Is This For Real? - Selling Books at Massive Profit

Thanks,

There is a large charity shop around 10 minutes from where I work. I might pop in their tomorrow.

I live in the UK and people often complain about the number of charity shops in town centres!

Along with the thrift stores, give Craigslist a shot...

It really isn't that great a profit when you compare it to other things. I prefer to do things that pay over and over for one time effort than to have to keep looking for books again and again.

Most books you find will be worth pennies of the face value. Books depreciate fast. For example guy in video 2 is showing you a few books he can resell at Amazon for $15 or so. Let's say he paid $1.50 for a book and hopes to sell it for $15.00. Amazon does pay postage. By the time you deduct Amazon fees, mailer and time spent you are left with just a little. Amazon charges a tidy chunk in fees.

Not to mention you have to know what you to look for or you will be spending hours typing ISBN's into your phone. When I did it, some years ago, I had to know what to look for not having the benefit of the smart phone.

And then you do have to sell it. Some of these books have rankings in the hundred thousands so turn over can be slow. Plus there is book storage. Not to mention the dust of thrift and used book stores if you are looking there.

So yes you can do it but it's all where you want to invest your time and energy.

BTW penny sellers on Amazon make their money selling vast quantities of books and getting the little extra they can from shipping. So that is why they are called penny sellers.

One thing I did though was respect my inventory. I would never flip thru a book roughing up the pages like the guy in video 2. The more pristine the book the more you can charge, plus I am picky about book condition. You also need to be able to grade books.

I would say try it and see how it goes for you. It can work for sure and you have little to lose. Once you get a feel for the market you will know more of what to look for and save time.

Save shipping fees by buying mailers in bulk. I used to buy comic book holders and ship fine books in those before packaging.

You can also do this with toys and other merchandise. Go to big box stores and look for mark downs on goods. Check the prices on Amazon. Grab up what you can make a profit on and sell it. Return it if it does not sell.
Just be sure the items are selling ...check sales rank.

Thanks,

I just want to make some extra money. Now I have finished my night college course I have more time. Im just struggling to see how I can make money from online marketing.

I haven't seen the videos yet, but I'm betting that neither one shows you the books that might have looked good but never sold. Or, as LBD said, sold for meager profit (even losses are possible).

For one thing, textbooks can be the ultimate seasonal product. Demand is high at the beginning of terms at schools that use them, then die in a week or so. Another thing to watch for is school bookstores that buy back books and resell them. Yet a third trap I found when I checked this out several years ago is that many professors author text books and then require students to buy the newest edition (thus pumping up their royalties). One clue is if there are several editions available - avoid the older ones.

In the end, I chose another direction. I don't mind flipping the odd item when it lands in my lap, but doing it as a mainstay is way too much work compared to things which pay better for less work.

If you like books, give it a whirl. It's also a good in-and-out way to boost one's cash flow when necessary.

I buy books for to learn about topics and then resell them on Amazon FBA. It does work. I do not do this for full-time income, but to clear out my desk. Other people are doing it as a full time sport.

But you are missing the facts here.

You paid $8 - lets say you sell it at the average price of $21.
That leaves $13

BUT Amazon will also take $.99 per book plus a percentage of 15%
So now you are down to $10.21

So next you have to ship it in a mailer. Hopefully you bought your mailers in bulk on eBay...so lets give .50 cent for the mailer. (But more than likely you don't have a supply of mailers and you had to pick some up at Staples and pay much more.)

But assuming a low price for the mailer of .50 cents now you are down to 9.71.

Now you got to take it to the Post Office because you are shipping it standard and it weighs over 13 ounces and you have to do it within 2 days.

So now you are out gas money and you had to stand in line at the Post Office.

Now the Postal worker weighs it and if it is like most cookbooks it is pretty heavy so you have to pay extra postage...So now you are out more money because Amazon only gave you the standard shipping fee.

Also cookbooks are usually a dime a dozen. Check the sales ranking on the one you bought. Very likely it was discounted cus it is not selling.

So, YES you can make money flipping books and I have done it (and still do). But it is work and time.

Have calculated AMZ fees, competition, shipping, supplies,
operating cost, your own working time, etc, etc.?

Meharis

Thanks, how did you know it would sell though if it is a specialist book?

I am going to two local libraries tomorrow and some charity shops the weekend. I shall give it a test and see what happens.

If a book is no longer in print or has something special about it (like it is signed) it COULD be worth something. I say could because most aren't,

So now you look at the condition of the book and grade it using the criteria Amazon gives for grading books.

Next you look at the prices of the books within that grade. So let's say your book is in Used condition. Look at the pricing on the Used books that are also listed at Amazon.

Then look at the books rankings to see how fast it is selling. If it is a high number it is a slow seller. So you want yours to be the first to move if someone decides to buy it so you would price it a tad lower than the lowest used book listing if you want to sell yours first. If it is selling decently than you can price it differently.

In your case someone can buy the book new for 14pounds so very doubtful anyone would ante up 60 for a used copy. Sometimes sellers price things and the price changes, a book comes back in print and there are other variables. The expensive copy could be signed or a special edition.

Steve Weber (The Home Based Bookstore) and others have books on Amazon on how to flip books. You should purchase one to get a feel for what to do.

If you can buy a book and sell it for 10X what you paid you should absolutely do it. The majority of your sales will be much closer to this range than the big money they were talking about in the videos. Though if you stay with it you'll find plenty of big ones as well.

You can ask questions here all day and night but doing it is how you'll learn. In addition to Amazon you can also sell Half.com and eBay. Despite what anyone here has said, there is still a lot of money to be made with books. One thing I did to get the sale over most other sellers was add a like-kind bonus book to the offer. I don't think you can do that with Amazon but you can with eBay. There's always a way.

No it is not all profit. Amazon takes a percentage and fee.
And if the book is heavy the postage they automatically give will not cover shipping.
Plus you have the expense of mailers.
But it can be done.

For Amazon there is the option of sending all the items to Amazon and joining their FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) program at 40 a month. This means your listing will say fulfilled by amazon on it and some buyers only search for those items using the radio button because they can get free shipping if they are prime members. This is why some books can be priced higher and sell since if people search just for fba sellers they won't even see the less expensive options. There is also the trust factor with FBA sellers for many buyers there.

Debbie

I have watched one video in which somone claims to go to recycling centres and tips and buy instruction manuals for 50c and sells them for $10.

I am finding the whole concept very bizarre.

Sure you can take a book to a book dealer.
BUT the price you can get for a book is easily discovered by looking at what the book is selling for online.

Sure. Just take it to a store that buys used books. If you get an offer, you now know the low end of the range.

Unless the person who gave you that formula has some insider information, from a reliable source, that formula is as good as any other.

Which isn't saying much...