400

 

Or this one?

DeKay, James E. Zoology of New York, or the New York Fauna.Part II. Birds. Albany, NY: Carroll and Cook, 1844. 29 cm. xii, 380, (141 color plates) pp.  Most of the colored plates show two birds per plate. Portions of the text and the first plate are lightly foxed, the rest of the color plates are in fine condition. Very good condition. Bound in publisher’s black cloth with gold lettering and cover decoration. Only 300 copies were issued with colored plates. $400

 

Something wrong with $400 books?