Bookseller Profile

Abebooks' uniqueness is our network of independent booksellers who work with us to provide the most diverse selection of rare, used and out-of-print books on the Internet. Take a moment and meet our member booksellers from around the globe. It is these sellers, with their experience, commitment and love of the used and out-of-print book business who help all our buyers find that treasure they've been looking for.

Adventures Underground

Amanda and I met in college with an interest in books, trading our favorite titles back and forth (and finding that the occasional book we each would bring forth had actually been heard of and, indeed, read by the other). This grew into a small obsession of gathering more and more books to read; with us eventually realizing that a lifespan of even one hundred years was not going to cut it, even if we made a career of reading. In addition, the pennies per book offered by local bookstores for our no-longer-wanted titles seemed a rather foolish investment.

We skipped the middle man in the best way we could; selling books to friends, parents, siblings, and college professors who were the biggest buyers at the time (and still are for certain types of books). By replenishing our stock one at a time, or how ever many we could hold, our inventory rapidly enlarged - much to my parents' chagrin as their basement and garage grew ever fuller with books. They commented on several occasions about the phenomenon of books breeding like rabbits.

Our business has moved beyond those humble beginnings and taken on a life of its own, growing by lots of 15,000 instead of one. We have also expanded into the entire field of the little things that amuse Amanda and me, such as videos, records, CD's, and art.

For many years we have utilized the Internet, buying books from bookstores around the world for the business and ourselves. From our own experience, we saw there was a gap in the browsing atmosphere of many online bookstores; few of them had images or very detailed descriptions of their products. We began to inventory our stock, taking the time to describe the condition of each noticeable flaw - down to the size of rubbing spots and length of tears - and create a digital image of each. Our hope is that our customers can use the pictures to help judge condition for themselves. In addition, people can look over our children's books from the comfort of their homes and remember them from childhood.

Thus far, we feel we have been successful on the Internet; I've been having a bit of fun making a professional looking website and both of us have been sharing Internet duties of listing and processing books. It has been a lot of work, but quite rewarding (especially when customers take the time to send us an e-mail thanking us for the wonderful book they received), without a single complaint or return. We hope for more of the same as we continue this adventure.

- Logan Kaufman and Amanda Divine

The views of the author, expressed above, are not necessarily those of the Advanced Book Exchange