Chess books are not exactly a niche market: there are more chess books than books about any other subject. Old chess books may be a niche market. I doubt a first edition of alekhine's best games reaches high money when auctioned.
Chess book selling buisness. is it profitable?
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You could always ask in the Chess Books and Equipment forum.
The wagon wheel selling business... is it profitable?
Join Chess Book Collectors on Facebook and sell the books there.
No. Chess in general is not profitable in any way. Chess books definitely not profitable. Think about it. How many people do you know in your life who even play chess? Exactly.
Some companies succeed by selling premium chess pieces but even that is a very niche market that isn’t very profitable.
tygxc wrote:
there are more chess books than books about any other subject.
I doubt it.
No.
Still Barnes and Noble is still in business and retooling itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html
Even so, your point stands. Most brick and border bookstores are failing.
Fewer people read. In America, most people cannot read above a sixth grade level. Massive illiteracy has consequences.
Ziryab wrote:
Still Barnes and Noble is still in business and retooling itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html
Even so, your point stands. Most brick and border bookstores are failing.
Fewer people read. In America, most people cannot read above a sixth grade level. Massive illiteracy has consequences.
It’s a sad but true commentary. I could have culminated that sentence with irl, smh, and imho because that is a small part of the problem. My wife reads at least one book a week! I don’t enjoy reading as I used to, but in between wood shop projects I’ll read. I just completed Killers of the Flower Moon, a narrative nonfiction. I highly recommend it. I still need to feel and hold the written words in book form as well. I’m not much of a kindle person like my wife. Reading is, as they say, fundamental.
Wits-end wrote:
Ziryab wrote:
Still Barnes and Noble is still in business and retooling itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html
Even so, your point stands. Most brick and border bookstores are failing.
Fewer people read. In America, most people cannot read above a sixth grade level. Massive illiteracy has consequences.
It’s a sad but true commentary. I could have culminated that sentence with irl, smh, and imho because that is a small part of the problem. My wife reads at least one book a week! I don’t enjoy reading as I used to, but in between wood shop projects I’ll read. I just completed Killers of the Flower Moon, a narrative nonfiction. I highly recommend it. I still need to feel and hold the written words in book form as well. I’m not much of a kindle person like my wife. Reading is, as they say, fundamental.
I bought Killers of the Flower Moon several years ago, but have not read it. In the 1990s, I read and taught Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit, a novel about the same events.
Ziryab wrote:
Still Barnes and Noble is still in business and retooling itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html
Even so, your point stands. Most brick and border bookstores are failing.
Fewer people read. In America, most people cannot read above a sixth grade level. Massive illiteracy has consequences.
That's so true. But not all the consequences are bad. About 2 years ago, during the height of the covid/riot/crime/drug/homeless craze we decided it would be a good idea to drive into downtown Portland. To see the consequences of bad decisions. Most of what was true then is still true now, and some of the problems are even worse.
I made it a point to show my kids the graphic consequences of things like illiteracy (as well as the above mentioned issues). I told them the more we have problems like that, the more easily they will succeed. Every day the competition decreases. Getting ahead has never been easier. But society as a whole pays the price for our success. I often remind them that society chose that. As long as those opportunities exist, decision makers will prioritize our success over their failures.
And it's nice to see many brick and mortar businesses thriving. Not so much in Portland, but in other parts of the country where people still want and need that personal, respectful contact. I don't think a chess book selling business, on it's own, would be profitable. But combine it with some other things that attract good people, and the chess book selling aspect would then become doable.
Ziryab wrote:
Wits-end wrote:
Ziryab wrote:
Still Barnes and Noble is still in business and retooling itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/style/barnes-noble-redesign.html
Even so, your point stands. Most brick and border bookstores are failing.
Fewer people read. In America, most people cannot read above a sixth grade level. Massive illiteracy has consequences.
It’s a sad but true commentary. I could have culminated that sentence with irl, smh, and imho because that is a small part of the problem. My wife reads at least one book a week! I don’t enjoy reading as I used to, but in between wood shop projects I’ll read. I just completed Killers of the Flower Moon, a narrative nonfiction. I highly recommend it. I still need to feel and hold the written words in book form as well. I’m not much of a kindle person like my wife. Reading is, as they say, fundamental.
I bought Killers of the Flower Moon several years ago, but have not read it. In the 1990s, I read and taught Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit, a novel about the same events.
Thank you, I’ll check into that book as well!
Learning from real books is the good tradition and you will have real results if while learning you use a chess board
A friend of mine started by collecting vintage chess books and saw that many people were passionate about rare editions. He set up a small online shop, focused on quality, and slowly built a community around it. It didn’t happen overnight, but with patience, it grew into something that covers his side expenses.
I have a supplier of old chess books and even a first edition of alekhine's best games which could sell for a lot of money... or so he is saying. Do you think this could be profitable and should i spend money on this? I would build a website and would ship as far as i could!