A few months ago I listed and sold four used books on Amazon.com for a total profit of $101. I’ve been turning old pages into cash for a while and I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it. I’ve learned a few things over the years that will help you sell more and make the process worth the trips to the Post Office.
Niche Books Command Higher Prices in the Used Market (when compared to the new Amazon price)
For some reason, used books on topics that are of interest to a more narrowly defined group of people (home gardeners, finance folks, or people interested in computer programming) seem to sell at a price closer to Amazon’s price than those in the general fiction category.
For example, I took a look at the five top selling books for 2008 overall and the five top selling books in the finance category. The average difference between the lowest used price and Amazon’s price for the top five books overall was 17%, while the average difference between the lowest used price and Amazon’s new price for the top five finance books was 8%. If you were to try to sell a used book that Amazon is selling for $20, you might expect a used price of $18.40 for a finance book but only $16.60 for a book with a broader market.
Price Low
If you want to sell an item quickly, price at the bottom of the range. It’s simple economics, but most people don’t know the difference between you and other sellers, so simply having the lowest price is key. Case in point: a few months ago I placed a Harmony Remote Control on sale at Amazon’s Marketplace. The item was a gift and it was new and in it’s sealed, original packaging. Amazon’s price was about $240. The lowest price of used remotes was $205 or so. I priced it at $199 and it sold within 90 minutes. After Amazon’s commission and shipping was accounted for, I made $184.
The remote sold quicker than most items do, but books I place online either sell within a day or two or they don’t sell at all.
Be Honest About the Condition
This is simple, but reviews from buyers are much more likely to be positive if you tell the truth about the item’s condition. If the book has a bit of shelf wear, say it. If there’s a bent page, let them know. Most people don’t really care that page 106 is dog eared, but if you’re selling a product in like-new condition, the buyer should know what they’re getting.
Buy Packaging Materials in Bulk
This should be a no-brainer, but the packaging materials at the Post Office or some other shipping store are grossly overpriced. Buy packs at your local office supply store. If you’re trying to sell your entire library, try a company like U-Line (www.uline.com). You can save a bundle on padded envelopes and boxes and such.
Use Media Mail
Finally, if selling a book, use Media Mail if the buyer requested standard shipping. There are some restrictions on Media Mail. You can only use it to send books, CDs, and videos. Also, if the package is returned to you for some reason (typically because the address is incorrect), you have to pay the return postage as well. I’ve never had something come back to me from a sale on Amazon, but in the rare case that it might, the savings from shipping all packages via Media Mail add up to more than the cost of an occasional return.
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Let me start off by saying that most of this information is true. Media Mail is the cheapest way to go but it is the longest way to go too. If your item weighs less then 13 oz you can send it First Class and save even more money and it will get there a lot faster, resulting in happier customers. Dimensions and weight are key factors when using First Class Mail.
Don’t sell things at the lowest price! Over 80% of my books online now have a low price of $0.01 and you end up LOSING $1.50 or more after shipping. People say “Amazon gives you $3.99 shipping credit on your items and it will cost less then that to ship the item” but what they fail to tell you is that you list an item for $0.01 and you receive a $2.98 shipping credit (yes, I said $2.98, I have yet to see a $3.99) you have a gross profit of $2.99. Amazon will take away $1.83 or more of that and you are left with $1.16 or less and you are now stuck with a shipping bill of $2.50 or more leaving you in the hole . On ten orders you have LOST $6.70. TRUST ME I AM LIVING PROOF! When you submit your listing online you will get a total of what you will receive after Amazon deducts their commission. If you can’t afford to pack, ship, and drive it to the post office, then you need to increase your price a bit. Don’t let people tell you that you won’t sell anything because I went back through and raised all my $0.01 to $1.00 and I am still selling things just not as fast. You need to be very cunning when choosing titles and pick titles that will sell. Self Help books will sell fast. THIS IS BASIC ECONOMICS. Even if you’re just doing this to clear space why would you spend money to get rid of stuff that YOU own? Isn’t the idea here to make a profit be small or large? Also, you need to mix up stuff too. If you have some high demand items that will sell for $20 or more it will work itself out. If all you have are penny books you will lose money. My first batch of orders I lost $5.00 and while it’s just $5.00 you will lose that or more EVERY TIME!
Scott,
You’re very right. All of the books I sold were at least $10 or $15. If you can only get $0.50 for each book, you should probably donate them to a local library or sell them at a garage sale.
Regarding sending things quicker, I often shipped more expensive books via priority or first class in order to give the customer a nice surprise. Many of my old financial books sold for $40 or more, so I figured I could spend an extra couple of dollars to get it there quicker.
There is an excel sheet that you can download that helps calculate selling prices on Amazon’s marketplace by margin dollars or gross profit percentage. Just a free tool from us.