selling your stuff on Amazon...part 2

BoltonMinx

mike55 wrote:

was it the only one of its kind?

Not really, but it was the only Non-fiction, and University-related so I guess more in demand now than the last time I listed it

soolin

mike55 wrote:

hi HOLsale. i was going to ask someone to set up a sellers ebay account for me over the holidays just to sell books. so out of interest, what would the profit have been if they had have sold on ebay?

thanks

mike

Some books/Cds sell better on ebay that Amazon, but most don't. I bought a book recently from a charity shop, cost me 20p. There were already a few on Amazon at 1p so after Amazon took their costs I would have been left with £1.41 out of which it would have cost a little over £1 to post plus the cost of the envleope, so i wouldn't even have got my money back.

I listed that one on ebay, it went for 99p and I charged £1.50 for postage. it cost me 15p to list, approx 5p FVF and 26p Paypal charge. The paypal charge was covered by the slight bump in the post and packing and the listing fee and FVF was covered by the start price so I made a little over 50p.

Interestingly the buyer also got it cheaper buying from me on ebay than he would have done on Amazon. Amazon would have cost him £2.75 + 1p +£2.76 but he bought it from me on ebay for £2.49, which is why it is sometimes worth looking at the completed items on ebay for your 1p books.

The difference between ebay and Amazon is that if i list on ebay I have to pay the minimum listing fee of 15p whether or not it sells, whereas on Amazon listings are free. However, post and packing is not fixed on ebay, so for weightier books you can charge what it actually costs to send.

I have everything listed on Amazon, but will take down books if I see them shifting on ebay and sell there instead, you just have to watch the market.

Soo

cazmeg

Has everyone slowed down for Xmas? I had one sale yesterday but I think that will be it for a while. I suppose it will be quite good to have a break, but I'm looking forward to starting again in the New Year. Happy Christmas to everyone.

apprentice_tycoon

Yes, I think that it's all eased up, it will be interesting to see when it will pick up again.

Is anyone actually putting their list on 'holiday' so they don't have to be bothered getting a book in the post on Christmas eve?

OllieLong

Just had a great sale: listed a small fiction paperback book for about £20 about a month or so ago when I first started using Amazon (thanks to AT :xmassmile ) which I reduced a bit every so often and got down to £10 yesterday which I thought was still an absolutely great price. Anyway I never thought it would sell but low and behold just got one of those 'Sold, dispatch now' emails with the very book. Got £9.67 after fees and its only going to cost about 64p to post! :j

larmy16

OllieLong wrote:

Just had a great sale: listed a small fiction paperback book for about £20 about a month or so ago when I first started using Amazon (thanks to AT :xmassmile ) which I reduced a bit every so often and got down to £10 yesterday which I thought was still an absolutely great price. Anyway I never thought it would sell but low and behold just got one of those 'Sold, dispatch now' emails with the very book. Got £9.67 after fees and its only going to cost about 64p to post! :j

That is fabulous :j - care to tell us what the book was so we can all keep an eye out for it!!!!!!!!

mike55_2

thanks very much for that reply Soolin, i never realised the listing fee for ebay was a fee that had to be paid regardless of whether an item sold or not. the reason it crossed my mind to use ebay was because of the times i've seen women's fiction sell, but doesn't seem to sell, unless it's for 1p on amazon, and then probably if you're near the top of the list and doesn't sell on greenmetropolis either.

for instance, i think the missus has bought all the binchy's, mansell and jane green type books, that don't seem to move on greenmetropolis or amazon, yet seem to sell on ebay. but i suppose that's a bit of hit and miss too?

i feel a bit sorry for the seller who i won a text book off now. they only made 25p on the postage without the packing, and the book only cost 10p. so with listing fees and paypal charges, i think they'll have been out of pocket. i sold it on for about 3 quid profit on amazon

what's FVF by the way?

i still might get someone to open an account for ebay though, but for higher priced stuff. like all the stuff our lass buys and never uses :rolleyes: 'groan' lol.

i checked out the other site, list books, and bought one from there. i didn't realise it used paypal, so although it was easy enough to pay for, there'd have been a paypal charge to the seller for that then? i'll have to invest in some shares, i wish i think when i looked at the last thread, you'd unlisted yours from there? was it because the books weren't moving?

lastly, if i did sell on ebay, is it better to 'up' the postage a bit and start at 1p, or keep it real and 'up' the starting price? i've always had mixed feelings about high postage but think i can see the reason for it now.

i'll have to shift some of these books. i need to make room for more lol. unless i stick with cd's and dvd's.

is this post full of questions? lol.

thanks again Soolin.

congratulations OllieLong, good sale! and nice one BoltonMinx, i like those educational books - see above

apprentice tycoon? i'm leaving my listing up. i've sold a book this morning, but i doubt that much more will sell until after the holiday

Angela

Think I will leave mine up too,dont want to miss a sales opportunity.

Sold two yesterday to the same person and three monday.

Sad news yesterday tho my 2nd hand shop round the corner is closing thurs till 9th Jan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What will I do in my long holiday now.

BoltonMinx

Hi Mike

Don't be too sure about not selling anything, just sold my first exercise-related book this morning Will be whipping it out tonight, cutting it close though as I don't finish till 4:30pm

On a sadder note, just got my first buyer with an incorrect email addy :eek: So I can't inform them the book has gone Ah well..

mike55_2

hi BoltonMinx

i've just posted my one book off without a c.o.p. i couldn't face the queues so i hope theres no problems

strangely enough, i went to mail them to thank them etc and the buyer was different to the delivery address and they'd left a mail address that bounced back twice. but it's in the 'completed' in transactions. so maybe it's worth you checking?

i can't thank anyone