posted on May 15, 2001 09:45:05 AM
I have a question... I need some suggestions.
I'm new at buying books for reselling on eBay. Last weekend I bought lots of books at garages sales. Usually I just offer a couple dollars for all their books, usually they go for it. I don't really even look at the books before I make an offer. This usually means that I'll get the books for about 10c each. Well, last weekend I ended up getting 82 books for $12.30. I found only about 15 that were even worth bothering with. Most sell for only $2-$5, but some sell for $15 or $20. My question is, what should I do with the rest of the books that aren't worth selling individually? After reading this thread I thought I may be able to sell them as a group. They are not related to each other, some are paperbacks and some are hardcovers with dustjackets, etc. Do eBay shoppers really buy groups of misc. books? If I could even get a few dollars out of the rest, it would be better than ZERO. Any advice? I've seen a few lots of books go for $5 - $15 on eBay.
posted on May 15, 2001 09:52:49 AM
I can't really imagine selling groups of unrealted books.
It makes more sense to sell groups of related books, like a group of books on WWII, or a group of children's books, or even a group all from the same author.
I doubt if you would get much interest on an unrelated group because they may be interested in only one, but won't want to pay for the others, plus the extra cost of shipping.
Think about it for a second. If you were looking at groups of books, would you want to bid on one that had "Granny's Cookbook", Bob's Woodworking Tips" "Humpty Dumpty" and "How To Play Baseball" etc? or a group that all the books dealt in something you were interested in?
[ edited by loosecannon on May 15, 2001 09:59 AM ]
posted on May 15, 2001 09:59:04 AM
That's what I thought, except I found a few sets of misc. books on eBay. Like a lot of 42 unrelated paperbacks sold for $10 BIN.
posted on May 15, 2001 10:15:59 AM
Here's one buyer's perspective on this scenario:
A few times I've bid on a lot of misc books because the price was right for the 1 or 2 that I actually wanted. Then when the auction closed, I asked the seller if he would send me only the one(s) I wanted at the closing bid price for the lot, and asked for a recalculation on the shipping based on just that 1 or 2. I never had any problem with this approach, although I suppose it might be prudent to inquire in advance of bidding.
The seller then still had a bunch of misc books (minus 1 or 2) to re-auction.
If they're really misc, consider donating them to your local public library's book sale and take a charitable deduction on your taxes.
As a seller (craft books and sewing patterns) I often buy box lots knowing that some of them will be unsalable (mostly due to condition rather than content). I price the ones I list (usually 70-80%) to make a decent profit on the cost of the whole lot. Then I don't worry about discarding the dogs. I've found that it's generally not worth the time and listing fees to try and sell the "iffy" items.
posted on May 15, 2001 10:21:59 AM
There's a good chance that the 42 books for $10 went to a dealer who is going to run them singly and make money on them.
Some older paperbacks (if these you're talking about were older) go for good money. I've got over $30 for a couple and over $10 for a whole bunch more than that, but these are usually long out of print and hard to get.
Of course, a lot of them, old or not, go for a dollar or two if you're lucky.
posted on May 15, 2001 11:54:34 AM
Is there a B&M used book store in your area? If it's not worth listing them on ebay, maybe they would take them in trade.
posted on May 15, 2001 12:16:46 PM
I often have the same situation and solve it this way: I take out the ones I want to e-bay and mark the rest at 25c-$2 (depending on what they are and condition) and sell them at my next garage sale. What's left-over from that is donated to our local thrift store. If you're not having a garage sale of your own, perhaps you can find a friend who's having one and can sell them there.
posted on May 15, 2001 12:19:07 PM
In browsing it appears to me that -
odd lots of unrelated books usually do very poorly.
On small lots of same author results vary wildly, they are reliable for some authors, hit-ot-miss for most.
On odd lots of related subjects (as well as by author) - the larger lot (within reason?) the more likely a strong result.
To add -
Beware that "star" books can get buried in a group lot. I have (often!) seen cases where a group lot including an unusually desirable book realized less than that single book could be expected to get all by itself.
[ edited by figmente on May 15, 2001 12:42 PM ]
posted on May 15, 2001 03:20:33 PM
Blondesense got my answer. Of course, you have to develope a nose for what a used bookstore will take, too. They can be picky, have their own little parameters. Also, they might not have any books worth trading FOR.
But part of my strategy is to pay as low as I can for books "out there" at thrifts and sales and get trade so I can pick up items from my wish lists or just things that have a better chance either on ebay or [new hardcovers] on the fixed-price sites.
good luck with your yard sales! I was amused last weekend - I hit the Romance Reader at one house, Ye Olde Science Fiction Fan at another, Ms. Patricia CornwellxStephen King, and finally Creepy True Crime and Nothin' But.
posted on May 15, 2001 04:49:38 PM
2 or 3 weeks ago I saw that the usps mrc auctions had several listings of miscellaneous books. It always amazes me how those auctions (which promise so little and remove themselves from almost any responsibility) do so well. But, I am talking about an auction on the scale of a pallet-full of books that were for pick up only. I doubt you have that many so it probably does not apply to you.
posted on May 15, 2001 06:13:43 PM
I was able to sell a lot of 10 little golden books for $2.25 and 4 Si-Fi books from the same author for $2.25, but not a group of 3 old childrens books by the same author. You never know. When I come back from vacation, it's time to thin out the old bookshelfes. I'll be putting lots of like books and same author books up for auction. Just enough to pay for listing to get rid of them. The descriptions are all written. (Still left from the free yahoo time)
heikejohn everywhere else!
