Do you have experience selling books on ebay or Amazon.com?

I have an account on Amazon.com and I have listed a few books. It’s very hit or miss though. The person has to choose your “business” to purchase the book from.
You know when you purchase something on Amazon and you see the lowest “used” price? That’s because a lot of other people are selling the same product, some cheaply and some for moderate prices.
Amazon charges you to use their service, but so does Ebay. I found Amazon more lucrative, because of lesser fees.

You could always swap your books instead. I use bookmooch.com and paperbackswap.com to send my old books to people who want them. I get a credit for each book, which I can use to get books other people don’t want. I’ve been slowly and steadily getting many of the books on my TBR list and clearing space on my shelves.

Win win!

It’s totally realistic. I have seller accounts on both sites. They’re both really easy to use. They’re great if you accept that you’re not going to make a huge amount of money. When you’re new, the only way people will buy your books is if they’re at least a couple dollars cheaper than everyone else’s price for that book.

But be warned, if your textbooks are more than a few years old, there’s a good chance new editions have been published since then and no one will want the edition you have. Luckily, neither of them charge you to advertise your books, they just take a percentage if it actually sells.

Yep. I sold several on eBay. It was relatively easy, but I didn’t make much at all because of the books that I was selling and the prices that I had to sell them at to get rid of them. I cared more about passing them on to people who wanted to read them (like finding a good home for baby animals) than making money.

A hint about shipping… When I shipped my paperbacks I wrapped them in bubblewrap like a present and the put them in a mailing envelope and taped that close around the book. They all arrived in the exact condition that I shipped them in and I got some compliments on the shipping method. :)

I always wrapped my books in brown paper cut from grocery store bags. With Amazon, you get around $3 for shipping, whether the shipping + packaging cost more than that or less, so it pays to be frugal.

But I wrote the labels with colorful sharpies and I wrote the buyers little notes on the packing slips saying that I hoped they enjoyed the books. I got quite a bit of positive feedback about that.

@La_chica_gomela I did eBay so I was able to factor in my packaging into my shipping cost.

@avvooooooo: I always set my prices by just going slightly lower than everyone else, so even with eBay, there was no way to factor anything extra in.

This is all good news. I mainly want to rid myself of the books and would be happy to let them go at low, low prices…by the page or by the ounce. @La_chica_gomela that bit about $3 for shipping is especially useful information. I have ordered dozens of book from Amazon.com but I have not used eBay. I usually went for the lowest price and some of these will be books I got from Amazon.com in the first place. @avvooooooo I like the bubble wrap idea because all the books I got wrapped in it were in great shape.

I will watch for other helpful hints and suggestions for this venture. I am still not sure what I would need to do to set up shop, so to speak. How do you get the titles listed and the ads up for people to see what you are selling? What about adding pictures of the covers?

@Rozee: It’s a lot easier than all that. You don’t need ads, and you don’t have to add your own pictures, they do that for you.

Just go to ebay and/or amazon, and look or search for ‘seller account’. Follow the instructions, and you’ll be good to go. Usually all you have to do, after you set up the account, is input the ISBN numbers, select the condition the book is in, and set the price.

I list my stuff on swaptree, and although I don’t make anything trading books, and end up paying postage to ship things, I have acquired a lot of books and CDs and stuff I want for stuff I don’t want anymore. I’m pretty happy with the results I’ve had.

Some further questions about Amazon (@Rozee, I hope you don’t mind my chiming in):

— How long do you have to ship the books?
— Is there a required shipping method?
— Is there a rubric for determining the condition? As a customer I have not always felt that books were accurately described.
— What kind of agreement do you have to sign, if any, with respect to refunds and make-goods?

I think you have 3 business days to ship the books, but I haven’t used it in a few months, so I’m not positive.

There’s not usually a required shipping method.

There’s definitely a rubric, and they remind you of the rubric a thousand times a second.

I’m sure if you look at the information on the respective websites you can read any contracts required before actually signing them. It’s been a really long time since I set up my account so I have no recollection.

I sell through Amazon all the time, and it’s much simpler (in my view) than eBay. Once you set up your seller account, all you have to do is follow the instructions for selling each book. Look up the book, find the link for “new and used,” look for “Sell yours here,” and then fill out the information. You have drop down boxes to choose from for the condition (“new,” “like new” etc.), a box where you can carefully describe the condition of the book (I always try to make my description as accurate as possible). Then you click “continue” and name your price (I’ve found that underselling is the fastest way to get rid of the books—if yours is in great condition and you sell it at the lowest price, it will go quickly. But if you’re trying to make some money off it, you probably won’t sell anything quickly since there are often so many other used choices). After you finish that, you get a page that confirms everything and your listing is set up. Amazon gives you a shipping credit (usually $3.99) and lets you know how much you’ll make off the listing once it’s sold (after they take their cut).

They expect you to ship standard mail (I always do media mail because that’s about all the shipping credit will pay for) and the shipping speed they tell the customer to expect is 9 to 14 days, so that covers the slow shipping.

When it sells you get an email. You go to your seller account where you view your orders. You can choose to print a packing slip (I always print two, one to stick inside the package and one to use as the mailing address (I cut it out and tape it on). Once it’s shipped, click “confirm shipment,” and indicate what service you used and you’re done.

They direct deposit to your checking account every 14 days or so. It’s incredibly simple. And although Amazon gets a “cut,” I’ve found it’s quite reasonable.

Sorry this is long, but hopefully that answers most of your questions.

@suzyq2463, great information! When you post your book, can you see all the other listings for the same title and their prices?

And what do you think happens if you fail to ship?

@Jeruba Don’t mind your chiming in and appreciate the additional line of thought. I had not thought beyond finding out if it would be a good plan; it seems that there is a lot of first-hand experience among those participating in this discussion. It is all appreciated.

@suzyq2463, thank you for taking the time to add more information about the process to set things up. I am happy to be learning that it is fairly streamline business.

Of those of you who are selling in this manner, what problems have you faced? Do you have many returns?

@Rozee I use eBay and I always post “no returns.” It just makes life easier. If people don’t like what they got, they can sell it on. Of course, I also make sure to post on my listing that I will gladly answer any and all questions that people have before buying.

Thank you, all of you, who provided this insight. I set up my account with Amazon.com and listed 10 of the hundreds of books on my shelves. Now, I will wait to see what happens. I marked the book very low and hope that works.

@avvooooooo Oh, I should have remembered what you said about no returns. I will see if I can add that now. I don’‘t expect that I have had any business since I listed the book this evening.

That’s great! Thanks for the update! :-)

Wait, @Rozee, she said that about eBay. Maybe you don’t want to do that on Amazon. I have read lots and lots of listings from Amazon’s booksellers and made many purchases (three just in the past week), and never once have I seen a listing that said “no returns.” I would not buy from any seller who said that. That says “tough luck if you don’t like it.” You want a feel of legitimacy there; it’s not a bid at auction like eBay. A customer should not have to open a seller’s account to get a make-good if a book is not as advertised. (And if a dissatisfied customer is honest about reselling an item that’s not up to par, it won’t really be a make-good, will it?)

I will look forward to seeing your report of your experience. I’ve been a customer many times but never a seller. If it’s that easy, maybe it’s time to start unloading.

@Rozee “No returns” is for eBay. Not so sure about Amazon.

@Jeruba Well, I had my first sale today. I was caught off guard with no shipping supplies and ended up spending a bit more at the post office than I expected. But, it is a good start. And, I did not see anywhere for marking No Returns, in fact, everywhere it seemed that there were assurances that returns were fine.

Again, thank you for your help on this.

Great, @Rozee! You inspire me. Thanks very much. And congratulations!

Only one time did I actually have an unsatisfactory experience—a book sold as “new” smelled of cigarette smoke and was thumbed to the midpoint, where I found a boarding pass with a name on it. I contacted the vendor about a return and he apologized profusely, told me to toss it rather than returning it, and issued me full credit. I ordered another copy elsewhere and did not dock him for ratings points because he had made good.

The only other time I wasn’t completely happy, I received a poorly wrapped book that was pretty chewed up. I saw that it was only the vendor’s fourth sale. So I took a picture of it to show the condition it arrived in and e-mailed it to her, suggesting that she use a different type of packaging. She too was very apologetic, saying she was new at it and didn’t realize she was doing it wrong. There was no make-good. I told her it was all right and I would just refrain from posting any negative comment about her because she was going to improve her handling. If it had been a book I really cared a lot about, I’d have asked for a credit, but it wasn’t important.

Otherwise I consistently receive prompt shipments, well wrapped (and usually padded, too, if it’s not a cheap paperback), typically with a copy of the order form inside and often with a little thank-you note. I will follow those examples myself if I get started doing this.

I only had a problem one time. I got a book with a lot of highlighting that was sold to me as “like new” through amazon. I got a refund for that one, but kept it like the seller told me to. Since I’d paid more for a “like new” book than I would have for an “acceptable,” the “acceptable” being a little over a dollar (the “like new” not being that much anyway), he figured it was just easier to refund my money. I got a refund, he got a smiley face as his feedback. :)

@avvooooooo and @Jeruba Thank you for your comments. I had not thougth to add a thank you note but Amazon.com had instructions for sending a comment in the e-mail confirming the order was shipped; I used the space to say thank you.

And, I had two more sales today. That makes very close to $100 after three days in buisness. I would not have expected this. On the other hand, my purchase price for the three was almost $300. The joy of clearing the shelves, however, is priceless.

I’m watching this question, @Rozee, to see how it goes for you. Please continue to update as you get used to this experience.

At those prices your books must be bargains if they are in good condition. Textbooks, are they? That’s a great way to pass them on.

@Jeruba In four days I had four sales. I have made just over $100. My vacation is up so I think I will need to hold off adding inventory now. I was not aware of the ship in 24-hours expectation and my hours don’t necessarly allow me to get to the post office easily on a daily bases. Thank you for your interest.

One more question here for those in the know: are there any tax implications to selling through Amazon? Does the seller have to report the sale anywhere for tax purposes?

Sorry, still more:

@suzyq2463, I am ready to set up an Amazon seller’s account (I think), following the advice that you and others gave to Rozee. But it does not look so simple to me. I don’t understand about the cuts. I see that it says Amazon gets .99 per sale AND $1.35 per sale AND 15%. I read this over and over and over and asked my husband to read it too, and I can’t find anything that explains these different rates and which one applies or if it’s all of them.

How in the world do people sell their books for 9 cents or even 99 cents if Amazon takes several dollars plus an percentage? You can’t ship for that.

Also I am puzzled about your status as a seller. Do you have to report your sales to the IRS and pay taxes?

And do you get to use commercial media mail rates?

Thanks for any advice. I would love to do this, but after reading everything I can find on the Amazon pages I still do not understand and wonder why it seemed so simple to you and Rozee.

@Jeruba: (I’m gonna do my best to answer your questions, but I’m a little fuzzy, so please forgive me).
“One more question here for those in the know: are there any tax implications to selling through Amazon? Does the seller have to report the sale anywhere for tax purposes?”

That’s a good question. I’ve never reported it because it’s such a small amount of money. I think I made less than $50 last year on it. You might even ask a separate question. I wish I could better answer it.

“I don’t understand about the cuts.”

That does sound confusing. Honestly I didn’t pay that much attention to the cuts. I was under the impression that they took 15%.

“How in the world do people sell their books for 9 cents or even 99 cents if Amazon takes several dollars plus an percentage? You can’t ship for that.”

Amazon gives you an allowance for shipping. I think it’s usually 3 or 4 dollars (but it’ll depend on the book and on the distance shipped). People who post their books for $0.99 or $0.01 aren’t making money off what the customer pays, they’re making money off of what amazon gives them for shipping.

“And do you get to use commercial media mail rates?”

I’ve always just gone to the post office and said “I’d like to send this media mail”. I was under the impression that to get a commercial rate, you had to have a high volume of shipping. Please let me know if you find out otherwise! I’d be very interested!

“I still do not understand and wonder why it seemed so simple to you and Rozee.”

I think it seemed simpler to Rozee and me than to you because you paid a lot more attention to the details. I just hit “accept” “accept” and inputted the ISBNs.

Hey,

I am getting my first payment from Amazon…I missed the page where I needed to provide an account number for them to deposit my earnings. I sold 5 books, for a total of about $200. I spent about $30 on postage, packaging, and in one case UPS (I forgot to check my e-mail and missed the order…since there is a timeline for delivery; I had to spend a tad more to get the book to the buyer). UPS is too costly for this venture. Amazon kept about $40. My net income is about $130. But, emptying my bookshelves is my only goal. I still have 4 books listed and I hope to find time to list more for sale soon.

I had not thought to sell them for .99 cents. I am not sure how that would work because it has cost me more than $4 for each book and I am using media mail.

As to tax liabilities, I think there is a minimum amount you have to make to have to report the earnings. But, it may be that what you make is lumped together as income for taxes with any other income reported.

I really didn’t study the details of the operation that much. I pretty much did the same as @La_chica_gomela, I put in the ISBN, wrote the briefest of descriptions, and did not expect to do any business at all.