If you are going to sell used books on eBay, Half.com, Amazon, or elsewhere, you need to start by acquiring books.
Start At Home
Obviously, you start by tapping your own library for books you want to get rid of. This will allow you to test the waters to see if this is really what you want to do, it’ll give you a chance to rack up a few positive feedbacks, and all at minimum cost. Personally, my first few transactions were purchases of books I’d been seeking for years. By the time I got to selling some of my own overflow, I already had a handful of handy feedbacks.
You’ll need storage space. I have a two-room apartment with rooms the size of D-Block cells on Alcatraz, always so full of DVDs and books that I’m embarrassed to have anyone visit me. The space you have available to you may dictate whether you handle paperbacks, hardcovers, or both. Naturally, I concentrate on paperbacks.
You’ll need to assure a ready supply of books beyond what you have yourself if you want your income from book sales to continue. Be sure to check with friends and relatives. My sister, for example, reads a lot, and hands over a bag or two of books each year. A businessman a couple doors down from my job calls me up when he has a book of two to offer me.
Library Sales
Check your number one source of low-cost used books, library sales. The local Friends of the Library will usually have a used book sale during the year. Maybe once or twice a year, maybe a weekend a month, or daily from a shelf of books offered for sale in a side room, or a combination thereof. I’ve seen all kinds.
Some sales will be better than others. You must pay the smallest price possible to assure you make a profit after expenses are paid.
Some libraries sell for as little as a dime a book, but it’s more likely to be around three to five per dollar for paperbacks. Occasionally, you may be required to pay 50 cents or even a dollar for a paperback. I wouldn’t pay a dollar unless I was absolutely sure I’d get it back…and you can almost never be sure of that. However much prices for paperback books go up, people do not want to pay more than 50 cents or so for a paperback that is used.
You may want to pay more if you are looking for and selling collectible books. You’ll need to acquaint yourself with collectible books, find out what is in demand, and study the subject in detail. If this approach does appeal to you, then by all means go for it.
Even a bottom-feeder like me would be foolish to pass up something that might prove valuable. Naturally, before listing on eBay, always check the title of each book to see what it is bringing. I occasionally find a book worth $10-$20 nestled among the worthless paperbacks. I also occasionally purchase hardcovers against the possibility they will turn a profit.
Arrive early. If the book sale is of any size, there will be book dealers there, some looking for the collectibles they’ll list on Amazon along with bottom-feeders shopping for volume.
Theoretically, you could offer to raise money for the library by sending out flyers asking for paperback books or whatever to be donated. You pick up, pay the library a dime or so per book, weed through and cull out the ones for the trash, then used the rest as your stock. This would work well with a library that does not conduct regular book sales. People will welcome the chance to donate a disposable rather than cash.
Another popular source of books. When a houseful of items is liquidated, there may be a large stock of books offered.
There are yard sales. Despite what I read elsewhere, my experience is that yard sales tend to overprice their books. But once in a blue moon you do find something reasonably priced. (Never forget your expenses to include listing fees and books that will not sell, against all expectations.) I found one yard sale where hundreds of books were laid out for 25 cents to 50 cents each, I forget which, but it was much lower than usual and the books were in good shape. I don’t recall making a huge profit because it was science fiction and those don’t bring much as when sold as lots but I’m sure I didn’t lose. And there were a few ringers in there, as Hawkeye and Trapper John would say.
Book Store Bargain Tables
The big book chains like Borders have books available up front at reduced prices. I have heard that some people have regularly, by choosing carefully, picked up marked-down books and sold them on their eBay store or at Amazon at a good mark-up. Look for autographed copies and first editions. I’ve not tried this but I understand it has been done.
Ads
You can even run an ad in the newspaper offering to pay cash for books. You might consider being specific about what you want. Advertise in local shopper’s or run an ad in Craig’s List.
Don’t Count Your Chickens…
You can even buy books on eBay. Run the popular search word “lot” and see what is offered. Just do not forget to factor in not just your bid but the postage you’ll have to pay in determining how much you need to sell for to turn a profit. Once you’ve got some experience, this may be the way to go. Certainly, many used book shops are buying this way then marking the books up to sell from their shelves.
Final Thought on Buying Strategy
One strategy you can use in acquiring books is by selling sets or lots of books on eBay which you acquire one by one over time. I won’t get too deeply into this except to point out that if you have an otherwise complete set that your eBay research shows is in high demand, it might pay to buy a copy off eBay or Amazon to fill out that set and significantly improve the value of your set.
Reference:
- How to Sell Books in Lots on eBay www.associatedcontent.com/article/699287/how_to_sell_books_in_lots_on_ebay.html
