Sparks man finds a niche in used book market
by Nathaniel Motshabi, Outpost staff
Joseph
Chiappetto
When Barns & Noble came into the Reno book
market, many stores went out of business. Joseph Chiappetto,
owner of Book Gallery, was not worried about it. He deals
with used books only.
OCCUPATION: Owner of Book Gallery
RENO RESIDENT SINCE: 1978
Chiappetto has been in Reno for 21 years and a book dealer for 10 years. He shows he knows the business when talking about it.
"Textbooks sell the least," Chiappetto said. "Psychology and sociology books don't sell at all. I still buy textbooks on trades, though."
Chiappetto does not buy used textbooks because they do not offer returns. His best sellers are science fiction, followed by fiction, mysteries and romance. He also sells videos.
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Trading in used books earns Chiappetto a living.
The bookstore expanded in area from 1,000 to 3,000
square feet in 10 years. |
Chiappetto's bookstore attracts some university students majoring in journalism and English. Once Kevin Hickey, an English major, came in to interview him for a class essay. He framed Hickey's essay later and hung it on the wall.
What makes a book a profitable one?
"It is the condition of the book that determines its price," he said. "Another factor is whether or not the book comes with a dust jacket, otherwise it is worthless."
He's not worried about competition from bigger business, such as Barnes & Noble and other stores that sell new books. Chiappetto even said bigger booksellers and the Internet actually help his business in some ways.
"Amazon.com asks for books from us, " he said. "We sell a lot of books to Amazon.com and many other online booksellers around the country. They always look at my inventory, and I always have what they want."
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Posted Dec. 16,
1999
Copyright 1999, Nevada Outpost
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