There Are Three Keys To Successful Operation Of Second-Hand Bookstores.

BOOK OFF, a popular shop in Japan, has developed into a super scale of 700 stores in just a few years.

Miss Zhu, who loves books, has seen the big market of second-hand books.

In early 2004, second-hand books in Guangzhou were mainly run by roadside stalls, and there was no second-hand bookstore.

In order to seize this opportunity, Miss Zhu opened the earliest private secondhand bookstore in Guangzhou on the east of Shi Pai East Road. There were three shops in the peak period, and it was very famous in Guangzhou.

Unfortunately, Miss Zhu reluctantly contracted the front line last year because of Miss location and rapid expansion.

When it comes to the success or failure of second-hand bookstores, Miss Zhu said that one is location selection, the two is purchase, and the three is service.

"I like reading books and doing business in books," said Zhu.

However, the cost of opening a new bookstore is high, and without experience, it has been tens of thousands of books.

According to the reporter, the genuine new books on the market, the general purchase price is 6.5 to 25% off, and in the sale will generally play 7.5 to 10 percent off, the profit space is very low, less than clothing, diet and other industries.

Miss Zhu said she saw people selling books as wastepaper. She found that the development of BOOK OFF in Japanese second-hand bookstores was so strong. Besides, there was a shortage of second-hand bookstores in Guangzhou.

On the other hand, compared with the new book, the cost of operating second-hand books is still relatively low, though the profit margin is still small.

"Decorate simply, rent a shop to put a few big bookshelves to be OK, this aspect does not need to spend too much."

It is said that the gross profit margin of second-hand books is generally 3~4, and the net profit is about 2 after excluding expenses such as rent, labor and so on. The monthly turnover of a shop is about 10 thousand yuan.

In February 10, 2004, Zhu opened a second-hand bookstore with an area of about 40 square meters on the two floor of a wholesale clothing market on the east of Shi Pai Dong road. It was called "two feet bookcase".

She told reporters that at that time, the total investment of entrepreneurship was about 45 thousand yuan, of which 3~4 yuan was the cost of goods purchase, the rent was 1500 yuan, and the simple decoration was about several thousand yuan.

In the beginning, Miss Zhu has gone through a period of hesitation. She doesn't know where to start: "one is not able to find a suitable second-hand book wholesaler, and the two is a remote place without customers."

In order to change this situation, Miss Zhu, on the one hand, propagandize leaflets in nearby universities such as Jida, Huashi and other universities, and on the other hand, actively looking for suitable outlets.

After three months, sales and purchases of bookstore bookstores began to stabilize.

Just now that she was standing firm, Miss Zhu began to plan to expand her business.

In June 1, 2005, Miss Zhu opened second bookstores near Longdong, and opened Third branches in the university town in December of that year.

After the change of regional planning, Shi Pai East Road branch moved to the main entrance of South China Agricultural University.

In addition, Longdong branch failed in business due to site selection, and soon ended business.

Miss Zhu said, "after this storm, we must stand steadily step by step before we can seek greater development."

Now, Miss Zhu is not eager to open a new store because she sees the new direction of developing second-hand books.

She told reporters that a large processing enterprise in Panyu had to set up a library for its employees, so that Miss Zhu could help configure the library's old books according to the categories.

In addition, a newly opened star hotel in Guangzhou has found two bookcases for the hotel fitness area.

Fame has spread, and some colleges and universities have offered to take the initiative.

Seeing this potential, Miss Zhu is also actively developing related businesses.

The computerization of second-hand books is a direction for Miss Zhu to realize.

"But there is no way to do it now."

Miss Zhu said that there are too many kinds and quantities of books. It is a tedious thing to set bar code and register in a book.

If a customer comes to find a book, he can only rely on the employee's impression to recall where the book is placed, and financial management can only rely on the employee's personal reputation.

The 3 trick is to teach you to open a second-hand bookstore. You can't just earn students' money and remember the wrong location of Longdong branch. Miss Zhu has deep feelings. "At that time, the site was a bit blind, thinking that second-hand bookstores should rely on schools.

And there are needs for more than 10 schools near Longdong.

But in fact, the school has two long holidays in the year, almost no business during the period.

Moreover, students near Longdong have little demand for old books.

Miss Zhu said, "although I did not lose money at that time, I couldn't see much room for further development."

The failure of Miss Yu gave Miss Zhu a revelation. She believed that second-hand bookstores could not be purely supported by schools, and ideally located in areas where schools and residential areas were combined.

For example, a bookstore is located at the front gate of South China Agricultural University. There are residential areas nearby, with a large customer base.

After determining the location, the book configuration should be more diversified. Besides the professional research books that teach students' needs, we should also configure some popular life and children's books.

The key to replenish the goods is to replenish the goods and provide timely services. Another key point of opening a second-hand book store is to replenish the goods in a timely manner.

For example, if a guest buys a basic book once in a week, he will probably not come in the store if he still has these books for a week.

Miss Zhu said that the current purchase channels include collecting books from school dormitories, unused books sent by residents, or getting goods with old book wholesalers, publishing houses, paper mills and publishing bookstores.

As for service, Miss Zhu thinks that she should familiarize herself with her old books, give some suggestions to customers who want to find books, take customers as her friends, chat more about books related topics, and increase customers' recognition of second-hand bookstores.

The risk of piracy and piracy is increasing with the use of second-hand bookstores in Guangzhou.

Miss Zhu said, "there are 5 second-hand bookstores in the small area of South China Agricultural University. There are only 3 second-hand bookstores in the University Town, and now it is close to 20."

But why are some second-hand bookstores closed?

Miss Chu said that the impact of second-hand bookstores came from the Internet and pirated books.

Now, just type the title of the book into the web search engine, and you can order the book you want in a few minutes.

On the other hand, China's books are not published rigorously, and are full of second-hand books.

"A pirated book is only 8 yuan. Many customers think buying second-hand books is better than buying pirated books."