posted on October 8, 2000 03:22:21 PM
I was wondering how eBay booksellers were doing - I have approx 2000 volumes (personal collection-mostly non-fiction) and I'd like to start putting them up for auction. I've been almost exclusively dealing in electronic equipment and tube radios but low bids and NPBs have been beating me down for the past year or so. Do you think it would be worthwhile to start dealing in books?
posted on October 8, 2000 05:17:11 PM
number47, I love selling books on eBay, but then I love books . . . I guess you do too, or you wouldn't have so many.
The only suggestion I have is to do some research by searching on eBay, Half.com, and some of the online bookselling sites to see what some of your titles are going for.
In general, I have better luck with nonfiction than fiction, although of course there are some notable exceptions. The subject matter and the rarity of the book is the key thing.
I do believe that I have fewer NPBs than people selling in some other categories.
posted on October 8, 2000 09:22:26 PM
I get a lot of low and no feedback bidders for my books. My experience is good, only a few buyers vanished completely, a few took a month to pay. One bad check.
Nobody has complained about the condition of the book. Some of my books are kinda ugly, I do my best to detail the flaws without sounding like the voice of doom.
Below are some of my books, they actually do sell. Even the one that was dragged a bit.
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Well, I hope I've got you really wanting this book, because here's the bad news. It is missing its dustjacket. I'm not sure how this happened, but all four corners on the cover are badly frayed. They need taping. The pages have a wave to them, as though they were caught on something, bent a little and then were released, and last 30 or so pages were folded, but I am flattening them back out. Nothing was ripped or is missing. The binding is tight, the pages are bright.
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This is another of my cosmetically challenged Oracle books.
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Now for the cosmetic defects: This book has a crease down the front cover. The title page is dirty and has been crumpled and straightened. The book has edgewear all around. The binding is tight, it's new, but it looks used
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Well, I hope I've got you really interested in this book, because this is the less than stellar points about this book. These are the cosmetic discrepancies. The dustjacket has an inch and a half tear right on the bottom front crease, a half inch tear at the spine, and is rough all around. This book has a lot of edgewear to both cover bottom corners. One is worn right through to the underbacking. A little tape will fix it, and that's what makes this book so discounted.
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So why am I offering a $35.00 book so inexpensively? Cosmetics. This book is remaindered. That is removed from the shelf for excessive wear. In this case, dirt. It looks like it may have fallen from the conveyer on to its title page, and then been dragged a bit.
The cover, the overleaf and title page are all affected, and when you close the book and look at the page edges, they're gray. The actual recipe pages are white, and the ribbon marker is there. The binding is tight, no torn, loose or missing pages. Put a book cover on it and put it to work in your kitchen.
posted on October 9, 2000 04:22:16 AM
Victoria - your listings are fun to read! I don't go into that much depth, but I do try to give an accurate assessment of condition. Sometimes my feedback reflects that, as in "just as described!" I don't usually sell anything very grungy, though, unless you consider ex-library tacky. I think a lot of them would look great with the plastic cover taken off, because the dustjacket is usually pristine.
Number47: it doesn't really matter if you have 5 or 50 or 5000 books. They will only be worth your while if they are desirable to someone, and I find this very dicey. Listing a lot at 25 cents and getting no bids would be discouraging. However, I've found that closed auctions are a pretty good clue as to desirability. It's not fool-proof. One week the bidders may be there, the next: nobody. Or condition may be the issue.
Let us know how you do! You might be sitting on a goldmine!
posted on October 9, 2000 05:21:05 AM
I spend a fair amount of time trying to describe beat-up without actually using that word. I'm sometimes surprised that some of my books DO sell. I think it helps that my ads are low tech. No bells, no whistles. I don't have a storefront, and my ads reflect that. My ads look like someboy who sells used books out of a spare room, not a retailer seling their own shopworn books.
posted on October 9, 2000 06:29:17 AM
I haven't been doing that well with books lately, but in general I find them to be a small but steady source of income. (I am only discussing current and relatively current books, not antiques or uniquely collectible books). For me, nonfiction generally always does better than fiction, and niche markets are where it's at. At times it seems like the more specialized, the better, but you have to market it right. Check completed auctions for the same or similar listings. I too have very few book deadbeats----they tend to be very good responders and actually seem to read my emails. Wish I had more books that went into double digits, if I did I would sell nothing but books.
posted on October 9, 2000 09:40:40 AM
nofishing: I guess the on-line literary crowd is more refined. But for the real-life crowd: when I go to a book sale I take my life in my hands! Wow! They'd just as soon knock you down as look at you if they spot something and you are in their way.
victoria: those are great! I found it helps to sell if you have a little wit in the description.
Guess I'll try. I always wanted to open a 2nd hand bookstore and I this'll be the closest to it I get. (Plus it's got to be easier to ship a book that a 120-lb carton of electronic gear!)
posted on October 9, 2000 10:51:24 AM
Bookselling is a rather slow business regardless of venue. You have to have a buyer, and there are a lot of web surfers who just don't fit the serious book category.
If I don't get a bid on eBay, I move my books to Yahoo. Half.com takes too big a bite of commission especially after eBay insertion fees.
