posted on August 4, 2001 11:42:46 AM
I've just been looking through some of the Half.com listings. It's amazing how many current, nonfiction books are listed at 75 cents. I just cannot understand why people take the time to sell their items here! How can they not lose money selling a book so cheaply? Sadly, it's bound to eventually depress the prices for books on Ebay auctions with Ebay promoting it so actively. It doesn't seem like it would be in Half/Ebay's interest to have books being sold so cheaply. Any comments?
posted on August 4, 2001 11:53:35 AM
What do you think it feels like when you have a book to sell on half.com and can't even list it for .75 because there is one on there just like it for .12 ???
I believe the high volume sellers/dealers must be able to list for less than .75 or something. Now, you wanna talk about depressing? I have 205 books listed right now on half.com. Most of mine are over a dollar, even if slightly. In my opinion, worth it. I think the minimum across the board should be .75. Discouraging to folks like me. I have not made a good sale there in over two months. You bring the balls and I'll bring the bat!!
posted on August 4, 2001 12:01:47 PM
I think instead of Half.com establishing a 75 cent minimum price, they would have been better served having a PERCENTAGE minimum. Saying, for example, a book can't be listed at less than 10% of it's cover price.
posted on August 4, 2001 12:07:05 PM
But what to do with an older book whose retail was 2.99? Still screwed. You bring the balls and I'll bring the bat!!
posted on August 4, 2001 01:07:13 PM
You know what cracks me up with Half?
I was looking and looking and looking for a particular book. It was listed 3 times in 6 months on ebay. Always sold for about 60.00. (This is a paperback). So, the last time it was on ebay, I bid 70.00. Guess what, I was outbid.
So anyway, I was over at half one day, typed in the title, and there it was! For 12.00! Couldnt believe it. So I bought it. Havent received it yet, its only been a week. Also bought another book while I was there, it sells on the high side on ebay. Just bought it to resell. Got me thinking. I could make a list of high demand books, go over to half and buy them at cheaper prices then list them on ebay.
For the life of me, I cant figure out why a seller would list a book that is in high demand for a low price at half. So, do sellers on half check prices first on ebay, or do you just list away? It might be worth your while to check first.
So, anyway, I love half. I bought two great books at a fraction of the price I would have spent on ebay.
posted on August 4, 2001 01:17:26 PM
I agree with you, pumpkinhead - I love it. I have made a lot of good sales there, (for much more than .75) and have made some great buys. I have bought a number of books there and sold them for a profit on eBay.
You can no longer list books there for under .75 - the ones there for less were "grandfathered" when they changed the policy.
I don't understand why people list tons of books for so little, but if they feel it's worth it to them, who am I to argue with them?
posted on August 4, 2001 01:38:53 PM
not all books sell at half listed price,some sell for over listed price.
but in another thread,someone said folks who work for prunt shops take home rejected paperbacks for free,list for littel and get shipping fee for over 2 dollars,how much does it cost to ship a pb in an envelope,not padded?? by bookrate??
pocket the difference,and use it to buy grocery or a gallon of gas in small rural area.
posted on August 4, 2001 01:43:11 PM
the thing is..how are low half.com prices affecting ebay prices, if at all? I sure hope those books are still going for $60. Good luck! I sometimes shop for books I know get nice prices, but either they have no copies on half.com or the prices are too high to allow profit in buying to list on ebay.
As for being a joke, yes it is for me, since my sales have really dried up to nothing. I will be leaving some listings out of sheer inertia, but listing new ones rarely. It feels like a waste of time.
posted on August 4, 2001 01:52:08 PM
I really dont know how half affects the prices on ebay. I know this book that I was looking for is hard to come by. I tried ordering it thru book stores, searched the web up and down and it was never available.
I just did a search on ebay and there is one listed at 50.00. If I didn't just buy the book on half I would have bid on it.
posted on August 4, 2001 05:40:21 PM
I do very well on Half. I get higher prices then I would on eBay much of the time--it depends on the book. There are a lot of lowball prices, but no one is forcing you to list. There are no fees and no deadbeats either.
posted on August 4, 2001 06:13:51 PM
Well, I have been very pleased both buying and selling on half.com When I plan to list books, I usually check both Half and eBay for current pricing before I decide where (or if) to list.
Many books do better on half. Some do better on eBay. I recently sold two fairly current books (one fiction, one nonfiction) on eBay for more than the highest price I saw listed on half. OTOH, I have also sold books that never got a bid on eBay at $5.00 - $10.00 for $20.00 - 25.00 on Half.
I am NOT a real high volume seller, but do try to keep some "stuff" both places.
For awhile I did well on Amazon with used books, but that seems to have dried up for me at least.
posted on August 4, 2001 06:37:14 PM
I only sell books and I refuse to sell anything on half.com. Generally there is nothing there but junk which generally sells for junk prices...not worth my time and energy.
posted on August 4, 2001 06:51:36 PM
When I first began putting stuff on half.com at the end of April, I really was going to the PO every day to ship stuff out. The majority of what I sold was in May, though. Since then it has dropped off. I have been managing my inventory lately however, and I look at my cometitor's feedbacks. Seems to me that a few sellers on half.com need book grading lessons....badly. If my feedback was less than 4.0/5.0 I would suspend the lot and look for another way to make money; these guys don't seem to care and it is really giving all of the sellers a bad rep. I am astounded at some of the complaints in the feedbacks and yet these sellers are still listing books!! I hope I keep my 5.0/5.0 rating! It's about all I have going for me, as my prices are typically a little higher than these other guys, but I hope they have lowered their prices because they are compensating for their rotten feedback ratings! You bring the balls and I'll bring the bat!!
posted on August 5, 2001 11:49:10 AM
I have ALWAYS felt that Half.com was a joke, unfortunately. I have spoken to people at Half (and later, with half/eBay) and it goes in one ear and out the other. My reasoning boils down quite simply: a seller cannot make money on half.com. Period. Their rebuttal took the tack 'if it's not profitable, then why are so many sellers willing to do it?'. Which I have not yet been able to answer.
I cannot speak for books, but in CDs the half.com 'inventory' is sick. VERY sick. If one could walk into a realworld store that housed the half.com CD inventory it would be appalling. NO copies of the current hits, dozens and dozens and dozens of dirty and shopworn copies of the old ones. NONE of the RIGHT Pearl Jam album, dozens of the WRONG Pearl Jam albums.
Most telling to me is the current situation of the biggest half.com CD seller (no, not me), who operates both storefronts and online. His stores (whose inventory is a mirror of the half.com inventory) look sick. As with most used book or CD dealers, he ALREADY had a problem getting in the BEST used merchandise, now that problem is made worse by the fact that he is still BUYING from the same clientele but now SELLING nationwide. The BEST stuff flies out the door that much faster (good!) but the bad stuff just clogs his shelves up and makes his stores look worse and worse and worse.
Moreover, he is apparently unable to compete at half.com.
Now, this guy has some clout at half.com, and I understand that he is pushing for a $4.99 minimum on CDs sold there. (That's why the half.com ads read 'CDs As Low As $4.99', although they're actually offered much lower than that there now). Reason: he CANNOT MAKE MONEY, even at his lower-than-mine costs, selling even his worst titles for less than $4.99.
I HOPE he successful. I HOPE that half.com RAISES their price floor for CDs. It can only help me sell mine over on eBay. (Now, the question about CDs that are really not WORTH even $4.99 I cannot answer, sorry..). I cannot imagine any first time CD buyer going to half.com and finding what they want there: there are simply no good titles there for more than an hour or two.
I suspect the math is such that half/eBay cannot continue to operate at such in such a looowwwww priced enivornment anymore, either.
posted on August 5, 2001 12:24:17 PM
I guess I’m in the minority here but I do very well on Half.com. In fact I make a very nice living off of them so I have very few complaints. Sure I don’t agree with all their policies but I have a choice to either except them or move on, and go elsewhere.
The majority of the books I sell are mass-market paperbacks & hard cover book. Common everyday stuff like Danielle Steel, Higgins, Clancy, Koonitz, Steven King, Ludlum, etc. These books don’t bring a lot of money and probably never will. The market is flooded with them. But there are buyers for these types of everyday books and it seems they are on Half.com. I tried listing my books on Amazon and got little or no buyers. I’ve listed on grababargin.com and have yet to get an order. I guess it all depends on the types of books you sell as to how well you will do selling there.
The only way I can make money is through high volume sales. Move a lot of inventory and sell cheap. I except that is how things are going to go on Half.com. If I want to move inventory then I have to go with the flow. Lets face it Half.com does have a huge market share of the on-line book business and buyers know it. Unfortunately for sellers Half.com is known for a place to buy Movies, CD’s and Books cheap. So if you sell there that is what you have to do. Sell cheap., except it and not whine about it.
I totally agree that merchandise on Half.com is selling for way less than it should. When I first started selling on Half.com I was appalled seeing books listed anywhere from free to .10 or .25. Ridiculous I thought But I had books to sell and I didn’t want to “hold out” for higher prices else where that might never come so I gave in and listed them for .10, .25 and now .75 for my paperback books. I have since added remainders (new books) and better hard cover books so I don’t sell all my books cheap. In fact I do very well on some of them with huge profits. Just depends on the book. The only way a bookseller who sells the stuff I do can make money (and I do) is through volume. I list at least 200 - 400+ new books a week and currently have 3,800 books listed on one of my accounts and around 5,000 on another.
"Anyone else think Half.com is a joke?" Yah me, all the way to the bank.
posted on August 5, 2001 03:10:43 PM
HI Colonel - thanks for your post! I have a question for you as a low-price/high volume seller.
I have books on Amazon right now, not so much on half, that I wouldn't mind selling for relatively low money [not 75 cents, though!] but the part that holds me back is the expense of packing materials. I am trying a strategy of offering 'free' Priority shipping, with a price that will cover the extra $1.75 I'll need to spend, but still allow some profit. At least that way I can use Priority supplies and not use up the mailers and boxes I have to buy.
Anyway, my question to you is, do you have an ultra-inexpensive shipping method? All those paperbacks don't get a 50 cent mailer, do they? Or even bubblewrap or manila envelopes? I am wondering if some books could be safely mailed using plastic bags, newspaper padding, and a plain paper-bag wrapper.
keziak
P.S. do you hire help to take all those books to the P.O.?
I don’t want to give people the impression all my books sell for .75. It’s just the common everyday mass media paperbacks that I sell for .75. I refuse to sell a hard cover book for less than $1.99 even if there are already 20 other books selling for under that amount and there are in many cases. I just won’t do it. I hate to see a "like new" book that retails for $29.00 sell for .75 yikes!But people do it all the time on Half.com.
Anyway to answer your questions; all my books go into a kraft padded bubble mailer. Some people send books in a plastic bag then wrap them in cardboard and put them into a bubble mailer. I have sent thousands of books out in a standard bubble mailer with few problems. 99.9% of the books I send this way get to their destination without a problem. For books that sell for high dollars I do include extras like putting the book in a plastic bag and add extra packaging.
As for you offering FREE Priority Shipping if you have books that you can sell and build that into your cost structure, hay go for it. Personally I have had no problems with offering Media Mail and the occasional free upgrade to First Class Mail. My books rarely bring enough that I could add free Priority Mail shipping.
To give you all an example of the types of books I sell and the prices I get here is a few of my current sales:
Witness to Hope $7.98
The City Who Fought $0.77
The Tightwad Gazette II $4.60
The Persian Boy $11.95
Domes of Fire $1.99
Blood of the Moon $0.77
Keeping Families Together $5.99
The Cry of the Hawk $0.77
One Last Time $9.96
Memoirs of a Geisha $6.16
High Tide $0.77
Jurassic Park $1.99
Seabiscuit $12.95
Pure Drivel $0.77
Wildest of the Wild West $1.50
Take Back Your Kids $5.66
Like Water for Chocolate $0.77
MCAT Comprehensive Review 1999 $21.87
Eat to Win: $0.50
Tapestry of Spies $0.75
And the list goes on. Over all Half.com prices are under market as you can see by the above examples but as you can see NOT all my titles are selling for pennies. It’s just that you have to be prepared to
Sell for less on Half.com. Take Seabiscuit for example that is a new book with a retail of 24.95. I was Able to sell it for half Price which isn’t bad at all. The best part is a lady gave me the book on a flight from Rhode Island to Phoenix that I recently went on. So my cost was zero and my profit was high even after packing material and shipping.
To answer your last question it’s just my wife and I that are involved in the business. I do the buying, listing, getting the e-mail and making up lists of books to pull from inventory. She pulls the books and we both work on packaging them and take turns going to the post office. No employees, no hassles.
Try cutting up used cardboard boxes (canned soda or vegetable flats work well for most books).
It takes me about 2 minutes to cut and fold one to size for a book...and another 5 minutes to enclose a paper or plastic-wrapped book, tape it closed, apply the label, and stamp my return address. Hardcovers and very large softcovers sometimes get extra cardboard pieces to protect the bookcover corners, but most don't need it. This takes a little more time than using a bubble mailer (which is NOT enough protection for a hardcover or larger paperback book) or than using a Priority box, but packaging costs are minimal this way, and you can use less expensive Media Mail postage.
Any collectible book I sell gets more protection, but the bulk of used and remainder books ship well this way.
posted on August 6, 2001 04:34:25 AM
HI Colonel - thanks again for sharing your methods! The bottom line for me is, is there any profit involved in selling books for ultra-low amounts if I have to pay a certain amount to get them [such as at a library sale], pay for the mailer, pay the 15% to half.com, etc. Actually, the shipping allowance might cover the cost of a mailer if the book isn't heavy [I forget the allowance for paperbacks], and the mailers are low-cost.
Your average sale price may be a clue why my books aren't moving any more. I usually list on the low end, but not that low.
Good luck with your sales!
keziak
P.S. thank you granee for the tips! I tried something like this a few months ago, but using a heavy stapler, and got FB that the package didn't survive the mail intact, so I've pulled back on that for the time being.
I have not made a good sale there in over two months.