Considering Selling Used Books on Amazon, Need Advice

amother

Periwinkle

Sun, May 03 2015, 8:43 am

I'm trying to get rid of some old books I own and would like to get some cash for them. I've searched a bit to learn about selling on Amazon, and had some specific questions. If anyone has experience and could give me some advice I'd appreciate it.

I shop on Amazon, so I already have a buyer's account. Should I set up a separate seller's account? Is this allowed? The email address on my buyer's account has my name in it, so I think I'd prefer a different email.

Do you use delivery confirmation when you ship books? If so, then it seems like Amazon's $3.99 shipping allowance barely covers your costs, because delivery confirmation costs about $1 and media mail shipping costs $2.69 for under 1 pound, and $3.17 for under 2 pounds. Is that right?

When you ship books, how do you wrap them?

What's Amazon's cut? From what I can tell, they get $.99 per book, plus another 15% of the selling price. Is that right?

Is it very difficult to make that first sale?

It seems that Amazon expects sellers to be very responsive and ship quickly. Do you find that that this is a problem over Shabbos? Do you suspend your listings over yom tov?

amother

Periwinkle

Sun, May 03 2015, 8:59 am

Thanks! I hadn't thought of that, just looked at it. It seems like the fees might be lower, is that why you recommend it? Do you have personal experience with either platform?

baltimoremom

Sun, May 03 2015, 9:07 am

I have sold lots of books on both amazon and half.com the way I decide where to sell is if that book is in stock in one website vs the other. For example, if a text book is only in stock on amazon and not half I would sell on Amazon as usually books not in stock mean ppl are not looking for them there . Then I check what the book is selling for in my condition on the website and I price my book about a dollar less than the selling price so mine sells. If it's a heavy text book and selling for less than $20 it's prob not worth selling.
I go to a postal store and ship media mail. You could weigh the book yourself and buy postage through either website and then leave for you mailman.
I use old amazon boxes for shipping or for soft covered books I have bought envelopes. I try to ship within a day or two or selling but amazon won't penalize you but it's he right thing to ship out ASAP if you said in your post you would
Lastly Amazon will buy back textbooks and give u a gift card and pay for shipping it's worth it sometimes
I use my same account for everything

amother

Brown

Sun, May 03 2015, 9:12 am

I've only sold on Amazon. Keep in mind if it's a textbook and a newer edition came out it wont be worth much. I try to send it in priority envelopes that are a flat rate and I get a tracking number. Otherwise you risk losing cost of entire book if it never gets there. I want some proof. I usually end up losing on the shipping end but it's worth making back some for the book. The heavier books are harder and only worth it if they are somewhat pricier as the shipping adds up.

baltimoremom

Sun, May 03 2015, 9:20 am

I have never sent my books priority mail as that is expensive and you would have to sell books for a huge profit to make priority mail worth it. I find books sell the fastest when you price reasonably

amother

Periwinkle

Sun, May 03 2015, 10:08 am

OP here. (I really like the new amother coding). Thanks for all the replies, am still interested in hearing more responses, especially if you have experience selling on either or both half.com and amazon.

Follow up question: Anyone have any experience buying books specifically to resell? If so, would you mind sharing advice?

amother

Copper

Sun, May 03 2015, 1:37 pm

I've done it on Amazon, reselling college books. Personally, I think it's only worth it for books that are more expensive. (I.e. at least 25 and up.) I shipped from post office too. FYI- you can always up the shipping price. To sell faster, make your book a penny less than lowest price. Also, Shabbos is no problem. They're not that tight. You can always change any setting to work better for you when selling.

amother

Periwinkle

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:36 pm

Devoirie wrote:

If you want to make money on Amazon, then you should consider selling sticker books that you buy at Amazing Savings.

Do you have experience with this? I'm not seeing how sellers can make money doing this, since most books seem to sell for under $2 and cost about $1 or more at Amazing Savings. It seems to me that the $3.99 shipping most sellers charge would barely cover actual shipping costs, and Amazon takes its cut out of the selling price.

So how do small sellers make it work?

mille

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:54 pm

Definitely no priority or delivery confirmation... Just basic media mail, and I wrap the books in a plastic bag and then wrapped with thick paper like a paper shopping bag. Usually this cost me only a few dollars for a textbook and $2.15 or so for a paperback. Never more than the $3.99 shipping "allowance". In my experience, I've made money on the $3.99 shipping from amazon, not lost money because I can't cover my costs...

mirror

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:54 pm

amother wrote:

In volume. I guess if you had nothing to do and you lived in a trailer and ate just noodles.

I notice on ebay and Etsy some people sell two or three books in one listing.

And definitely suspend your listings over Yom Tov.

amother

Yellow

Mon, May 04 2015, 7:18 pm

What type of books are you looking to sell,
If you have Judaica books you can try selling them to
'the Library'
4306-17th Avenue
718-436-0098

It is a Library for Judaica books, and the also buy and sell used books