Amazon pricing advice needed

timbo82 · 25 January 2007 at 11:23AM

Would anyone please have some advice on pricing strategies for Amazon? I have recently obtained a book for which the prices start at £15 on the marketplace. There are also two signed first editions on sale at £50 and £75 (both sellers claim that they will dispatch from stock).

The copy that I have is a pristine 1st edition signed copy and am not sure what to list it at - would anyone have some advice. Ideally I would like to sell the book quickly as I want the money - but at the same time I don't want to give it away too cheaply.

Any advice would be greatfully recieved!

frivolous_fay · 25 January 2007 at 11:33AM

Try it at £50.

I've recently started adding to descriptions that I will despatch same day if the item is bought by 3pm, it seems to go down well

Hintza · 25 January 2007 at 11:37AM

Start at £50 as suggested and drop it by £5-£10 every week or month depending on the rush you are in to sell.

timbo82 · 25 January 2007 at 2:28PM

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to do just that. I've checked out another couple of book sites and they seem to suggest that £40 - £45 is the market value. I'll start at £50 and work from there.

Hintza · 25 January 2007 at 6:07PM

Oh one other thing when I get to the minimum I am prepared to accept I start the process all over again. I bought 1 book 6 months ago and it has taken me that long to sell it....needless to say at the price I paid!!

Memo to self: don't buy books to sell...leave that to the folk that know and understand the market!

timbo82 · 25 January 2007 at 6:17PM

Hintza wrote:

Oh one other thing when I get to the minimum I am prepared to accept I start the process all over again. I bought 1 book 6 months ago and it has taken me that long to sell it....needless to say at the price I paid!!

Memo to self: don't buy books to sell...leave that to the folk that know and understand the market!

Ahh sneeky! I'll do just that. Thanks!

Amazombie · 25 January 2007 at 8:10PM

Im not sure about this starting high and lowering every week/month. There are millions of listed books on Amazon and half of them never get looked at for months either because they are so obscure that no one knows they exist or because there simply arent any buyers for that book.

Its possible on many books that a buyer will only come along maybe once in one/two/three years so if the sellers price has been dropped significantly then they get a bargain. Conversely, a buyer could come along desperately wanting the book but walking away without buying because the price is ridiculously high and totally beyond their pocket.

Unfortunately, with the Amazon system its impossible to know whether anyone has looked at a particular book listing in months/years.

As regards, any additional value for a book being signed it really depends on the genre/content/subject. In many areas a book is simply required for research and buyers really dont care whether the book is signed by the author so would always choose the cheapest option.

In many cases establishing prices is best achieved by having a dartboard with a selection of prices and throwing straight. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

frivolous_fay · 25 January 2007 at 8:19PM

Amazombie wrote:

Conversely, a buyer could come along desperately wanting the book but walking away without buying because the price is ridiculously high and totally beyond their pocket.

Not that desperate then :rotfl:

I'm sure you're right though!

timbo82 · 26 January 2007 at 12:24PM

Amazombie wrote:

Im not sure about this starting high and lowering every week/month. There are millions of listed books on Amazon and half of them never get looked at for months either because they are so obscure that no one knows they exist or because there simply arent any buyers for that book.

Its possible on many books that a buyer will only come along maybe once in one/two/three years so if the sellers price has been dropped significantly then they get a bargain. Conversely, a buyer could come along desperately wanting the book but walking away without buying because the price is ridiculously high and totally beyond their pocket.

Unfortunately, with the Amazon system its impossible to know whether anyone has looked at a particular book listing in months/years.

As regards, any additional value for a book being signed it really depends on the genre/content/subject. In many areas a book is simply required for research and buyers really dont care whether the book is signed by the author so would always choose the cheapest option.

In many cases establishing prices is best achieved by having a dartboard with a selection of prices and throwing straight. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Thanks for the reply. Now I'm really confused.

The book in question is an autbiography that should appeal to sci-fi geeks (I hope you don't mind me telling you who's it is in case everyone starts to list theirs). I'm pretty sure that it is worth the £50 so I'll see how it goes. Thinking about it I can't see the book losing much value to I guess I'll leave it at £50 until either it sells or the 60 days listing expires.

Amazon pricing advice needed

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