The Online Bookseller

Mailing and Shipping Books, DVDs and other Media

2009-03-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

If you've sold anything on eBay, or even shipped a present to Grandma, you probably know that there are several different methods of mailing books. The main thing that you want to keep in mind is the weight. Having access to an accurate scale can really help you decide your shipping options. While it is true that if you bring your books or DVDs to the post office, they will give you your options, they may not give you all the options. For example, where I live the post office worker will usually tell me the rates for Priority mail and Parcel post, but they don't always mention the two postage options that I usually use: First Class and Media Mail.

Media Mail is what it sounds like, here's the description from the USPS website: (Media Mail is) "For sending small and large packages consisting of books, film, manuscripts, sound recordings, video tapes, and computer readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes)." Hmmm... doesn't that sound like most of what we are selling online? The best part is that they have a chart, based on weight, for cost:

If your package is over a pound, this is a great option. I find that almost all large hard cover books fall into this category. Websites that you sell books through will know this. Amazon, for example, usually reimburses you about $3.99 for books. Half.com will give you somewhat less. Both remimburse less for CDs and DVDs. Why? Because they are lighter. In fact, frequently the best option for shipping video and sound media is actually First Class mail.

Now, there are some limitis on size, according to the website, shipping packages through first class must be "No more than 108 inches in combined length and girth." I'll tell you though - no CD or DVD is going to come in more than that!

In fact, if you ship these items in large padded enevelopes rather than boxes, you might even be able to save more.

Here's the best part - your customers will actually benefit! First class mail is just like sending a letter - it will take 2-3 days. That is a signifigant time savings over both media mail and parcel post.

The point is, spend some time learning your mailing options. You might be able to send your books for less and increase the speed in which your customers recieve them! That's always a win/win!

Selling VHS, Cassettes, DVDs, CDs and Other Media Online

2009-03-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Browsing around the web today I ran across a wonderful article by The Buck List called "Sell Your CDs & DVDs" What I liked about it was that it listed some alternative resources for selling different kinds of media. I, as you know, sell mainly books, but occasionally CDs, DVDs and even VHS tapes come my way.

To be honest, I have had fairly good luck with CDs and DVDs on Amazon, but have had absolutely NO luck at all with VHS. I have a number of them posted - some brand new and still in cellophane. Others are fairly big names like The Godfather, Chocolat, Apollo 13... not one has sold. Personally I am going to be putting them in my garage sale this summer and seeing if I can get a bite that way.

Customer emails

2009-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

I admit, every time I see that I have email from someone who purchased a book from me online, I feel a little pit of dread in my stomach. It isn't that I don't like to communicate with my customers, but let's face it, when it comes to online transactions, you don't usually email unless there is a problem. I work hard to make sure books are described accurately, well packaged and sent out quickly so I have very few complaints, but the few emails I have gotten have been about one type of problem or another. That is until recently when one of my customers emailed me to let me know how happy she was with her purchase - how nice!

Dear (Online Bookseller) -

Thank you so much for the prompt and lovely sending of (Popular Children's Book). I loved this book as a child and am hopeful that my son will also enjoy reading of her adventures.

Sincerely,

(Customer's Name)

Jumpstarting Your Online Book Sales

2009-01-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't been writing in this blog a lot lately, and to be honest, I haven't been doing a lot with my online sales. I had high hopes that December would be a great month for sales. With the economy the way it had been, I thought lots of people would be going the more inexpensive route and purchasing used books for gifts. That didn't seem to be the case. While sales weren't bad, they weren't any better than any other month either, at least not for me.

In 2009 I have some pretty big financial goals and as a part of that, I am going to work on getting more items up for sale. Naturally, my first love is books, but I am also looking at simplifying my life (and making a little extra cash at the same time) by posting some non-media items for sale on eBay. The reason I bring this all up is that because for the last couple of weeks I have been focusing a lot more on my sales than I have in awhile. I have been updating my bookselling inventory, taking photos of eBay items and just generally putting more focus in this area.

...and what do you know? My book sales have been reinvigorated!

Maybe it is coincidence, that is certainly possible, but I think there is something to the fact that when you focus on something and put a lot of positive energy into it, you get good returns. By re-focusing on my book sales, I am re-energizing it.

There will always be times when sales are up and sales are down, but this month has been a good reminder to myself that when things are tough, that is the time to work a little harder, not walk away from it.

What about paying taxes when selling things online?

2009-01-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

A quick note to all you folks selling books via eBay - Moolanomy (which is a wonderful personal finance blog) has a great post about what your tax liability is when you are selling online. He writes specifically about paying taxes on eBay, but his advice looks like it is spot on for Amazon or Half.com or any other resale site as well. There are even some links for books on how to deal with the subject.

If you are curious about how to deal with your taxes and online selling, I encourage you check it out!

Selling Your Used Books on eBay

2008-11-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

eBay has been running a promotion now for reduced rates with selling books. This week I decided to check it out.

So far, the system works pretty well. It is easy to add books to the website. Just like their child company Half.com, all you really need to get started is the ISB number and know the condition of your book. I decided to list 5 books to start. I chose a combination of types of books - fiction and nonfiction. I listed three works of fiction, one holiday craft book by Martha Stewart (very appropriate for the season) and one cookbook. The fiction novels were all popular crime thrillers.

Pros to using eBay vs Half or Amazon:

One thing that is different about listing books with eBay, as opposed to Half.com or Amazon, is that they still have the option to add photos. I liked that. That could be really handy for if there was a slight bit of damage to the book. You could then show people exactly what the condition was so there would be no surprises. I do my best to make detailed condition notes, but nothing is better than a photo.

Cons to using eBay vs Half or Amazon

The downside is that you have to pay for your listing upfront. eBay is offering discounts, but you are still paying to advertise when you don't know if your book will sell. Here's a break down of the listing fees:

Not too high, but remember, this listing is for only 7 days. So, unlike the other websites, you have to hope that your book is purchased from an online shopper within a week, otherwise you are spending money for nothing.

The other thing I didn't like was that they did not have stock photos for all of my books. They did have them on file for four of them (which was handy since I didn't even think of taking photos before listing them) but not for the fifth book. This occasionally happens on Amazon and Half too - they don't have images of every single book, but it pretty much only happens on obscure titles. It was the Martha Stewart book they did not have a photo of. It was published in 1996, the other books I listed were published between 1998-2003, I am not sure if that makes a difference - 5 books is really too small a sample to tell.

Over all, I would say that listing on eBay was easy and offers some nice additional features, however, if I am going to list there regularly the performance is going to have to be worth the cost. Naturally, I will let you know how things go at the end of the week and which books (if any) sold on eBay!

Getting Paid For Selling Your Used Books - When Do I Get My Check?

2008-11-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

If you are already selling books online you have probably got this all figured out, but this post is for those folks who are brand new and just decided to sell a few books to clear some space on their shelves. One question might be: How do you handle money transactions?

If you are working with an online seller, like Amazon, you will find that they make it really very easy. They handle all of the online billing and charging for your customer. They also automatically tack on the shipping reimbursement. Then, once you've had a few sales, they will send you your money every two weeks - this seems to be regardless of how small of an amount. (They sent me amounts less than $10 when I was first starting.)

The two big players of book selling - Amazon and Half, both pay directly into your checking account. Frankly, that is a big advantage to you, while Paypal can be handy, they still make sure to charge you fees.

These online sites also make it very easy for you to issue refunds. While it would be nice to say that refund never happen, the truth is, problems may occur. It is just part of life. The best thing to do is to try to resolve issues as smoothly as possible. The customer may not always be 100% right, but it never hurts to treat them that way!

Why I Prefer to Sell Used NonFiction Over Fiction

2008-10-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

There is a very simple reason why I would rather list nonfiction used books for sale online over fiction books - supply and demand.

This is not to say that fiction won't sell. Not at all, I have sold quite a few fiction books, some have actually done quite well. However, most popular fiction aka "Mass Market" is printed in such HUGE quantities. I'm talking about books by popular authors like Patricia Cornwell, Dick Francis, John Grisham, Steve Martini, Robert Parker and others. What happens with these kinds of books is that when they come out they make a huge splash and devoted fans snatch up the latest copy. However, because they are mass produced, (and not everyone holds onto their books forever and ever like I tend to do,) millions of used copies end up in market at used bookstores, in thrift shops, in garage sales... and on Amazon and Half. The fact is, that there are so many copies of these books that their prices on Amazon and Half are driven down quickly to the lowest point possible. What's more, many of these authors are so prolific that they have new books coming out every year. Their fans tend to want the latest copy - not last year's version.

So that is why, when I have my preference, I like selling nonfiction. Fewer copies of nonfiction titles are printed - so there is far less competition. Less competition means that these books hold their prices a little better. What's more, most nonfiction books don't run into that problem of being last year's model - they don't become "dated" as quickly. True, there are exceptions! I just ran across a 1984 cookbook by Cristco that encourages cooking with lots of oil. Not quite the thing for today's health conscious cooks! However I might be able to sell it on eBay as for its kitsch value.

There is another benefit to nonfiction - quite frequently nonfiction books are seen as reference books. That means people keep them on their bookshelves longer - again, that narrows down the competition and means that certain nonfiction titles make great collector's pieces.

Why You Should Update Your Online Book Inventory Daily - At Least!

2008-10-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

The fact is, there are multiple places that you can list your books for sale. I talk about Half and Amazon a lot since those are the two websites I use, however, there are other venues out there. Here's a very important tip though:

Make Sure You Update Your Inventory Daily

If you have your books listed at multiple places, I suggest that the minute you receive an order the very first thing you do is remove it from any other websites where it may be listed. Even if that book has been sitting there waiting to be sold for month, you want to make sure to cancel that listing on other sites ASAP. Why? Two reasons:

1. It is very easy to forget. Let's face it, we get busy. The longer you wait between when you get the order and when you handle this little detail, the more likely it is that you will forget to do it at all. I can almost guarantee you that whichever book you forget, will almost always be the next one that sells. When that happens, you run into the next problem -

2. You've just sold a book you don't own. There are two options here. The first is to provide the buyer will a full refund. Amazon dings you a bit in a fee when this happens and you've just disappointed someone who could have been a return buyer - reasons enough not to let this happen! The other option you have is to go out and purchase another copy of the book from a local bookstore and send that. You are almost sure to loose money with this option, but I did it once. I had a used book in Like New condition that sold on two different websites, within 2 hours of each other. I just so happened to have a coupon for a local bookseller so I went and bought a brand new copy and sent that out to one buyer and my original Very Good condition book to another. I lost about $3.00 on the deal, but I made two people happy and didn't have to refund. A couple of times I have had to do refunds - and it just hurts. You work so hard to get your books online and to do a good job, to give money back is a little painful. That is why I make it a strict policy to remove duplicate listings as soon as possible. It only take a minute and keeps my customers happy.

Setting and Making Your Online Bookselling Goals

2008-10-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

One of my recommendations is to set some goals. Whether you are selling on eBay, Half or Amazon it is easy to get all fired up... then peter out to nothing and become discouraged. The thing with selling books is you just can't tell when something might sell. I had a book I listed at the end of June sell today. All the other books I had listed at the same time as this one had already sold. It would have been easy to get discouraged about this one that hadn't moved, but I try not to think of it that way. Instead, I focus on my goals that move me forward.

Tips for setting goals for your bookselling business:

Goals have to be specific. "Sell lots of books" is not a specific goal. Nor is "Get books listed online." Decide what you really want to accomplish and then work to make that happen. For a long time I had a goal of listing at least 3 books per day. Now I try to list 6.
Goals need to be measurable. You need to pick goals that you can measure in a simple and concrete way. Take my example of listing 6 books per day - I can very easily tell if I have made that or not. Another great goal might be to spend an hour each day researching books, or to make sure that books go out 24 hours from when they were ordered. In all of these examples there are hard numbers to you can measure, not just "Mail books out faster."
Goals need to be something you can achieve. Goals should be something you have control over. A goal of "selling three books a day" may not be achievable given the market, what kind of books you have, your competition, etc. Besides, you can't force people to buy your books! Instead, break this down into things you can directly effect and achieve. If you want to sell three books a day, then look at goals that might help you get that. Maybe your goals would look more like, "I will list 10 books a day. I will list them on multiple websites. I will bring 15 books a week to a used bookstore to sell." Whatever they are, make sure they are things you are in control of and...
Goals need to be realistic. If listing 10 books a day isn't realistic, set your goals at levels that are - but make them measurable. Maybe your goals will be listing one book every other day. Whatever works for you, set them to what you feel is a realistic target.
Goals need to have a set time. Not only is that part of making them measurable, but having a time frame lets you know when you have achieved your goal. Say your goal is to shop at two different places a week to find books. Is that a never ending goal? How do you know when you are done? What you should say is something like "I will shop two places a week for three months for new books."

Having goals will help you stay motivated - even when times are tough. They will also help you grow your business and sell more books!

Managing Your Online Book Selling Inventory

2008-10-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ever have that feeling that you have left your keys somewhere, but don't know where? It is a not unlike the feeling of getting an order for a book... and not being able to find it.

I had that happen last week. I used to keep all my books I had for sale on one fairly large bookshelf in my office. I didn't have them alphabetized, I had them sorted by where they came from. I readily admit that this was not a very good system, but, it just sort of worked out that way. So, one shelf was for donated books from family, one shelf was for books I had purchased, and so on. I knew that I was going to have to change it soon - already I had had a few problems. There was, for example, the day I spent 30 minutes frantically looking for the black small softcover book - I knew it was small and black , I could see it in my mind's eye perfectly! Only to have it be a dark green small softcover book, which had been in front of my eyes the whole time. This awkward system, though heavily flawed, worked okay as long as I only had 50-75 books for sale, but once I hit over the 150 marker, I knew I had to change my ways.

There are a number of different ways you can organize your books for sale, but the one I chose was from Steve Weber's book: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site. His opinion was that you should start a simple sku system based on location. So, lets say you have 5 shelves - you give each one a letter A - E and then each book on that shelf a number, so C12 would be the twelfth book on the third shelf. Easy right?

It has some advantages - in my case I have several copies of several books. If I organized them by title or author, I run into the problem of not knowing which book I listed at which price. I don't want to send the version in "Very Good" condition to the buyer who bought it in "Good" condition - and I really don't want to send the "Good" one to the "Very Good" buyer!! To make sure, I would have to reexamine each book. This way I don't have to think about that - I just look for C12 and I know I have the right book.

It works great for when you sell books too. Say you sell book C12. Then when you go to put the next new item on the shelf you put it in the blank hole for C12. If you had the books alphabetized you'd constantly have to rearrange them when something comes in under "M." This way there is no rearranging - you instantly know where the next book goes on the shelf, regardless of author's name or the book's title.

So what happened with my lost book? Honestly, I don't know. I am in the middle of switching over to the new system. All new books are going in that way and I am working in books that have been listed for some time. Since I try to list a few new books every day, the older books get added a little at a time. This was one of my older books. It did not show in my inventory sheet that I had sold it, but I couldn't find it anywhere! Eventually I realized I was going to have to refund the buyer. This would not have happened if my inventory system were already in place.

Another Source For Getting Used Books to Sell Online

2008-10-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

When I wrote my article on Putting Together an Inventory of Books to Sell Online, I glossed over one very important source. I can't believe I did that, since it has been my best place to get books of all! Here's the inside scoop - the majority of the books I have sold have come from friends and family.

Just today I was looking over my inventory tracking sheets and realized that the majority of my sales have not been from books that I bought for this purpose, but from people who loved me who had books laying around and donated them to my cause. I've been thinking about this all day and wondering why those books are the first to go - and then a possible answer came to me:

These are books people wanted. My mother gave me cookbooks and books on shipwrecks (that were my fathers), my friend Tommy gave me nonfiction books, my aunt gave me Christian fiction, my friend Catie gave me a huge box of brand new DVDs. From my own bookshelves I pulled cookbooks, books of essays, self help books and nonfiction travel books. These are the kinds of books that hold their value - far better than popular fiction.

There is one interesting exception to this rule. I also came into a huge box of free science fiction books. I had been told that sci-fi was not a big seller. I don't think the person who told me that knew much about sci-fi readers though. We (I say "we" because back in my teens that was all I read) sci-fi folks tend to hold onto our books and don't give them up easily. Some of those sci-fi books sold in hours.

If you are thinking about getting into selling books either to make space on your own bookshelves, as a hobby, or even considering a business, talk to your friends and family. See if they have some books they would be willing to let you get started with. However, let me give you one piece of advice from own experience: if they want to split the profit (50%/50% or whatever,) either walk away or offer to buy the books outright. Keeping track and trying to determine profit amount splits is a royal pain. Not to mention that all the books won't sell at once, so you may be dribbling out checks for months. You are better off asking what they would want for the whole lot and handling it that way. Trust me - splitting profits is a lot of unexpected work.

I hope this helps you out. May avid readers seek you out!

How Not To Price Your Used Books When Selling Them Online

2008-10-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

Quick Tip #2 For Selling Books Online - Forget What You Paid For It.

It is tempting, very tempting, to set your price for your books based on what you paid for it. I recently read Steve Weber's book on online bookselling, The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site. It was a very interesting read. One of the things he mentions is that people are very often tempted to set the price of their used books by doubling what they paid for it. I confess - I've been guilty of this one myself! Let's face it, we all want to make a little profit from our sales. When you look at the time and energy it takes to properly list, inventory and ship out your books, you want to make something for that. It is totally understandable, but let me give you a couple of quick examples of why just doubling your cost isn't a good marketing strategy:

Say you go to your local used bookstore and find a cart with books for a $1. You have chosen to specialize in cookbooks and it just so happens there are a couple of good looking cookbooks that you are sure will be hot sellers. You pick up these two likely sellers and head home.

Now sitting at your home computer, you look up the first of your treasures on Half.com. To your chagrin most of the same books in the same condition as yours are priced at $.75 - which is the lowest you can price a book on Half. There is even worse news waiting for you at Amazon where the bottom level is $.01. What do you do? If you stick to the "double my money" theory, you have to price your book at $2.00 - and you've just priced yourself out of the market. It is unlikely your book will sell when it is so much more than all the others.

It can happen the other way too - you look up the second book on Half and see it is selling between $10 - $12 for similar books in similar conditions. It would be completely foolish to list your book at $2.00 now!

In his book, Steve Weber says, and I agree, that you need to price each book according according to its own merits. As hard as it may be, just forget about how much you spent - chalk it up to the cost of inventory.

How Long Will It Take To Sell My Used Books Online?

2008-10-21T12:04:00.001-07:00

That, my friend, is one of the true mysteries of the universe. I have had books literally sell two hours after I listed them, I've had others posted for months and no movement on them at all. So what effects the sale of books?

Current events - A book being mentioned by some sort of media source like NPR, Oprah or in a news magazine may cause the sale of a book to spike - temporarily. Usually these types of trends don't last long.

Popularity - Some authors are widely read and very popular. This can help or hurt your book sales. If the book is popular, but there aren't many copies that are being listed on online book selling websites, yours could move very quickly. On the other hand, (and this is far, far more common,) if an author is very popular there will be a flood of copies on the market - meaning yours has tons of competition. John Grisham books, for example, are a dime a dozen... literally.

Condition - Books in better condition are more likely to sell. That doesn't mean that books in Good condition won't sell, just that those that are New, Like New and Very Good, certainly have an advantage. Although, I will say this - I have sold a bunch of self help books in Good condition with highlighting and notes on the pages. I have no idea why this is - I would never personally buy a book with highlighting in it, but that is just a matter of personal taste. In any case, those books went fairly quickly - much to my surprise.

Amazon Sales Rank - Amazon lists the sales rank for every book on their site with 1 being the most popular selling book. Theoretically books that are higher on the sales rank list will sell faster than those lower on the list. I don't know if this is true or not. I have just recently started tracking sales rank numbers on my books to see. I suspect, however, that there is one element that this is doesn't take into consideration, and that element means that it is almost impossible to predict when your book will sell. That element is:

The Interested Buyer - It doesn't matter what thousands of people are buying, all you need is the right one for you. An obscure book on Swahili may sit idle on your shelves for months - or may be snapped up in minutes by someone who was just looking for that particular text.

The truth is, the one thing I have found so far about predicting books sales - is that you can't predict book sales. The best thing to do is concentrate on giving good customer service and keeping your book conditions, inventory and prices up to date. The rest will take care of itself.

Tip #1 For Making Listing Your Books Online Go Smoother and Faster

2008-10-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

If selling books online is going to be something you plan on doing a lot of, you'll might want some tips and tricks to get it done as efficiently as possible. I am currently in the process of getting boxes (and boxes) of books online. I'll be trying lots of different things, and as I find something that works, I'll pass it on to you!

Here's one of my favorites: Pre-Write Your Book Conditions

Both Amazon and Half.com have similar description fields for the condition of your books. I find that all my books tend to fall in the same kind of categories - New, Like New, Very Good or Good. (I personally won't sell a book that is in an "Acceptable" condition, but that's a conversation for another post.) Once you have put a few used books up for sale online, you will find you will be able to spot the condition right away.

I always like to include a description of the condition when I post the book for sale. You don't have to by any means, but I feel that it gives the buyer some assurance that you actually took the time to look the book over and decide what shape it was in. Because my condition rankings tend to be the same over and over, I have found it very helpful to pre-write them and then just cut and paste.

For example, a good friend of mine gave me a bunch of self help books to sell that he no longer wanted. They were all pretty much in the same condition, so my note read: Book is in good condition, has shelf wear on spine, highlighting and notes. Some pages folded over.

Instead of writing this over and over, I have taken to putting all my usual condition notes in a word doc I keep open on my desktop when I add listings. The purpose it twofold - 1.) Cutting and pasting is far easier than typing in the same information over and over and 2.) No spelling errors! I have a bad habit of typos - this way I am fairly certain the descriptions are error free. ...unless of course I cut and paste the wrong description or have a typo in my master copy. (Yes, this has happened.)

I have a document now with my regular descriptions of books and DVDs. When posting something on Amazon or Half, I just keep it open in the background and then cut and paste it into the description field - modifying it as necessary for the particular book.

I hope this helps you out - and happy selling!

10 Things To Do With Books That Won't Sell Online

2008-10-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I picked up a huge stock of books at a garage sale and so the last few nights I have been busily going through my new treasures. I was able to skim through the collection at the sale and determine that I wanted them, but now comes the fun part - going through each box and determining what is salable, and what is not.

Occasionally you will have books that just won't sell - perhaps they are too damaged to sell or so obscure no one is looking for it, or conversely, so popular that there are thousands of copies on the market. Maybe you have listed them for awhile, adjusted your prices, but finally determined they won't go or maybe you just want to get out of the book selling business. What to do with the leftover books? Here's my suggestions:

Think about a change of venue. If you have always been selling books on Amazon, try listing them on Half. If you have been doing both, try selling them on eBay. Different audiences shop different locations.
Sell books at a garage sale. You probably won't get as much money for them at a garage sale, but this is a good way to clear your bookshelves of deadwood and get a little money in the process. This is how I like to sell hardcovers that are missing their dust jackets. Think of it this way - you won't have to spend time and money shipping them!
Bring books to a used book store. You may not have a lot of luck here - if you can't sell them yourself, your local used book store may not want them either. However, if they are in great condition you might be able to get either cash or store credit for them. Make sure you call the store first and see what their policy for bringing books in is. Some will let you bring them anytime, others have certain days or certain hours that they review books.
Donate your books to a charity. Libraries, missions, and senior centers will frequently take donated books. Also, many churches, especially those that have fund raising rummage sales, are happy to take books. Make sure you keep good records so you can turn them in come tax time!
Give them to a friend. Got a bunch of cookbooks that aren't moving? Give them to your neighbor who loves to cook. Have a friend with a cottage? Free books for beach reading are usually welcome. Think about what you have and who might enjoy them - then pass them on.
Read them!
Swap your books. There are a number of places online where you where you can swap your books with other members. Most people who sell books seem to be readers, so here's a great way to exchange books you don't want for books you are interested in. I have never used one of these programs, but I love the idea. Here are a few I found online, there are many more: paperbackswap.com, swaptree.com, bookins.com
Leave books in interesting places, then track where they travel to online. Here's the idea from BookCrossing.com:
Leave it on a park bench, a coffee shop, at a hotel on vacation. Share it with a friend or tuck it onto a bookshelf at the gym -- anywhere it might find a new reader! What happens next is up to fate, and we never know where our books might travel. Track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person.
The idea is rather nifty - you register the book at the website, then put the BookCrossing information and registration number in the cover, then drop it off somewhere you think it might get picked up. After that you can track the book online and see where it travels to.
Turn your old books into craft projects. Honestly, the idea of destroying books just makes me cringe. However, I have a couple of books that have been severely damaged and are no longer readable. Here are some ideas on how to use those: Make a secret hollowed out box, Make an invisible book shelf, Make tables out of them, Turn the pages into wallpaper, Make your books into a clock, or a carrier to hold your iPod. (I might actually do that last one!)
Recycle them. Any of those spare pages that are left from your craft projects make sure you recycle. We only have one planet!

Have any other ideas on what to do with unsellable books? Let me know in the comments!

Selling CDs, DVDs and yes, VHS Online on Amazon and Half

2008-10-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

In addition to books, I have also tried selling other forms of media on eBay, Amazon and Half. I have listed CDs, DVDs and even VHS tapes. They all either came from my own collection or belonged to friends who were ready to let them go. So far I have not attempted to purchase any of these with the intent to sell them, so my experience is a little limited. But here's what I can pass on:

Selling these forms of media is similar to selling books. For unique and collectible items you may be better off with eBay. Records, for example, are going to be easier to list there. CDs, VHS and DVDs can be easily listed on Half and Amazon. Instead of getting the ISBN, you will want the UPC code that is written on the bar code. Both Half and Amazon will let you type in that number and they will automatically find the correct title.

Believe it or not, even with the invention of iTunes, people still buy CDs. I haven't sold a lot of them, but I have done fairly well. As always, make sure you clearly list the condition of the CD and for heaven's sake, don't forget to play it before you list it - you don't want to send anything out that skips.

One thing to keep in mind when you are selling DVD - the region code. All DVDs have this code which lets you know where the disc can be played. Some discs will come as "region free," "all region" or "Region 0." These can be played anywhere. Here is a list of the DVD regions:

0 - not an official code. This means that it should be able to be played on all DVD machine players.

1 - Canada, USA, U.S. Terriories

2 - Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, British and Fresh overseas territories

3 - South Korea, Hong Kong

4 - Central and South America, Caribbean, Mexico

5 - Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Africa, North Korea, Mongolia

6 - Mainland China

(You can see a far more complete list of regions and more information about region codes at Wikipedia.)

Why do I bring this up? Some of the "Free Region" DVDs may not have been produced here in the United States and may be something you want to watch out for. A friend of mine asked me to sell a large collection of Kung Fu movies she had that were like this. I was able to list almost all of them on Amazon, however, Half.com did not accept them. If you are selling DVDs like this here's a warning - they don't seem to go for very much. Most list for under $2.00. With Amazon commission fees, they won't be a big moneymaker for you.

I have had no luck at all with VHS. I know there are still some people with VHS players, but I have not been able to sell any of my tapes. That doesn't mean you won't - it only means I can't tell you much about this field... yet.

How to Get Top Feedback Scores on Amazon and Half.com

2008-10-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

One thing you should always be keeping in mind are your feedback scores. Much like on eBay, a person's feedback score lets others know if they are a reliable seller or not. Here are some quick tips to help you get good scores every time:

Ship fast. People want their merchandise ASAP. You are required to get books out in two business days by both Amazon and Half, but the sooner you get them going towards their new home, the better.
Ship well. It doesn't help to have a great product, but have it arrived mangled and torn. I always recommend good quality padded envelopes for small soft cover books and sturdy cardboard for hard covers or more expensive items. But please, remember this is going to a customer - no dirty, smelly or inappropriate boxes!
Ship Smart. Print clearly or use your computer to make good clear labels. You don't want a purchase delayed because the post office couldn't read where it was going to.
Always include a packing slip. This is for your protection as well as for the customer's information. They may have forgotten you described the book as missing a dust jacket - the packing slip will tell them just what they ordered.
Be honest. Describe your product honestly - disappointment just leads to bad feedback.
If there is a problem fix it - right away. If you see you have bad feedback or if a customer contacts you, try to solve the problem ASAP. Customers can go in and change their feedback later, so it is worth your time to solve problems they are having to the best of your ability.

Good luck and happy selling!

Needing Money Fast - Which is Better? Amzon, Half or eBay?

2008-10-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

So, you need to raise some quick cash and are thinking about selling books, CDs, DVDs, or other miscellaneous household treasures online. Which site is going to give you the most bang for your buck - Amazon, Half or ebay?

Quickest Sales - eBay

Why? Because an eBay auction usually only lasts 7 days. In that time you are going to see if your item will sell or not. In my experience though, it still isn't the best place to sell books. (Though, it looks like they are trying some new pricing for book listings and some new features, so you might want to check it out.) If you are looking to earn some quick income, selling other household treasures on eBay may be the best route - and you can certainly track what is working and what isn't.

The downside of eBay is the time it takes to list items. You will have to photograph them, then upload the photos and write up a nice description. I also measure and weigh each item so I can list the size and approximate shipping cost. Then I spend more time researching what other people are listing similar items for. This takes more upfront time for me than listing books, however, my return on investment comes in much quicker.

Medium Sales - Amazon

When you are selling books through Amazon you are competing with people who have the exact same merchandise as you. Unlike on eBay where there might be a one or two people with similar 1920s rose petal and flamingo tea cups, on Amazon and other book sales sites you can have hundreds of people with the same book - especially if you are looking at very popular titles. Want to see what I mean? Take a look at Robert Jordan's Eye of the World on Amazon. As of when I am writing this post there are 373 copies for sale on the site! That is some tough competition. (Doesn't mean it isn't worth it - I sold a copy of this book.)

Another advantage is time, to list books all you need is the ISBN and the book's condition. I like to jot mine down in a notebook and then do several at once. You can put up a bunch of book listings that way pretty quickly.

However, another problem with using Amazon is that you have no idea when your books will sell. They could go today - they could take months - they could never sell. And unlike eBay you can't see if people are even looking at your merchandise. I have had books sell in hours and I have some I posted in May... and there they sit.

Slower Sales - Half.com

The simple truth is that Half doesn't have the web traffic Amazon does. I sell 3/4th of my books through Amazon. That doesn't mean it isn't worth while to list there, Half's commissions are far less than Amazon, so when you do sell books there you make more per item.

For what it is worth, here's my two cents - if you are looking to try to raise money quickly, do a combination of all three sites. That spreads out your net and opens up more possibilities to find different customers for different products quickly.

Putting Together an Inventory of Books to Sell Online

2008-10-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a question for you - are you starting your own business or just selling some of your old books? Either way you will probably start off the same way, so what's the difference?

Well, for me it comes down to inventory. When you first start selling books online you are probably going to start with your own books. I certainly did. The first thing I did was comb through every shelf looking for books I knew I would never read again. Then I added to my inventory when my mother brought me some of her books and my friend Tommy gave me some of his. All of this inventory was free - they were just books that weren't being read.

At some point though, you are going to sell most of what you have, or get to a point where what's left just isn't going to sell. Then what? Do you close up your shop - or do you start buying books to sell?

If you decide to start buying books, here are some places to look for them:

Garage sales (My personal favorite.)
Church sales (Another great spot.)
Estate sales (Tend to be more expensive.)
Used book stores (Can be slim pickings - they are in the same business you are after all. However, occasionally bargains can be found.)
Library sales (Libraries frequently sell used books that members have donated. Wonderful bargains can be found here, however, make sure what you are buying does not have library marks - stamps, card holders, etc. Books with those usually will not sell.)
Thrift stores (Hit or miss and be sure you check the books over thoroughly - sometimes these books get abused.

Some things to keep in mind:

Look books over carefully before you buy them. You would hate to get home and find out they are missing a page or in worse condition than you thought.
Look for remainder marks - usually a marker line or dot on the edge of the pages. Booksellers mark books this way so these types of books aren't returned at full price. If it has a remainder mark you will have to note that on the condition when you go to sell it and it will affect the price. Also, books that have been remaindered out tend to be a dime a dozen online - usually you won't be able to get anything like a good price for them.
Note any inscriptions, underlining, wear and tear, highlighting, stains or other price reducing conditions.
Beware price stickers - some stickers are a real pain to remove, especially from thrift stores.

Remember, if you do buy something you can't sell - you can always read it! (Or, pass it on to someone who will.) Libraries and thrift stores also accept donated books.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Listing Your Books For Sale on Amazon and Half When You Can't Find the ISBN

2008-10-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

The easiest way to place your books for sale online is by having the ISBN. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, (which means that when people say "ISBN number," they are being rather repetitive.) In newer books you can find the ISBN on the bar code by the UPC symbol on the back of the book. In other cases it can be found on the inside on the first page with the information about the publisher and copyright date. The ISBN is comprised of 10 to 13 digits and is unique to each book, which is why Amazon and Half love it. By you typing in that into their site, they can easily access your book title and edition.

But what happens if you don't have the ISBN?

In books published prior to 1970 you may or may not have an ISBN. In fact, even in the 70s some books did not have the ISBN on them. That doesn't mean they don't have one, it just means it wasn't printed on the book. Now you could try to search the book by name or maybe do a Google search. There are even websites that are dedicated to accessing library information that can help you find ISBNs, but for me, I like www.addall.com. Not only does AddAll list ISBNs, it also shows you what similar books are going for all around the web! This is great when you are trying to decide how to price a unique book for online sales.

Let's take a look at an example:

I picked up a 1973 First US Printing of "I'm Ok, You're Ok" at a garage sale for $.50. No ISBN to be found, so I hop over to AddAll. Here are some of the top results:

1. I'm Not Ok You're Not Ok and That's Ok
J&K Offspring Publishing Co 1993 - ISBN: 0963796100 - Paperback

2. I'm OK - You're OK
Thomas Harris - HarperCollins Publishers - ISBN: 038000772X - MASS MARKET

3. I'm OK - - You're Not: The Message We're Sending Unbelievers And Why We Should Stop
John Shore - NavPress Publishing Group 2007-01-22 - ISBN: 1600060579 - Paperback

4. I'm OK You're OK
- 1973 - ISBN: 0380462680 - Paperback

Well, obviously #1 and #3 were not my book. I thought #2 was going to be a winner - that is the right book and the right author, however, when I clicked into it, it turned out to be a 1976 reprint - not my book at all.

The correct book was #4. The bad news is - AddAll also lists the current sales prices at Amazon, Half, Barnes and Nobel and more. It appears this is a popular book. Looks like I'll be lucky if I get my $.50 back out of it!

If you would like to read more about ISBNs - Wikipedia has a nice detailed article.

How to Ship Your Books Overseas

2008-10-02T13:09:00.001-07:00

I had my sale of a book to someone in another country the other day! One of my cookbooks sold to a lady in the the Netherlands. I had never sold a book overseas before.

The process was very simple. I packaged it in a nice bubble envelope, included the packing slip and then headed to my local post office. They had a customs form to fill out which included the cost of the book. A friend of mine who lived overseas warned me against ever putting too high a value on customs form. He had that happen once and it held up his item for months. In my case it was straight forward - she had paid $9 for the book, so that is what I wrote down.

Shipping in this case was just over $11.00. Fortunately, Amazon paid me $12.47 in shipping reimbursement. Overall I would say the process was very smooth, just expect a few more minutes at the post office.

When it is Time to Ship Out Your First Book Sale - Packaging and Mailing Tips

2008-09-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

So, you've made your first sale - now you need to package it up and ship it out. You know you want to ship it right away, so you need packaging that is fast, easy, inexpensive and that will protect the book during shipping. What is the best way to do it?

When I sold my first few books, I shipped them out using recycled boxes that I had at home. It seemed like a great idea - they were free and a good friend of mine had supplied me with plenty of packing peanuts. Frugal packaging, right?

Wrong.

Why? Because cardboard boxes and even packing peanuts have weight - and the more weight you have, the more expensive the shipping. Believe me, it adds up in a hurry.

So far, the best solution I have found is bubble and padded envelopes. They won't always work for larger heavy hardcovers and you may not want to use them for expensive collectible books, but for your average book a padded envelope works great! I have bought them at several different places - everywhere from discount dollar stores to grocery stores to office supply stores. At the discount store I was able to score them for as low as $.18 a piece, at the office supply store they ran as high as $.60 a mailer. Here's the thing - even at $.60 a mailer you can save money, because the postage can be as much as a $1.00 higher (or more) if shipped in a box with packing peanuts.

So, save those boxes for eBay items, buy the padded mailers for Amazon and Half.com book sales.

Photo by: daveynin

Deciding Book Condition Ratings When Selling Online at Amazon

2008-09-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

When you go to list your books online, one of the questions the site will ask is, "What is the condition of the book?" Condition is just what it sounds like - what does the book look like? Does it have marks, writing or highlighting? Has it been read?

Following is a list of condition rankings as described by Amazon - and a good rule of thumb to go by for any online bookstore.

New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condition.

Like New: An apparently unread copy in perfect condition. Dust cover is intact; pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. Suitable for presenting as a gift.

Very Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dust cover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels.

Acceptable: A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes--in pen or highlighter--but the notes cannot obscure the text.

Unacceptable: Moldy, badly stained, or unclean copies are not acceptable, nor are copies with missing pages or obscured text. Books that are distributed for promotional use only are prohibited. This includes advance reading copies (ARCs) and uncorrected proof copies.

There is also another designation that falls in here: Collectible. If you mark a book as collectible, be prepared to back it up with proof - indicate if it is a first edition or signed, or special in some way. Note that books marked as collectible cannot be remainders, ex-library editions, or a book club edition. At Amazon they also have to be priced at $10 or more.

Now when you first start selling books online you might be tempted to be overly generous with your condition ratings, but in time you will see that the best thing to be is less than generous.

What do I mean?

It is easy to want to give a book a better condition rating than it has - you want it to sell after all. But, you are now a business person, and as such you have to think of your customer. How would you feel if you ordered a brand new shirt online and when it arrived you realized it had been worn? You do not want to disappoint your buyers and you certainly don't want returns. What's more, happy buyers give good feedback and good feedback encourages other buyers.

Rating a book too high might sell that one book, but could hurt your sales of future books.

Rating a book a little low can only surprise and delight a customer, which can help the sale of future books.

If I am unsure how to rank a book, I always choose the lower option. Very few people will complain if they get something that they feel is better than described!

Selling books online is like any other business, you have to think about the future. Not only can you develop a point to where you have repeat shoppers who recognize your name, but also they will tell others - if not by word of mouth, then through your feedback score.

How to Keep Your Online Bookstore Customers Coming Back

2008-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

The easiest answer? Good customer service.

Once you start listing your books online you need to think about customer service. The first thing is to make sure you are getting orders okay. Certain email providers are notorious for shunting off emails into spam folders. Make sure to white list Amazon, Half, eBay... wherever it is you list your books. Then, make sure you check that email daily. Don't frustrate customers by letting their orders sit unread in your email box.

The next step is to ship the item out as soon as possible. With eBay you want to make sure your invoice has been paid first, of course, but with Half and Amazon payment has already been secured. Both websites require you to ship the book within 2 business days, but I do my best to do better than that and get it out right away.

Make sure you provide adequate packaging. I'm a huge fan of bubble and padded mailers, but whether you use those or boxes, chose something that is going to stand up to being bounced around in a USPS truck. Be sure to include the packing slip - both Amazon and Half provide them. Your packing slip will have the item listed as well as the condition of the book. This may help prevent confusion later on.

Remember feedback scores are important! If you have a problem with a customer, do your best to help them out and work it out - even if this means giving them a full refund. The customer may not always be right, but it is your job to make them happy and want to come back and buy from you again and again.

The Best Places to List Used Books Online: Amazon vs Half vs eBay?

2008-09-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Each online book selling site has its own pros and cons. Here are a few that I have found:

Amazon

Amazon still the biggest fish in the pond. They get the most traffic and make the most sales. Over three quarters of my sales have been made on Amazon.com. Another great benefit is that you don't have to pay a thing until your books sell. So, if they don't sell - there is no out of pocket cost for you. That's a real benefit when you are first starting out.

The downside when they do charge, they charge a lot. Commissions are pretty high at 15%, plus $.99 per transaction, plus $1.35. That adds up in a hurry! Especially if you are selling your books for $.50.

Half.com

Half is a viable bookseller, but just doesn't have the traffic Amazon does. I actually really like their site and the management tools they provide sellers, but I don't have nearly the success in selling there. Much like Amazon, you don't have to pay anything until your book has sold. They do have one serious advantage over Amazon though, the commissions are far more reasonable.

Here's a break down:

Selling Price	Half.com Commission
$0.75 - $50.00	15.0%
$50.01 - $100.00	12.5%
$100.01 - $250.00	10.0%
$250.01 - $500.00	7.5%
> $500.00	5.0%

So, you will make far more money on Half, but have fewer sales. If this isn't going to be a second business and you are fine waiting for sales to take place, Half.com might be a perfect match for you.

eBay

It looks like eBay is starting to make an effort to get more media listed - books, dvds, cds and so forth. It seems to me that they'll only be taking market share away from their own site (since they own Half) but we'll see how it goes.

eBay currently is a great fit for antique, unique and collectible books. Books that are old enough they don't have ISBN#s, books that you want to show photographs of, specialty items - with these, eBay is your spot. While people do sell books on eBay, the majority of shoppers there seem to be looking for collectibles and one of a kind items. Is your copy of Eye of the World any different than the other hundreds out there? It is, eBay may be the way to go. If not - choose Amazon or Half.com.

Another advantage with eBay is you can watch your item online and see how it does. Most auctions are 7 days. In that time you can see how many people are looking at your items, see how many are tracking or "watching" it and see the bidding process. It is a great quick return and a bit more predictable. I have had books I listed on Amazon sit for two months, while others sold within an hour. You just can't tell what is going to happen; eBay puts you more in charge of that.

There is one thing to keep in mind with eBay - there is a cost just to list your book. Then if it sells they charge a commission. Plus, they force you to offer Paypal as an option for payment - and Paypal tacks on their own fees.

Setting Up Your Online Account with Amazon and Half.com

2008-09-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Setting up accounts on both Amazon and Half.com are really quite easy. Chances are that if you have ever bought anything from Amazon or eBay (who owns Half.com) you already have an account. To get started on both sites, just find the item that you want to sell. Once you have looked it up, both Amazon and Half have "Sell Your Stuff" (Amazon) or "Sell My Stuff" (Half) links. Click that and you are on your way!

A couple of tips -

Give yourself a little time to set this up. You are starting a new business here, take your time. Don't do it in a rush.
You will need a to register a bank account. This is how they will pay you, so have your bank account numbers or checkbook handy.
They need a valid phone number. This may not be something you want to set up while on a lunch break! They will validate your phone number by electronically calling it and you need to be able to answer it.