Selling Used Books Online: Part 7 - What If My Books Don't Sell?

This is part 7 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6 of the series.

From this series, you've learned (based on my experience) what types of books will sell, how to identify the best online site to sell them, whether to sell them singly or in lots, and how to make a good listing.  But what if you've done all this, and the books still aren't selling?  Here are some reasons why they may not have sold.

• There just isn't a demand for that book.  The book may be out of date, or there may be a new revision of it.  Perhaps it's about a subject that is of interest to only a few people.  It might be a forgettable work of fiction, or a hardcover edition after the trade paperback has been released.  Some books just won't sell online, no matter what you do.
• You chose the wrong time to sell the book.  Perhaps it's a book that college students might need for their classes, but if you're selling in the middle of the semester, you most likely won't find any buyers.  Wait until just before school starts, and perhaps there will be more demand for it.
• Your lot was too small.  A small lot of books will be less likely to sell than a larger lot.  There's a better chance that there will be more books in the large lot that buyers want, thus increasing demand.  The shipping for larger lots should be proportionally less than a smaller lot, and buyers for the most part will want to keep shipping costs to a minimum.
• You could have titled or described your item better.  There's a lot you can do to make people more interested in purchasing your book.  See part 6 of this series for more information.
• Your price was too high.  There may be a demand for that book or lot, but not at the price that you listed it at.  If possible, consider reposting your listing/auction at a lower starting price.  If you've already listed it as low as you're willing to take for it, then you'll have to consider another strategy, such as adding more books to your lot and posting a new auction.

Although selling books online is a great way to find many potential buyers for your book, it's not the only place you should consider.  If you're having trouble selling a book online, one option is to find an online site which will give you a quote for your books.

There are many websites that will give you a quote on how much they're willing to pay for a book, and if you agree on the price, they will purchase it from you.  One site that I know of is CKY Books.  It's simple - you enter the ISBN for the book you'd like to sell, and the site will tell you if they are accepting the book or not.  If they are, then you'll be given a quote which you can then accept or reject.

When working with any company, be sure to find out who will pay for shipping the books, what happens if a book is rejected by the company once it's been sent, and how you will be paid.  For a larger list of online book-buying sites, check this article about 30 Places to Buy, Sell, or Trade Your Books.

Speaking of trading, you can using online book trading sites to get a different book in exchange for the one you can't sell.  Check that article listed above for book trading websites.  They work in different ways - some trade books one for one, others work on a point system, and others charge a small fee for the swap.  In most cases you will have to pay shipping to send out your book.

You can also try non-online sales.  Try holding a yard sale, or bring your book to a local used book store to see if they'll buy the book from you.  If all else fails, you can give the book away, or you can donate the book to a library or a thrift shop (where you might have found it in the first place) and take a tax deduction for the donation.

I hope you've enjoyed and learned from this series!

Check out these sites for more great tips!

• Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM 
• Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom 
• Tuesday's Tip Jar @ BlogMommas 
• Making Dollars out of Change @ Madame Deals 
• Tuesday's Tips @ Couponomic Stimulus Package 
• Penny Pinching Party @ The Thrifty Home 
• Works For Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family
• Thrifty Tip Tuesday @ I Am a Money Magnet 
• Tightwad Tuesday @ Raising 4 Godly Men
• Thrifty Thursday @ Melissa's Bargain Blog
• Link Up Your Favorite Post Thursday @ Couponing to Disney

Read more...

Selling Used Books Online: Part 6 - Marketing Your Books

This is part 6 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5 of the series. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

Last week I talked about some strategies about selling children's book lots.  Whether you're selling book lots on eBay or individual books on half.com or Amazon, you'll want to keep in mind how you're presenting your books for sale, and how a good presentation can improve your sales!

On half.com and Amazon, most of the work is done for you.  Users will come to the site and search for the book they're looking for, and hopefully they'll see your listing.  There isn't all that much you can do to distinguish yourself from your competition, but you can do the following:

• Describe the condition of the book in positive terms.  Use phrases that allow the buyer to visualize the book - words like "shiny cover," "tight binding," "like new condition."  That assumes, of course, that this is true!  If a hardback book has its original dust jacket, mention that. You do need to admit to any flaws in the book, but those should be mentioned after the good attributes.  The product page will only show the first couple of lines of comments; any other comments will be seen after the buyer clicks on your product and is that much closer to purchasing your copy.
• Get positive feedback.  You can get positive feedback by selling or by purchasing.  If you're new to the selling service, you might want to purchase a few items so that you'll have a feedback score before starting to sell.
• Offer different forms of shipping.  Media Mail is by far the least expensive, but some buyers may want the book to arrive quicker.  If you're willing to ship via a faster service, make this known.
• Price your item well.  All other things being equal, most used book buyers will want to pay as little as possible.  Decide on your lowest price, then price your item either at that price or a bit lower than your competition but higher than your minimum.  Keep an eye on prices using the seller tools for the site - a competitor may see that you've priced your book lower and set their prices lower than yours as a result.  But don't get into a price war where you price your book lower than what you'd be willing to take for it.
• Double-check your spelling and grammar.  You want to look professional!

For eBay auctions, there is a lot more you can do to help get bids and sell your item for as much as it will go for.  Here are some ideas:

• Use the seller tools provided by eBay.  Turbo Lister 2 is a program you can use to prepare your listings ahead of time and then upload them when you're ready to start selling.
• Title your item well.  Think about what a buyer might type into the search box in order to find your item.  Definitely put "books" and "lot" in the title.  If it's a specialized lot, mention that in the title.  If it's a children's book lot for 2nd grade level books, mention that!  Also mention how many books are in your lot.
• Make sure that the listing is easy and appealing to read.  Use a large, clear font; use color to highlight information, use bolding and italics to vary the look and give emphasis.  Don't crowd all the information; use white space where necessary.  
• Take one good picture.  You'll want to show all the books that are in the lot so the buyer can see what they are getting.  Make sure there's plenty of light and that any extraneous items in the picture are cropped out.  You can post multiple pictures, but there is a charge for each extra one.
• Offer different forms of shipping.  Again, some people may want quicker service.
• Set a low starting price.  Figure out the minimum you'd be willing to take the lot for, and set your price there.  The low price will attract potential buyers, and they may start to feel that the auction items are theirs already, and thus bid the price up higher when another potential buyer bids.  The more potential buyers, the higher the bids could potentially go.

Part 7: What If My Books Don't Sell?

Check out these sites for more great tips!

• Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM 
• Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom 
• Tuesday's Tip Jar @ BlogMommas 
• Making Dollars out of Change @ Madame Deals 
• Money Saving Monday @ Inexpensively 
• Tuesday's Tips @ Couponomic Stimulus Package 
• Penny Pinching Party @ The Thrifty Home 
• Works For Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family (temporarily here)
• Thrifty Tip Tuesday @ I Am a Money Magnet 
• Tightwad Tuesday @ Raising 4 Godly Men
• Thrifty Thursday @ Melissa's Bargain Blog

Read more...

Selling Used Books Online: Part 5 - Children's Book Lots

This is part 5 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of the series. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

Last week I talked about selling books in lots - specifically, books that wouldn't sell well individually.  When I sold books regularly a few years ago, I would sell some books for adults in lots, but mostly I sold books for children.

I did this partly because I had some expertise in the field, being a mom of three voracious readers, but I also did it because I felt there was both a great supply and a great demand for used children's books.  On the supply side, I had seen large boxes of books being sold at yard sales in family neighborhoods, often selling several for a dollar.  I had seen lots of kids' books at library sales as the library got rid of older, less popular series to make room for the latest craze.  And of course there were lots of children's books at thrift shops.

On the demand side, I knew that many parents would like to have a large collection of books for their children, but children's books can be incredibly expensive new, and the kids are pretty rough on the books.  I felt that teachers would want to have book collections in their classrooms, and that the budget of school libraries were being cut.  So, I felt like there were opportunities to help these people get books at a good price.

I collected different books for different types of lots.

I would often collect board books for the youngest readers.  When looking to buy used board books, make sure that all the pages are there and that the book is in very good condition.  I often looked for the most popular children's board book authors, such as Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) or Eric Hill (the Spot books).  Or, I'd look for popular characters.  At the time I was selling, Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer were still hot, so I'd find several books featuring each character and sell them as a lot.  One thing to keep in mind is that board books can often be large and heavy; this will increase your shipping costs - not only will the box be heavy, but you will need a large box to fit the books in.

Another type of book lot I'd put together were early reader books.  Dr. Seuss is by far the most popular and has the most name recognition - a lot made up of several of his books would sell well.  There are also the Beginner Books series, which has a picture of the Cat in the Hat but contains other authors besides Dr. Seuss.

Picture books - I often would collect books that had won the Caldecott Medal or were runners-up, and sell them as a book collection.  I also looked at suggested book lists from homeschooling curricula.  For instance, the Five in a Row curriculum is based on quality children's books.  I would find a couple of dozen books suggested by that plan and sell them as a lot.  (Note: I am not a homeschooler myself.)

Chapter books - this is probably what I sold the most of.  They're plentiful in the used market because kids often buy them as part of the Scholastic Books program at school.  I would either collect books as part of a series, or classify them by grade level.

• Series books - here are some of the series that sold well for me: Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Goosebumps, Babysitters Club, Babysitters Little Sister, Encyclopedia Brown, and many others.
• By grade level - For books that didn't fit into a series, I would check their grade level using the Accelerated Reader website (it's the number listed after BL, or Book Level).  Accelerated Reader is a reading program used by many public schools; you can read about their program here.  I would group them by level, say 2.0-2.9.  Then in my auction I would put "Accelerated Reader 2.0" or "AR 2.0" in the title of my auction.  There was definitely a lot of interest in these auctions.
• For books that weren't Accelerated Reader books, I would just collect them until I had a very large number of them and sell them all at once.  There was definitely more interest in larger lots than in smaller ones.

Part 6: Marketing Your Books

Check out Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM, Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom, Tuesday's Tip Jar, Madame Deals, Money Saving Monday, Tuesday's Tips, The Thrifty Home, Works For Me Wednesday (temporarily here), and Tightwad Tuesday for more tips.

Read more...

Selling Used Books Online: Part 4 - Book Lots

This is part 4 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1, part 2, and part 3 of the series. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

So now you've collected a large number of books to sell online.  You've identified which ones might sell well on half.com, ebay.com, and Amazon.com.  But what of the others, which according to your research won't sell as single books?  How can you make a profit on them?

Well, some books might just not sell, no matter what.  But others might sell if you package several of them as a book lot on eBay.

Which books are good for lots?  Since you'll be shipping a large package, I find it best to sell only paperback books, or at least as many as possible, to keep the weight down and thus the cost of shipping the books (and keep your back from hurting as much!).  When deciding how much they want to pay for a book lot, buyers will keep shipping costs in mind, so you'll want to keep that as low as possible.

To sell books in lots, you'll need strong boxes to hold the books.  The most frugal way to do this would be to reuse boxes you already have.  If you do this, you'll want to cover or black out any corporate logos and remove any postal stickers from the box.  However, I don't recommend this, as I don't think it is very professional, and you run more of a risk of a box breaking.

So you may want to find new boxes, but how to do this frugally?  You can look for coupons and sales at office supply stores, or join the store's membership plan.  Better yet, check around to see if there is a box manufacturer in your area where you can buy them at wholesale prices.

You'll want to ship the book boxes via the U.S. Postal Service's Media Mail service.  This is far, far cheaper than priority mail or parcel post.  For instance, for a 5-pound package, according to the USPS calculator, priority mail would be $13.50, parcel post would be $10.94, and media mail would be a low $3.94.  The only downside is that Media Mail must be processed by a clerk; you cannot use the automated machines at the post office.

Now, for the books themselves.  First, most likely larger lots will sell better than smaller lots.  Larger lots have more of a chance of having the particular book or books that a buyer might want.  Also, shipping will be a much lower percentage of the sale price, so it will seem like more of a bargain.

You'll probably want to group your books on a common theme.  It is possible just to sell random books grouped together, but I think it will be easier to find buyers interested in your books if you find a theme that buyers are searching for.

You can group books by author, for instance.  This might work well if the books are part of a collector's series.  For instance, someone might want to own all the alphabet mystery books by Sue Grafton.  Maybe you don't have all the books in your lot, but if it's affordable enough, a buyer may get your lot, then purchase the missing ones individually.

You can group books by subject.  A single, older printing of a vegetarian cookbook might not sell individually.  But collect ten such cookbooks and sell as a lot, and you might find people wanting to create an instant library of vegetarian cookbooks.

One thing that has worked for me well is to find reading lists recommended by experts of various fields and collect books from those lists.  For instance, financial guru Dave Ramsey has a list of books (his and others) that he recommends.  I've collected some of the older books on his list and offered it for sale as a lot. 

Part 5: Children's Book Lots

Check out Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM, Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom, Tuesday's Tip Jar, Madame Deals, Money Saving Monday, Tuesday's Tips, The Thrifty Home, and Tightwad Tuesday for more frugal tips.

Read more...

How to Sell Used Books Online: Part 3 - Where to sell books

This is part 3 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1 and part 2 of the series. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

So now that you've decided what types of books to sell and where you can get them for free or at a good price, where do you list them for sale?

I've sold books in three different venues: half.com, ebay.com, and Amazon.com -- there are lots of others out there, but these are the ones I felt met my needs best. Here are some advantages and disadvantages to each site.

Amazon.com has the name recognition as the online source for new books, but did you know that individuals can sell books there, too?  For instance, look at this page for In CHEAP We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue -- a book I'll be reviewing soon.  As of this writing, the book is available new from Amazon for $16.49, but available used from other sellers for $9.25.  People looking for a copy of the book might find it on Amazon, then decide to save money and go for a used copy. So you won't have to depend on buyers looking for your listing -- Amazon will steer them to it.

On the negative side, there is a lot of competition on Amazon, and prices are allowed to drop as low as $0.01.  (How do people make money by selling a book for a penny?  Power sellers can have listings fees waived, and actual shipping costs are often less than what the customer is charged.)  Also, the fees charged can be higher than ebay or half.  Amazon works best for in-demand books which are still commanding a high price for a used copy.  Once a book is no longer in demand, Amazon's benefits fade.  Also, only individual books can be sold on Amazon; book lots cannot.

half.com is another fixed price site for individual books.  It is not as well known as Amazon, but since half is owned by eBay, half.com listings are often listed on search pages from eBay.  Thus, someone who is looking for your book on eBay may be directed to your copy on half.com

The minimum price you can set for a book on half.com is $.75, so there's no issue of having to sell a book for a penny as on Amazon.  However, once a book is no longer in demand, prices will drop to that $.75.  If there is a large supply of the book, you may not be able to sell the book.  Or, you may just need to be patient as copies listed before yours are sold.  The fees are less than Amazon's, though in both cases you can list a book without a charge.

eBay is very well known for selling all kinds of merchandise through auctions.  For books, you can either sell books individually or in book lots.  I find that, except for the most rare or in-demand books, it is better to list individual books on half.com or on Amazon.com, since you'll be charged for the listing without a guarantee that you will sell the book once the auction period is over.

So when I am selling books, I generally sell

• book lots - at eBay
• individual books that are in demand - at Amazon
• individual books that are not as much in demand - at half.com

Part 4: Book Lots

Check out Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM, Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom, Tuesday's Tip Jar, Madame Deals, Money Saving Monday, Tuesday's Tips, The Thrifty Home, and Tightwad Tuesday for more frugal tips.

Read more...

How to Sell Used Books Online: Part 2 - How to find books

This is part 2 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. It is based on my personal experience and is not a complete guide.  Click here for part 1 of the series. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

In my previous article, I outlined types of books that can easily and successfully be sold online, and other types that might be more difficult.  But where do you get the books to sell in the first place?  Here are a few ideas:

Your own bookshelves - This is probably the best place to start.  Don't we all have many books straining our shelves that are never read and just clutter up the home?  Go through the books that you have and identify books that might be good candidates.  Selling these books will also help you see if you enjoy the process of selling books online, before branching out to other sources.

Your children's bookshelves - There may be many books on your children's bookshelves that they have outgrown.  Although you and they might want to keep some for sentimental value, others may be valuable.  Check to make sure that these books, and any children's books, have all the pages (my kids used to rip books), have no marks in them, and are in generally good condition.

Friends and family - Books are undoubtedly cluttering the homes of your friends and family, as well.  Let them know you're on the lookout for extra books.  They may have a huge pile available for the taking.  I have a relative who regularly sends me a box of books she's already read for her book club.

Thrift shops - Lots of thrift shops sell books for a song, others for a price that would make it difficult to make a profit on reselling.  Take a look at thrift shops in your area and see what the pricing is like.  My general rule of thumb is that I won't pay more than 25 cents per book.  If the store's regular pricing is too high, ask if there are days when discounts are given, or if there are special sale days.

Libraries - Libraries will often sell books that they no longer want for their collection or that patrons have donated to them.  These sales might be available all the time; they may have a once-a-week sale, or perhaps just one or two times a year.  Ask your librarian about when book sales occur.  Again, you need to watch prices on these sales.  Also, I would disclose in my book sales if the book was an ex-library copy, since some collectors do not want these books.  Besides libraries, other non-profit groups, such as hospitals and philanthropic groups, may also hold book sales.

Yard sales - This can be a great place to find books to sell.  You can often negotiate prices, especially if you are taking a large number of books.  Instead of going from sale to sale, burning gas and wasting time on sales that don't have books at them, I prefer to go to community-run yard sales where sellers purchase a table or parking spot to sell their wares from.  This way, I can hit many sales at once, skipping ones without books or with non-negotiable prices, and lingering over sales with valuable, cheaply-priced books.  I will bring several large cloth totes to carry the books, making a side visit to my car to drop off books now and then.

Part 3: Where to Sell Books

Check out Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM, Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom, Tuesday's Tip Jar, Madame Deals, Money Saving Monday, Tuesday's Tips, The Thrifty Home, and Tightwad Tuesday for more frugal tips.

Read more...

How to Sell Used Books Online: Part I - What to Sell

This is part 1 of a multi-part series on selling used books online. Please watch each week for a new installment. Thanks!

Do you like books? Do you really, really, REALLY like books? Are you looking to make a little extra money from home? Then selling used books online might be for you!

I sold used books online a few years ago, when my last child was small. Now that she is older, there are more demands on my time, so I don't do it as often. But it was a good way to bring in some money and enjoy books at the same time.

In this series, I'll share my experience of how my business worked, what worked for me, and what did not. This is not a complete guide on selling books online, only what I personally know about. There are many resources on the Internet that can give you a more complete picture.

What to Sell

The most important thing I found was that the laws of supply and demand were incredibly important. If there is a small supply of books - either a smaller printing for a less-popular book where demand has increased, or soon after a blockbuster book was sold and there are very few used copies available - the higher the price. Once used copies of a book are plentiful, prices drop as low as they can go. The idea is to sell books that are in high demand and commanding higher prices. But how do you pick the right books to sell?

In my experience, these are the kinds of books that I sold:

Adult hardcover fiction - there is a great demand for hardcover fiction when books first come onto the market. People look online to get a better deal than they can get at the store or by buying new online. The demand drops and supply grows as the book has been on the market longer, as people who bought their books new want to sell them to get back a portion of the price. Once the book is printed in paperback, the demand evaporates.

Adult softcover fiction - I found that the best adult fiction sellers were books that were originally printed in softcover. In particular, I found that books read by book groups were very good sellers. These were often books that had smaller printings at first, so there are fewer used copies available online.

Adult trade paperback fiction - usually a poor seller. One exception I found were books that might be read by college students for literature classes. These sold very well at the beginning of school semesters, as students looked to get better deals than could be had at their school bookstores.

Adult nonfiction - this was a hit-or-miss category. Some books languished forever without being sold, others sold almost instantly at a good price. Some nonfiction becomes out-of-date, and thus worthless. Sometimes selling several books on the same subject in a book lot worked well.

Children's nonfiction - in general, these books did not sell well. One exceptions would be books recommended by homeschool programs. Homeschooling parents often look to the Internet to find books to supplement their curriculum.

Children's picture books - Individually, a poor seller. But in book lots by author or by age level, these often sold well.

Children's chapter books - these are the kinds of books I specialized in. I'll have an entire post just on this subject coming up in the future. Individual books do not sell well, unless they are rare books in a collectible series. For instance, there are 131 books in the Baby-Sitters Club series; the last several books in the series can be hard to find, and thus command a premium price. The earlier books are plentiful and won't be needed by a hard-core collector. Book lots sell very well, especially if they are sold by series or by grade level.

Part 2: How to Find Books

Check out Frugal Friday @ Life as MOM, Frugal Friday @ Stockpiling Mom, Tuesday's Tip Jar, Madame Deals, Money Saving Monday, and Tightwad Tuesday for more frugal tips!

Read more...