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Selling books online

babymumma2
babymumma2 Posts: 7 Forumite
edited 28 January 2014 at 11:22AM in Boost your income
I have boxes of books, ranging from adult's fiction to kids story books. Any idea if I can make any money from them?

I'd like to make some space and some money! :beer:

:j

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  • ALittleInLove
    ALittleInLove Posts: 113 Forumite
    edited 3 August 2012 at 1:24PM
    Yesterday i sold a range of books and DVDs including textbooks, fiction books and cookery books on three websites: Fatbrain, Webuybooks.co.uk and Zapper.co.uk. They work like music magpie but for books.

    I compared on the various sites and took the highest valuations. They don't accept everything but the postage is free (they even send a courier if you have enough). I found it very easy to use and sent them off yesterday (So i haven't been paid yet obviously as they need to check them out).

    I checked ebay for most of them beforehand and there were quite afew at rockbottom prices that weren't selling (i assume the postage was putting people off expecially with heavy textbooks).

    It's worth reading the condition guidlines and packaging guidelines before starting as if you send the books off and the quality is not right they just recycle the books and don't send them back.

    Also they all have minimum order quantities: Fatbrain and Webuybooks £15 and Zapper £10.

    As i say i haven't recieved my money yet so i can't attest to how quickly they pay but they offer payment by cheque, paypal and (webuybooks only) bank transfer.

    If you don't fancy this idea have you thought about ebay for the less common titles (but bear in mind postage) or a carboot sale (less money but higher volume)

    Hope this helps x

    UPDATE: Webuybooks emailed me at 8:47am yesterday to say they have received my books (only posted at 16:00 the day before!) and had paid me via paypal 4 hours later. I would definitely recommend using them.
  • I have never done it but can't you sell second hand books through Amazon? I think you can signup to their "marketplace" and then second hand versions of books are shown alongside their new counterparts....No idea about costs/hassle etc as I have never done it myself.
  • benhc123
    benhc123 Posts: 24 Forumite
    Fatbrain is a really good way to sell books. Although they only buy books that they don't already have many copies of.
  • I have sold a few books through Amazon Marketplace - you will get more money (obviously) for more unusual titles. There seem to be loads of traders selling more popular books for as little as 1p each! You do get an allowance for postage but avoid selling heavy books because their allowance is not enough! It's also worth considering selling CDs on Amazon, again the more unusual the better!
  • rabb
    rabb Posts: 112 Forumite
    I've got a job lot of approx 10 true crime & football terrace culture books, Glasgow underworld etc.

    I'm thinking of selling them as a job lot, would be happy with £20.

    The thing is what do I put as the postage? Is there a fixed price I could charge? I guess 10 books, many of which are hardback would be quite heavy.....postage price exorbitant?

    Thanks in advance if anybody has any knowledge of this kind of thing.

    meant to say will be an Ebay job.
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 72,025
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    rabb wrote: »
    I've got a job lot of approx 10 true crime & football terrace culture books, Glasgow underworld etc.

    I'm thinking of selling them as a job lot, would be happy with £20.

    The thing is what do I put as the postage? Is there a fixed price I could charge? I guess 10 books, many of which are hardback would be quite heavy.....postage price exorbitant?

    Thanks in advance if anybody has any knowledge of this kind of thing.

    meant to say will be an Ebay job.

    Selling books as a job lot you would need to get the price down to about 20-30p a book. Check out Amazon marketplace first, if the books are a 1p on there then forget trying to sell them.

    If however you want to try them on ebay you would need to sell them as a job lot under 'wholesale' to get round the postage caps. That means much poorer visibility though. If you sell them under the book category you are limited to £3.25 postage.

    Weight them with the packaging and then get a price from the RM website. as a rough guide an average paperback is approx 300-350g so 10 would be around 3 - 3 1/2 kg. If you are using RM to send them then that would mean a standard parcel at £8.80 which is almost certainly more than the books are worth.

    The book market for run of the mill novels and childrens books and paperbacks is completely dead. The postage costs too much and ost of the time it is cheaper to buy them new in the high street. The only books that really sell now are current text books and out of print ones that are difficult to obtain. Until the end of 2010 I was a big book seller on Amazon marketplace with thousands of books in stock.

    Incidentally, on Amazon if you have to sell a book at 1p it is worth remembering that all you will get for it after fees is £1.41, and since it costs at least £2.20 to send a standard paperback it is not a viable business model.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • rabb
    rabb Posts: 112 Forumite
    soolin wrote: »
    Selling books as a job lot you would need to get the price down to about 20-30p a book. Check out Amazon marketplace first, if the books are a 1p on there then forget trying to sell them.

    If however you want to try them on ebay you would need to sell them as a job lot under 'wholesale' to get round the postage caps. That means much poorer visibility though. If you sell them under the book category you are limited to £3.25 postage.

    Weight them with the packaging and then get a price from the RM website. as a rough guide an average paperback is approx 300-350g so 10 would be around 3 - 3 1/2 kg. If you are using RM to send them then that would mean a standard parcel at £8.80 which is almost certainly more than the books are worth.

    The book market for run of the mill novels and childrens books and paperbacks is completely dead. The postage costs too much and ost of the time it is cheaper to buy them new in the high street. The only books that really sell now are current text books and out of print ones that are difficult to obtain. Until the end of 2010 I was a big book seller on Amazon marketplace with thousands of books in stock.

    Incidentally, on Amazon if you have to sell a book at 1p it is worth remembering that all you will get for it after fees is £1.41, and since it costs at least £2.20 to send a standard paperback it is not a viable business model.

    Thanks I've seen job lots of these types of book go for half decent on Ebay before though it does seem barely woth all the hassle. I could do a collection only but lessens the chance of anybody seeing it if solely limited to your region.
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 72,025
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    rabb wrote: »
    Thanks I've seen job lots of these types of book go for half decent on Ebay before though it does seem barely woth all the hassle. I could do a collection only but lessens the chance of anybody seeing it if solely limited to your region.

    Have you considered the facebook selling pages? Whether things are popular or not depend on where you live, but it is at least free.

    If you do decide to list on ebay and need postal options there is a thread on the ebay board about cheap couriers, you might be able to get postage less than a RM standard parcel.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • soolin - I've never seen the FaceBook selling pages....where do I find them?
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 72,025
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    Ambassador
    soolin - I've never seen the FaceBook selling pages....where do I find them?

    If you log into Facebook and search for groups using the key words 'sell' or buy or selling etc you should find them. I have found about 8 local groups already in my area.

    However a couple of tips. Firstly,set up a new Facebook account for instance your name, say 'Tom' and a surname like sales or selling. Secondly, people do time waste, about half the stuff people have said they want they have just never bothered with and you do need to get used to all the nasty fakes and dodgy pirated goods that see to,makeup the blk of the sales.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
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