Help Please...Ebay and selling books?

[disynut]

I have been inspired by the Ebay post about selling and two weeks ago I got started. I mainly started listing books(paperback) and I listed them three to a lot, and listed three lots. But none of them sold! I started the bidding at $1.00 and had shipping at $3.50..was that too much? They are Star Trek novels(parts of a series and I put them in order, e.g. selling #1-3). The cologne I listed sold great, but I have a lot of books to sell and would really like any help you all can give me!!

Thanks for all your help...I usually just "lurk" on this board...so many have great ideas!!!

Jennifer

 

[DMRick]

If they are books, you might want to offer to ship them Media mail. Are they books that others had for sale and sold, but yours didn't? You had pictures and described them good?

 

[Figment78]

The biggest thing I find about selling on Ebay is research. I would do an advanced search, and click the box that says "completed items only". Check to see if there were others of the same book that sold. If so, check out how they listed them, prices, etc. And more importantly, what category they listed them in. This should help!
If you search and don't find any that sold, you might unfortunately not be able to sell them. There might not be a "market" for the item you have listed.

Hope this helps!

 

[Cinders]

Books are sort of iffy. The ones I had up and thought would do well didnt......and the ones I thought wouldnt went for over $10. And I had used completed and current auctions when I researched them for starting prices. Do use Media mail for shipping prices...its much cheaper and at this time of year doesnt take too long....whereas during the holidays it seems to slow down. You might also do a little research on them at Half.com too. Did you have a counter on your listing? If so, check out how many peeps looked at the books....or somewhere lost in this thread is a link to a service that will tell you how many people are watching your auction too.

 

[SusanD]

My husband and I have sold quite a few books on their website. The nice thing is that there are no fees unless you sell your item. You list for the price you want and they charge the buyer for shipping and credit you for that amount. Good luck!

 

[starwood]

You might want to check with a local Barnes and Noble. I recent discovered that our's buys used books. I haven't sold any there yet so I don't know how much they pay.

 

[sap1227]

I put my DH's school books on EBAY and they did not sell (starting bid per book $5.00, did not get any bids on any of the 3 books). After the auction was over I put them on Half.com, sold all 3 in just a couple of days for $40-$50, I felt bad taking people's money for things I was willing to sell for $5. I guess people do not really look on EBAY as much for books.

Christy

 

[disneychrista]

I too was going to suggest Amazon.com. I have sold a couple things there. The thing I like about Amazon.com is you only pay if the item sells. Also, they are listed for 60 days.

 

[Kay1]

The thing that worries me about selling on Amazon and Half.com is the need to ship within 48 hours. What if you're out of town for a long weekend? I sell on eBay and have had luck with books, but I usually sell them in lots. For the most part, I like to sell my used books at our yearly community yard sale.

 

[Gillian]

For Amazon.com, you don't have to ship within 48 hours. It's actually within 2 business days of the person placing the order, so holidays & weekends don't count.

I believe they have vacation settings, but, you have to remember to use them!! Actually, I had this happen to me last week!! I forgot I had a cookbook listed on Amazon.com. I was pregnant and my water broke Tuesday night. I ended up staying in the hospital until Saturday, and when I checked my email, I found I had sold the book. Luckily, I had until Monday to mail it, and was able to get DH to do it for me.

 

[Kay1]

Thanks, Gillian! That makes me feel better about giving Amazon a shot.

 

[renessa]

I have sold books and cd's through half.com. I am happy with the selling price!!! There is a vacation setting, but also you have 48 hours (excluding holidays and weekends) to confirm the offer, and then more time (24 hours) to actually ship. Check out the help desk at
http://half.ebay.com/help/index.cfm?helpsection=fulfill

Good luck! Renessa

 

[disynut]

Hmmmm. I may have to try Half.com then. I actually have some books on Amazon, with no luck(they've been there for over a month, but only one is a recently published book...I did put them cheap, though, but who knows?). Thanks for your help....Gillian...good luck with your pregnancy(I assume you're still pregnant?) and God Bless!

Jennifer

 

[Gillian]

Jennifer, thank you! I actually had the baby on the 11th, and sold my book on the 12th. Mailed it the following monday morning. Crazy stuff.

I have 2 books listed on half.com, but no takers yet!

 

[robinb]

Originally posted by Gillian
Jennifer, thank you! I actually had the baby on the 11th, and sold my book on the 12th. Mailed it the following monday morning. Crazy stuff.

Congratulations on your baby! I hope you get a 5/5 rating from that person . BTW, I sell lots of books on Amazon. Probably 3-10 books per day.

 

[Gillian]

Thank you Robin! Are you one of those people who sells books for a penny? How do they make money?

 

[robinb]

I do have a few books for a penny, but they are all coming down when I go on vacation and not going back up.

I never start out a book at 0.01, but sometimes prices will spiral downward to 0.01, the book is already listed and in my inventory (Organic Grape Boxes from my local Co-op) and I will lower the price to move it out. Do I make money? No, probably not. I am an Amazon Pro Seller and pay $40 per month to sell on Amazon. I split that cost with a friend. A Pro Seller does not have to pay $1 per book, just the regular Amazon commission. I get $2.24 per book in shipping allowance and most books cost $1.42 plus my materials (about another $0.20), so I get to keep the difference. Whoo Hoo! 62 cents! That usually does not cover the cost of the book, so I will not list a book for anything less than 50 cents. My rejects go to the local Goodwill and I try not to buy them again .