posted on April 21, 2004 03:19:09 PM
Just read the transcript, half will be going away on July 13, 2004
Two things that I found interesting, the express sell which means you enter a UPC or ISBN and with little more, your item is listed on ebay - similar to half. That could be nice to use.
Also, certain store items will appear in the main ebay search - esp. if under 10 items appear. This could be good for hard to find items.
Right now ebay is trying to take as much business away from half and it is working. ebay BIN prices now appear in half searches, competing with half sellers. My sales are way down, but I've been moving a lot of business to ebay anyway, and actually am pretty happy with the results.
posted on April 21, 2004 04:26:57 PM
Thanks for posting this. I've been too lazy to take the rest of my Half.com inventory off Half and do something else with it. I'll just limp along until July unless I get a window of time somewhere.
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posted on April 21, 2004 05:09:37 PM
so how much does it cost to list half items on ebay??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 21, 2004 11:58:56 PM
The same as non half items lol - Which adds up. Moving to ebay has worked for me, but I wonder how much more profit they will see. I think the half.com platform is viable. It could be interesting to see if another company steps in, because I don't think nearly everyone will move to ebay, or an ebay store. Amazon is something I might check out again, but their fees make it hard to make money. I am better off on ebay...
posted on April 22, 2004 04:59:52 AM
there is no way any seller can afford to pay ebay fee for those used vhs movie tapes and paperback books.
list them on amzn marketplace,it is free until sold,but you have to keep relisting every x weeks.
or you have a lot and dont want to relist them,pay 40 dollars to have a merchant account.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 22, 2004 07:49:47 AM
I wouldn't say no way, it is possible, just be smart about it. I agree about paperback books, I don't deal in those because there is too much work, and they are mostly 75 centers. I do academic textbooks, and I will just move those to amazon and pay the higher commission. You can't sell a paperback for 75 cents on amazon (well, you can, but it will cost you more than a dollar to do so) - I am hoping most half sellers will give up, it would only be good for me. I think most of the hobby sellers will because with half you pay nothing to list, only to sell. Ebay gets a cut upfront of course.
posted on April 22, 2004 08:19:38 AM
ebayvet: How do you know which textbooks are still viable and will sell? In our town, a lot of people donate such books to our thrift shops, but I have no idea which ones are still in demand. Is there a list somewhere?
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posted on April 22, 2004 08:27:21 AM
There isn't a list that I know of, but for me, what has worked is to open the book and look at the publication date. If it is within the past 2 or 3 years, then there is a good chance it is worth something. If it is older, than it is much less likely. They put out new editions so frequently, that to save money people will buy the previous edition (which is basically the same book) - They sell well. Sometimes you will strike gold. I've purchased books for $1 that I have turned around and sold for $40 or more. If I strike lead, I just donate the books to Goodwill.
posted on April 22, 2004 11:01:18 AM
is there a book site which sells academic text books only??
if you list on amzn marketplace with no merchant account(40 dollars per month),listing is free but it is only good for x number of weeks then you have to relist them one by one.
if the book is sold,there is a transaction fee of 99 cents plus 15% commission.
what some folks do to get rid of the book they have read is to list it at one penny and since amzn gives you like 2.98 for shipping,that 99 cents come off the shipping allowance and you just ship the book media mail for 1.25 and let them have the 15% commish of one penny .
there are sellers who work for printing company ,they will pick up the imperfect runs of paperback books and list them for one penny,and pocket the diff of 2.98 and shipping and commish and the cost of an envelope.
sorry,it is not 2.98,it is 2.26.
go figure!!
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 22, 2004 11:10:22 AM
Amazon isn't that friendly with their pay schedule. You are right, it is $2.26
Say you sell a book for 1 cent. You receive $2.27 from Amazon. You pay 99 cents for the commission, so that brings it down to $1.28 - It costs you at least $1.42 to ship via media mail. Even if you go super cheap with the envelope, it is going to cost you at least 5 cents. That means you pay amazon 19 cents to sell a one cent book. I just don't get it!
posted on April 22, 2004 03:06:09 PM
What am I gonna do with good but limited interest books? Pay ebay listing fees every ten days for 9 months until it sells? No, I am gonna move to Amazon.
posted on April 22, 2004 03:20:05 PM
I just heard on the news today, Ebay's stock is up and they are touting the idea that it is they are now known as the definative source to check pricing for "Anything" before people buy. hmmm...
I still kinda think people head to Amazon for books more than ebay; but maybe that is changing?
posted on April 22, 2004 03:22:51 PM
one seller rationale losing money on amzn by saying that he buys books by truckload and pays storage fee.the storage fee is higher than the loss incurred when a book is sold.
so he does not mind,go figure!
some books get more than 2.26-intl shipping and over size books.
or you can list the book at 99 cents,would that make you feel better??
i paid amzn 40 dollars per month to have a zshop and my books show up on marketplace.in my zshop,i have non book items.
no one browse zshop,i get maybe 10 orders a year.as for marketplace books,i do not mark down the books ,i just wait for someone who wants a nice clean new copy or wait my turn when the cheaper copies are sold out.
may be the best option is to hire someone who is willing to sit at the pc and relist the books every x weeks,that way,you only pay when the books are sold.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 22, 2004 03:28:53 PM
amzn is the place people go looking for book online,as they can search by title or ISBN .
another option is yahoo shop,39.95 and up for 50,000 items,but yahoo is not really known for books.
if you have specialty books,and can drive your own traffic,take a look at yahoo shop.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 22, 2004 03:46:08 PM
I think it's true that most people still think of Amazon first, when they want a certain book, preferably new. Our whole family does, including moi.
But if it's just a reading copy, or a rare copy I want, I never go to Amazon first. I check some of the book sites for used copies. Ebay would be my last choice on the list to find a certain book--but I've been known to do that, too.
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posted on April 22, 2004 06:11:10 PM
i just listed some movies on amzn,same old crap,used movies starting at 54 cents.
tons of used movies/
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on April 23, 2004 04:56:49 PM
Re: Book sources I've had good luck finding scarce and out of print books at Abebooks. They found one book I'd been looking for for YEARS. Came from a seller in England, but even with the handling fees and International shipping I got it for less than the Original price and it was like new. Another book came out of Toronto, but my only previous source for the book was borrowing through a networked University Library System. It took longer to get it, than the time I was allowed to keep it! As for Half.com, I am a movie collector and have bought at least 75 movies (VHS) off Half just since last October and I've been happy to find them. I sometimes buy on Amazon, but the prices always seem to be higher. I've also bought quite a few books on Half.com at good prices, often for less than half what the same ones are going for in eBay auctions. I'm going to miss that!
