About Books Wanted Auctions, Book Wanted Ads, and Books Alerts

1. Books Wanted Auctions: Advertise for books you are seeking with our special "Request a quote" reverse type auction.  This option is available to all registered members who have submitted their billing information. The regular listing fee applies, but there is no final value fee.  Although the system will encourage sellers who quote a matching item to push the price down, the member who lists the Want Ad doesn't not have to accept the item with the lowest price, nor do they have to accept any of the offers quoted.  Other considerations such as condition and shipping may make a higher priced quote more acceptable, and the member who lists the Want Ad can choose any of the offers they prefer.  They can also accept more than one offer or all the offers if they choose.  There are no final value fees on Book Wanted auctions, so there are no additional charges for choosing more than one offer to accept.

The main benefit of using a reverse Book Wanted auction (as opposed to the standard Book Wanted ad which can be placed on the Fine Book Mart - see below), is that buyers can have sellers compete to bid down the price of items they want even if they are readily available on the internet.  Sellers may decide to lower their price for a quick sale, they may have a duplicate copy they want to sell quickly, or they may not have had time to list the item in the first place and they recognize the time savings by turning the item without having to enter it into their inventory system.

Unlike some book wanted listings on other sites, these Books Wanted auctions are charged our normal auction listing fees so they are serious wants, not just endless listings from dealers hoping to find under-priced items to resell.  Each Book Wanted reverse auction is charged the regular auction listing fee of 25 cents for up to 30 days, then you can relist it one time at no additional charge (you can wait a month or so to relist it if you want).   If still haven't received a satisfactory quote once your original listing and your free relist have expired, you can easily relist it from your "My Auctions" page to start another set of two 30-day listings for another 25 cent listing fee.

You can advertise for a particular title, edition, author, series, subject, or for whatever criteria you like. 

Additionally, your ad will be matched anytime someone uses an Auction Search of a Combined Search for any of the words in your listing title (and your description if they choose the Search Title and Description option).  This is especially useful if you specialize in a particular subject, series, or author and you include that information in your Book Wanted auction.

To add a Book Wanted Auction, click here or go to the Add Auction link on the Auction Menu Bar which is available anytime you are in the Collectors Book Auction section of the website.

2. Books Wanted Mart Ads: Advertise for books you are seeking in our exclusive Antiquarian & Fine Book Mart.  This option is only available to sellers who have posted a Profile page and received their verification.

The advantages of the Fine Book Wanted Ads over the Books Wanted Reverse Auctions are longer exposure, automatic relisting, and the ability to accept a quote immediately.

Unlike some book wanted listings on other sites, these Books Wanted listings are charged our normal listing fees so they are serious wants, not just endless listings from dealers hoping to find under-priced items to resell.  Each Book Wanted Ad is charged the regular listing fee of 25 cents and is good for up to 90 days.  You can automatically relist your Book Wanted ad up to 3 times until you receive a satisfactory quote, or, if you still want to advertise for the book or it is a permanent want, you can easily relist the Book Wanted Ad from your "My Mart" page to start another set of four 90-day listings.  Each time your ad is relisted you will be charged the regular listing fee. You will be notified 10 days prior to each automatic relisting to give you the opportunity to remove the listing.

You can advertise for a particular title, edition, author, series, subject, or for whatever criteria you like. 

Additionally, your ad will be matched anytime someone uses a Mart Search or a  Combined Search for any of the words in your listing title (and your description if they choose the Search Title and Description option).  This is especially useful if you specialize in a particular subject, series, or author and you include that information in your Book Wanted auction.

To add a Mart Book Wanted Ad, click here or go to the Add Item link on the Mart Menu Bar which is available anytime you are in the Collectors Book Mart section of the website.

3. Book Alerts automatically notify you by Email when items that meet your criteria are posted.   You may set Alerts for auctions or ads that contain specific keywords or you can set Alerts for new listings from a particular seller.  You can narrow these watches to a particular price range or category (Remember, categories are "nested"; Parent categories will also display any new listings in their sub-categories).  You can also choose to make any or all of your Alerts "public".  If a user decides to not make their Alert public, they will still receive notifications when items are posted matching their criteria, but other users will not be able to see their Alert. This can be useful if a user does not want to influence the pricing of an item a potential seller found in the Public Alert list. However, a benefit to setting an Alert to public is that it may encourage other users to post a matching item.  Alerts last 30 days and then they expire and must be relisted.  You may delete an Alert at any time.

To register your Alert, you must enter a Title/Description Keyword and/or Seller User Name. All other fields are optional. Note that your Keywords can be a maximum of 255 characters. You will be notified when items are posted if they contain all of the Keywords in the exact order you entered them and if they also match all of your other criteria.

  To add an Auction Alert, click here.    To View all Public Auction Alerts, click here.
  To Add a Mart Alert, click here.   To View all Public Mart Alerts, click here.