Comments on: A Simple Guide to Start Selling Books Online

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:09:44 +0000

Hi Christine,

I live in Rake, Iowa and would love to be notified when you have a book sale at your store in Burnsville. Thanks so much for all the information. I have sold books for years on Ebay and Amazon, but have been out of the loop for awhile and was looking to see if it was still possible to make a living at it when I found your information. Thanks so much. You have got me excited again about book selling.

Judy

By: Spunky Jones

Spunky Jones — Sun, 08 May 2011 17:56:13 +0000

What are your thoughts about selling books that are search engine optimization (SEO) related? Do you think there is a market for that? To me, it seems, there are so many free resources, that most people wouldn’t spend the money on SEO books.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:52:01 +0000

Thank you so much for this entry! I love books, and grew up with my parents selling them (along with other antiques and collectibles) at Flea Markets, Antique Shows and Garage Sales. I’ve often tossed around the idea of selling online, and picked up oddball books here and there and sold them on Amazon, but seeing how many people are in business online selling books, I feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Seeing things like this encourage me to find a way to do this!

What I’d really love is to win the lottery (though I don’t play) and open up a brick and mortar book store where I don’t have to worry about making a huge profit, and just do it for the fun of it!

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:24:25 +0000

Thanks Christine for taking time to answer my question. The references you’ve shared are also great source of understanding how the market works as well as what strategies to pursue.

I’ve been a book lover (particularly business and self improvement books) for a very long time so I’ll take a dive on this opportunity. Will keep you informed perhaps here or on your blog. Appreciate your help

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:32:43 +0000

Hi Leo,
Where to start is a good question. It depends on what kind of books you are selling. Look up the used book prices on Amazon and see if what you have can be competitively priced. If so, I would start with Amazon. If the books you have are priced too low on Amazon, you can create “Lots” and sell them on ebay. Putting similar books together and selling them for one price.

As for an initial investment, I would say a few hundred dollars. You can set a monthly budget for yourself and reinvest your profits and slowly build up your inventory. It will be a lot of trial and error to see what books sell. It will get discouraging at times but keep trying something different.

Best Wishes for Success!
Christine

By: Leo

Leo — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:34:29 +0000

Thanks Christine for sharing your insights on book selling. For now, I only have access to goodwill stores and I was surprised to find some really new books as well as classic ones there.

My question is, where should I start? With eBay or Amazon? How much is the initial investment? I only have limited resources and as you mentioned there will be learning curve before I can generate bigger profits. I love reading books and spend hours searching for great books at goodwill stores and other book sales. Hopefully I can make money from doing something I really love.

Thanks

By: Financial Planning Budgeting

Financial Planning Budgeting — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 07:23:32 +0000

I took my stab at selling books online one time. I thought, I love books, I love surfing the web, why not make money involving two things I love.

It was tuff. I’m glad you’re honest in this article, about it not being a glamorous job. But, for many, it’s a great job. It just wasn’t for me.

You’ve created a great resource, however, for anyone who wants to get started. If I would have had this when I attempted, I could’ve still be selling today…