Selling second hand books

GreyPilgrim

Just sorted out a load of books and put them on amazon to sell. Staggered by how unworthwhile it has turned out.

The first one to sell was listed as £7.99. The post and packaging brought it up to about £10.30.

Amazon took of a massive £2.38 as commission, leaving me to get £8.01

Just been to the post office and it's cost me a fiver to send!!! (they've quite big books)

Are there any more suitable places to sell books? I'm not very familiar with eBay, but would I be right in thinking that even if the books don't sell, I'll still be charged a listing fee?

Not even sure a car boot sale would work, as they're nerdy programming books.

LittleL_4

Hi I sell mine on Greenmetropolis. Every book sells for £3 and it has been getting very busy lately so you should shift them no prob.

You send them 2nd class (about 80p) More for heavier books but account for this.

You don't make masses of money, but it's better than having them sitting collecting dust.

In the last month or so I've made about £50.

Hope this helps

Little L
xx

postingalwaysposting

GreyPilgrim wrote:

Are there any more suitable places to sell books? I'm not very familiar with eBay, but would I be right in thinking that even if the books don't sell, I'll still be charged a listing fee?

hi greypilgrim, yes if you list them on ebay and they dont sell you will still be charged listing fees but if you dont add gallery (your picture can be seen when people are browsing) and some of the other flash things and you start the listing with a low price its usually only about 10/12p per listing...

see how other people are getting on with simaler things you are selling (search completed listings) cause if they arent selling it will not be worth putting them on and you can save some money........if noone has sold any like yours try one then its only a very small loss if it doesnt sell

littlestar1981

Can you not advertise them at a local college that does the kinds of courses those books would be useful for?

tsharp

I signed up with greenmetropolis a week or so ago, really quick to list books (input ISBN and it autofills everything else), and there is no end date to listing, they stay listed til they sell.
I listed a load, but then ended up buying one, so i actually have more books than i started out with!

lady_fuschia

I haven't found selling books to be all that lucrative in general to be honest- unles syou have first editions or anything that may be collectable, in which case I suggest you check the Yellow Pages to find a dealer.
I took one pile of mine to a local second hand bookshop, and got £5 for them (approx 25p each, though admittedly they were in variable condition) not great but at least you don't have to pay postage. If you have a lot, some places will collect for free as well.
If you have anything that may be useful to college or school students (don't just think textbooks, classic literature, political texts and Shakespeare will also sell) you can make a bit more- try asking your local college/ uni if you could put a card on their noticeboard in the relevant subject department, or advertise in a shop or cafe frequented by students. If the books are in demand and in good condition and up to date you can usually make about half the original purchase price back on them.
Internet wise ebay is better than Amazon in that you don't have to pay if they don't sell, but books (other than comics and graphic novels) never seem to sell very well for some reason on there.

Whits

I've sold all manner of books over the years with Ebay, to be honest, I've found it better to sell in lots of about 5 or 6.

It's not a great earner and chances are, a good percentage will not sell unless you've got niche books.

Good luck