selling books on Amazon - tips for more profit

Austin_Allegro

I don't know why Amazon won't release 'wish lists' so that sellers can be on the look out for books. I have emailed them a couple of times but have got a standard brush off in reply. I can only suppose that the list would be huge - with thousands of titles - so that it would too difficult to remember them all or even find them on the list when going round charity shops.

cymro1170

what about making it available online?
That way if you have a book a buyer want you could contact them directly

arpana

Hi, I'm thinking about selling some of my unwanted books, but when I search some of them on Amazon, they are selling new ones for £0.01. Is there any point selling it for this much? How much profit can you expect to make if it is a paperback? Thanks.

apprentice_tycoon

If the book is light and you pack it in a light padded envelope and send it 2nd class (so long as you do this the day it's ordered it's just about OK) then you can still make a small profit.
Weigh the book at home and check it on the Royal Mail website to see how much it would cost and then list on Amazon but before you do the final click to launch it read how much they will be sending you and see if you're happy with it. The book would have to be in VG condition to make it sound better than all the others at 1 pence.

arpana

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

If the book is light and you pack it in a light padded envelope and send it 2nd class (so long as you do this the day it's ordered it's just about OK) then you can still make a small profit.
Weigh the book at home and check it on the Royal Mail website to see how much it would cost and then list on Amazon but before you do the final click to launch it read how much they will be sending you and see if you're happy with it. The book would have to be in VG condition to make it sound better than all the others at 1 pence.

Thanks. So I was wondering, would it be best to send all books for second class?

apprentice_tycoon

some sellers do some don't, it's a personal decision but there is a weight limit of 750 grams for 2nd class so a heaver book would have to be 1st class or if it's heaver than 1.25 KG then it's RM parcels sevice

Rave

I got home yesterday with a couple more books from my usual source and had a look to see about selling them. One was listed as having no sellers and one person waiting so I quickly bunged it up for sale at what I thought was a reasonable price for the book- it's only really in 'acceptable' condition as the cover is a bit creased. Anyway the listing appeared and when I went back to see the main page for the book it was listed as one used and new and nobody waiting! So what happens when buyers are waiting- have Amazon emailed them to see if they want to take me up on the offer, or was my combination of price/condition not what the buyer was after?

cymro1170

How did you find out that someone was waiting to buy the book?

apprentice_tycoon

Rave, you were right, it's the combination that was wrong.

As a buyer you can request that Amazon email you when they have a book listed that you were looking for, the buyer lists the condition they want and the price they are willling to go up to.

When a seller lists 'the' book they see a message at the side saying that there is a buyer waiting for this book then it's a guessing game to see if you can put your price to just under what the buyer is willing to pay but in your case maybe the buyer only wanted one in good condition which would mean that yours didn't meet the criteria

I have an odd one of these myself - it's an obscure book in top condition so I was delighted when I saw that there was a buyer waiting, I had 3 goes at guessing the price and stopped lowering it when it got to £2.00. I can only assume that the buyer has been emailed and doesn't want it any more or bought it somewhere else but forgot to take it off the amazon wanted list.

mah_jong

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Completely off post but on topic - I just remembered the other day that a book I sold on Amazon a few years back was to someone of the same name as the author, I wondered if it was someone buying the book just because it was his name too so I emailed him.

Yes, it was the author, if I remember correctly he said that he had been given 10 for free, after that he had to buy them from the publisher at a reduced price but he found it cheaper to buy them from Amazon when he wanted to give them away to friends.

I have done this to. Again it was the author, she wanted it for a museum. They had asked her for a copy for a textile display. It was a crafty book..if you get my meaning!