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eBay question

by Nightengale
8 replies
Hi Warriors,

Ok, I've never sold anything on eBay, although I've bought from them a couple of times. I'm not all that familiar with eBay and know next to nothing about how to sell an item on eBay and need some help.

The item I want to sell is a book. I'm a huge bookworm and have tons of books. However, the book I want to sell is someone else's book. (The gentleman doesn't currently have an affiliate program for his book and told me he'll get back to me about it next week after the holiday.) The book has mass appeal and would do VERY WELL in the current economy.

But I know nothing about marketing an item on eBay.

I know eBay has a huge, built-in list of buyers, but when it comes to a book, how do you market your auction item if people don't know the title? I know I can probably add categories that people might search to find such a book, but other than that, I have NO idea how to do this.

I don't even know if the gentleman will let me market his book, so this is more a what-if scenario. But if so, I think eBay would be the fastest, cheapest way to do it.

Yes, I know I'm being vague, but that's on purpose. Sorry, I don't want to disclose the book or the author at this time.

I'd love to know your thoughts/ideas on how to do this.

Thanks,
Michelle
#ebay #question
  • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
    Originally Posted by Nightengale View Post

    Hi Warriors,

    Ok, I've never sold anything on eBay, although I've bought from them a couple of times. I'm not all that familiar with eBay and know next to nothing about how to sell an item on eBay and need some help.

    The item I want to sell is a book. I'm a huge bookworm and have tons of books. However, the book I want to sell is someone else's book. (The gentleman doesn't currently have an affiliate program for his book and told me he'll get back to me about it next week after the holiday.) The book has mass appeal and would do VERY WELL in the current economy.

    But I know nothing about marketing an item on eBay.

    I know eBay has a huge, built-in list of buyers, but when it comes to a book, how do you market your auction item if people don't know the title? I know I can probably add categories that people might search to find such a book, but other than that, I have NO idea how to do this.

    I don't even know if the gentleman will let me market his book, so this is more a what-if scenario. But if so, I think eBay would be the fastest, cheapest way to do it.

    Yes, I know I'm being vague, but that's on purpose. Sorry, I don't want to disclose the book or the author at this time.

    I'd love to know your thoughts/ideas on how to do this.

    Thanks,
    Michelle
    So you mean "eBook" right? You can sell eBooks either in a normal buy it now auction as long as some of the words in your title and description don't raise an automatic red flag, as eBay does not like the sale of digital items. However, if you use "Information Text" or "eBookCD" instead of "eBook" or similar, you can usually list it. Also, you MUST give the buyer an option to purchase the information on an actual CD/DVD.

    For example, here is my eBay Listings:

    SECRETS to Dropshipping and Wholesale Sources List!!!!! - eBay (item 270487391617 end time Nov-25-09 14:43:07 PST)

    SECRETS to Become an eBay Power Seller QUICK eBookCD!! - eBay (item 270485615382 end time Dec-15-09 09:10:45 PST)
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Grable
      Michelle,

      If NOT an ebook... is this a book that is not in print and available on the open market... Or... was in print and is sold out and he has some left over....

      Sorry for the dumb questions but am struggling to understand exactly what you mean.
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  • Profile picture of the author dmderoeck
    A good reference for what you want to do would be Jim Cockrum found here Jim Cockrum Blog

    He is one of the best resources for eBay.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Donald Truehart
    Is it a physical book or an electronic book?
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  • Profile picture of the author aviamedia
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
      Originally Posted by aviamedia View Post

      She said it was an actual book in her post
      If its just a book, just sell it normally like any other item.

      Books don't normally sell well on eBay however. Most people go to Amazon to purchase books I believe.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Mighty Mariner
    You could also take a look at UK Online Auction Help. Although it is a Brit site it has loads of articles about selling on eBay which apply to any country.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
      It's a physical book but also comes in e-book form as a bonus.

      I can see people going to Amazon.com to buy books, not eBay. I certainly don't look at eBay for a book! But I wonder if I could sell it successfull on eBay. Or maybe I should skip eBay and post in on Amazon. Just wondering...

      Or maybe I should forget the whole idea altogether...

      Michelle
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      "You can't market here. This is a marketing discussion forum!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Koop
    There is very little risk to marketing the book on eBay so you'd might as well give it a shot there (providing the author will allow you to market for him/her AND you stand to make a decent ROI).

    As far as how you get "eyeballs" to see an auction, there are many techniques and some are free and some are not. Here are two ideas...

    (1) To test what the eBay market will pay for this book. Consider putting up a "no reserve" auction with a starting price of ONE CENT. This will always bring more visitors than just about any method I have tried (and I've been selling on eBay for more than 8 years)

    True, if the auction ends at 50 cents you'll lose a few bucks but at least you'll find out whether or not eBay could even work for such a book. If you don't get a decent amount of bids for the book and a reasonable price... eBay's not the place to market this!

    (2) You could pay for "Bold" and all sorts of other "add-ons" but the only one I have found good results iwith is the "Featured Listing" option. This keeps your listing at the top of the category and will get you many more views. Now, this isn't cheap so if you're going to use it, you'll have to list a number of the books for sale in this one auction in order to recoup your "advertising costs."

    Amazon is a no-brainer for selling books but make sure to look at all the numbers. I believe they take 55% of the sale so you need to do all of the math before knowing whether it is worth your time and effort.
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