Paperbacks are the Key! Thoughts on Opening a Booth at a Book Flea Market
"I'm going to sell novels at the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market!"
With that determination in my heart, I decided to open a booth at the book flea market and immediately applied online.
I quickly entered my name, address, contact information, and other necessary details into the application form. However, my hand stopped at the final stage.
The checkbox for the genre of books to be sold.
I looked at the options shown there.
Picture books... Children's books... Comics... Education... Lifestyle... Health...
Hmm...? Hmm...?
There's no literature, novels, or essays!?
The Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market is a book flea market that can be enjoyed by families raising children and shoppers visiting the shopping center.
Is selling novels not even considered in the first place? Anxiety crossed my mind.
I found the only applicable column here.
There was a column for "Paperbacks," so I nervously put a checkmark there.
Also, there was a free-entry field for "Other," so
I entered "Novels."
Then I attached photos of the books I was selling and sent it. Will I really be able to open a booth...?
A few weeks later...
An email arrived from the organizers saying, "As a result of the lottery, your booth at the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market has been approved."
Thank goodness...!!
I learned at that moment that this BOOK flea market is decided by lottery. I felt relieved that my booth was approved.
But that time was short-lived. I had to prepare for the booth! The thing I worried about most was pricing the books.
I thought, "I'm going to sell novels at the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market!"
The reason was that I wanted to introduce the joy of novels to people who don't usually read them. So, I wanted to sell them at a price that would make people feel comfortable buying them to try reading.
How much should I sell paperbacks for?
First, I searched online for information on people who have opened booths at the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market, but I couldn't find much. Perhaps there are few people who clearly state prices on websites or social media.
So, I asked my high school daughter, who loves books, at home.
"For example, this paperback that is almost like new. How much would you feel comfortable paying for it?"
If it were me, I'd think it's cheap if I could buy an interesting book for 300 yen. When I searched on Bookoff, it was selling for 550 yen (tax included). But my daughter said...
"Maybe 200 yen. If it's 300 yen, I'd hesitate to buy it."
I see.
200 yen must be the price that even students like my daughter can easily afford. Even though I'm the one who only gives her a small allowance... though.
I decided on 200 yen for paperbacks!
Even for the same paperback, the condition of the books varies, such as those from new bookstores, signed copies by the author, or those bought at used bookstores.
But I decided to make them all 200 yen and let people enjoy it like a treasure hunt.
Now, next are the hardcover books. I thought about a reasonable flat price for these too, but there are new and clean books, and signed copies, and it would be sad if they were resold without being read.
Since it would deviate from the purpose of the BOOK flea market, which is to hand them over to the next person who will read them, I set the prices by referring to the prices at used bookstores.
All that's left is to hand-draw the shop sign and price tags, and wait for the day! I intended to stand at the BOOK flea market booth with my book-loving daughter. However...
Due to the consecutive days of intense heat and sports festival practice, my daughter was exhausted... She was in no condition to help with the day-long BOOK flea market.
At that time... someone volunteered, saying, "I'll go!" "Even though I don't know anything about books."
To be continued...!