Using Catalogs – Best Practices

 

What are Catalogs?


Bookseller catalogs on AbeBooks are headings used to classify your inventory. They're helpful for buyers who aren't sure which book they'd like to buy so want to browse instead of search.

You can associate each listing with up to 3 catalogs.

There are two ways to use your catalogs. They can be grouped by:

  • Subject (Fiction, Children's Books, History, etc.)
  • Promotions such as New Arrivals, Sales, and other themes.

 

Where are Catalogs Displayed?


The catalogs you assign to your books are seen by buyers who choose to browse your inventory. There are several of ways to do this:

  • Bookstore search:  A buyer searching for your bookstore specifically or finding your store through a search of booksellers in a specific area sees the [Browse their books] link. 

 

  • Bookseller & Payment Information page:  Search results include the link [Bookseller & Payment Information] with each book listing.  The Listing Details page that appears when clicking that link has the [Browse this Seller's Books] link which takes the buyer to the browse screen, which displays your catalogs.

 

  • Your free AbeBooks Storefront: You can feature up to two catalogs on your AbeBooks storefront. 

 

  • Direct URLs: You can include the URL to your browse page in emails you send to buyers. Go to your browse screen using any of the methods described above to copy the URL from your address bar and send it to a buyer.

How should Catalogs be Used?


It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Having too many catalogs can be overwhelming to potential buyers. Ideally, we recommend using no more than 40 catalogs but the maximum number permissible is 100. A large number of catalogs can also slow down your file processing times, delaying the time it takes for your books to be searchable after an upload.

  • Make the catalog names intuitive. Use terms that the general public know and understand or terms that someone interested in a specific topic would recognize.

 

  • Avoid classifications that only have meaning to you, such as "Books Added – January" or "Catalog 1."

 

  • Check for accurate spelling or duplicate catalogs. It is not uncommon for us to see several catalogs for the same subject either because of spelling variations or typos. For example, rather than having x-mas, XMas, Christmas, christmas and CHRISTMAS catalogs, use one spelling for all of your Christmas books.

 

  • Keep catalogs useful. While being specific, the topics should be broad enough to include a significant number of books rather than just very few. For example, rather than having the catalogs "Beatrix Potter – Tom Kitten", "Beatrix Potter – Squirrel Nutkin" and "Beatrix Potter – Jemima Puddle-duck", you could simply use "Beatrix Potter" as the catalog name. Or, if you had only a few Beatrix Potter books, you may wish to simply use a "Children's Books" catalog. 

 

  • Remove unused catalogs. If you have catalogs that don't have any listings associated with them and you haven't recently used them, it's best to remove them to keep things clean. Don’t forget, you can add a catalog again later if you find you need it. 

 

  • Map your catalogs to our browse categories. The AbeBooks Browse Categories include all booksellers' listings instead of just your own. If you have many catalogs, you can easily change these to our categories instead. You can assign up to 10 categories to each listing, and there are 3500 subjects available under several levels of sub-categories. 

 

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