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Need Some Quick Cash?

by Richard N Adams
27 replies
Hi guys,

We regularly see posts here from people needing to make $x by the end of the week. And one of the most commonly suggested routes is to sell some stuff on Ebay. It's a perfectly valid way too in my opinion.

But in the hope it is of interest I have another possible method.

I'm in the process of moving and so am "thinning out" my belongings to try and make the move as easy as possible. One of the things I did a few weeks ago was realise how many books I had that I could live without. On Ebay of course most second hand books are going for peanuts, so as an experiment I registered for Amazon's "Sell Your Stuff" and listed a load of my old books.

And I have been quite shocked at how many I have sold since then, at what I consider to be very reasonable prices for second-hand books. Some days I have had 3 or 4 books sold, and I really didn't list too many. Even better, Amazon deposit your "earnings" straight into your bank account.

Now we're not talking thousands of dollars here but if someone needs a hundred dollars or so quickly then my experience suggests this may also be a suitable method.

Anyone else had success with selling your old stuff on Amazon?

All the best,
Richard
#cash #quick
  • Profile picture of the author Anomaly1974
    We lost everything in two of the three worst storms in local history so selling things like that was never really an option. Still, your suggestion did give me some ideas!

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard N Adams
    Ouch. I feel for you. Was that in the Philippines?

    Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author Anomaly1974
    Yup ... after losing everything in the US because my Dad had a heart attack and we lived off the grid. It has definitely been an E-Ticket ride (Old school Walt Dismal (Disney?) World thing - The Wilder rides were always only available if you purchased "E" tickets) but coming through again has been somewhat rewarding ... though hopefully more so. Not sure what I have in mind will work but you gave me an idea and that gives me a starting point so I will let you know if I can make anything happen with it.

    Again, thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Brite
    So now you could take that idea even further.

    Buy old books from ebay for peanuts and sell them on amazon for a few dollars more each time.

    100 books -> $2 profit on each that's a kinda quick $200 and in some countries that's alot of cash.

    Even better these must of a dropshiper type shop or something that will send them to any address you ask (most people on ebay wont). Then you make even more profit because you don't have postage costs!

    Tom Brite
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    • Profile picture of the author hangtimenino
      Originally Posted by Tom Brite View Post

      So now you could take that idea even further.

      Buy old books from ebay for peanuts and sell them on amazon for a few dollars more each time.

      100 books -> $2 profit on each that's a kinda quick $200 and in some countries that's alot of cash.


      Tom Brite
      isn't that shady?? i mean it makes me feel like im such a rip off.
      im sorry, thats just me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        Richard -

        Can you explain something for me, please?

        Why do sell-your-stuff sellers (in book section, at least) price their used items higher than buying the displayed new item on the amazon page?

        Is it an advertising trick for their business? Surprisingly few of the used (maybe they're not used?) books aren't competitively priced. Is that due to Amazon fees?

        Thanks

        kay
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard N Adams
          Hi Kay,

          I haven't experienced this myself. What I will say is that out of print books tend to be far more expensive that when originally published to the whole supply-and-demand aspect. I have seen books that were $20 when first published going for $60+ as soon as they are out of print. How many they manage to sell though is another matter ;-)

          But another thought is that Amazon charges a seperate shipping fee for "sell your stuff" products which can make them *seem* cheap until you get the extra added on.

          For example, selling here in the UK, they add £2.75 I think it is to cover these fees. So if a new book is £10 and I sell it for £8 then when the customer gets the the checkout they will actually be paying £10.75 for the second hand book. So as a *customer* you certainly have to watch these things and I try to bear this in mind when deciding on a price so it is *still* a bargain when customers get to the checkout page.

          All the best,
          Richard

          Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

          Richard -

          Can you explain something for me, please?

          Why do sell-your-stuff sellers (in book section, at least) price their used items higher than buying the displayed new item on the amazon page?

          Is it an advertising trick for their business? Surprisingly few of the used (maybe they're not used?) books aren't competitively priced. Is that due to Amazon fees?

          Thanks

          kay
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          • Profile picture of the author billythekid
            yeah i'd have to agree with the above posters that ebayer is just not worthwhile in doing this. With amazon you have more potential to get a better price for used and new books. Also iphone and htc's android has bar code scanners, so you can use Google books.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
      Originally Posted by Tom Brite View Post

      So now you could take that idea even further.

      Buy old books from ebay for peanuts and sell them on amazon for a few dollars more each time.

      100 books -> $2 profit on each that's a kinda quick $200 and in some countries that's alot of cash.

      Even better these must of a dropshiper type shop or something that will send them to any address you ask (most people on ebay wont). Then you make even more profit because you don't have postage costs!

      Tom Brite
      Hi Tom,
      I abitraged collectable books on ebay a few years ago until many of the rare book sellers caught on and started listing their own books. You could make $100-$200 per sale. I did it by checking what collectables had sold and had a load of bids. If you could find the same edition or close you knew their was a profit IF you could get it elsewhere/offline.
      I used Adebooks.com to check. It's like amazon marketplace but for book sellers.

      Rich
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      • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
        Originally Posted by Richard Tunnah View Post

        I used Adebooks.com to check. It's like amazon marketplace but for book sellers.
        You mean Abebooks.com, right?

        The thrift stores used to be better places to find good books to re-sell, but now they all check online before they price them, and they sell the good ones on eBay themselves...
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
          Originally Posted by KenStrong View Post

          You mean Abebooks.com, right?

          The thrift stores used to be better places to find good books to re-sell, but now they all check online before they price them, and they sell the good ones on eBay themselves...
          Ooops. Sorry typo. Thanks Ken. Yes agree many caught on quickly.

          Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard N Adams
    You're right Tom. After the surprise success I had I kind of thought about how a visit to a local bootsale could net you hundreds of books for next to nothing to then sell on Amazon. Here in the UK you can pick up second-hand books for 20-50p at these sales, which you could sell for 10+ times that if you picked the right titles. Ah, the beauty of arbitrage. Doubt you'd get rich doing it though... :-)

    One tip - in my experience, hardback books seem to retain their value far more than paperbacks at Amazon, so this is where I would focus your attention if you're considering doing this.

    All the best,
    Richard
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    • Profile picture of the author radhika
      Boy I tried few books on ebay couple of years back ... It was a hassle to send them by registered post and following up with the package. Not worth my time. So I decided no more selling on ebay (or amazon as both are similar)

      Glad you are having a success with it.

      .
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    • Profile picture of the author ~Davor Debrecin~
      Originally Posted by Richard N Adams View Post

      One tip - in my experience, hardback books seem to retain their value far more than paperbacks at Amazon, so this is where I would focus your attention if you're considering doing this.
      Great tip, thanks!

      The biggest problem I see is inventory costs. You really need to know which books to buy on eBay or somewhere else and when to buy them.

      For example, for estimating demand you could watch Google Trends for the search terms of book titles and authors. Then you watch which one has the biggest spike in search terms.

      And for analyzing supply, you could look at how many people are offering some book as a used book and what is the average price.

      Then you analyze eBay and see which titles are being sold and for how much.

      You could create a small excel table where you input all the data, so you could make a decision about which books to buy, when and for how much.

      Can anybody but me see an opportunity for a cool software product that would automate the above process?

      Take care everybody,

      ~Davor
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      I do this on the side, will try to sell you something, be sure of it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard N Adams
    Davor,

    Make it into an iPhone app so you could "query" Amazon prices while out at boot sales. Patent pending ;-)

    Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author internote007
    Thanks Davor for the info. I used to sell books on Ebay and got tired of going to the post office. However, reading your info made me want to do it again for some strange reasons!
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    • Profile picture of the author ~Davor Debrecin~
      Originally Posted by internote007 View Post

      Thanks Davor for the info. I used to sell books on Ebay and got tired of going to the post office. However, reading your info made me want to do it again for some strange reasons!
      Hehe, great! I'm glad to hear that. I wish you all the luck and I'm sure you can perfect my process.

      @Richard N Adam - Richard, now we're getting somewhere.

      Take care everybody,

      ~Davor
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      I do this on the side, will try to sell you something, be sure of it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Elevoution
    I tend to aquire a lot of books as I'm a bit of an info junkie and I had a clear out by selling on Amazon - I too found that a lot of them went for good prices and quite quickly. There were some however that sold for a penny etc and I sold them just to get rid of them. I did have a few books that were in demand but out of print, which sold for way over what they were worth. I would imagine that someone with the time and inclination to obtain the stock could do OK from selling books on Amazon.

    I'm sure I've also seen a wholesaler of books somewhere in the UK - sort of a liquidated stock set up where you buy a pallet load.
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  • Profile picture of the author LKKnecht
    I am an avid reader, but can't reread a book. So I sell them on ebay. I agree with Radhika. It's a pain with the packaging and shipping. And since postal fees have gone up, not really worth it. I'm going to look into Amazon's selling program though. Thanks for the tip.
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    • Profile picture of the author anthony2313
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      • Profile picture of the author LKKnecht
        Originally Posted by anthony2313 View Post

        does the fees come out of your pocket.

        it shouldn't because you can have the buyer

        pay for the extra fees.

        do you do that?
        Yes, I charge them for the shipping plus a dollar. I only make about half my money back. I haven't looked on amazon yet, but maybe I can make a bit more.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Holmes
    Thanks guys for the ideas. I am just about to list books and was going to ebay them, am heading for Amazon as we speak. Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Manetzke
    Thanks for the good idea, I have plenty of like new books laying around collecting dust. I tried selling them on ebay but it wasn't worth my time, I may give amazon a shot, thanks.

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author t!
    had an amazon book store with over 10,000 titles, the key is to get the right books cheap. takes lots of space.
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  • Profile picture of the author clashctyrokr
    I think the return is not worth the time, but yeah I guess if you're desperate for some quick cash it could work. Then again, I can easily make $100 in a day just by writing if I need to. If you're not a good writer, you could do design, social bookmarking, etc. It's just about finding clients.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Wright
    Hi,

    This is a great idea.

    One of my best "runs" on eBay was for books. I went to local thrift stores and bought books. Some of the thrift stores have one day a week where they discount their books even more than the regular low price.

    I would always make good money on the books. Some even sold at auction for $20+

    Doing this on Amazon really makes sense.

    The best selling books for me were any old book, Books with plans in them (how to build toys, doll houses etc.) how to train dogs. On dog training I found the best selling ones were on specific dogs, "How to train your poodle/beagle/etc.

    Thanks for bringing up the subject. I just might try it on Amazon.

    George Wright
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    • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
      I owned a used bookstore for a while, and you can make some decent money finding books cheaply at garage sales and selling them on Amazon or eBay. But you need to have some idea of what's going to sell first -- there are tons of books going for a penny on Amazon, where the sellers are making their profits from the padded shipping cost and high volume. If you start buying up piles of books randomly to try and sell them you're likely wasting your time.

      But if you just want to thin out your personal collection, Amazon is a great way to go. I think eBay is better for rarer stuff, because you have to pay your fees whether it sells or not, while on Amazon you only pay if and when it sells.
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