Independent Online Booksellers Association

IOBA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

Booksellers seeking to join the Independent Online Booksellers Association go through our new member application process. In some cases, the Membership Committee decides that the applicant is fairly close to meeting the guidelines and requirements, but can use a little more work and guidance first. Sometimes these booksellers are fairly new to the profession and are joining IOBA to learn more about the trade and to upgrade their standards, and in other cases they are already established but have been using listing methods and policies that need to be adjusted to fit the IOBA model.

The most common area of concern is with bibliographic listings and policy statements. The following guidelines are from our New Member Application page.

“Our primary concern is for professional listings and standards. This means full and accurate descriptions of the book in hand with all defects noted; conservative grading; and no blanket statements about condition or other repetitive boilerplate. Your bookselling business website returns policy must clearly state that customers may initiate a return for any reason, and that you will provide a full refund in that event. The IOBA Code of Ethics further stipulates that you will pay for return shipping costs if the item was misdescribed, and that the seller is responsible for items that are lost or damaged during shipping.

“The following factors are positives. Bibliographically correct descriptions; images available of books for sale; professional pricing; having your own website; specialization; good feedback; and anything that customers and fellow professional booksellers would find reassuring and admirable about your business.

“The following factors are negatives. Boilerplate; poor descriptions; stock images that are not noted as such; bizarre pricing on the high end; poor communications; poor feedback; and anything that customers and fellow professional booksellers would find suspicious or disturbing about your business.”

The following Associate Level requirements are from our New Member Application page.

1. A given business may not be an Associate Member for more than one year and must apply for Professional Membership. This process is to occur on the first anniversary of acceptance.
2. Must be an owner/partner/member of an online bookselling business which is not a publicly traded corporation.
3. Current, primary online business is selling books.
4. A minimum inventory of 200 books.
5. At least 90% of books offered are currently in stock.
6. No more than 10% of all books priced at $5 and under. There is some flexibility in this and the two preceding standards; if you don’t quite meet them please explain in your application why this business model works for you.
7. Stated bookselling business website policy that customers may initiate a return for any reason, and that you will provide a full refund in that event.
8. Policy of paying return shipping for misdescribed items, and policy of seller responsibility for items that are lost or damaged during shipping.
9. Books are correctly described by author, title, place, publisher, date of publication, edition, binding type, etc., with all defects noted. Description must be about the specific book in hand.
10. Membership is granted to only the business name applied for.
11. Agrees to conduct business in accordance with the IOBA Code of Ethics.

If you fall a bit short in some areas but are close to meeting the requirements, we have a Mentorship Program that may give you an opportunity to work with a professional member of IOBA toward the goal of reapplying. The Membership Committee Co-Chair may extend an invitation to join this program, based on the recommendation of the Membership Committee.

The Mentorship Program is conducted under the auspices of the Education Committee working in unison with the Membership Committee. You will be matched up with a professional IOBA bookseller from a pool of volunteer mentors, and they will work with you on making improvements as needed. When the time is right, the mentor will suggest that you reapply, though there is no guarantee that the Membership Committee will accept your application the second time around because you were in our Mentorship Program.

If you have any questions about this program, please feel free to ask by contacting the Education Committee Chair at educationinfo@ioba.org or the Membership Committee Co-Chairs at membership@ioba.org.