# Bye-Bye Amazon! HELLO ALIBRIS! **URL:** \ **Category:** Marketplace\ **Created:** [June 18, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559 "2021-06-18T17:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/1 "2021-06-18T17:34:59Z")
Bosda just opened his Alibris store! Around 5% of my stuff is available, because it takes awhile.sh me luck! Or, buy something! [https://www.alibris.com/stores/bosda000/browse](https://www.alibris.com/stores/bosda000/browse) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/2 "2021-06-18T21:32:16Z")
I have an Alibris store as well, with about 300 titles. I find that the relentless pressure from the huge warehouse sellers drives prices for any common book down under a dollar, and it’s just not worth the time and effort for me to post those and try to compete. At the same time, Alibris makes it difficult to post any book without an ISBN number so vintage books also require work. I’ll be curious to see what patterns you find when you get more experience. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/3 "2021-06-18T23:22:19Z")
I can post books sans ISBN. There’s a setting to make your own listings. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/4 "2021-06-18T23:32:50Z")
For those of us not in the business: what are you talking about? Please give some context. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/5 "2021-06-18T23:50:33Z")
Is it just me or does the “browse” link not offer any means of browsing? It only has a search tool, which is only useful if I already know what I want. I tried a title search for “the” and “of” and it didn’t find anything. Also, I’m not sure they fully thought through their site name. Two common e-commerce sites are Ali Baba Ali Express And now we have: Ali Bris 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/6 "2021-06-19T00:48:05Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > And now we have: > Ali Bris Sounds like a circumcision-themed store. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/7 "2021-06-19T01:06:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Sounds like a circumcision-themed store Amazing what can be done over the internet these days. Glad I run a pop-up blocker, though. But seriously, this is a terrible site. I genuinely can’t find a single item that Bosda is selling. Their search tool would have been considered janky in 1998 (I know, because I was writing janky search tools like that in 1998). It also times out and returns server errors like the good old SDMB search. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/8 "2021-06-19T01:49:07Z")
Yeah, I didn’t say it was impossible if there’s no ISBN: I said it was difficult. You have to input all your own information and then you can’t do an automatic price comparison against similar titles. It’s a pain, not a moon landing. Alibris is one of many sites that allow individuals as well as businesses to list books, CDs, DVDs, and the like on the net. It handles all the back end databases and finances. All the individual has to do is list the books and then respond when an email arrives announcing the name of a buyer. Basic cost is around $20.00 a year and a cut of the selling price. Unusually these days, it’s privately owned. It’s been around since 1997, making it almost as old as Amazon, and it offered a sales floor before Amazon thought of its Marketplace. You can go directly to [alibris.com](http://alibris.com) or through a meta site like [bookfinder.com](http://bookfinder.com). Other sites like Barnes & Noble have access to the database, so orders may arrive from a variety of originators. It’s not perfect, obviously, but it’s cheap and easy to use for an individual. Here’s my store, [Farstream Booksales](https://www.alibris.com/stores/1984book). (A clunky name but taken from an sf story I wrote.) It shows the browsing books by category. I don’t know why Bosda’s doesn’t. Maybe it takes time for the system to process a new store. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/9 "2021-06-19T12:30:06Z")
All-in-all, I can make money there, but not on Amazon. Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/10 "2021-06-19T16:43:59Z")
Congratulations! What a great way to get in the book selling biz. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/11 "2021-06-20T13:35:58Z")
Been selling, on Amazon, since the 1990s. Now, Amazon has made it impossible to make money there. Bye-Bye, Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/12 "2021-06-20T13:42:32Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Is it just me or does the “browse” link not offer any means of browsing? It only has a search tool, which is only useful if I already know what I want. I tried a title search for “the” and “of” and it didn’t find anything. Nor can I. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I genuinely can’t find a single item that Bosda is selling. Ditto. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Here’s my store, [Farstream Booksales](https://www.alibris.com/stores/1984book). (A clunky name but taken from an sf story I wrote.) It shows the browsing books by category. I don’t know why Bosda’s doesn’t. @Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor, do you need to fix your storefront so that your books appear? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/13 "2021-06-20T13:52:22Z")
That feature seems to be available to Gold Sellers only. Gold level ain’t practical for me. If you understand Alibris better than I do, help is certainly welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/14 "2021-06-20T14:58:59Z")
I’m not a Gold seller. Just the Basic platform. You should ask customer service why nothing shows up under Browse. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/15 "2021-06-27T23:32:53Z")
Browsing seems to work now. I’m not sure if Bosda changed something or it was just a matter of waiting, but in any case I see a bunch of categories now and can click to see a list of items. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bye-bye-amazon-hello-alibris/944559/16 "2021-06-28T00:33:17Z")
They were having a minor tech issue. Fixed now.