June 9, 2019

Selling Used Books on Amazon: All You Need to Know

Are you looking for a lucrative business that you can do from your home? Then selling books on Amazon is one of the best opportunities available out there to consider. Amazon is one of the most trusted marketplaces that people in today’s world access in order to purchase the books that they need. Therefore, you will be able to end up with amazing results by selling books on Amazon. It is possible for you to sell both new as well as used books on Amazon to earn a decent amount of money without any hassle. You don’t need to be equipped with any special skills to go ahead with selling books on Amazon as well.

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Where to Find Used Books for Sale?

Before you learn how to sell books on Amazon, you should figure out where to find used books. Several options are available for you to consider here. You can start by taking a look at your own bookshelf. Then you will be able to figure out what books you can sell. There are no restrictions to sell used books on Amazon.

On the other hand, scanning or online arbitrage can also provide great assistance for you to find the books for sale. You can find interesting books that have already been used earlier on flea markets and sales. Here you can not only buy one specific book or several books but also buy a whole lot (box) of different books. In the first case, you will need more time to find the right thing and find out if you really get the expected profit from its sale. Use the Amazon Seller App for this. In the second case, you can save on the purchase, spend a minimum of time, but at the same time buy those books that will be less interesting to buyers.

If you can find a wholesaler in your area and establish a partnership to buy the books in bulk, you will be able to get them at a lower price.

There are other places where you can find interesting options for used books for resale on Amazon.

  1. Online Arbitrage with eBay, Craigslist, etc. If you buy books in bulk, such a purchase can be very profitable; on the other hand, you don't see the real condition of the goods, you cannot check the quality, therefore it may be difficult to resell some books.
  2. Used Bookstores. The price of books in such stores is usually quite high, but they also often arrange "cleaning" and sell stale goods; use this opportunity to buy used books profitably.
  3. Libraries. If there is a library in your area, it can be a great source of your profit; Libraries also periodically clear space from unnecessary books, which can also help you to find worthy books and then resell them.

If you want to be seriously concerned with this kind of business, you should always be on the lookout. A suitable book can fall into your hands quite unexpectedly. And you should be able to take advantage of this chance.

Open an Amazon Seller Account

Once you have a source to get the books, you can go ahead and create Amazon Seller Account. When you will be opening the Amazon Seller Central Account, you will have two different options to consider. You can either sell as an individual or as a professional seller. The decision to choose the best account type should be made based on your personal preferences. In fact, you need to take a look at how many books you are going to sell before you open the Amazon Seller Account.

When you open an individual seller account, you don’t have to pay a monthly subscription fee. However, you will have to pay a fee of $0.99 per item you sell. On the other hand, you don’t need to pay any fee per item when opening a professional account. But you will have to pay a monthly fee of $39.99.

Making a Profit

When signing up into your Amazon account, you will be asked to enter your personal information. This includes your credit card details as well to receive payments from Amazon. Amazon will automatically transfer money to your account. While doing that, Amazon will automatically reduce the fees as well. People who are engaged in selling books on Amazon can expect to receive the payments to their bank accounts within five business days.

Why Is It Important to Indicate the Condition of the Goods Honestly?

When you are selling used books on Amazon, you need to make sure that you clearly explain the condition of the books in your listing. If the books are new, you can go ahead and tell the customers that they are new. But if the books are used, you need to mention the exact condition of them. In other words, you need to mention whether they are barely used or heavily used.

When you create a product listing, you must clearly state the condition of the book. Amazon offers one of five categories for this:

  • New - new product in original packaging, if any. This is a book that was not opened, not used in any way.
  • Like New - the book was used very rarely, its packaging is intact; the product looks exactly as the new unused item should look like.
  • Very good - the book has been read, but still looks very good; There is no damage to the cover, there are no extraneous inscriptions and other signs of using inside and outside.
  • Good - the book was actively used, it was read many times, there are visible traces of use on the cover, pages; slight wear is visible, but there are no page breaks, foreign inscriptions and other significant defects; but it can still be used further and is in good condition.
  • Acceptable - the book was reused, there are visible marks on the outer cover and on the inside pages; these may be scratches, foreign marks, and other defects; however, it can still be used.

If you don’t mention the condition clearly, you will be cheating your customers. As a result, you can expect them to come back with a lot of complaints. They will even report against your Seller Account to Amazon.

How to Sell a Book That Has Already Been on Amazon, and How to Sell a Book That Nobody Has Sold Yet?

Before you start selling on Amazon, you need to do your background research as well. Then you can get a better understanding of what books are being sold by others. It is perfectly fine to sell books, which are offered by other sellers on Amazon as well. However, you will not be able to get the best possible results due to competition. That’s why you are strongly encouraged to think about selling books that are not sold by anyone else. These books have a clear advantage of getting more sales.

Tens of thousands of books are sold on Amazon. It is possible that the book you want to sell is already among the products. In this case, your task is simplified:

  1. Find a listing of this book on the site. This can be done using an Amazon search bar or using an ISBN or other identifier. You will find it in the Product Details section. Or use the copyright page for this.
  2. Click the Sell on Amazon button. Do this only after you are sure that you have found a product on Amazon that is completely identical to yours.
  3. Fill out the forms that Amazon will offer. Answer the questions as truthfully as possible. This is especially important when choosing the category of book. If you dishonestly answer the question of how often the book was used before, and what condition it has, negative customer reviews can seriously ruin your reputation. After all, people will not get what they expect. Therefore, deception is a bad selling strategy on Amazon. If in the process of filling out forms you have questions, use Amazon Seller Central help.
  4. Pack your product and send it to the buyer. Carefully wrap the goods, use boxes, bubble wrap, paper to safely protect the cover of the book. Make sure that no wrapping paper or cardboard is stuck to the book. Otherwise, when unpacking it, the cover may be damaged, and the buyer will definitely unlike it.
  5. Organize a quality service for your customers. Answer buyer's questions in time (preferably within 24 hours), solve unforeseen situations that may arise, and do everything possible to make the customers satisfied with your service and products.

All these steps you need to perform if the book you want to sell is already on the Amazon website. But what if no one else sells such a book there?  Then you need to create a new product listing. It is important to make it informative, add a full description of the product, upload a photo. And only after that, you can start selling such a book on Amazon.

What to Choose: FBM or FBA? How to Deliver Books to the Buyer?

When you are selling the books, you have two different options to consider. They include Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). When you go ahead with FBM, you should maintain the inventory on your own. When you get the orders, you are responsible for packing the books and shipping them to the customers. But when you go ahead with FBA, you will be handing over the order fulfillment process to Amazon. Here, you will be sending the books to the Amazon FBA address USA. You just need to focus on selling books and Amazon will take care of order fulfillment.

Please note that when sending a single book or a small batch of them to the Amazon warehouse you will need to pay a commission. Do not forget to take into account these costs.

How to Set a Price?

When you are setting up a price, you need to pay attention to the condition of the book. You cannot sell used books at the same price as new books. You should also consider if the books are collectible or rare. For example, the first edition of many books can be sold at a higher price tag. By doing your own research you can determine the right price to sell.

Customer Feedback

When you keep on selling books on Amazon, you need to pay special attention to customer satisfaction. You should provide them with what they expect, at the right price. Then you can get good Amazon customer reviews, which can assist you with taking your business to the next level.

Final Words

Now you know almost everything about selling books on Amazon. You can go ahead and get started with it. It can provide you with outstanding results, which will impress you.