bid
A written, usually legally binding, offer of a
bookbinder, generally the owner of a bindery, but
sometimes an individual bookbinder, to bind the
books of another for a certain price, either by
the individual book or by lot. A bid may be
negotiated in any of several manners, usually
according to the wishes of the customer. The
binder may quote a flat price for all materials
submitted for binding, regardless of style or
format; he may quote two prices, one for serial
publications or serial-format materials and
another price, usually lower, for monographs and
similar materials; he may bid on all work
according to the height of the trimmed and cased
work, e.g., up to and including 8 inches, over 8
inches and including 10 inches, etc., usually with
an additional charge for extra thickness, e.g.,
greater than 2 1/2 inches; he may quote a flat
rate for materials according to type, i.e.,
textbooks, fiction, reference books, theses, etc.;
or, he may quote according to both height and
format, e.g., 8, 10, 12 inches, etc., serials, 8,
10, 12 inches, etc., monographs, and so on. A bid
may also include a stipulation (and a quote) of
extra charges, as for example, hand sewing,
pockets, stubbing, scoring, guarding, etc.
In extra (hand) binding, on the other hand, the
binder will generally quote an estimated price for
the individual book, or for a specified group of
books, with the understanding that the final price
(which to a great degree will depend on the amount
of time spent on each book) may be higher or lower.
Assuming there is no decrease in the quality of
the binding provided, and that the binder adheres
faithfully to the specifications, the advantage of
a bid situation is that the library may enjoy
lower prices for its binding. The disadvantages,
however, probably outweigh any monetary saving.
Bookbinding, whether by a company or an
individual, is essentially a service and not a
commodity, and a successful binding program, i.e.,
one that is designed to preserve a collection over
the long run, depends more on mutual cooperation
and recognition as to the purpose of the library,
as well as what the binder can and cannot do, than
on any possible savings resulting from a low bid.
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