Browsing the Bookshelves

Time was when Alibris was a sound selling venue for UK sellers. Yes, they marked up our stock above that of US competitors, and told buyers that it would take at least three weeks for the book to be sent out to them, let alone delivered. But with Alibris' strong marketing and its deep penetration of the US market, it was still a good venue for UK booksellers offering interesting and well-described books. Add to that the once a week consolidated shipping, paid for by Alibris and the fact that Alibris almost always absorbs returns, it site provided a stready flow of sales and the 20 per cent commission, although painful, could be justified. Even on the tiny inventory we had on line in 2003, some 5,000 books, we regularly shipping 20 to 25 books to Alibris each week.

All that changed during 2004 and the early part of 2005. First UK sellers were removed wholesale from the link up between Alibris and Barnes and Noble. That hurt. Our sales via Alibris halved over night and from conversations with colleagues I know others suffered even more.  Then came Alibris's abortive public offering which damaged their reputation and in turn resulted in another dive in sales. The change in fee structure earlier this year was another kick in the teeth, especially for UK sellers. By insisting on a monthly subscription as well as commission per sale, albeit at a slightly reduced rate, Alibris seemed to be sending a message that it really didn't welcome sellers with small stock and that it was setting itself up to be all about turnover and quantity. But in a passing gesture to those who swim the seas of the rare and antiquarian book trade, a low level scheme was introduced for those with an inventory of less than 1,000 which allowed them to opt out of the monthly subscription if they agreed to an additional per sale fee. We tinkered with this option for a month, but the tiny number of sales did not justify the enormous data management required to send just a small proportion of our inventory.  Some UK sellers stuck with this model, a few, like us, have kept their entire inventory at Alibris, but many left the scheme although.

And now Alibris have announced that even the low level scheme will come to an end in the new year without any similar replacement. I predict that for many UK and other European booksellers this will be final nail in the coffin of their relationship with Alibris.  Apparently, the scheme was too confusing. All those poor little booksellers out that - they just couldn't get their heads about a commission only agreement. What utter bosh! If you sell books on line, believe me, you understand commission and subscriptions in the same way that an bookmakers understand odds. It's in the blood. More likely that Alibris found that it was not worth their while to adminster a separate scheme for a small number of booksellers, especially when their sales are declining in the same way as snow melts in the sun. So Alibris delivers another kick in the teeth to booksellers operating outside North America while it positions itself as an  exclusively American site for Americans. This may keep the corporate accountants and city fund managers happy but it will not bring sales for Alibris. They have taken a major step to remove some of the most disintinctive, most interesting and, in the US, some the hardest to find inventory. 

I suppose the writing was on wall, if perhaps only in pencil, with the initial change in fee structure. This latest move puts in in ink. Alibris is no longer a truely international site for international trade. And with out I doubt it will last long as a site for book collectors in the ultra-competitive internet bookselling marketplace.  Unless there are some real and quick changes in their business model, that ink will be replaced with inedible marker pen.  Move over Alibris. Move on up Biblio.