Tip: Updating your PubStock Preferences

Ever done a PubStock lookup for a hot new title and had a PubStock display that took up your entire BookManager screen? Frustrated with having to wade through a list of PubStock suppliers you don't use to get to the information from the ones that you do use? Well, fret no more - you can manage your preferences for your PubStock suppliers easily!

Currently we include data from over 100 Canadian suppliers in our PubStock file. Most stores do not order from all of these suppliers, or even want to see the data from some of them.

Go into 2-Inventory, then press the comma (,) to bring up the PubStock display and options (listed in the red bar at the bottom of the BookManager screen). Choose <F>ormat, which will bring you into a "Setup PubStock display preference" screen. You will see a looong list of all the suppliers that contribute data to the PubStock file.

Tip: To get started with this process, you'll probably want a printout of all of the supplier codes and who these suppliers are. Go to our website at www.bookmanager.com and click on the Downloads option in our top toolbar. The first item you'll see is PSWorks.zip, and beside that is a description which includes a link to open a window which lists all of the PubStock suppliers and codes. Highlight this list, then copy and paste to Notepad. From here you can print this list or have it open in a window along with your BookManager window for easy reference (if you're not using BookManager full-screen).

Along the bottom of the screen are the preference options (simply type in the letters Y, F, P or N to change the preference for each supplier):

<Y>es means you would like to see the information for this supplier, but it's not one of your first choice, "go to" suppliers.

<F>avorite means you would definitely want to see the information from this supplier, and put it at the top of your PubStock window (above the Yes’s) because it's a supplier you regularly use.

<P>rivate means that you might want see the information from this supplier, but you want it put at the bottom of the PubStock window, and made grey, because you don't want them to be the first choice for ordering items or getting suggested retail prices from.

A good example of a supplier you may want to set as Private would be BKD (Book Depot) - a remainder book wholesaler. They provide net pricing (no discount) on remainder books and have minimum qtys for better shipping rates. If a customer is interested in special ordering a book, you'd likely not want to order the item from BKD, so you would want them down low on the PubStock list and greyed out to indicate that this supplier is not to be used to quote prices to your customers. That being said, you may want to view the BKD PubStock data on an item if you are building up a BKD order. Setting them as Private will allow you to still view this information (as opposed to setting them to No, which will eliminate them).

Tip: If you do not see the <P>rivate option, you’ll need to get an update to the latest version of BookManager. Call us if you are not sure how to do this!

<N>o display means, I don't use this supplier and don't want to see their information.

<D>elete should not be used, except in special cases. You can only delete suppliers for whom there is no data in the current PubStock file (for example, old suppliers who used to participate but no longer do so.)

Tip: U.S. suppliers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor have multiple warehouse locations, each one with their own data in PubStock. Usually you order only from 1 warehouse pair, so you can set the other pair as <N>o Display.

When you are done making your changes, press Esc to exit. Your PubStock display should now list your Favorites at the top (alphabetically), followed by your Yes’s, and at the bottom, your Privates (*giggle*).

For those using the BookManager WebStore, setting up your PubStock preferences accurately is doubly important. We use your preferences for each supplier to determine which prices to display to your customers (for items you do not have in stock); you also have the ability to limit your customer searches to items available from you and your preferred PubStock suppliers; and, when using your site to place store orders, your PubStock suppliers will be listed in the same order as in your BookManager software when viewing the cart.

Tip: Buying From Foreign Suppliers

What, you mean I can buy outside of Canada, and still be considered a Canadian?!?! Well, of course; but only if there is no other Canadian source or the only Canadian source is more expensive than a foreign one. You also have to be sure to set up those foreign suppliers correctly in your BookManager software.

Step 1: In 3)Suppliers, assign a unique 2-letter currency code for that foreign supplier. Very important:be sure to assign the same currency code to all vendors of the same currency (unless giant Ingram has their own US currency). For example, all vendors that bill you in Canadian funds should have CA in the Crncy field and all vendors that bill you in US dollars should have US in the Crncy field. This is because BookManager will automatically use the same exchange and markup rates for all suppliers with the same currency code.

Tip: After using <E>dit, try <Ctrl><End> to get to the last field in the supplier record, then arrow up to access these fields faster than using the <Enter> key from the first field.

Step 2: Set the exchange rate to be equal to the current bank rate of one dollar of the foreign currency. For example, if you are in Canada, and it costs you $1.03 to buy one US dollar, then set the Exch field for US currency suppliers to be 1.03.

Step 3: Set the Markup you would like to apply to goods bought from all vendors of that currency. This field will always be the same as the Exch field for your domestic currency, but you may wish to pad the cost of doing business with a foreign currency (fluctuations in exchange, or credit card service fees) by making your Markup higher than the rate of exchange. The Markup is the multiplier used on the cost of an item before exchange to determine your “inflated cost”. This in turn, makes BookManager auto-calculate selling prices that give you a higher ProfitMargin, to cover those foreign currency costs, including exchange.

The Math: Using an exchange rate of 1.03 and markup of 1.15, a book that is billed to you at $10us would be marked up to $11.50cdn (10x1.15), and your selling price would be calculated on that “inflated cost”. Your actual cost is $10.30 based on exchange (10x1.03), so if you sell this book for $18.95, your actual PM is 46%, rather than just 40%.

Step 4: Set the minimum profit margin to use for “Short Discount” items on your WebStore. Yes, it’s good customer service to special order a short discount item, and not get your usual profit margin from time to time – good service creates a return customer! The SD field is where you set the minimum PM you want to get on items discounted below that same percentage. So, if you enter 25 into the SD field on a supplier with a US currency, all Suppliers with US in the Crncy field will have selling prices for out-of-stock items on your BookManager WebStore quoted so you get a 25% PM when the discount is 25% or less.

Be sure to tune in next week when we reveal more about how Currency Exchange, Markup and Short Discounts interface with pricing on your WebStore!