Culturebox: Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman

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culturebox Confessions of a Used-Book Salesman I spend 80 hours a week trawling junk shops with a laser scanner. I don't feel good about it. By Michael Savitz Posted Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010, at 10:18 AM ET I make a living buying and selling used books. I browse the racks of thrift stores and library book sales using an electronic bar-code scanner. I push the button, a red laser hops about, and an LCD screen lights up with the resale values. It feels like being God in his own tiny recreational casino; my judgments are sure and simple, and I always win because I have foreknowledge of all bad bets. The software I use tells me the going price, on Amazon Marketplace, of the title I just scanned, along with the all-important sales rank, so I know the book's prospects immediately. I turn a profit every time. I'm pretty sure I first heard about the practice of shopping for books with laser scanners in a story on NPR, which, as I recall it, disparaged their use as classless. And, really, it is precisely this. The book merchant of the high-cultural imagination is a literate compleat and serves the literate. He doesn't need a scanner, because he knows more than the scanner knows. I fill a different niche--I deal in collectible or meaningful books only by accident. I'm not deep, but I am broad. My customer is anyone who needs a book that I happen to find and can make money from. To continue reading, click here. Michael Savitz is a writer in Chicago. He can be reached at michaelsavitz@hotmail.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate In 2008, Ross Douthat Said the GOP Needed To Change To Win. What Does He Say Now? Finally, the Feds May Crack Down on Loathsome, Predatory Payday Lenders The Beauty and Horror of the Shiloh Battlefield	Advertisement
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