Volume 67, Issue 8

An Inside Peak at the 2003 SOY Seforim Sale

by Yonatan Miller

As if preparing for the Student Organization of Yeshiva’s annual Seforim Sale were not hectic enough, Ari Erdfarb, the chairman of the sale, recently got engaged.  This is just one small example of the complications and complexities that the sale organizers have been encountering as numerous volunteers wander around the cavernous room in Belfer 502 unpacking boxes and arguing as to the exact placement of the books.

A quick glimpse into 502, even at this preparatory stage, reveals a room familiar to Yeshiva students from their endless writing and hand cramps during final examinations; the room now resembles a quiet version of the pandemonium that will soon ensue.  The pale blue test booklets of finals are being replaced by thousands of myriad colored Judaic books in assorted sizes.

One student sits befuddled in front of one of the numerous computers here entering data into an Excel spreadsheet.  “I duplicated my data one thousand times,” he yells.  “We need girls,” the volunteers keep saying, seeking to add diligent recruits to their workforce.

Feldheim, HaMaor, and other publishers have already delivered hundreds of crates of books.  The music has also arrived, yet there is still much work to be done.  For the most part, however, the staff feels that they are ready for the traditional onslaught of customers.

“I live in Belfer 502,” says Erdfarb, who is also Vice President for Business Affairs of SOY.  Erdfarb, however, is only part of a minority of Belfer 502 dwellers.  Last year, according to Erdfarb, there were five more volunteers working full time.

Erdfarb laments the dearth of volunteers.  The response from Stern College for Women, traditionally a stronghold of volunteers, has been lackluster at best; complicating the situation, the response from Yeshiva students has been poor as well.  “For the SOY sale, which represents RIETS and the student body, the response from the MYP program has been brought to new lows,” bemoans Erdfarb.

Erdfarb multitasks, not only is he in charge of the sale, but he also juggles his involvement in the annual Yeshiva University National Model United Nations.  He answers the phone at least twice during the interview.  “Farb,” a moniker commonly used to refer to Erdfarb, “is in his element here,” notes one volunteer at the sale.

The sale is run by the chairman, who is in charge of every aspect of the sale, including arranging the room, staffing, restocking and tracking inventory.

Formerly, the chairman of the sale was the elected Vice President for Business Affairs of SOY.  Because there was no guarantee that the elected official would be qualified for the task, the position of Vice President for Business Affairs is now by appointment only.

The Seforim Sale, though a perennial event for the past number of years, does not have a ruling body enforcing the event.  The sale serves as a fundraiser for SOY, allowing them to run programs for the students.  Just last year, for example, SOY sponsored the buses to the massive Israel rally in Washington.  “Every time you see a SOY sponsored event with free Dougie’s or Chinese food, the funding comes from money raised at the sale,” explains Erdfarb.  This complements the funds normally earmarked for SOY by Yeshiva.

Although this may be a fundraiser for SOY, the sale is no longer officially run by SOY.  Additionally, even though the president of the board of the SOY Seforim Sale Inc., the sale’s new corporate name, is none other than SOY President Josh Goldman, the sale has now transformed into a true business.  This explains the charging of sales tax, which began last year.  Erdfarb feels that the relationship between the sale and the SOY governing board, although separate, “provides the necessary checks and balances for a business of this size.”

The books ordered come from previous year’s lists.  “Books that sell well are reordered,” says Erdfarb.  The vast network of book dealers that Erdfarb deals with provides the sale with lists of new books as well as tips on hot sellers.  Ultimately, the ordering is done at the discretion of Erdfarb during a process that normally begins as early as November.

It is difficult to quantify the magnitude of the sale.  Over 80 book dealers including “contacts” in Israel are involved in the sale.  Over 30,000 books and 8,000 titles pass through the room.  “In fact,” explains Erdfarb, “we brought down the volume of seforim because the sale just got too big.”

Surprisingly, the best seller at last year’s sale was not even a sefer – over 600 copies of the “Shalsheles 2” CD were sold.  The best selling book was the four volume set on the 39 Melakhot which sold approximately 180 copies.

Erdfarb estimates that over 20,000 people attended the sale last year, with customers coming from as far as Florida and California.  The one limiting factor is the fire safety code which restricts the number of occupants allowed at a time.

With regard to what are considered some of the best prices of seforim available outside Israel, Erdfarb finds “there’s no competition when it comes to Eichler’s and Tuvia’s, but then again the overhead here is lower.”  In addition, “the interest here isn’t to make profits; it’s to get affordable seforim to the public while benefiting the students at YU.”

The large volume of books is not purchased with an “up-front” transfer of money.  Erdfarb describes the payment as done on a consignment; “What we sell we pay for, and everything else is sent back.”

Whereas last year specific hours of the sale were appropriated for men and women as per the request of many students, Erdfarb has abandoned this idea for a number of reasons.  Firstly, there was no need for it, both from practical and legal standpoints.  “Sales were not everything we expected during the separate hours,” he elucidates.  Additionally, a legal hurdle was pointed to out to Erdfarb.  While the hours were labeled as separate, this could not be enforced by security for fear of discrimination suits.

Security plays a dual role in the operation of the sale.  In addition to counting the number of people entering Belfer 502 and regulating that number in accordance with the fire codes, security also tries to prevent one unfortunate phenomenon that plagues the sale, a phenomenon Erdfarb refers to as “borrowing goods.”  “Thousands of dollars get stolen, especially music,” Erdfarb says.  He estimates that as much as $1500 worth of goods was shoplifted last year.

Some students have questioned the awkward timing of the sale.  While a small selection of seforim relevant to the tractate being learned are made available at the beginning of the fall semester, student sentiment is that the sale would be more beneficial at the beginning of the academic year.

Erdfarb’s explanation is very simple.  The timing of the sale is determined by both the availability of the venue and convenience of the volunteers running the sale.  It would be a technical nightmare to have the sale at the beginning of the fall semester when Belfer 502 is simply not available because of registration and other events.  Therefore, the sale takes place at the beginning of the spring semester when Belfer 502 is available for two consecutive months, and it culminates with enough time left to allow volunteers to study for midterms.

Packing up the sale is also a dreadful chore.  Because of the pitiable number of volunteers, Erdfarb claims that it takes more time to pack the sale up and send it back.  In addition to repacking, any book that does not sell must have its pricing label removed before sending it back.

The sale is now almost fully computerized and many aspects are now fully automated.  “We have our own POS (point of sale) system which monitors everything and we have a merchant account which we set up for credit cards.”  All of this equipment has been paid for by SOY with the profits from previous sales.  During the year “the computers go unused, sitting in the SOY office,” adds Erdfarb.

Generally a sore point with many student-run events, Erdfarb could not be more pleased with the cooperation of the Yeshiva administration.  “YU has been incredibly accommodating this year, particularly everyone from [Director of Supporting Services Jeffrey] Rosengarten’s office and [Director of Business Affairs Dr. Sheldon] Socol’s office.  [Sy Syms Dean] Snow and Professor David Kahn have been incredibly helpful on the business end,” beams Erdfarb, adding that they help with some of the more technical business challenges now posed by the sale.

“The most challenging thing is probably getting people to come and help.  The sale is doing a chessed mainly for the YU community.  Seforim are expensive and every penny goes back to the students.  It’s a win-win situation – you buy seforim, and you get free Dougie’s for it.  That’s why it’s a shame that more guys don’t come and help,” he concludes.♦

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