Bookseller Digest UK

Updates to Search Results Page

It's our goal to help buyers easily find any book on all of the AbeBooks websites, no matter how rare, unique or specific it is. For this reason, we wanted to ensure that our search results page is as simple and intuitive as possible for our buyers.

We have put a lot of work into analyzing and understanding buyer searches and are pleased to announce a newly redesigned search results page. The new page is currently in an A/B test and you may have already seen the new design, which is available to just a handful of visitors.

Here's how the new page will look:

On the Home Page, you will find the general Search box as before where buyers can search by Author, Title, Keyword or ISBN:

After clicking 'Find Book' the search is performed, and the updated search results page will appear:

1. At the top left corner you can view the number of results.
2. Enter additional keywords or terms to 'Search Within These Results'.
3. Get even more specific results by adding further search refinements on the left hand side. The values in parenthesis beside each refinement shows how many listings there are for this selection.

• Book Condition: Buyers can further refine the search to limit the results to books with a specific condition - whether new books only, or exclusively used/rare & antiquarian.
• Binding Type: Restrict search results to hard or softcover books only.
• Other Features: Depending on what data the bookseller has provided for the listing, buyers can also refine searches to include only first editions, signed books, books with a dust jacket or sellers who have provided images. It's also possible for buyers to exclude Print on Demand items from their searches.
• Buyers can also refine search results to only include listings from sellers who offer free shipping in their country and can limit results to include only sellers with a good performance rating.

With these new updates, we've made it easier for buyers to find the exact book they are looking for. For our booksellers, these changes will help improve the appearance of your listings if your books are well described and all important search attributes are provided.

Should you have any questions, comments or feedback to our new search results pages we'd be happy to hear from you. Simply contact our customer service team.

AbeBooks 2011 - Year in Review

In 2011, all of us at AbeBooks put in a lot of effort towards further improving our services to you. Here's a quick overview of what was new in 2011:

• New User Guide Online: We updated and improved our User Guides for new booksellers in consideration of new features and services, and to better explain certain functionalities. Click here to access an updated User Guide based on your current upload format: HomeBase 3.0, HomeBase 2.3, Custom File Format or Online Inventory Management System (OIMS).


• Updates to HomeBase 3.0: Last year we updated HomeBase 3.0 to add additional search terms or attributes.


• New in the Members Menu: This year we added a quick access link in your Members Menu where you can quickly access and process any refunds on your account.


• New Marketing Channels: In 2011 AbeBooks was actively updating and promoting its services via new communication channels such as Facebook and YouTube. AbeBooks now has a Facebook page in a variety of languages and has uploaded dozens of promotional videos on its YouTube Channel with over 100,000 views and growing.

AbeBooks' Book Collecting Guide

AbeBooks’ new Book Collecting Guide has been well received after being launched in December. We now wish to expand the Guide and welcome contributions from booksellers. We are looking for educational essays offering beginner-level information. The essays could enhance existing information in the Guide or detail subjects not yet covered.

Essays offering tips on collecting certain authors, genres, illustrators, eras and so on are particularly welcome. This is a great way to showcase your own inventory on AbeBooks. If you are interested in helping, email Richard Davies and tell him the subject you wish to write about. Please don’t write anything until you hear from him.

Contact Richard on media@abebooks.com

Upcoming Marketing Features - February

Here are some of the planned marketing features for February. Be sure to upload any books and images you have that fit with these themes to increase your chances of being included in these newsletters.

• Dental Books From Yesteryear - Rare and collectible denistry books
• Howard Pyle: The Man Who Rewrote History - Books and collections from this notable author and illustrator
• Literary Collaborations - Featuring a selection of books written by a collaboration of authors.
• Charting the Unknown: Collectible Maps and Cartography
• The Bobbs-Merrill Journey: From Oz to America's Kitchen - Featuring books from this historic publisher, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
• Just Rudyard Kipling - Books from this famous author of children's classics.

AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales in December 2011

1. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - £6,708
A single leaf from the 1476-1477 first edition printing by William Caxton – the first press to operate in England.

2.  The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - £5,416
A first edition copy from 1961 signed by Vonnegut, with a self-caricature; one of the most rare Vonnegut first editions owing to its limited printing of only 2,500 copies. 

3. Jacques Mesrine: Le Tir (The Shot) by Alain Bizos- £4,715
A sequence of three gelatine silver prints taken of Jacques Mesrine who was the #1 public enemy in France at the time.  This set was limited to 25 prints, each of which was signed by Bizos in black ink on the back.  This photo sequence was taken in January 1979; in November of that same year Mesrine was shot to death by French Police in Paris.

4. Opera Chirurgica: a docto viro, plerisque locis by Ambroise Pare’ - £4,308
 Ambroise, who began his career as a military surgeon, has been called the father of modern surgery based on his development of several techniques and theories including his belief that the phantom pain soldiers suffered from occurred in the brain and not the remnant of the limb.  Published in the 17th century, this second Latin edition of his complete works includes over 315 illustrations. 

5. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - £4,061
First edition of the entire three-volume trilogy with each of the volumes being signed by Pullman. 

6. La Peste by Albert Camus - £3,817
Original French issue of Camus’ novel The Plague, first published in 1947. This was one of 215 numbered copies printed on vellum paper. 

7. Historiae celebriores Veteris [et novi] Testamenti iconibus repraesentatae et ad excitandas bonas meditationes selectis epigrammatibus exornatae, in lucem by Luyken, Meloni, and Weigel - £3,334
Published in 1708 in Nuremberg this first edition, two-volume set includes various illustrations inspired by the bible’s old and new testaments.

8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter, and the Prisoner of Azkaban - £3,340
The first three Harry Potter titles, all deluxe editions, each signed by the Rowling.

9. Autographed Letter by Mark Twain - £3,184
A two-page letter written and inscribed by Mark Twain to Henry Chandler Bowen, who was the editor of the New York Independent; in the letter Twain asks Bowen for assistance in locating a poem by Caroline Mason that had been previously published in the paper.

10. Fable by John Baldessari - £3,184
The first and only edition of Baldessari’s rare artist book, published in 1977 by Anatol A V Und Filmproduktion, this book folds out accordion-style in four directions and is housed in a simple titled sleeve.

Technical Issue: Order Notification Emails

Update 24/01/2012: We would like to inform you that this issue has now been resolved and order notification emails are being sent. Thank you for your patience.

We are currently experiencing technical issues which are causing a delay to our order notifications emails. Our technical team is aware of the problem and is working hard to ensure that these emails are sent as soon as possible.

Please be aware:

• All orders are being generated
• You can process all orders directly from your Members Menu:

1. [Sign On] to your AbeBooks.com bookseller account
2. Click [View and Process Orders] from the "My Sales" Members Menu

All emails can be reviewed in your AbeBooks emails in your Members Menu. To view them: 

1. [Sign On] to your AbeBooks.com bookseller account
2. click on 'View AbeBooks Emails'

We thank you for your patience and understanding. We will keep you informed as soon as this issue has been fixed.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales in November 2011

1. Das Kapital by Karl Marx - £33,021
First edition in three volumes, published in 1867, 1885 and 1894 - one of the most influential economic and political works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

2. Complete Set of 10 issues of Aspen Magazine - £14,625
Ten issues of Aspen Magazine were published between 1965 and 1971 on an irregular schedule. The publication was described as the first “three dimensional magazine” with each issue coming in a customized box or folder with a variety of materials in different media formats including postcards, posters, movie reels, records, and booklets.

3. Raccolta di Statue Antiche e Moderne data in luce sotto i Gloriosi Auspicj della Santità di N.S. Papa Clemente XI by De Rossi Domenico - £6,100
Published in 1704, this collection of engravings of ancient and modern Roman sculpture was one of the first 18th century art books and contains 160 plates as well as colored cuts.  Noted antiquarian Paolo Alessandro Maffei assisted with the descriptive text.

4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! By Dr. Seuss - £6,052
First edition, first impression copy of Seuss’ 1957 classic, including an inscription “For Stephanie - Best wishes - Dr. Seuss.”

5. Walden: Or, Life in the Woods by Henry D. Thoreau - £5,074
A first edition of Thoreau’s 1854 work in which he describes his time spent living in a cabin at Walden Pond.  The book is considered to be partly a personal declaration of independence as well as a social experiment, a voyage of spiritual discovery, a satire, and a manual for self reliance.

6. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - £4,212
This is the only signed and numbered edition of this book published in 2006 by Penguin. It was designed by FUEL and housed in a perspex box. Graphic designers Stephen Sorel and Damon Murray are the people behind FUEL and both have signed the book.

7. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - £3,510
Limited to 350 copies, this deluxe American first edition, published in 1988, was signed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and housed in a slip case.

8. De Mirabilibus Mundi by Solinus Gaius Julius - £3,319
“The Wonders of the World” was published in 1493 and is derived from the writings of Pomponius Mela and Pliny.

9. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Martin Luther King Jr. - £3,185
First edition, first Printing. Martin Luther King Jr. has signed on the front free endpaper. An important American Civil Rights book that details the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott organized by King. It reveals the logistics of the boycott, the threats against King and his philosophy of non violence.

10. Autograph letter from Virginia Woolf to Clive Bell - £3,032
Dated July 7, 1929 and signed by Woolf, this 28-line letter in purple ink outlines social plans for an upcoming week.  Bell was an art critic and a fellow member of the Bloomsbury Group. He married Woolf’s sister, Vanessa.

“About a variety of small matters. 1) Vita is going to be in London next Thursday. I was bold enough to say I thought you wouldn't mind if she looked in after dinner; but she is dining out, so would come late, if at all. 2) If I see Mary [Hutchinson] as is likely in the next week or so, do you wish me to say anything or nothing of your plans. 3) Entranced by the fine, or moderately fine weekend we think of coming here again on Saturday. Couldn't you come too? I warn you that the house is in the builder's hands, but we could provide a bed and plain food and could go over and see the Charlestonians and crack some jokes. And you would be driven in the Singer both ways. So consider it and let me know when we meet. We are just off to see old Birrell. [signed] yr [crossing out the initial misspelling of her own name-- which she has signed again] Virginia [and with her postscript] (age has come upon me and I can no longer sign my name).”

A Singer is a long defunct type of British car. Vita is, of course, Vita Sackville-West – the poet and author. Birrell was probably Frankie Birrell, the son of Augustine Birrell.

Prepare your bookseller account for the holiday season

Preparing your books and listings for the rush of holidays sales is important, but there are other essential tasks to consider in order to prepare your bookseller account as well.

Being well-prepared will ensure that your buyers receive their books ontime, are satisfied with their purchase and might even return to place more orders in the new year.

Here are some tips for a successful holiday shopping season:

• Update your shipping matrix (and check it twice!): With the increase in orders and deliveries worldwide some shipments may experience delays. Be extra careful with your shipping times to ensure that your items arrive in time to make it under the tree. You can update your shipping matrix easily through your Members Menu.
• Offer free shipping: Make your book prices even more attractive to buyers looking to simplify their holiday purchases by offering free shipping. Simply set your domestic shipping costs to £0 and your listings will appear in our Free Shipping page. (You can also offer free international shipping if you wish)
• Use adequate packaging: And ensure that your books arrive at the buyer in one piece and undamaged. Use thick material to protect the cover and ensure that the corners and edges are protected if using soft envelopes.
• Insure your shipments and use tracking: This is particularly important for high-value books. By opting for shipping insurance and tracking both you and the buyer can be protected should the book not reach it's destination. Tracking also protects you against refunds for the reason 'Item did not arrive'.
• Vacation Tool: Everyone deserves a break! If you will be celebrating the holidays away from your bookshop or online bookseller account, be sure to put your account on vacation in order to avoid receiving orders you will not be able to fulfill. Your inventory will be temporarily removed from the website and can easily be reactivated once you return. The Vacation Tool is easily accessible through your Members Menu.

If you have any questions about the above tips and suggestions feel free to contact our customer service team.

Schedule a bookseller promotion in 2012

Help boost your sales by scheduling a bookseller promotion in 2012. By participating, your inventory will be promoted to thousands of active buyers around the world, potentially increasing sales by up to 50%.

Our bookseller promotions are featured on the Bookseller Sales Page with a direct link from the AbeBooks.co.uk and AbeBooks.com homepages. In addition, your sale will be communicated via a monthly newsletter sent to thousands of buyers worldwide.

To participate, booksellers must:   

• Discount their entire inventory by at least 10%
• Run the promotion for a calendar month
• Have at least 2,000 books online
• Have a completion rating of at least 90%
• Have uploaded images for at least 20% of your items

If you are interested in scheduling a promotion in 2012 or have any questions simply submit your request through our customer service request form.

AbeBooks.co.uk shines in Which? Magazine survey of online shopping sites

The November 2011 issue of Which? Magazine has just been published in the UK and it carries an in-depth review of the UK’s online shopping sites. If you don’t know Which?, it’s the UK’s leading consumer protection organization and is highly respected for its work in consumer affairs.

Which? surveyed 14,671 of its members about their online shopping habits and asked them to rate the best and the worst internet retailers.

The top five overall sites, according to the survey, are (along with customer scores out of 100):

1. Lizearle.com (92)
2. Johnlewis.com (89)
3. Amazon.co.uk (87)
4. AbeBooks.co.uk (86)
5. Lakeland.co.uk (86)

Here is some copy from the article:

    “A good stock of items was also mentioned by several AbeBooks customers. ‘Its choice of books is truly impressive and descriptions of titles are always accurate. A very reliable service all round."

    “One member said: ‘Having an alert to know when a rare book becomes available is really good – the World War I book I wanted became available in California, and was shipped to me speedily, and at a reasonable cost.”

Congratulations to all our booksellers for helping AbeBooks.co.uk become such a highly rated website within the UK. Books from booksellers all over the world are purchased by British customers via AbeBooks.co.uk on a daily basis and very high standards of service are being maintained.

A lot of very famous brands trailed way behind AbeBooks.co.uk in the Which? poll and customer satisfaction is always the most effective measurement of a website’s worth.