Category: Product

Smart Tools for Easier Buying: Leveraging Our Custom Website Tools

December 12, 2023

Are you using Book Depot’s website tools to their fullest capabilities? We’ve made the book buying process so much easier for our customers through the creation of custom tools to help them search for the books they want. Gone are the days of having to painstakingly type in authors one-by-one and juggling multiple keywords to uncover books in line with customers’ interests.

With our Custom List Creator, you set the criteria. This tool empowers you to tailor lists according to your specific needs and preferences. Save your customized lists for future use, set up templates to have them emailed to you, and choose both the day and frequency for receiving these lists. Doesn’t that sound like a time-saver?

Moreover, enhance your experience by applying advanced filters. Precision is at your fingertips as you refine results by quantity, concentrate on budget-friendly price points, identify in-stock arrival dates, specify preferred publishers, and eliminate redundancy by excluding previously viewed lists.

Curious about this tool’s secret hideout? After logging in, just click the person icon at the top, then navigate to My Lists. Click ‘Create,’ and voila! You can customize your list across various categories including:

Category
Publisher
Author
Format
Price & Quantity
Arrival Date
Demographic
Keywords
Exclude Lists

At Book Depot, we’re not just about offering an extensive book selection at great prices; we’re on a mission to make your shopping smarter, so you can maximize your resources. Say hello to efficiency with tools that put convenience at your fingertips.

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7 Myths of Bargain Books

November 14, 2023

Bargain books are a great way to add value and variety to your store, but some wholesale book buyers may have doubts or challenges that stop them from buying bargain books or creating a discount book section in their store. This blog will explore seven of the most common myths or misconceptions about bargain books and address some of the worries a new buyer might have. We understand that many of our readers already appreciate the value and benefit that bargain books bring to their business, but we hope you will still find this article useful.

Myth 1: Bargain books do not support authors.

The misconception that bargain books fail to support authors is rooted in the belief that they don’t provide royalties. While it’s true that bargain books do not supply royalties to authors, this argument holds validity. However, it is essential to recognize that bargain books can still significantly support authors, albeit in a different manner. This is particularly relevant for emerging authors seeking to establish themselves in an industry increasingly dominated by bestsellers.

For authors with substantial book contracts and established success, the impact of bargain book sales may be marginal. However, for lesser-known authors striving to make a mark, the accessibility of their work through bargain books presents an opportunity. Enticed by the affordability and willingness to take a chance, readers might discover an unfamiliar author. Should they develop a fondness for the book, they will likely transition to purchasing subsequent releases at a front-list price, thereby bolstering the author’s overall support and recognition.

Myth 2: Front-list sales will be cannibalized.

When contemplating the addition of a bargain book section, bookstore owners often worry about it detracting from front-list sales. However, the experiences of numerous successful book retailers worldwide suggest otherwise. Contrary to the concern, incorporating bargain books enhances front-list offerings by attracting customers and motivating them to make additional purchases. High prices may limit customers to buying only one or two new books at full price. Yet, strategically placing enticing bargain books, especially near the checkout, can generate additional sales. Consider the scenario where a book category, like cookbooks, is losing popularity due to the prevalence of online recipes. Customers may hesitate to spend $30 or $40 on a cookbook, leading to doubts about allocating more store space. Nevertheless, a value cookbook at a discounted price could still capture their interest.

Myth 3: Selection is limited.

With hundreds of new arrivals added to our website daily and more than 50 categories available, there is always something for every organization type – big or small! We add over half a million books to our inventory each week to keep your organization’s reading materials fresh and engaging. Whether you’re a retailer, educator, or nonprofit organization, our vast network of connections with every major publisher in North America gives us a diverse selection of over 35,000 titles for you to choose from. If you haven’t checked out bookdepot.com or bookdepot.ca, you don’t know what you’re missing out on.

Myth 4: Bargain book quality is compromised.

At Book Depot, our inventory is comprised of excess inventory from publishers, all of which are unread and guaranteed to be in good condition. Typically, most books bear a discreet mark, such as a small line or dot on the page edges, indicating their discounted status in the market. This marking prevents the books from being returned to the publisher for additional credit, resulting in substantial customer savings. While some books may not carry this mark, it’s a standard feature for the majority.

Since our stock consists of publishers’ excess and returns, a few titles may exhibit minor shelf wear and retail stickers. Before shipping, we inspect books for damage, ensuring you receive products free from cover rips or tears. Our remarkably low damage claim percentage, less than 0.07%, underscores the high quality of our offerings.

Myth 5: Bargain books are dated.

Indeed, bargain books are not new releases, as publishers intentionally allow them to age before introducing them to the secondary market. Nevertheless, publishers have substantially reduced this timeframe, enabling these books to reach retailers sooner and maintain relevance. While there will always be some portion of dated inventory in the mix, there exists a substantial amount of relatively recent products that cater to the interests of your customers.

Myth 6: There is little profit in bargain books.

The profitability of bargain books is often underestimated. In essence, there exists a significant profit margin within the realm of bargain books. Despite being low-cost, they yield substantial returns. Strategic purchasing allows for swift turnover, fostering enthusiasm in your store for exceptional deals and potentially doubling or even tripling your investment. Long-time customers of Book Depot have consistently executed this approach, noting that while new book sales often break even, bargain books emerge as the primary source of profits. Considering the minimal investment required, why not explore this lucrative avenue?

Myth 7: Half the order is not filled.

Regarding order fulfillment, we are focused on the commitments made by Book Depot rather than dwelling on past experiences with other wholesalers. This issue often surfaces among booksellers who have previously ventured into purchasing bargain books with other companies. Without adequate inventory controls, there’s a risk of overselling popular books, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Unlike publishers who can effortlessly print more copies, our approach involves managing finite inventory responsibly. We’ve diligently implemented systems that provide accurate real-time visibility into our available stock. When an order is placed, the allocated quantities are promptly deducted from our inventory, ensuring a precise and reliable fulfillment process. Our website dynamically reflects available quantities, and we diligently monitor our fill rate, reinforcing our commitment to accurate order processing.

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Exterior of Book Depot and American Book Company

Book Depot and American Book Company – Together We Are Stronger

August 11, 2022

Over eight months ago already, Book Depot announced the acquisition of American Book Company (ABC), headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Until this point, the bargain book industry had never seen an acquisition on this scale, and we are very excited about the positive impact this will have on our customers, publisher partners, employees, and all our stakeholders. As a combined entity, we have over 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space, employ more than 600 team members, and have exclusive arrangements for books from all the major publishers and a host of mid-tier publishing companies. Read on to learn a little more about our history together and why this acquisition is great news for you!

Where It Began

I met Pat O’Connor, President of American Book Company, over 20 years ago at the Spring Book Show in Atlanta, Georgia, even before I was with Book Depot. We instantly built a great rapport, and the friendship has only grown over the years, ultimately culminating in our business deal last December. Not only have we had a great friendship with ABC for many years, but we have done business with each other for over 20 years, with ABC being a key supplier to Book Depot. I believe this is a very important part of the story since this acquisition, or what I personally like to refer to as a partnership, is not two corporate strangers deciding to do a deal and then trying to figure out how to make it work. Prior to December, we intimately knew each other already, both on a personal and a corporate level. Our relationship is one built on years of trust, and it is on this foundation that we have mapped out a plan for the future that will continue to leverage each other’s strengths for the benefit of our customers.

Investing in the Bargain Book Industry

Over the last 12 years, Book Depot has invested over $15M USD in technology and automation to help scale our business and ultimately deliver a better customer experience that provides you with a greater selection of titles and industry best fill rates and delivery times. Having completed the transaction with American Book Company, we are thrilled to be able to deliver on our promise of being a “One Stop Shop” for all your bargain book needs.

As evidenced by our investments over the years, Book Depot continues to take the long-term view on the bargain book industry. We wouldn’t be investing millions of dollars if we didn’t believe in the future of books or the future of our company. Rather than taking out as much of the profits as possible, we continue to invest for the long term in order to deliver the best customer experience in the industry. I’m excited to say that we continue to push the limits of technology. Last year was no exception as we went live with our second book sortation machine and automated carton packing machines. New automation equipment enables us to sort more books, process them quicker, and assist us in providing you with an even better selection of titles.

One Stop Shop

However, all the infrastructure and systems are worthless if we couldn’t offer you the quality product that we have. Together with ABC, we have agreements in place so that shopping here gives you access to bargain books from all the major publishers and many smaller imprints. During the past six months, we added some key new suppliers that have complemented our mix to the point where I am confident in saying that our combined selection has never been better in all the years of being in this business.

Increased Book Selection

One of the exciting things about our partnership with ABC is learning from one another to leverage our unique abilities. ABC has always had access to large amounts of warehouse space, while Book Depot has often been constrained by space over the last ten years. With this acquisition, we will now have a much larger footprint with the lease of a one million square foot distribution center in Jefferson City, TN. This nearly triples our square footage in North America! With more space available to our combined companies, we will be able to purchase even larger deals from the publishers and process even more books. If you shop our website regularly, you will already have noticed a significant increase in the volume of new books available for sale as we have increased our inbound processing in a big way over the past six weeks. These volumes will now be the norm as we streamline our collective operations. Be on the lookout for an avalanche of books in the coming months!

Consistent Book Supply

We’ve spoken a lot about our investment in technology and automation at Book Depot over the years, and I’m excited to share the news that we are already well underway with our first major project at the ABC warehouse in Tennessee. Earlier this year, we signed a contract with one of the big five publishers to begin processing all their US returns as of January 1, 2023. This is by far one of the most exciting initiatives our companies have seen in the last 20 years. We are truly on the verge of a major transformation in the industry. With this contract, retailers in the US will now send their returns directly to our warehouse. We will process the returns on behalf of the publisher and ultimately purchase the books they would have sold us in the ordinary course of our business together.

As freight, warehousing, and labour costs continue to skyrocket, publishers see the need to remove waste out of the supply chain. By partnering together, we can create a more sustainable future for the publishing industry. This will help drive waste out of the supply chain and continue to provide you with a steady supply of fresh new bargain books. As we scale up our returns processing business and roll out our plan with more publishers, we will be working hard to drive costs down in an era of continued price pressure. With more investment in automation, our desire is to ensure that you will continue to have access to bargain books at great prices and with exceptional service for years to come.

“All-In” on the Bargain Book Business

Ultimately, we are delighted to be partnered with American Book Company. This acquisition is part of our ongoing growth strategy to invest in the bargain book industry. As we see continued consolidation in the publishing business, it is becoming clearer that publishers require large partners that can provide turnkey inventory solutions for their remainders, overstocks and returns. Bringing together two of the industry’s key players gives us that ability. We are “all-in” on the bargain book business and look forward to continue serving you, our customers, for many more years to come. Thank you for putting your trust in us over so many years and allowing us to serve you.

Wilf Wikkerink

CEO

Book Depot

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Searching for gems in large book selection

Mining for Gems at Book Depot

April 22, 2021

Many of us like a good treasure hunt story. There is great anticipation for what gems might be found with each turn of the shovel or swoop of the metal detector. With all of the “Gold Hunter” shows right now, it is easy to see how people are enamored with the thrill of the hunt. One of my favorite shows is The Curse of Oak Island, filmed on a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia in Canada. The show follows a crew of treasure hunters from Michigan who, week after week, dig for clues that will lead them to elusive treasure that dates back to the 18^th century. We are all still waiting eight years later, but the anticipation is just as palpable as year one!

Working through the Book Depot inventory has many similarities to treasure hunting. However, at Book Depot, with a bit of “digging,” it is not hard to uncover plenty of gems. The nature of bargain books is that we often do not know what we will receive from publishers until we begin sorting the numerous pallets. It is always exciting for us to see the great titles roll off the sorting machine and know that our customers will be thrilled to see what has arrived.

X Marks the Spot

With a large amount of inventory available on Book Depot, how does one go about unearthing the gems? We recommend you start with frequent visits to our New Arrivals page. Book Depot uploads on average 750 new titles to this page every day! As the title suggests, this is our latest stock and often the most sought after. Keep in mind that many other treasure hunters are also scouring the website for gems, so do not wait too long when making your buying decisions. You may want to read our Here Today, Gone Tomorrow blog that explains this in more detail.

You may have heard the phrase, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” This statement can certainly be applied in the book industry. Not only do readers have a variety of interests, but our wholesale customers come from a variety of businesses and organizations. Not everyone is looking for the same type of books, so we have created various lists and tools to help you find your unique treasure. One of those areas is our Wishlist. By using this tool, you can input ISBNs of titles that you are interested in, and we will notify you if we get them in stock. Several other areas that can assist in your hunts are our Blowouts, Regional lists, Bestsellers, and Custom List tool, which allows you to create your own curated lists.

Sweat Equity

Sweat equity is the value of the hard work you put into your business. Thinking back to those treasure hunters that are swooping metal detectors or digging holes, there is no question about the hard work they put in to try to find something valuable. Our goal at Book Depot is to put most of that sweat equity in for you by creating tools so that your treasure hunt experience can be easy and rewarding. No doubt, the more engaged you become with our website, and the more often you visit, the more rewarding your search will be. Happy hunting!

Rick Mechelse

Online Sales Manager

Book Depot

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Book Industry Articles: Non-Fiction Continue to Eclipse Fiction

October 17, 2018

The publishing industry is kind of like the movie business. There are always new things coming out – some good, some not so good, and some blockbusters that have a huge impact on the industry for a period of time. For example, the Harry Potter and Twilight series both made a splash on page and screen and dominated the industry for years. However, trends are shifting and non-fiction book sales are on the rise. In fact, non-fiction sales have eclipsed fiction since 2013, and the gap has continued to grow.

Forbes recently released an article looking at this trend of non-fiction sales outperforming fiction. The article goes on to present specific revenue figures to put each category comparison into content. Take a read:

Traditional Publishers Are Selling Way More Non-Fiction Than Fiction

Author: Adam Rowe

Original Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2018/08/30/traditional-publishers-are-selling-way-more-non-fiction-than-fiction/

In the publishing industry, adult non-fiction revenues are soaring above fiction revenues and have been widening the gap for the past five years. Adult non-fiction revenue totalled $6.18 billion across the publishing industry in 2017, while adult fiction revenues reached $4.3 billion, according to Penguin Random House, using data from Association of American Publishers (AAP), the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and Bookscan.

2013 was the last year that the adult fiction category beat non-fiction in revenue (at $5.21 billion in revenue to non-fiction’s $4.82 billion). Revenues for adult non-fiction have rapidly risen every year since: $4.97 billion in 2014, $5.59 billion in 2015, $5.87 billion in 2016, and finally $6.18 billion last year. In the same five-year period, adult fiction revenues dropped from a high of $5.21 billion in 2013 to 2017’s low of $4.38 billion.

Revenues in the Children’s and Young Adult fiction and non-fiction category, meanwhile, have remained below both adult categories for the five-year period, except for 2016, when it reached $4.47 billion, besting the adult fiction revenues of $4.43 billion.

One caveat should accompany these numbers before we start reporting the death of adult fiction, however: The numbers only account for traditionally published books, and any fiction or non-fiction from the not-insignificant indie self-publishing community is not included. As publishing expert Jane Friedman noted in a Twitter comment about the findings, “The market for fiction may not be shrinking overall, but it may be shrinking for traditional publishers if indie authors’ cheaper titles look more attractive to avid fiction readers.”

The data was presented in an August report from Penguin Random House, though their main focus was on the stability of the book publishing industry. Revenue is largely flat: Overall revenues clocked in at $14.7 billion for 2017, up 0.4% from 2016. “Notable trends during this time period include a rebound in trade (consumer) books and continued double-digit growth for audio,” the report notes. “While ebook sales declined (-4.7%) for the third consecutive year, the pace of decline appears to be slowing down.”

Don’t expect the publishing industry’s impressive non-fiction revenues to change when the data from this year arrives: Given the consistent successes that political tell-alls have enjoyed this year, the adult non-fiction category is continuing strong.

It will be no surprise to hear that political tell-alls have been dominant in the non-fiction category as of recent years. Since the 2016 election, there has been more interest than ever in political non-fiction titles, as consumers want an inside look of the current running of the US government. Variety recently produced an article discussing President Trump’s effect on the publishing industry:

Trump Powers Boom Time for Book Publishers

Author: Brent Lang

Original Article: https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/trump-political-book-sales-increase-1202947911/

President Donald Trump may not be much of a reader, but he’s been a gift to book publishers.

Sales of political books are up 25% year to date, according to NPD Group, powered by such headline-grabbing best-sellers as James Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty,” Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury,” and Omarosa Manigault Newman’s “Unhinged.” These novels paint a portrait of a White House in turmoil, but some are pro-Trump tomes, such as “Liars, Leakers, and Liberals,” a fiery defense of the 45th president from Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro.

“There’s a lot going on in the cultural zeitgeist, and that’s translating into increased book sales,” said Kristen McLean, executive director of business development at NPD. “People want to understand what’s going on right now.”

The literary boom is somewhat ironic. Although Trump is a best-selling author of (ghostwritten) books such as “The Art of the Deal,” he’s said he doesn’t care much for reading. He is said to like short memos with lots of bullets. Whereas George W. Bush and Barack Obama used to publish summer reading lists, Trump seems to spend most of his R&R time on the golf course at one of his clubs or watching Fox News.

Non-fiction sales, particularly of political and self-help books, have helped lift a publishing industry at a time when the popularity of fiction is in decline. Sales volume of print books rose 2% in the first half of 2018, with adult non-fiction print book sales jumping 4% to 136 million units, while fiction print sales declined 4% to 63 million units. “Fire and Fury,” Wolff’s scathing look at the president, and “A Higher Loyalty,” a memoir of former FBI chief Comey, sold the first and third most copies of any book during that period, respectively.

At the moment, one book is flying off shelves. That’s Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House,” which had the highest first-week sales of any book in Simon & Schuster’s nearly 100-year history, moving 1.1 million copies. The legendary investigative journalist has inspired Twitter rants from Trump after reporting that White House aides have worked to undermine the president in order to prevent him from imperiling national security. Lexi Beach, the owner of Astoria Bookshop in Queens, said “Fear” sold out immediately, and half of the replacement shipment she ordered is already reserved for customers eager to dig into Woodward’s depiction of an unhinged commander-in-chief.

But “Fear” isn’t an anomaly. Beach said when she first opened Astoria Bookshop five years ago, there wasn’t much demand for books about Beltway drama. That changed with the 2016 election.

“That shifted things,” Beach said. “Particularly after Trump won, we had a lot more demand for books about activism and political engagement.”

Christine Onorati, the owner of Word, a bookstore with branches in Greenpoint and Jersey City, said political titles have always sold well at her shop. She has noticed a spike in interest surrounding historical titles, particularly books about the World War II era and Richard Nixon, another scandal-plagued president.

“People really want to understand how we got here,” Onorati said. “They’re putting a new set of eyes on history. The past has become a little more relevant.”

Of course, not even trade wars, border walls, and Russian collusion can trump the popularity of some cultural phenomenons.

“Nothing’s outselling ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’” Beach said. “That’s the book I can’t keep in stock.”

Comment below and let us know your thoughts on these trends!

Jennifer Harwood

Sales Representative

Book Depot

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Selling Sidelines

October 10, 2018

As booksellers, we all know that books are our bread and butter. We all have a great affection for book product—the smell, the feel, the comfort of having a book in our hands. We live and breathe books. Our customers come to our bricks-and-mortar store looking for that special feeling. But what if we could add some jam to that bread and butter? Seriously, who doesn’t like jam? Adding additional product lines to your overall assortment can significantly add a layer of “jam” to your bottom line!

At Book Outlet, our retail store in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, we have recently added many new non-book items to enhance our customers’ shopping experience. These product lines do not take away from our book product. Quite the opposite! These non-book product lines actually enhance the overall book shopping experience. We carry many different product lines, including greeting cards, toys, mugs, cozy socks, candles, candy, tote bags and many, many more. We do our best to cater to our core book customers and we look for non-book items we know our bookworm customers will love. We have also added smaller/lower priced non-book product, such as chewing gum, hand sanitizer, bookmarks, etc. around our cash line for impulse shopping! This increases the chances for these non-book items to become add-on purchases, which increases basket size, adding to your overall profitability. Last year, our non-book product represented 17% of our total sales in-store! Finding the perfect mix of non-book items along with great cross merchandising ideas are key to making a cohesive shopping experience.

Our team at our St. Catharines store has done a fabulous job in identifying non-book product lines that work well for our clientele. It is imperative that you identify successful product lines for your customers’ interests.

That being said, here are a few of our favorites:

Toy product:

Toys are a natural sideline to most product types. Many people shop either with their children or for their children. One brand we carry is Melissa & Doug. They have amazing products, such as puzzles, games, puppets, pretend play, and many others that will enhance your customers’ experience!

Clothing:

Okay, I know what you may be thinking. How the heck am I going to merchandise clothing in my bookstore? I am talking about scarves, socks, and yes, even T-shirts! We carry Out of Print product, which is perfect for the bookworm in your life who has read everything but would love anything that features their favorite book! From mugs to tote bags, this is excellent non-book merchandise for any bookstore.

Tea and Tea Product:

I don’t know many bookworms who do not enjoy a hot cup of tea while snuggled up reading their favorite book! We currently carry a line of tea product from Tea Forte. From loose-leaf tea to boxed tea, tea cups and tea pots, Tea Forte has it all!

Blankets/Throws:

I am an avid reader. I have blankets and throws throughout my entire house in all my favorite reading places. I have bought many of these items while shopping at my local bookstore (totally guilty!); therefore, I can attest that carrying this non-book product in bookstores works! We currently have a line of blankets and throws from NorthEast Fleece Company that customers have been very receptive to.

Lower priced impulse items (chewing gum, candy, hand sanitizer, wrapping paper, etc.):

We carry a number of different lower-priced product lines in our cash line-up and they sell consistently! These impulse products may not be the reason why a customer came into your store, but they sure do make a difference in the basket size and bottom line.

These are just some of the recent sideline products we have identified for our retail location. Don’t limit your search! There are many companies offering this type of product. Do your research. Get the best margins! Ensuring the non-book product you decide to sell meets your customer base is essential to its success at your store. Don’t know where to start? Ask your key customers what they’d like to see to enhance their shopping experience. Done right, sidelines will add another dimension/texture to your bookstore. They may even bring in a new customer who hasn’t purchased from your store in the past. They also make it possible to do more add-on selling and will keep customers in your store for longer periods of time, enticing them to buy more and ultimately adding revenue to your bottom-line!

Tracy Basnett

Category & Store Operations Director

Book Depot

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Book Industry Trends

September 5, 2018

As a bookseller, one of the fun aspects of our job is identifying trends that we notice from within the broad spectrum of accounts Book Depot works with. While some of the trends may be unique to one account’s particular industry or location, others may be considered on a larger scale and are applicable to all the accounts we work with. As sales people, we may not always be right when it comes to our intuitions, though I must confess it’s always fun trying to keep up with the times and knowing what our customers like best!

To name a few examples, we could look at the Who Is/Who Was series that has been a great success within recent years. If you were to look at our sales history for these titles, you would find that they have been popular within libraries, educational retailers/distributors, and children’s book fair industries. Another example is to look at stores that focus on music and pop-culture. Obvious trends you might notice are musicians who are growing in popularity, or perhaps you might see increased sales with books relating to a movie when it is released in theatres.

I’m sure by this point, you get where I am going in regard to trends, but what about the less obvious ones? It can be more difficult to discover trends when you aren’t looking at an overall category, though the insight to be found is all the more intriguing. As a brief synopsis, I’ve compiled some interesting trends that I’ve researched from within the book industry. While these trends may not be accurate to every book retailer, hopefully you’ll find these examples as interesting to read as I did. Furthermore, if there are any trends you’ve noticed in your own stores, we’d love to hear from you by commenting below the article!

Anxiety / Finding Happiness

One of the more interesting reports recently is that sales analysis at Barnes & Noble reported a 26% increase in sales of books that are relating to anxiety.¹ Conversely, books about finding happiness have grown by a substantial 83% within one year. While there’s numerous opinions and reasons as to why this may be happening, it’s a good reflection as to the motivation people have for self-improvement.

Horror Sales at Four-Year High

TV shows such as Stranger Things and movies such as Stephen King’s IT are being credited with helping titles with horror and ghostly subject matter reach a four-year high in the UK.² I’ve found it difficult to find similar data pertaining to Canada or the United States, though my personal observations would align with this. At Book Depot, we’ve been fortunate to regularly receive some of Stephen King’s greatest works; however, as you can imagine, they tend to sell quickly!

Rise of the Independent Bookstore

According to the American Book Association, there was a 35% increase of independent book stores opening between 2009 and 2015.³ This has driven the total number of independent bookstores to an excess of 2,300 in total as noted by the ABA.

Though this news is not necessarily new, I thought this was worth noting as it’s a great indication of the overall health of our industry. Book Depot has welcomed working with independent bookstores from all corners of the globe, and we always find it interesting to see the unique and regional selections they choose to purchase when working with us.

Increased Collaboration Between the Comic & Gaming Industries

While there is no doubting the size of the gaming community, there may be a wave or movement to capitalize on the substantial size of the industry by having more comics-oriented publishers collaborate with gaming developers. Sales of comics and graphic novels totalled an estimated $1 billion revenue in North America in 2017, while data according to SuperData Research puts the total for video gaming in excess of $108 billion.⁴Though some of those developers may already have a published brand, others who do not may seek to close the gap between the value of the comic/graphic novel industry versus that of video games.

Soaring Popularity for Political Books

With the incredible sales driven by James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty (over 600,000 copies sold in its first week) and Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury (over 2,200,000 copies sold so far this year), it should come as no surprise that the adult nonfiction segment has reported an increase of 4% during the first half of 2018.⁵ Books that are political in nature have taken center stage through much of this year and intriguingly enough, this popularity has crossed categories into both the children’s and fiction categories respectively, while titles such as A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo (by John Oliver) and The President in Missing (a collaboration by James Patterson and Bill Clinton) have topped the charts.

As there are more books yet to be released by both Michelle and Barack Obama later this year, all indications are that this trend won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

Poetry in the United Kingdom

Reports from the UK note that there has been an increase of 66% in poetry book sales over the past five years.⁶ According to a survey by Taking Part Survey, 3.1% of the adult population in England wrote their own form of poetry in 2015/2016.

View our poetry book selection here.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) Making Its Rounds Internationally

General feedback being shared from book fairs such as the Taipei Book Fair and Bologna Book Fair are indicating that there has been a growing trend towards books relating to STEM subjects. From my own observation, I’ve seen numerous accounts taking a focus on this type of title. In particular, this has been evident with titles we have by Miles Kelly, but also with reading series such as the earlier mentioned Who Is series, as well as titles within the Ready to Read, I Can Read, Penguin Young Readers and other reading series that are similar in nature.

Paul Eccles

Book Depot

Sales Representative

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¹ Green, Dennis. 2018. Barnes & Noble says books about anxiety are trending because ‘we may be living in an anxious nation’. August 1. Accessed August 31, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/barnes-and-noble-anxiety-book-sales-trending-2018-8.

² Lyons, Izzy. 2018. Horror fiction sales at four-year high after a glut of supernatural series and films. July 14. Accessed August 2018, 2018. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/14/horrorfictionsales-four-year-high-glut-supernatural-series-films/.

³ Raffaelli, Ryan, interview by Paddy Hirsch. 2018. Why The Number Of Independent Bookstores Increased During The ‘Retail Apocalypse’ (March 29). Accessed August 31, 2018. https://www.npr.org/2018/03/29/598053563/why-the-number-of-independent-bookstores-increased-during-the-retail-apocalypse.

⁴ Salkowitz, Rob. 2018. Ready Reader One: Game Developers Look Toward Comics. August 10. Accessed August 31, 2018. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/77744-ready-reader-one-game-developers-look-toward-comics.html.

⁵ Milliot, Jim. 2018. Print Unit Sales Rose 2% in First Half of 2018. July 6. Accessed August 31, 2018. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/77441-print-unit-sales-rose-2-in-first-half-of-2018.html.

⁶ Onwuemezi, Natasha. 2018. Poetry sales are booming, LBF hears. April 13. Accessed August 31, 2018. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/poetry-summit-766826.

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Book Depot Turns Up the Volume!

August 9, 2018

Book Depot has some exciting news to share which will be very impactful to all our customers! Over the past year, we have seen a constant rise in inbound product and opportunities continue to present themselves for acquiring even more product. In order to keep up with the increased volume of product that is arriving at our warehouse daily, Book Depot has made the momentous decision to keep the lights on a bit longer and add a second full shift to our operation. The second shift started late in the spring of 2018 and has added 40-plus full-time jobs to our warehouse staff!

The Facts

So why is this exciting news for all of our customers? Please let me explain and provide you with some data. The second shift currently has one main purpose, and that is to work through our inbound books and get them into our inventory faster. Our sort machine is now running 16 hours per day and we have staff working to put the books onto our shelves for the same amount of time so that you have an even larger selection of books to purchase from.

Here are some interesting numbers that will help to substantiate this increase in volume.

In the first three months of 2018, Book Depot was adding an average of 269,000 books per week into inventory. That number of books represented 9,331 unique titles, of which 2,800 were titles that had no existing stock (either a sold-out title that we had reacquired stock on or a completely brand-new title that we had never carried previously). Those are already impressive numbers, but wait for the latest stats!

In the past eight weeks since we have implemented our second shift, we are now adding on average 411,000 books per week into inventory, which represents 12,580 unique titles, and of those individual titles, 4,080 are titles with no existing stock. That represents:

a 50% increase to our receiving capacity
a 35% increase in the number of titles added
a 45% increase to titles added that we have no existing inventory

So, what does all of this mean to you, our customers? There are actually a few areas that this increased volume will positively impact you.

Increased Purchasing Opportunities

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog entitled, Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. For all of you who are veteran bargain and remainder book buyers, you will understand this statement completely. The nature of our business is opportunity buying. Great titles become available at great prices and, as a buyer, you need to take advantage of those opportunities to help create the best assortment of bargain books that you can find. With the increase in our available product from our second shift, this will create even more of these great purchasing opportunities based on the additional number of titles we are adding on a daily basis.

Decreased Wait Times

For those of you who shop our New Arrivals often, you can see the pattern of the same publishers being sorted over and over again, almost by routine. The reason for this is because we have relationships with the publishers to take in their overstocks on a continual basis, so we might be getting a truckload from them every week or two. With the increase in our sort capacity, that will mean we will be able to get to these sorts sooner, which in turn means a shorter wait time before we sort your favorite or preferred publishers again.

More Books to Go Around

Another benefit we see from this increase in volume is that those desirable titles that sell out so quickly should either get restocked faster (if we get them again) and/or the quantity of those “hot” titles rise so more customers can “share the wealth.”

I hope you can see why Book Depot is excited for you, our customers, and the added opportunities that our second shift is creating for you. More product means more choices and better selection, which should also benefit your customers and/or institution. We continue to stand firmly behind our mission statement, which is that we want to save you time and money by offering the largest selection of high-margin books. This new change allows us to continue to improve upon that promise.

Rick Mechelse

Online Sales Manager

Book Depot

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What’s Hot, What’s Not at Book Depot

June 14, 2018

Bookstore owner: “For this buyers’ job, we need someone who is responsible.”
Applicant: “I’m the one you want. In my last job, every time there was a problem, they said I was responsible.”

Sound like someone you know? Have you ever been the “responsible” buyer for some duds? I’m quite sure we’ve all had our share of purchases that never materialized into profitable sales. Let’s admit it—it can be difficult to select all winners when we have a store or chain of stores to keep fully stocked with great titles that appeal to our customer base. This blog will hopefully help you a bit in discovering what’s hot and what’s not in the world of bargain books.

As one of North America’s largest purchasers of bargain books, Book Depot gets a huge selection of titles arriving every day. As a point of interest, we are now sorting 400 pallets of bargain books per week! Some of the product that finds its way into our inventory is like pure gold and sells out quickly. At the other end of the spectrum are books that have lost their relevance and salability. These will be quickly separated (often at the point of initial sortation) and recycled into various paper-based products. In between, where the bulk of our inventory falls, are good to great titles that you as a buyer need to sift through and decide what may or may not sell in your store(s).

Based on the last six months of sales at Book Depot and interviews with several of our seasoned sales reps, we have the following information you may find helpful:

What’s Hot:

Kids’ titles that have a STEM component (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
Kids’ titles with a different format like sound books, lift-the-flap, and box sets
Fiction continues to sell very well, and in some cases, trade paper outsells hardcover due to the lower price point and less bulky format
Political books relating to recent events and certain individuals – any guesses on this one?
Inspirational and self-help titles, especially when linked to a well-known individual or celebrity
Brick-and-mortar stores do well with kids’ storybooks and board books that don’t necessarily need to be written by a big-name author, but instead, have a nice quality about them. Here is where the touch and feel experience makes all the difference
Adult colouring books, but a lower price point is key to successful sales
Cookbooks that are written by celebrities and/or deal with vegan and gluten-free content

What’s Not So Hot:

Generic cookbooks, especially those without rich, colourful content
Computer and Internet
Education
Sports and Recreation
Low-end paperback romance

In summary, content that is freely available on the internet tends not to sell well in printed form. Maybe it goes without saying, but high-quality content that is relevant (or timeless), priced well, entertaining, and worth sharing is going to find a customer and enrich their lives.

With over 50,000 current titles in stock, we have a huge selection of great books. Below is a special list of 35 top-selling titles at Book Depot, recommended by our sales staff, for your buying consideration:

ISBN	Title	Category	List Price (USD)	Our Price (USD)
9780062651754	Pharaoh (A Novel of Ancient Egypt)	Fiction	$19.99	$2.25
9781250045478	Victoria	Fiction	$16.99	$3.50
9780425280126	Island of Glass (Guardians Trilogy, Bk. 3)	Fiction	$17.00	$2.50
9780765377043	Children of the Fleet (Fleet School, Bk. 1)	Fiction	$25.99	$3.75
9781501124389	Everyone Brave is Forgiven	Fiction	$16.00	$2.25
9780684822761	In Our Time	Fiction	$14.00	$3.50
9781250075857	Mind Game (Eve Duncan)	Fiction	$27.99	$4.50
9781250119889	You Are Here: An Owner’s Manual for Dangerous Minds	Humor	$15.99	$2.50
9780062568892	Victoria: The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen	History & Geography	$29.99	$5.00
9781250080431	Pogue’s Basics: Life	House & Home	$19.99	$3.25
9781250087256	Obsessed! (Hungry Girl, Clean & Hungry)	Cooking, Food & Wine	$21.99	$4.50
9781250127761	The How Not to Die Cookbook	Cooking, Food & Wine	$29.99	$6.50
9780894803123	Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book	Cooking, Food & Wine	$10.95	$2.50
9780062409706	Nevertheless: A Memoir	Biography & Autobiography	$28.99	$3.25
9780312553685	I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love	Children Fiction	$17.99	$3.00
9780448437477	The Night Before First Grade	Children Fiction	$3.99	$1.00
9780451534040	The Crayons’ Book of Colors	Children Fiction	$8.99	$2.25
9781848698611	My Book of Animal Babies	Children Fiction	$8.95	$2.00
9781848698567	One Rainy Day	Children Fiction	$8.95	$2.00
9781474821483	Snowflakes and Sparkles Coloring Book with Crayons (Disney Frozen)	Children Fiction	$4.99	$1.00
9781474821490	Hopes and Heroes Coloring Book with Crayons (Disney Pixar)	Children Fiction	$4.99	$1.00
9781474821681	Dare to Dream Paint Palette Book (Disney Pixar)	Children Fiction	$7.99	$2.00
9781481492201	Daniel Tiger’s 5-Minute Stories (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood)	Children Fiction	$12.99	$2.75
9780689832130	Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type	Children Fiction	$17.99	$3.00
9780374300210	If Animals Kissed Good Night	Children Fiction	$7.99	$2.00
9781680520606	A New Toy Truck (Touch & Feel Busy Workshop)	Children Fiction	$12.99	$3.25
9781680520743	Brave Little Camper	Children Fiction	$12.99	$3.25
9781680520095	First Words Lift-a-Flap Book (Babies Love)	Children Fiction	$7.99	$2.00
9780544454361	Let’s Cook! (Sesame Street)	Children Nonfiction	$17.99	$1.50
9780312522827	First 100 Numbers	Children Nonfiction	$5.99	$1.50
9781250151070	Way of the Warrior Kid	Tweens Fiction	$13.99	$2.50
9780375870644	The Fourteenth Goldfish	Tweens Fiction	$16.99	$3.00
9781484789728	Disney Beauty and the Beast (Art of Coloring)	Crafts & Hobbies	$15.99	$2.00
9780892969982	The Power of I Am: Two Words That Will Change Your Life Today	Religion & Spirituality	$14.99	$3.75
9781455517275	The Mind Connection	Religion & Spirituality	$24.00	$3.75

Bill Van Vliet
CIO
Book Depot

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Product Diversity – The Book Depot Anthem!

May 2, 2018

Diversity: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; variety.

Diversity is a 21st-century buzzword. How diverse is our society? Would you consider yourself inclusive or exclusive? Do you have enough variety in your life or are you pretty much same old, same old? This word often pops up in discussions about race, religion, politics, or a variety of other social or economic issues.

At Book Depot, diversity in terms of product is something that we have striven for since day one. Offering a wide variety of products is what we feel separates us from most other bargain book suppliers. Whether it is fiction, children’s books (in just about every format), history, biography, crafts, cooking, health, business, religion—you pretty much name it, and we have it. Maybe it is because of our roots in retail many years ago when we had to fill a very large store with as many different books as possible, but we have the mindset that there should be “something for everyone.”

Fast forward some 25 years later and not much has changed. Our motto is “The Largest Selection Pays” and our mission statement (did you know we had one?) is “To save retailers time and money by offering the largest selection of high-margin books.” Having the largest selection of books is our goal, but married to that is the idea that the selection has to be made up of a diverse range of product. It is nice to say that you have 50,000 titles, but it is just as important to have a range of titles over many categories and genres. We want to be a one-stop shop for you and all of your bargain book needs. It doesn’t matter whether you are a specialty store or a full-range bookshop; everyone recognizes how crucial it is to have as much variety as possible to meet your customers’ needs.

Creating this diversity in product means a lot of hard work; relationships with many publishers and suppliers; lots of air miles and meetings around the globe; and leaving no stone unturned in the search for something new and exciting for our customers. We will take the risks to find the product we want you to be successful with. Every one may not be a home run, but Book Depot is a company that is not afraid to take a chance on something if we think it may benefit our customers. I remember 18 or so years ago when our owner came back to the booth very excited after acquiring 10,000 copies of Billy Graham’s autobiography. The conventional wisdom at the time was that Rev. Graham was likely nearing the end of life and this would be a good title to have in relatively short period of time. Needless to say, we sold all those copies long before we ever anticipated, but this is an example of the mindset we have always had at Book Depot—we take risks. A smart buyer once told me that you are not doing a good job as a buyer if you don’t make a mistake once in a while. Certainly, you don’t want to make more mistakes than your successes, but when bringing in product and trying to diversify to meet all your customers’ needs, you need to take some chances.

Book Depot is committed to being the most diversified supplier in the bargain book industry. However, to maintain this reputation, we need your help. We would like to get your feedback on items that you would like to see us consider for additional product offerings! We recognize the importance of good sidelines and the impact they can have in a bookstore, and maybe you have some suggestions for us? What additional items work well for you in-store, whether it is book, book-plus, or non-book product that we can investigate for you? We want to hear from you!

Rick Mechelse

Senior Sales Representative

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