Sidelines That Sell

Photo Gallery

Standout sidelines – whether they’re laminated stamp bookmarks, quality fair trade journals, or flip toys – usually sell themselves. This batch of bookseller-recommended gifts focuses on top-selling impulse buys at the cash-wrap.

"I've been buying Fred Colcer's wonderful stamp bookmarks for almost five years here at Books Inc. in Alameda, California," said Josette King, who after 30 years of bookselling has retired, but still works one day a week at the store.  The postage stamps come in hundreds of varieties and range from Elvis stamps from Tajikistan to mushroom stamps from Guinea-Bissau.

"Some of our other stores stock them as well," added King. "We've literally sold hundreds of the laminated bookmarks, which [Colcer] makes from stamps from every corner of the globe. He's been serving the indie bookstore community for 35 years! We have them at cash-wrap and customers love to browse them. They retail for $1.99."

Colcer includes a free display holder for the bookmarks and offers a 30-day guarantee.

Molly Traxler, merchandise manager at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, Ohio, recommends journals from Handmade Expressions. The "tree-free" journals are made by an artisan cooperative called Eco Friendly Papers in India. The journals sell well and are often requested.

"They're well made," said Traxler. "They have a nice soft-leather feel to them, and they're fun. They look like a traveler's journal." An additional selling point, she said,  is she hasn't "seen them everywhere."

Eco Friendly Papers also makes colorful luggage tags made from "cruelty-free" leather.

Sarah Rettger, a bookseller at Books on the Common in Ridgefield, Connecticut, as well as a writer for BTW, likes pop-over animals from Rich Frog. "They just sell themselves at the cash-wrap, to adults as much as to kids," she said. "People can't resist winding them up to see what will happen, and it's so much fun to see the sheer delight on their faces when the plastic frogs, dogs, and rabbits do their flips. The wind-up bugs and shuffling bees also have their share of fans, and seem to be just as hard to resist."