Some amazon advice please.

[Deleted User]

Hi I am not looking to steal anyones ideas , but as ebay have banned me I am looking for other selling outlets, I have joined ebid and sold nothing in a week, I joined amazon and sold one expensive item which was a duplicated gift for my son, I was wondering is it really worth getting into the second hand book market, does anyone really make much profit through amazon, I see people selling at a price of 1p then there are the fees, so just need some tips please.

My local charity shop sells books for 5op and childrens books 30p, I have a bit of room for storage.

Also what else would be good to sell. Just desperately need to make some extra money thanks:)

soolin

There is an Amazon thread here but it is rarely used any more as most book sellers have moved on.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2171713

Amazon fees are very high and the book market has started to collapse due to the number of e readers. I gave up my big book business in Autumn 2010 as I went from selling around 70-80 books a month down to about 10, literally overnight.

Before you spend any money on books check a few on Amazon as though you were going to sell them and see the net proceeds on the final page befoe you hit confirm. Those net proceeds are including postal credit aand it is worth remembering that a standard thickness chart paperback would cost £2.16 to send 2nd class, so would have to be sold for over a pound just to break even.

As for ebid, there is a thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/30629159#Comment_30629159

I am not surprised you haven't sold anything in a week, took me several years before I made my first sale.

[Deleted User]

Hi thanks for your reply soolin, I guess your right, I didnt think about the ereaders , I thought of a way round the ebay thing last week, my husband said he would open an account and new paypal account , so we could join forces on selling, so he has done this , but still on the 10 listings, do you know how long you stay on 10 for , soolin do you run your own blog by anychance, you are always so helpful, thankyou,:)

[Deleted User]

A miracle !!, I just put 4 more items on ebid, and just went to check my listings and a bid within 5 mins (it was a soft toy) , my first bid, hooray, just cant believe it, Im made up, hopefully the start of many.:j

soolin

fairyface wrote: »

A miracle !!, I just put 4 more items on ebid, and just went to check my listings and a bid within 5 mins (it was a soft toy) , my first bid, hooray, just cant believe it, Im made up, hopefully the start of many.:j

Good grief that is good, well done.

I've made about 5 sales on there so far this year which is about the same number of sales I've made in the past 8 years or so.

soolin

fairyface wrote: »

Hi thanks for your reply soolin, I guess your right, I didnt think about the ereaders , I thought of a way round the ebay thing last week, my husband said he would open an account and new paypal account , so we could join forces on selling, so he has done this , but still on the 10 listings, do you know how long you stay on 10 for , soolin do you run your own blog by anychance, you are always so helpful, thankyou,:)

Blogging sounds a bit techie for me:eek:

The limit of 10 should only be in force for a few months and if your account is healthy you could always try phoning eBay and asking if it could be lifted. I can't remember if you are a business or private seller, but if running a business they will often lift the limits quite quickly.

lovinituk

If you are logging onto your husbands new ebay account via the same PC/address/phone number/etc as your banned account then its highly likely ebay will link the two accounts and eventually ban the new one as well.

Why were you banned from ebay? Amazon are even tougher on sellers!!

soolin

lovinituk wrote: »

If you are logging onto your husbands new ebay account via the same PC/address/phone number/etc as your banned account then its highly likely ebay will link the two accounts and eventually ban the new one as well.

Why were you banned from ebay? Amazon are even tougher on sellers!!

Looking at OPs previous posts I don't think she has ever been banned, she has only mentioned not liking eBay and wanting to find a different venue. However, if there was a previous ban then I agree with you.

Although having read the previous posts it does appear to be a business so OP assuming you are correctly registered phone eBay and point out that your limits are hindering your business prospects. they are much more likely to help as you have a business.

One other thing that occurred to me though was you might be risking your accounts as opening a second account to get round limits on a different account may well be in breach of the terms and conditions.

lovinituk

soolin wrote: »

Looking at OPs previous posts I don't think she has ever been banned, she has only mentioned not liking eBay and wanting to find a different venue. However, if there was a previous ban then I agree with you.

The first post of this thread mentions a ban...

fairyface wrote: »

Hi I am not looking to steal anyones ideas , but as ebay have banned me I am looking for other selling outlets

soolin

lovinituk wrote: »

The first post of this thread mentions a ban...

Ooh, I missed that.

In that case fairy face both yours and your husbands accounts will almost certainly be suspended at some point. Whether by accident or design eBay tend to suspend at the point when you have a good business running so I would close the new accounts now and lay low. Then once the original banned account has been suspended for a year try getting that suspension over turned.

It all depends what you were banned for of course as to how favourably eBay will deal with you in the future.

I certainly would not invest time and money in a business on eBay knowing that any day eBay will pull the account and lave you stranded with stock.

You will have to stick with Ebid and amazon

HowardCreek

soolin wrote: »

Amazon fees are very high and the book market has started to collapse due to the number of e readers. I gave up my big book business in Autumn 2010 as I went from selling around 70-80 books a month down to about 10, literally overnight.
.

Just my two cents (which I chip in with every few months regarding an Amazon thread, it seems...):

It can be done. I spend maybe 10-15 hours a week at the moment (in total - buying, listing, posting), buying books from various sources and selling them on Amazon. It's gone from strength to strength, and with a stock of around 500 turning over around 120 a month, I'm comfortably on an annual profit of 14-18k. By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have doubled it.

The profit is out there, but you can't just go to Asda anymore and fill your trolley with easy money. And e-readers have certainly contributed to a reduction in conventional book sales, however when you're looking at books that retain their value, you're generally looking at non-fiction (be it collectable, specialist hobby, academic, you get the picture), which is not at popular on e-readers for a variety of reasons and retains its readership and value as an "item" more.

Anyway, there you go. Just to balance things out. I remember really appreciate the bits of encouragement I got when I started out.