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Selling books on Amazon
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Good ideas and advice Doug, credit with Amazon for those of us who buy a lot from them is a good thing, thanks for sharing that. Linda
Hey all, I spent waaaaaaay too much time on here yesterday and just can’t afford to do that again today, or really any day, I don’t know how some of you find the time to do that honestly. Anyway, I will post again, but need to step back and simmer down a bit first. One thing I really hate about this is that we *aren’t* all in the same room, I don’t think God intended for us to have relationships this way. In the very beginning of this thread, I simply intended to encourage someone in an awesome business idea and it turned yucky in my book. I didn’t feel attacked personally, but I do think the idea itself was attacked way too much. A simple caution would have been understandable, but that was a whole lotta negative. I don’t know any of you at all, so maybe Bookworm and missingtheshire are just mama hens, I don’t know. Anyway, just trying to help. All of this reminds me I just need to have real life relationships anyway. *I* get way too emotional about things sometimes, and I bet it would be way different if I got to actually have you come over and talk about it over a cup of tea.
So seriously- grace and *peace* to you all and I’ll post more about it soon, just need to focus on my family for a while…….
Jenn in KS (can’t remember who asked, but I live in Wichita, not NE KS, oh, well! 🙂
Jenn – it grieves my heart that you think badly of me – I am in our last year of homeschooling 12th grade with my twin daughters, so I am a much older mum who has seen a lot of life both good and bad. There are wonderful women on here who try to nurture each other through the trials and tribulations of both homeschooling and life. Some of us have seen more of life than others and have Titus 2 women’s hearts to advise and help. I know a lot of homeschool families live and survive with little money and some of us are slightly better established which happens when you have been around a while – those starting out often have a struggle financially and while I will always encourage entrepeneurs I will always add cautions – because my heart and conscience would not allow me to let someone get carried away by the excitement of making big money. Sometimes people are so desperate to add to income they do not think of all the good and bad in the method, they just jump in and have regrets later. I think many appreciate what you tried to do, and some will give it a try – this is a forum for all views from all people – none of us are here to hurt each other – just to help and advise. That advice can be accepted or rejected as each person sees fit..I never expect people to agree with me, that is up to them. I won’t speak for Bookworm, but as she said yesterday, she and I are older and have been around the block and seen a lot on our journey – I feel it is good to add a word of caution – because not everything is as rosey sometimes as it first seems for everyone. I hope you will continue to post here and accept that perhaps some of us don’t always agree, but I for one am pleased that you posted so willingly and openly – that is how these imperfect forums work…gives us all a chance to have our say, and it is up to each of us to take what we can from what we read, and leave the rest. You are quite correct it would be much nicer to meet over tea, but as this is not possible – we make the best of what we have. I hope that you can see my point of view and realise that it was not meant to be negative, just a warning to be very careful when money is involved. Hope you will post often and find real benefit in this group – it is a lovely group and we are blessed to have it. Again, I do not consider what I said to be negative, and if you took it that way I apologise for putting it over badly – I don’t have smiley face capability so this will have to suffice:))) Linda
Jenn, I’m not sure if you had time to read a few important posts before your last one. Be sure to see the posts from missingtheshire, bookworm, and myself on page 3. They start midway down the page, here. The ladies came back with kind responses and I hope I was able to offer some balanced perspective.
Hello all! 🙂 I’ve given this some thought and talked to my husband and let him see what everyone was saying and prayed and it still is bothering me. I have been searching for a way to make money for ten years now that didn’t involve daycare (that’s what I’ve been doing up til now) and I know I have finally found it. I was soooo excited about it and feel like there must be some other poor soul out there that is searching like me and I just want to share the excitement and opportunity with others. I am a very determined person. I *know* that I will succeed at this. I also know that I have what it takes to encourage others to do this, too. There is NO RISK in doing this as I adequately explained. I fear that the person(s) I would love to help cannot hear me over the loud chorus of nay-sayers. So I will continue to pray to God that this burning desire in my heart to help someone else do this, to teach her what I’ve read about it will somehow still be able to reach her. I love helping others. Soooo many people have blessed me by helping and encouraging me that I sincerely just want to help others. I’m on the verge of becoming a Titus 2 woman myself- on the verge. So as I’ve been mulling over all of this these past couple of days, asking God why this has been bothering me so much, that’s the answer- I just want to help someone. I don’t know why Bookworm and Linda are so adamant about protecting the women on here, I feel it is *over*protecting, and from what? I never encouraged anyone to spend money they don’t have, in fact the opposite- I explained that it doesn’t have to cost a penny to do this. I explained that we have chosen to invest some money into it to start more quickly, but that it doesn’t have to be done that way and there are lots of other ways to acquire books for free. I do believe that they have good intentions and that they most likely are godly Titus 2 women. Please do point out what I said or implied or pointed people to that was worthy of such protection. Please also consider what blessings you might have kept them from had they pursued this opportunity. I am reminded that all of my children are scared to death of swimming and we have had to work very hard at getting them to like the water all because every time I bathed them from birth I told them to be very, very careful, not to put their mouths near the water because they could choke on the water. They gained a respect for water, but it turned into a fear of water. I had good intentions, I wanted to protect them! But it was the wrong way. Bookworm and Linda- I do not think badly of you, that is strong language. I just disagree with you and don’t understand your thinking on this. I also have a hard time explaining myself, so I hope that I’ve done a good enough job that maybe it will make sense. (((Hugs and peace to you both))))
I can only speak for myself, I don’t think I was overprotecting anyone, I was just pointing out some of the things that were not clear, like taxes, storage fees and the fact that all ventures such as this while succuessful for a few are not for everyone. I stand by all I said, and it was not an attack on you at all – I was just pointing out that all that glitters may not be gold. I have wished you luck, told you that I expect people to choose for themselves what they wish to do, and I do not see what more there is to say. You admitted you are just starting out at this, so your own success is not yet proven – others may say they have earned thousands doing this, but there is no proof of that. I stand by my comment that caution should be everyone’s watch word, and then proceed if it is something you want to do. Again I wish you and any others who wish to do this the very best – I do not think it is wrong to point out some pitfalls. Blessings to you. Linda
Jenn, I’m sorry to hear this is still bothering you. I must admit that I’m a bit confused since there hasn’t been a strongly critical post since the first round. However, there have been some clarifications, explanations, and apologies.
Did you read the posts I referred to above? If not, please take a moment to at least read this kind explanation and apology from missingtheshire and bookworm kindly echoing that. Please also read my attempt at peacemaking along with what I hope is a balanced view and an explanation why some of the first reactions might have been strong.
Again, I remind everyone to not read too much into things and take offense where there is none intended. Thanks.
Doug, yes- thank you, I did read those right after they were posted. I’m not taking offense, like I said- I just want those who are interested in this to not get discouraged. Just because Linda and Bookworm were kind in how they were saying things does not make it any less discouraging for those interested.
At this point I am fine with just agreeing to disagree and stop hashing it all out. The enemy is loving how distracted I am with this and I know we all have better things to talk about, anyway. So 🙂 🙂 🙂 and peace!
In an effort to turn things around and be constructive, I’m going to go through and make sure I answer all questions…….
Sara B said…..”But as I was comparing prices on Amazon for sellers, if I did the “pro” one (which is what you’re doing, I believe), I’d barely make any money if I sold a book for $2 even if I only paid a dime for it to begin with. Like $.30 or $.40. If I do it the non-pro way, again paying a dime for a book and selling it for $2, I’m in the hole more than $1! So I am curious how in the world you’re going to make any money if it costs you $1 to buy a book.”
I wouldn’t advise you to sell any book where the lowest listed used price on Amazon isn’t at least $6 higher than what you paid for it.
Bookworm said…..”Jenn, I think you should be more up front about the costs of doing this. For many of us, even a $100 smartphone is completely out of reach, and service plans for smartphones are much, much more expensive than for basic cell phones. Even if I managed to scrape up the money for the phone, where am I going to get the money for the minimum $240 a year more that the service plan costs?”
I wouldn’t advise anyone to buy a cell phone and/or cell phone plan until they would be profiting enough to make it a wise investment. I chose to do it because my husband gave me the go ahead and we will be sending enough books in per month to make this a wise investment. I would be wasting money buying books blindly without the app that I need to get this live info from Amazon. I use FBA Scout. It costs $40/month. If I sell 7 books (remember I don’t buy any books that will not profit me at least $6, then this will already be paid for. We have 100 books so far that we will be mailing in. I plan on going book scouting at least every Friday morning without the kids (my dh has Fridays off) and maybe more with the kids. While I’m thinking about it, someone mentioned one could not do this business successfully and have a family life. I disagree. Working together as a family IS a family life. I want to impart a good work ethic to my children. I bet a few of you living the country/farm life- how do you do that and still have a family life? 😉
Bookworm said……..”You also have to realize that many, many books LISTED for high prices on Amazon have been there literally for years. Stores with big overheads can hang onto a book for 3 years waiting for someone who will pay $70 for it. Some of those people are NEVER going to get for their book what they are asking. When I decide what to ask for a book, I’ve usually been watching the price for a while, looking at ACTUAL prices paid for items on places like Ebay. Half.com, Alibris and more. If one begins doing this, one should realize that there are no guarantees that the book will sell. I personally don’t have the space to keep large numbers of books around for years. If you really want to know what a book is worth, you need to look not just at asking prices, but at actual selling prices.”
There is no overhead when using FBA besides the very minimal storage fees. Remember this is a numbers game. Read the book “The Long Tail- Why the Future of Business is selling Less of More” by Chris Anderson. Also, one can always bring the price down if they want it to sell more quickly, but they could be leaving money on the table. Better to wait for the right buyer to come along than leave money on the table. Bookfinder.com is the best place to go to get an accurate picture of what a book is worth. When pricing, always make sure your price is below that of what Amazon is offering and remember to add $3.99 to the lowest used price if you are an FBA seller. Otherwise you are not pricing accurately.
Going to post this now since I have a tendency to spend time posting and loosing it, but I’m going to continue to answer questions……..
(smiley face, smiley face, smiley face……….)
Linda said……….”I do not think that it would as simple as it sounds – you may have had success with it Jenn, but it is like everything else – one person’s success does not mean everyone will be successful.”
This is a simple idea, it is hard work. Once you get the machine going, I believe it is a lean, mean, money-making machine. I will stand by that. I have yet to be successful, but I have met people, talked to them personally on the phone and gotten to know them as genuine real life people, and it works. One has to make it work though and be determined. I’ve got that one tackled. And I started this thread to help people that want success at it to get success at it. I most definitely agree with you- not everyone will be successful at it.
Sara said…..”As a book buyer, I want the cheapest possible price for the best quality used book I can get. I rarely buy an “acceptable” book, even if it’s FBA. I’d rather pay a few cents more and have a good or very good copy.”
There are many different kinds of buyers. As a buyer, *I* buy the cheapest acceptable book because I don’t care if it is beat up. Seriously! 🙂
Sara said….”The books I have (or had) to sell are doubles of my HS collection, or twaddle kids’ books I want to get rid of. There are SO MANY used copies of some books, that they sell for $.01 + $3.99 shipping. They are losing money big time on those books, guaranteed.”
Yes, they are losing money. I have no idea why they bother. As an FBA seller, you can list a copy of the same book and add $3.99 because if someone buys your book, they won’t have to pay shipping on orders above $25. And as a wise buyer, I wait until my cart is at least $25 and most others do, too. Plus buyers feel more comfortable buying and FBA book because they can trust Amazon rather than some random seller. But again, I wouldn’t bother with those books unless you acquire them free or already had them. Only buy books that you can profit at least $6.
I’ll be back later……..
Sara said……..” I have no idea how professional sellers make any money selling used books. The vast majority of books sold go for less than $3 + shipping.”
How can they be? I have no idea. Yes, you are right a lot of them are cheap. Those are *NOT* the right type of books to buy. With an app on your phone you can have the ability to get this data and wisely only invest in the profitable books.
Sara said…….”I also have vintage books I’d like to sell. There are no barcodes, so that won’t help me in the least. “
I have no knowledge about vintage books other than ebay would be the best platform. I would encourage you to sell what you know and use either an app on a cell phone or acquire free books through ways I mentioned in earlier posts and look them up on the Amazon catalog. I will repeat- you do NOT have to invest any money to get this business rolling, but it will be harder work. I have chosen to invest the small amount of money my husband insisted upon and hit the ground running.
blkateri14 said……”I don’t have a scanner, but know that people that have worked through the start up costs have gone on to make really good money.”
You are very right! I found out about this business through a homeschooling mom that told me her story and it is very possible!! 🙂
Erica said…….”I am not looking to get rich, only supplement my families income. I know personally MANY friends who have sold over the years, and with not a lot of time invested have been able to do quite well to suplement their income.”
Me, too, Erica. Get rich quicky schemes are for lazy, foolish people. I doubt any of the ladies on here fit that description.
Suzukimom said…….”Not sure how it would work from Canada as shipping books is more expensive etc “
I was just reading last night that sellers from Canada can ship to an Amazon fulfillment center in Canada, so as long as the postage to get the books there isn’t rediculous, maybe you could make it work!! If I hear of anything more about it, I’ll let you know. 🙂
I’ll get to the rest later….dh just got home and we’re going to eat dinner! 🙂
Truly- grace and peace sisters,
Jenn in KS
Thanks for taking time to answer all those questions, Jenn! It’s great to have a more complete picture of all that’s involved.
So what does Amazon charge for warehousing? Is it by the amount of space used like they do for sellers of other products?
Jenn, you have been helping. I have been looking into this already, and now I am hearing both pros and cons and just plain logistics so I can make a wise decision of if I want to pursue this or not. Their cautions have been as equally helpful as your enthusiasm. I really am not looking to get rich off of this at all. If I am able to make a couple hundred a month, I’d be more than happy.
I was reading a blog the other day, and now for the life of me I can’t find it again (figures…). But it was talking about online bookselling with Amazon. It was warning about those storage fees you have been saying are so low. So do be careful. I think the pros that have been doing it a long time realize the price went up quite a bit and to triple-check current pricing to reflect that. They mentioned something about if something is there for a year, but I’m not sure if that’s when the fee starts, or if it goes up at that point, or what. If you are figuring for current fees, though, I think you will be fine.
I still don’t know how people make any money selling $.01 books, but if they can, I’d really like to know how….
I do still worry about pricing too far up the list prices unless I have a Like New copy, in which case it’s easily warranted. Ah, more looking and researching to do. Bookworm said………..”A LOT of what you can do with this will depend on your area.”
People everywhere read books. People everywhere have books laying around they don’t want anymore- you just have to figure out how to get them. If you want to make this happen and you live in an area with other booksellers, you have to think more creatively than they are. If one is only going to Friends of the Library Sales, it’s not going to work. But even going to FOL sales, don’t assume that they are over-scouted. Not all scouts know what they’re doing, or they have different buying criteria. You may need to broaden your horizons and expand and get to know other genres. Plus, with FBA Scout, you can do other things besides books. Stores like TJMaxx and Tuesday Morning and other surplus stores (I am drawing a blank trying to think of more stores) are a goldmine of opportunity. Someday soon I am going to figure out how to make that work, too. I’d be foolish to put all my eggs in one basket with just books. I invested in the ebook “Barcode Booty” by Steve Weber and it explains how you can get beyond books. It’s all about market relocation. When a store like Walmart has a huge display of one certain kind of something and sells most of them but just has one or two left, they ship those to stores like TJMaxx. Walmart just isn’t in that kind of business. So you can go to TJMaxx and buy these things and list them on Amazon and then the whole world has access to them making it easier to sell. TJMaxx isn’t in that kind of business. This is all a paradigm shift and pretty out there to the average person, I can assume a good majority of you will not like that idea, but it can work if someone wants to make it work. I have friends that are doing it. And it just makes sense.
Boy, got off on a tangent there…..
Bookworm said……….”I used to drive around to probably 8-10 major sales a year, quite profitably. For the last four years, I haven’t even been able to make enough to pay for my gas to go to them. “
I believe this. It’s because almost all booksellers are still *just* going to FOL sales. I don’t encourage someone to do it that way. It won’t work. You have to find different ways to do it. I am just brand new and went to an estate sale last week and asked the lady running it if she was the business owner, she said yes, I told her I was a bookseller and asked what she was planning on doing with the books, she said she would most likely just donate them, I asked her if she would be willing to donate them to me, I would come pick them up, making her job easier, she said yes! Yes, I will be getting a lot of junk that most likely I will have to turn around and donate, but the books were free! That’s just from asking one estate sale person. One could also go around to garage sales near closing time and ask to take people’s books off their hands, most people just want their junk gone, I know- I’m a garage sale junky and strike up conversations with everyone and ask enough questions to know. One thing that can’t be stressed enough is to pray!! I have asked God to bless my efforts when I go out to do this, and He is faithful! 🙂 I want to use this business not only to help my family, but to glorify Him!
I’ll be back……….
Oops, wanted to correct this…..
From a post a bit ago…….”Suzukimom said…….”Not sure how it would work from Canada as shipping books is more expensive etc “
I was just reading last night that sellers from Canada can ship to an Amazon fulfillment center in Canada, so as long as the postage to get the books there isn’t rediculous, maybe you could make it work!! If I hear of anything more about it, I’ll let you know. :)”
What I meant was you can ship from Canada to an Amazon fulfillment center in the US!! I was multi-tasking, sorry! 🙂
I do still worry about pricing too far up the list prices unless I have a Like New copy, in which case it’s easily warranted. Ah, more looking and researching to do. 
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