selling your stuff on Amazon...part 2

apprentice_tycoon

Hi Mike - well done on your find too - I NEVER see books advertised in our paper, I suppose if they are often advertised it may encourage others to advertise theirs too but it doesn't happen here!

The Royal Mail normal post covers up to 10 times a first class stamp for copmpensation, so that's currently £30.00.
Recorded Delivery is the same only just with the benefit of a signature. To get proper cover you need to send it Special Delvery or Standard Parcels (buy some extra insurance for 75 pence), this will cover up to £100.00. At some weights Spec Del is cheaper than Standard Parcels

mike55_2

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Hi Mike - well done on your find too - I NEVER see books advertised in our paper, I suppose if they are often advertised it may encourage others to advertise theirs too but it doesn't happen here!

The Royal Mail normal post covers up to 10 times a first class stamp for copmpensation, so that's currently £30.00.
Recorded Delivery is the same only just with the benefit of a signature. To get proper cover you need to send it Special Delvery or Standard Parcels (buy some extra insurance for 75 pence), this will cover up to £100.00. At some weights Spec Del is cheaper than Standard Parcels

you'll have to move up here apprentice tycoon and thanks for the info. the
sellers got some more that i might have a dabble at

mike55_2

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Hi Mike - well done on your find too - I NEVER see books advertised in our paper, I suppose if they are often advertised it may encourage others to advertise theirs too but it doesn't happen here!

The Royal Mail normal post covers up to 10 times a first class stamp for copmpensation, so that's currently £30.00.
Recorded Delivery is the same only just with the benefit of a signature. To get proper cover you need to send it Special Delvery or Standard Parcels (buy some extra insurance for 75 pence), this will cover up to £100.00. At some weights Spec Del is cheaper than Standard Parcels

you'll have to move up here apprentice tycoon and thanks for the info. the
sellers got some more that i might have a dabble at

did you see the post on the main board about the 99% off a book? you've got to check the saving out :beer:

Angela

Other half has put up that bookcase I had in the garage,he found space for it no probs,hes such a sweetie nothing is ever too much trouble,I even asked him to make me a totem pole once and he did,but thats another story.

Been looking in my local ads and no books this week a box of 20 vidoes for £10 not sure if I should ring perhaps see what sort they are,the 5 I bought at the school xmas fayre for £1 have all sold which did surprise me,so not sure if I should go for them,as they are a bit more expensive,tho I could knock em down a bit.

mike55_2

Angela wrote:

Been looking in my local ads and no books this week a box of 20 vidoes for £10 not sure if I should ring perhaps see what sort they are,the 5 I bought at the school xmas fayre for £1 have all sold which did surprise me,so not sure if I should go for them,as they are a bit more expensive,tho I could knock em down a bit.

sometimes the cases can be worth 50p each Angela, so maybe worth a look? and i sold one i'd bought in a lot for approx. 8 quid, a disney one.

as for the totem pole?

mike55_2

just finished listing those books, and i hit the usual snag, one not listed and no price 'guide'.

so i searched the usual places, alibris, abe books, and some obscure site :rolleyes: so i turned the situation around and put a book on amazon's wish list thing.

the amazon price came up :beer: so at least i had something comparative to work off instead of using the over-inflated usa prices

klondyke

talking of charity shops, i met someone through work who works in a charity shop and he mentioned that a hell of a lot of books are skipped, so i'm going to make sure the charity shops actually 'want' what we take in from now on

Mmmm - just got to reading this thread. I volunteer for a charity shop and 'tis true that lots of books have to go. Obviously some come in completely unsaleable in the first place, but others which are perfectly ok, simply don't sell - and we can't leave them on the shelves for too long, hoping, as we need dosh.

We used to save decent unsolds for Books for Africa, but often they didn't turn up to collect and we have no room to store for long.

Why don't you enterprising people go and chat up the book people in your charity shop and offer (say) 10p per book if you can rummage through unsolds (ONLY unsolds) before they go? Possibly offer a 'conscience' percentage of profit as well? (Don't forget, if you are a trader, donations aren't taxable.)

If they agree, make an agreed time when the book person/people are available for your rummaging and pickup. Keep appontment, or books may have already gone. Don't get in the way - there is very little room in most charity shops!

Can't say all charity shops would give you the time of day, but worth a try as, personally, I would rather put 10p in the till than throw a book away (but we are not normally allowed to (shop policy) sell below a certain price. Hence 'unsold' might be different:)

Not going to tell you where I work in West London, in case you all rush at once, but I would probably agree to such a request, provided people don't take up all our time and space and disappear with only 1 or 2 10p books! Not too many different people either!

mike55_2

thanks for that reply klondyke. i think the sad thing is that pple don't realise how many books are actually binned by charity shops.

i didn't feel 'right' making a profit from charity book sales, and neither did my wife. but apprentice tycoon put it into perspective for me. i'll find the post when i've got more time.

the way i see it now is - over the years, the family have bought thousands of pounds worth of books, at full price. these were always recycled by passing them on to family.

then greenmet offered a small but worthwhile opportunity to donate a 'very small amount' to the woodland trust. it's not my choice of charity, but its a charity. i don't donate 'rubbish that don't sell' to charity shops, but i do donate books that are best sellers and are in excellent condition. not that any kid in Africa would appreciate it if i sent them direct.

i've no idea why you quoted me, but for the record, later today i'm meeting someone else that helps to run a charity shop. he has lofts full of books and hasn't a clue what's what.

i've told them that although i'll pick and choose what i want, for reading or resale, but that they'll get a sizeable sum in return if the books are worth it and make a profit.

i might be an 'enterprising person' in my own right, but books, reading and recycling them, is now the biggest hobby and stress buster i can think of.

and for what it's worth, most local charities give me more than the time of day. and i don't donate a book thats not worth reselling. just like i'd never donate a tatty old blanket, or a fur coat, to some helpless kid in Africa.

but good luck with the pontificating, if thats what it was. if not, i apologise.

mike55_2

klondyke wrote:

Not going to tell you where I work in West London, in case you all rush at once,

i doubt you'd be inundated klondyke, not with that uncharitable approach, but feel free to say where you work, so that i, at least, can avoid it.

my biggest apologies are to apprentice tycoon, who, along with every other contributor, has either helped someone else, or laughed along with some of the duff sales we've bought - from charity shops.

sorry AT.

apprentice_tycoon

Mike - I don't think that you and I read the same post by Klondyke!

I thought that they were offering great advice - you may remember in the earlier thread Rave posted to say that he rummages around in the bins outside the shops after they have closed because he felt bad that books were going to go to landfill when some were useable and indeed saleable. This is just looking at the same story from the other side of the shop door.

I also think that the provisos they made were reasonable too, like arrange a time and keep to it and don't get in the way because the shops are small and the point made about don't all come rushing in is also valid as they have made a suggestion that could take off in a big way with all of us self confessed enterprising people - don't forget that this thread gets around 250 views a day, this isn't just us regulars! even the old thread has had around 1000 views since it closed.

I can't see a problem with any of the things they said.

I'm sure that I'm guilty of offloading the odd book that probably, if I really thought about it, won't be saleable but, if I was honest I just wanted to pass the responsiblity of actually throwing it away to someone else, I just can't bear put them out for the bin men unless they are absolutely wrecked so I happily let someone else shoulder the guilt of chucking it.

I wonder if Klondyke will come back and fill in more about charity donations not being taxable. I have been told this too but I haven't checked it out fully yet with my accountant. A pal of mine takes a note with her when she hands over a box of her unsold antique-type stuff and asks for it to be signed, she'll put a nominal value of say, £10 on the box and the shop manager signs to agree.