Renee and Lisa by John Benton

From the back cover of Renee:

Renee longed for freedom.  She wanted to escape from her alcoholic mother, dilapidated home, and the drudgery of school.  Renee found brief release when smoking pot, but after she came down, the harsh reality of her life slapped her in the face once again.

When she heard that a local pusher, Greg, was fleeing town, the desperate young girl begged to go with him.  He reluctantly agreed.  Much to her horror and outrage, Greg sold her to a vicious pimp, Bruce, at a truck stop.  Renee quickly learned that if she tried to escape from Bruce he'd kill her.  Therefore, she submitted to the degradation and danger of being a prostitute.  Only the drugs enabled her to endure the humiliation.  Every day her chance for survival looked bleaker and bleaker.  Her dreams for a better life vanished in the grim reality of her nightmarish existence, but Renee had no friends to help her.  How could she ever escape from the mess she had made of her life?

Content: sexual abuse, prostitution, drug use, theft, rape, burglary

I found the early part of the book to be pretty interesting, but I partially lost interest later in the story.  I skimmed the last one-third of the book.

From the back cover of Lisa:

Although she was a 23-year-old prostitute and junkie, Lisa Tomassio still tried to keep her life under control.  However, as her drug habit grew more insatiable, it also grew more expensive.  Therefore, she reluctantly agreed to take part in high-risk crimes that yielded high profits.  She survived one murder attempt only to be threatened first by mobsters and then by a perverted neighbor who her mother believed was a "nice young man."  Lisa knew that eventually her "walk on the wild side" would lead to death.  Therefore, she responded eagerly when she heard of a detour to hope and new life.  No matter where you are today, let Lisa show you the path to deliverance and peace.

Content: prostitution, drug use, rape, human trafficking 

From page 50:

I washed off the works like the guy had said.  As I was washing off the needle, I kept thinking about who might have used it before.  One of the things junkies worry about is AIDS.  A lot of addicts have died from it.  Another disease junkies can easily get is hepatitis. 

AIDS is also mentioned on pages 55 and 135.  It took until the end of the set for AIDS to be mentioned.

I enjoyed this book.

Thoughts on the Value of Nancy Drew #56 The Thirteenth Pearl

I have long suspected that most people seeking to purchase a matte edition of Nancy Drew #56 The Thirteenth Pearl do not care which printing they get.  A growing number of collectors are fine with the double oval editions.  Most of you still scorn them, but some people do appreciate them.  I am now part of that group, but only when the double oval editions are in nice shape and have good quality paper.

The double oval books tend to surface in bad condition.  They were made from cheaper materials than the previous matte printings.  Those books, just like the book club edition picture covers from the 1960s, look worse when in rough shape than the other matte editions do. 

Click on this photo from a current eBay listing.  Look at the double oval editions (the ones with no ink on the top edge).  There is something about how the double ovals look when worn that I find yucky.  That was my sole reason for not liking them in the past.

Once I found a bunch of double oval editions in nice shape, I discovered that I really enjoy them.  Look at these beauties.

Last night, I checked on recent sold listings of Nancy Drew #55 and #56.  I needed to know if the value has changed since in the fall.  I was surprised to see the highest sold copy of Thirteenth Pearl was a copy with double oval endpapers.  It sold for $49.99 plus $10.65 shipping. 

My mind was blown.  This changes everything.   

To me, Thirteenth Pearl in the matte PC shouldn't be as scarce as people think.  At least five printings exist: the first, second, and third printings plus at least two printings in the double oval edition.  However, the price continues to rise, so collectors place great value on the matte edition of Thirteenth Pearl.

A double oval copy selling for $49.99 meant that I needed to raise my prices.  My first thought was to go with $74.99 for the first printing, $64.99 for the second printing, and $49.99 for the double oval edition.  I went with $74.99 for the first printing and $49.99 for the other two books.  The second printing copy has some flaws, so I feel that I should price it the same as the double oval edition.

I want to see if anyone is willing to pay $74.99 for Thirteenth Pearl.  It could go either way.  Typically, I never have to relist Thirteenth Pearl.  The books I place up for sale always sell during the first listing cycle.  This likely means that I've been pricing them too low.  This experiment will help me see whether that is the case.

If the book priced at $74.99 doesn't sell, then my conclusion will be that all matte copies of Thirteenth Pearl, regardless of printing, are worth about $50 if in at least very good condition.

You see, I don't think there is much value difference between the first and second printings and the double oval printings.  Last year, I priced the double ovals at $29.99, the second printing at $34.99, and the first printing at $39.99.  I feel that the double ovals should be lower than the earlier printings, but not by much.

I have charged nearly as much for the double oval edition as for the first printing, and the double oval edition always sells.  It often sells first, probably because the price is lower.  That's why I don't think the buyers care which matte version they get.  

If a double oval edition can sell for $49.99 on eBay, then a similar price range should be true for the three printings.  The first and second printings should be priced no more than $10 to $25 higher than the value of the double oval edition.  At least that's what I think should be the case, but I'm no longer sure.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

Thoughts on the Value of Revised Text Nancy Drew Books

This is not the post that I was going to write about the scarcity of the revised text Nancy Drew picture covers.  I instead have some brief thoughts about my unlisted extras.  

I went through my unlisted extra Nancy Drew picture covers to pull books to list on Etsy.  The goal was to find a copy of each title that I don't have listed on Etsy currently.  I was unable to pull some of them.  For some of the books that I did find and pull, I took the last unlisted extra.  I'm short on extras. 

I purchase bulk lots when I can, but bulk lots typically yield only one copy of each title.  This only fills in the gaps briefly.  Certain titles are always more in demand, and those are the ones where I have fewer extras.  If I list the one copy that I have of each of those books, then they sell and are gone. 

I seldom lack for extras of #55 and #56.  I'm willing to pay more to acquire them, so I have no trouble acquiring extras.  I can pay more because buyers are willing to pay more.  Buyers feel that those two books are worth far more than the rest of the titles in the set.  

I took some photos of my unlisted extras after I removed one copy of each available title that I needed for Etsy.  Click on each image in order to see a larger version.

Notice that my photo shows four extras of #55 and three extras of #56.  Before taking the photo, I removed two copies of #55 (1st printing and double oval) and three copies of #56 (1st printing, 2nd printing, and double oval), so I had six of each.  As I stated, I tend not to lack for extras of #55 and #56.  I have more extras because I pay more.  When I list the extras, they sell fast.  I wonder if, despite the higher prices for #55 and #56, we are undervaluing them. 

I tend to have fewer extras of the revised text books in the range from #12 through #34, especially for many of the books from #21 to #34.  I am limited in how much I can charge for those titles, since buyers feel that they should be cheap. 

Most of these books are now 45 to 50 years old or more.  They are getting scarce.  The picture cover format is the current most desired format among Nancy Drew collectors.  Low supply coupled with high demand results in higher prices.  Or at least, it should.

The problem is that Farah's Guide has low values for most of the picture cover editions.  Many people go by the prices in Farah's Guide even though they are sorely out of date.  

Here is something interesting.  Farah's Guide has the same first printing value of $25 for each of #53, 54, 55, and 56.  Oddly, #53 and 54 sell for less than #55 and 56.  I contend that the first printing of #53 is the hardest to find of the four titles, yet it isn't worth more than #55 and 56.  If Farah were to state that #53 is worth more, then the price would shoot up.  

Many of the revised text books are worth far more than the stated Farah's Guide values.  There is something about a printed guide that holds great weight even when the guide no longer has accurate values.  If Farah were to update his guide with higher prices, then the prices would suddenly jump.  We saw that immediately after the publication of Farah's 12th edition many years ago.

My conclusion is that I'm going to have to start paying more for revised text picture covers.  This means that I will have to charge more.  Hopefully this will work out okay, since most people think that the revised text books in great shape are worth no more than $5.  That's so illogical considering that the current list price for new flashlight editions is $9.99.

I guess we'll see how this goes.  I'm certainly having trouble sourcing the books, and the condition just isn't that great.

eBay and Etsy Update - Etsy Now Open!

I have moved some of my Etsy books to eBay.  I chose books that have been listed for a long time on Etsy without selling.  Some books just don't do that well on Etsy, and those were the ones that I moved.  

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

One of the books sold soon after it was listed, and that just proved the point.  I find that books from series other than Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, and Trixie Belden tend to do much better on eBay.  Etsy doesn't have quite enough traffic to support steady sales of other series. 

I have done okay selling books from other series, but after the more popular books in those series sell, the remaining books become stagnant inventory.  And so I moved them to eBay.

My Nancy Drew books do better on Etsy than on eBay.  eBay has way too many Nancy Drew listings for anyone to be able to spot my Nancy Drew books in search.  For that reason, I tend to list my Nancy Drew books on Etsy where they do get noticed.

In order to help my eBay Nancy Drew listings gain exposure, I will be running periodic auctions of Nancy Drew books.  Since I must pay $0.25 per auction upfront, I will choose books that I believe have a high chance of selling during the first listing cycle.

Last fall I found that my Nancy Drew library editions auctions helped drive traffic to my store.  I seemed to sell more books during the time that those auctions were active. 

I have some high-grade Nancy Drew original text picture covers.  Those books will be among the books auctioned in the next two to three months.

On Etsy, I disabled my free shipping promotion on orders of $35 or more. My promotion was tied to Etsy's free shipping promotion which is for orders of $35 or more.  I received a boost in Etsy search from that promotion.  I wish that I could have kept Etsy's promotion, but they need to raise the order minimum to $50.

Most sellers on Etsy sell handmade items.  Those items must ship via priority mail.  It is unfair for Etsy to expect those sellers to offer free shipping on orders of $35 or more.  It is still feasible, at least, for media mail.  A $35 minimum is too low for priority mail shipping.

Since I can't use Etsy's promotion, I created my own free shipping promotion for orders of $50 or more.  That offer is now in place.

I edited my media mail prices on Etsy to match my recent changes to my eBay media mail prices.  I now charge $4.95, $5.45, or $5.95 to mail a single book via media mail.  

As I worked on moving some Etsy listings to eBay, I also began activating my Etsy listings.  All Etsy listings that were not moved are now visible on Etsy.  

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I feel like I can keep both stores open.  I feel fine physically (with the usual daily fluctuations and continuing limitations of my condition), and my mental state is beginning to improve.  I suspect that the supplements that I began taking in hopes of improving my T3 level might be improving my mood.  My T3 level might also be improving.  Regardless, I'm glad to be feeling somewhat less stressed.

Lorene and Rocky by John Benton

My summary of Lorene:

Seventeen-year-old Lorene Hobart's mother is a drunk.  After the two get into a fight, Lorene's brother, Brian, invites Lorene to go out for pizza.  Instead, brother and sister meet up with Brian's friend, Dwight, and Lorene is forced to be their getaway driver when the boys rob a liquor store.  After the robbery, Dwight purchases some dope, which Lorene tries for the first time.

Brian becomes further involved in criminal activity as does Lorene.  Eventually, Lorene teams up with Dwight, who takes her to New York City.  Lorene's life spirals out of control, and she faces possible prison time.  Can Lorene find a way to escape from her dead-end lifestyle?

The publisher's summary reveals too much information, so I had to write my own.  I looked at the summary not too long after I began the book.  As a result, I knew an important plot detail that doesn't happen until the final 20 pages of the story.  That sort of information should be omitted from a summary.

This book is overall good, but I found it tiresome.  The book consists of one scene after another where Lorene has to help with a criminal act.  In every scene, Lorene protests constantly and questions what they are doing.  I got sick of it and skimmed through parts of the book.

From the back cover of Rocky:

110th Street was a tough area to grow up in, and while he was still in his teens, Rocky Gardini became addicted to heroin.  It wasn't long before he started mugging people to support his habit.  By the time he was twenty-three, Rocky realized that threatening people with his switchblade was taking a chance.  Some mugging victims would fight back—and his switchblade would be useless against someone who packed a handgun to defend himself.  Rocky knew that mugging was risky business—until he discovered how easy and effective a sawed-off shotgun is. 

However Rocky's use of firearms only led to a new kind of trouble and violence, including drug pushing, gun battles, and being an accomplice to murder.  Peddling dope landed him in prison for four long years, but upon his release he continued his risky lifestyle of drugs and crime, eventually being shot down himself.  After being released from the hospital, Rocky teamed up with a pimp in his sordid business.  Living a life of violence and crime, Rocky was certain death awaited him—until he met a caring pastor with a unique mission.  Rocky gives a vivid example of how God's love and mercy can transform anyone's life or any situation, no matter how bad it seems.

Content: drug use, murder, violence, prostitution

The murder, while described minimally, is still graphic.  I won't say what happened, but it is gross. 

From page 64:

I knew I was taking a chance with hepatitis.  That pusher looked like he had drilled a few times with a dirty needle himself.  But when you need to get off, you don't even care about hepatitis or any other disease.

I had wondered when Benton would finally address the possibility of a junkie getting a disease from a shared needle.  This is the first time that the risk of shared needles has been mentioned in this set of books, and just about all the characters in these books share needles.  This book was published in 1985, when bloodborne pathogens were getting heavy coverage in the media.

I never place tape on books, but I made an exception in this case.  By the second or third page of the story, I realized that the front cover was brittle and splitting along the left edge.  Meaning, the front cover was attached as I read the first page and then had split about halfway by page 3.  I had to use clear tape on the outside and inside of the front hinge in order to salvage the book.  Otherwise, it would have fallen apart as I read it.

This book starts out with the same approach as Lorene.  Rocky questions everything, and it's hard to read.  Also, various people continually tell Rocky how stupid he is and tell him what he did wrong.  I skimmed a lot of it.

Around halfway through the book, the writing style shifts so that Rocky isn't questioning and acting stupid.  Finally, the story becomes interesting and engaging.  I quit skimming the story.

The first half of the story is tedious, and the second half is very good.

Paco and Kristi by John Benton

From the back cover of Paco:

Although he had been a junkie and an occasional drug dealer for ten years, Paco Malicksen had always managed to stay one step ahead of the law.  Therefore, when a friend informed him that the cops were on his trail, Paco knew that he had to get out of the Bronx.  But once he wound up in Manhattan, things took a turn for the worse.

In order to support his demanding drug habit, Paco became hopelessly trapped in a revolving door of crime.  And with every new venture—drug dealing... robbing appliance stores... stealing cars... the course of his life veered closer toward a violent end.  When he completed a harrowing term in a New Jersey state pen, Paco quickly returned to crime and drugs, although he knew he was headed for certain death.

But one day Paco overheard a conversation about the one Person who had the power to save and restore broken lives.  Paco knew that he was in a desperate situation.  Was there a chance for him to have a new life?

Content: drug use, car theft, prostitution

I found this particular to title to be very interesting and engaging.  All of these books are, but this one is especially so.  This is an excellent book.

From the back cover of Kristi:

Abused at home by alcoholic parents, fifteen-year-old Kristi Zetterstill was easy prey for a slick-talking New York pimp named Danny, who made a business of luring girls from troubled Midwestern homes.  Promising her independence and freedom, Danny took Kristi from her native Minnesota to New York City, where she quickly learned that she had made a horrible mistake. 

Danny's big promises vanished like smoke and Kristi found herself hopelessly entangled in prostitution.  She was Danny's girl now, and his beating and threats to kill her made her life worthless and unbearable.  In desperation, she tried to take her own life—and nearly succeeded.  Was there any better way to find freedom from her vicious pimp and end her life of misery?  Here's Kristi's gripping story of how she discovered a real lasting peace and joy in her life—and how you can find it, too.

Content: prostitution, violence, murder, suicide attempt, theft

I found this story to be pretty engaging and really enjoyed it. 

Comparison of eBay and Etsy Fees + eBay's International Shipping Program

Many people do not read my blog posts or else they skim, missing important details.  That has been rather apparent. 

I have mentioned that I am mentally stressed, meaning that I easily become anxious and overwhelmed.  I am forgetful and make many mistakes while completing simple tasks.  I won't notice many of my typos.  You probably have seen some mistakes in my posts.  Normally I find all of them.  I haven't done that great of a job lately, and I don't care as much as I typically would.

I assume that this has been caused by my low T3 levels, but I feel it could be more than that.  I may have a touch of long Covid.  My thyroid was further damaged by Covid, and it's possible that I also have lingering brain fog caused by Covid.

I remind you of this in hopes of getting more people to understand that I must do everything I can to keep my stress to a minimum.  This is why I have a message in every listing telling prospective buyers that I do not accept offers.  I need to avoid any extra tasks.  Answering unsolicited offers is an extra task that I do not want.

I also will not be selling any books through private transactions.  In a private transaction, I have to do everything manually.  This isn't a big deal to most of you, but it is to me due to brain fog.  In a private transaction, I have to take the photos and send them through a private message.  I have to type out what I want for the books.  

After I know which books the person wants, I then have to make sure that I have collected the correct books together.  After all, I have no handy eBay or Etsy invoice to guide me.  I'm doing it manually.

I then have to figure the amount owed manually along with any shipping.  I tend to make mistakes due to brain fog, even if I use a calculator.  I have excellent math skills, but the brain fog causes silly mistakes, which are dangerous when money is involved.

I then have to send a money request.  Unfortunately, at least 50% of the time the buyer doesn't give me their address.  Repeat buyers tend to think that I have their address right in front of me, so no need to send it.  I have to ask for it.

I then have to manually create the shipping label on PayPal, making sure that I don't make mistakes.  Finally, I have to send the tracking information to the buyer.

Do you understand why I don't want to do all of that?

If I do have a particular book that someone wants, then it will be listed on either eBay or Etsy.  If the book is something that several people want like library editions, then I will use auctions.  Multiple people have contacted me in the last few years wanting me to consider them first when I have certain library editions.  The solution is to run auctions and let the buyers decide who wants it the most.

It's worth it to me to pay the high fees on eBay and Etsy.  Paying the high fees makes my life easier, which reduces my stress.  Lower stress is more important than saving money. 

Did you know that the selling cost on Etsy is nearly as high as on eBay?  It certainly is.

eBay's final value fee is 15% in the books category.  Etsy's final value fee is 6.5%.  However, Etsy also has a payment processing fee of 3.0% in addition to the 6.5%.  Etsy's final value fee is actually 9.5%.

Both sites also charge a flat fee in addition to the final value fee.  eBay charges $0.30 plus the fee.  Etsy charges $0.25 plus the fee.

Here is what my total fees were in 2022 as a percentage of my gross sales.  I used my actual gross sales and fees paid to determine the percentages.  I'm just not sharing the raw numbers with you.

My Etsy fees were 13.9% of my gross sales while my eBay fees were 18.1% of my gross sales.  

Postage is also a selling cost, especially since many buyers earn free shipping through my shipping promotion.  The fee gap between eBay and Etsy lessens when postage is considered.

My Etsy selling costs including postage were 27.1% while my eBay selling costs including postage were 29.8%.  The difference is not enough to matter.

I'm unsure why the postage causes the Etsy selling costs to increase to be nearly as much as the eBay selling costs.  I thought that maybe I had more international buyers on Etsy, but I had very few.  I'm confident that I had far more international buyers on eBay.  The cause may have something to do with combined shipping.  I may have had more sales on Etsy with multiple books in each transaction.  I'm not sure.

I did have more returns on Etsy, so perhaps that is part of the cause.  I dislike accepting returns when the buyer changes their mind, but I do so simply because it is good business practice.  Those returns are expensive.  They usually happen on cheap books which didn't have much of a profit in the first place.  The returns cause me to take a loss on those transactions.

eBay has an international shipping service.  If you are one of the sellers who is afraid to use it, you should reconsider.  On your end, you only have to pay the standard U.S. shipping to eBay's international shipping center.  eBay takes care of the rest, guaranteeing that you will not take a loss if something goes wrong.  eBay even provides free international tracking.  You are notified when the buyer receives the package.

Furthermore, since the seller only pays the U.S. shipping charge, then the seller avoids exorbitant final value fees on the high international shipping.  Before I started using eBay's international shipping program, I would have to charge international buyers $30 or more for postage.  I then had to pay 15% final value fees on that $30+ shipping charge.  With international shipping, I only pay the 15% fee on the media mail shipping charge.

I have had far more international transactions on eBay due to how easy the process is for both buyers and sellers.  There is no downside.  

eBay Postage Cost and Free Shipping Promotion Update

On Wednesday, I wrote:

My free shipping promotion now requires a $40 purchase.  As I proceed, I will reflect on whether I raised the amount enough.  I found it interesting that eBay had $50 prepopulated in the form.  I want to see how the numbers crunch in the few weeks, then I will decide if I should raise the order minimum to a higher amount.

It only took me two days to change my mind about free shipping.  I have now adjusted my free shipping promotion to require a purchase of at least $50.  Even $50 is probably too low, to be honest. 

Additionally, I have changed my postage charge to $4.95 for books that can ship at the one-pound rate.  Some books are heavier, and I adjusted those listings to either $5.45 or $5.95.  

eBay has a 15% final value fee in the books category, higher than other categories.  We must be a burden to eBay. 

If I charge $4.95 to ship a book, then eBay gets a 15% cut.  Unfortunately, most buyers now pay sales tax, and they have to pay sales tax on the shipping charge.  I then have to pay a 15% fee on the amount collected for sales tax, even though I never see that money. 

This means that eBay is getting around $1.25 of the $4.95 postage charge.  Keep that in mind if you think a seller is charging too much for postage.  In order not to take a loss on postage, I would need to charge at least $6 to ship a book via media mail.

Adjusting my postage charge to $4.95, $5.45, or $5.95 continues not to cover my costs.  At least I'm closer.

I changed my free shipping promotion requirement to $50 when I thought about eBay's fees.  I realized that the minimum must be at least $50.

Let's assume that a buyer has made a purchase for exactly $50.  I lose $7.50 to eBay fees.  Since several books are likely involved, my postage cost will be at least around $7.50 and perhaps higher.  This means that I only receive $35 of the $50 payment.  And the books weren't free.  I paid for them as well, and that comes out of the $35.

This is why I don't ask sellers to lower their prices.  They face high costs as well.  If a seller's price is too high for me, then I continue looking elsewhere.  

Some sellers have adjusted their prices up instead of adjusting the shipping charge.  I don't want to do that, because it invalidates the free shipping promotion.  Buyers will see no value in the free shipping promotion if they have to purchase $50 in books that have inflated prices due to the shipping cost being built in.  

My feeling is that buyers who really want my books will purchase them even if the shipping is higher than they would like.  Those buyers who don't want to pay a higher price can try to find a seller who charges less or just hope that they can find the books locally.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay