I grew up in a bookstore - my parents owned one from when I was in 4th grade through 4th year in college. From there, they shifted to an online presence using various sites, to which we still have. Our entire inventory is split into two warehouses, with a third and fourth in consideration.

Not going to lie - it's a lot of work. As the only child, I was expected to do many tasks. At the time, I hated it and resented my parents, but looking back, I miss it. Stupid hindsight.

The biggest expense is, obviously, capital. In this case, capital which can be difficult to transport. We marketed as "New, Used, Out of Print" but most of our inventory was in the "used" category. We had sections for the "OoP" and we could easily order "new", as needed.

Keeping everything organized was also a challenge. They started it before the internet really took off (I actually spurred them into getting it, starting with AOL) but before then, you had to rely on certain "markers" to identify a book's genre. And don't get me started on books with multiple authors. Many an argument were had at the dinner table on how to best track and / or file those types of books.

We supplemented the main store by selling textbooks. We had this huge book that we would cross the ISBNs of various textbooks to gain value. From there, we'd freight it over to the distribution center and get a check later on.

Auctions, estate sales, and thrift stores were the norm growing up, as were flea markets. My dad became known as "the book guy".

But we did get some treasures. We had a signed first edition copy of Farenheit 451 as well as a signed first edition of The Hobbit being the the most memorable. There was also a signed Madonna book (I think it was her sex book?) and some incredibly rare finds.

Now, we mostly specialise in VERY rare items. A lot of these end up at Christie's. But those are few and far in between. I like to tinker so I've helped them expand their search by identifying electronics that still have value but need repairs of some sort. I do the repair and it usually sells for more than what we paid. Sorry...off-topic.

Anyhow, I love bookstores. There's a special place in my heart for them. The sad part is that it's so difficult nowadays to float one at a brick-and-mortar.