Previous White Collar Boomers Dominate Used Bookselling Online
Previous White Collar Boomers Dominate Used Bookselling Online
According to an extensive poll of used booksellers in the U.S. by AbeBooks.com, it is the ‘Baby Boomer' generation who are committed to extending used bookselling businesses deeper into cyberspace, the world's largest online marketplace for new, used, rare and out-of-print books.
Online bookselling has only existed since the mid-1990s, says the report, and the research shows how the profession appeals to entrepreneurial "Silver Surfers." The poll also says that long working hours and knowledge of technology are key aspects of the job.
Key findings include:
- 79% of Online booksellers are aged over 45 - more than half have a degree or a higher qualification
- Most sellers had left white-collar careers to become booksellers. The most common previous professions were jobs in teaching, libraries, sales, and management
- 11% work between 51 and 60 hours per week, and 9% are working more than 60 hours a week with the online cataloging of books being the most time-consuming task
- 25% will increase their online book inventory by between 10% and 25% in 2007
- 21% plan to launch their own e-commerce website
- Sellers acquire books through a large number of sources, many of which require time on the road, including library sales, estate sales, private sales, and auctions. 26% had traveled up to 100 miles to buy a book and 9% had gone abroad to buy books
- Many sellers also sell through other online marketplaces and 74% had set up their Internet selling operation without outside IT assistance
- 60% of sellers polled operate purely online. The others had bookstores or showrooms
- 64% of the sellers offer mostly out-of-print books and most specialize in a number of genres. History, fiction and children's books are the most common
- 68% list falling book prices as their biggest fear for the future but 38% are also concerned that fewer young people are reading books now
- Despite their long working hours, 33% read between five and 10 books per month
Hannes Blum, CEO of AbeBooks.com, says "...this profession... requires dedication to build up an online inventory of books and considerable effort to find books ideal for the Internet. ... (More than 8,000 booksellers from the US currently)... offer over 100 million books through AbeBooks that could expand to 120 million by the end of 2008..."
Find more about this study here.
JACK LOECHNER
Center for Media Research
Recent Research Brief Articles
-
Optimize Format For Effective Multi-Media Viewing May 17, 6:15 a.m.
According to a new report from Brand Perfect, considering global publishing for a digital generation, sales ...
-
High Entertainment Spenders Account For 70% Of Home Entertainment May 16, 6:15 a.m.
According to Nielsen’s U.S. Entertainment Consumer Report, consumers in households earning an average annual income of ...
-
Travel Pumps The U.S. Economy May 15, 6:15 a.m.
According to a recent report from Roger Dow, President of the U.S. Travel Association, on how ...
-
Smartphones and Tablets, Though Mobile, Require Separate Ad Approach May 14, 6:15 a.m.
According to an industry analysis by Adobe Digital Index, mobile devices have changed the way consumers ...
-
U.S. Still Largest Digital Out-of-Home Market; China Chases May 13, 6:14 a.m.
According to a new report from PQ Media, the Global Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2013-17, global ...
-
Online Event Attendance Trending Up; Chat and Moderators Popular May 10, 6:15 a.m.
A new report conducted by the Virtual Edge Institute, commissioned by Freeman, shows that attendees are ...
-
Mobile Devices Make Anywhere a Workplace for SMBs May 9, 6:15 a.m.
According to the results of The Sage SMB Survey on Mobile Devices, laptops (80%) and smartphones ...
-
Targeted Or Random; How Do You Like Your Ads? May 8, 9 a.m.
According to a new study by Zogby Analytics for the Digital Advertising Alliance, 40.5% of respondents ...
-
Americans Fed Up With Bad Ads May 7, 6:15 a.m.
According to InsightsOne, with Harris Interactive, Americans Are Fed Up With Bad Ads, 87% of American ...
-
9.9 Billion Video Ad Views In February May 6, 6:15 a.m.
According to comScore, 178 million Americans watched 33 billion online content videos in February, while the ...
Be the first to comment on "Previous White Collar Boomers Dominate Used Bookselling Online"
Leave a Comment