Book sellers how to find ISBN number for vintage book?

[vintagemoonbeams]

I sometimes sell a vintage book that does not have any ISBN number on the book or dust jacket. I just listed an Elsie the Cow cook book from 1952 that does not have any ISBN number that I can find on the book. Is there a way to find an ISBN number for this book to add to my attributes? Are ISBN numbers assigned retroactively for these older books? Just wondering.

Thanks for your assistance!

Have a great week!

VintageMoonbeams

[thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat]

No ISBNs on vintage books. If it doesn't have one on the publishers page it means the book was published prior to the introduction of ISBNs.

[vintagemoonbeams]

Ok, I thought that might be it, but it was worth checking. Thanks for your quick answer!

Enjoy your Monday!

VintageMoonbeams

[MoonwishesStore]

SBN (Standard Book Numbers) were introduced in the 60's I believe and then ISBN in the 70's. If the book has a SBN you can add a 1 or zero in front of the number to search with it (I forget which). But any book published prior to the 60's won't have an ISBN. Now of course ISBN numbers are up to 13 digits as books just keep getting published.

If you do find an exact listing of the book at Amazon, you may want to use Amazon's catalog number as long as it is identified as such so that people can compare prices--assuming you want people to do that. I have found in my book database when a book doesn't have an ISBN, if I list it to Amazon I do copy down the catalog number so I can easily find it again if I need to. BUT you would only want to use this in a listing for exact matches (author,date,publisher,etc.) and it would help your sales effort.

[daysgonebyantiquesva]

I've got a cookbook that is a 1983 7th printing of a 1975 book--no ISBN but it does have a LCCN. Will this book get dropped from Google if I use the LCCN?

[MysteryLaneBooks]

Try searching the Library of Congress Online Catalog, http://catalog.loc.gov/, using the LCCN or title.

[YourRainyDayBookStore]

You can also check for information on these sites:

http://www.bookfinder.com/

http://www.amazon.com/books-used-books-textbooks/b/ref=sa_menu_bo0?ie=UTF8&node=283155

[vintagemoonbeams]

[SheilaDeesPostcards]

IMO, I would not use Amazon's number for a Google Attribute. It is not an ISBN number and I would think it would hurt placement to add an incorrect ISBN number.

Also, books privately published after 1970 may have been published with no ISBN number. I have listed (and sold) books privately published in the 1990s that never applied for an ISBN number.

I try to comply with Google's request for ISBN attributes and always give the ISBN number as a Google Attribute if it is correct. BUT if the book never had an ISBN number ... it never had a number. If it was published in the early to mid-1970s there is a real possibility a number was never assigned. Also, if I have a copy published in 1965 with no ISBN number that was later reprinted in the 1980s with a number, I am NOT going to list the ISBN of the later printing for the 1965 first printing.

I have flagged all books listed without ISBN numbers in my database and none have been dropped from Google Shopping. That could change tomorrow, but so far I haven't seen it cause a problem.

[MysteryLaneBooks]

From Frequently Asked Questions on Google Merchant Center Help:

"I sell books that are either too old or rare to have ISBNs. What should I do?

We understand that many important books don't have ISBNs. If this is the case for your items, don't worry, we'll do our best with the information you've given us already."

Be sure to use other Google/eCrater book attributes like author, publisher, year, feature, edition and pages.

[MoonwishesStore]

If you want to and you are sure that it is the same description, in your actual listing is where I would put the "This is the Amazon catalog number for this book".

Before doing that I would check to see if anyone is waiting to buy the book since you say there isn't one. If you pretend to be listing it on Amazon, when you get to price, it will show if someone is waiting to buy it and for how much. You can then decide to finish listing and let the person buy your book assuming it is the same condition, etc. that they want.

With a book that old, I would also check addall.com to see what the book is currently listed for at other site. Sorry if you already knew that.

[vintagemoonbeams]

Thanks for all the helpful ideas!

[GoneFunky]

What's funny with using the ISBN if you use them, in Google Shopping your items get lumped into the group of like items. If you don't use them your item gets it's own listing- hummm what ta do - what ta do