You could buy anything on eBay, apparently, except Quaker books. But now that has changed as an enterprising Friend has set up a store for them on this extraordinary internet shop which is so popular with consumers.

'I found that if I typed the word 'Quaker' into the eBay search box, very little came up apart from the odd piece of ephemera relating to Quaker Oats, various Ercol chairs and sometimes an antiquarian book title from a US seller,' says Simon Colbeck.

Simon had been selling recycled student texts and revision guides after being on sick leave from work. He noticed that Faith & Practice and Advices & Queries produced nothing on the eBay search box. 'Any enquiring eBayer wouldn't get far', says Simon.

He talked to the Quaker Bookshop about what could be done and the upshot is that Simon has a batch of Quaker books to sell on eBay on a sale or return basis.

'So far I have sold only twenty Quaker books in three months but I have had some very interesting correspondence with buyers and the category has had hundreds of visitors who may have followed up their interest elsewhere.' Simon charges the same as the Quaker Bookshop, and his discount covers the eBay fees. His main purpose was to open a small 'extra window' for any eBayer curious about Quakers.

What titles are the best sellers? The Quaker Tapestry booklet Quaker Relief Work in Ireland's Great Hunger and Quaker Quest's 12 Quakers and ... series. The eBayer likes a bargain and a low price of course. No-one wants to fork out for QF&P or for Doug Gwyn's mighty The Covenant Crucified: Quakerism and the Rise of Capitalism. But Simon is discovering books such as this, which he would never have seen if not for his foray into internet selling.

He has also opened a small bookstall at his Meeting (Watford) for some of the books he has, and this stall has been remarkably more successful than the eBay shop!

Simon's eBay shop is called Tecstasy.

Labels: bookshop, eBay, quaker, quaker tapestry