How To Choose Used Books To Sell

When reselling used books, it is crucial that you buy them at a fair price, so remember that they tend to sell cheaper than new books. Also, check if the book is in good condition and when it is not. 

Maybe you can pick up a cheap book and sell it on Amazon or elsewhere for a higher price. If you want to become a textbook pinball machine (where you buy, sell, and sell textbooks at a profit), you have to do so. 

Especially if you're in a college town, your chances of getting a cheap textbook may be better than a high-quality one. If you choose to make the shipping fee, you bear the brunt of the cost, but it is worth it if it means selling several books that cost the seller more than it costs you. 

One only has to know that some students expect to sell their books at a very high price, but for most people who just want to sell books for their own library, that is more than enough. 

The first is to sell the book to a third-party seller, and the second is a textbook, mentioned on this page.

Basically, you need to set up a seller account and then list your book for sale. When it is sold, you are paid by Amazon to charge a fee to facilitate the transaction. Once the books you have listed have been sold, you will need a contract to send them to the customer who bought them.

If you are serious about selling books in your business, you can use software to manage different marketplaces and sales channels. 

This will tell you exactly which books to buy based on price, sales, rank, and demand. There are many places where books can be listed and sold online, but there are few of them.

 

Abebooks works in a similar way to Amazon and you can make a lot of money here, but you have to get an Amazon FBA. There is also the possibility to sell books to collectors and other sellers, which is a good idea if you have rare or collectible items. 

If you plan to sell books there, you need to know which books you are most likely to buy, such as used textbooks. 

There is a monthly subscription fee of £20, which is added to the cost of the book if you don't sell it quickly. If you are looking for the option to sell used books, you need to find the right sellers who can offer you books in large quantities and sell them quickly, or sell less than 500 books.

 

It's usually a bit of a gamble, but if there's more than you can buy for a particular book, grab it and sell it on. 

You don't have to scan the ISBN to see if it is selling, and it is handy to check if the book can be resold at a profit. For some books, reselling is as easy as quickly searching Amazon or other online bookseller sites, so it doesn't even have to be a book. Make your own entries to say you are buying back used books and see what offers you are entitled to. 

In the meantime, you can also post on your own ads, which say: "I will buy back my used book" and see what offer you'll get.

 

This works particularly well with textbooks, where you can buy a low-priced MF offer and then resell it to a Prime student at a higher price. 

However, a quick look at the Amazon and eBay listings shows that many people still buy and sell used textbooks online. The absolute best place to find used books that you can sell is Amazon, and it is one of the most popular booksellers in the world.

 

One of the best things about eBay is that they usually give out 50 to 100 free listings a month to new sellers. You will probably get more if you offer your book at a lower price than the average price of a used book that is on the market today. If you have a large collection of used books or even a small collection, this is a good site to consider. 

Liz McCrory, from Houston, says she bought a book from Etsy when she was looking for a first and second edition paperback and found it. 

It's worth looking at Etsy if you're selling rare books that are also in excellent condition. 

Unlike Amazon, using Etsy to sell used books takes more time, but it's a good option for people who have space for titles and a shelf - novels worth as much as novels they want to sell. 

Here's How You Choose Used Books To Sell Online [With Example]

Mr. Abdul Halim from Puchong (in Selangor Malaysia) had been selling used books on online platform like eBay and Mudah.my since 2004.

You can read the full story here.

It started as a side hustle gig and now it has turned into a full time income hustle.

I'm not saying everyone should sell take the same approach but it's something one can consider if he or she is interested to pursue this. Definitely it's not something we do today and become profitable yesterday.

Be inspired but don't get distracted with the business model. If there's anything valuable from Abdul Halim's sharing is:

"Sell to the right prospect."

Halim uses the term niche but you get the point, right?

Here on Contrarian Sales Technique blog, we've been advocating selling to qualified prospects every time we want to sell something be it books, art design or digital products. This way, you'll be more effective compared to 'Spray And Pray' sales method where you take everyone who walks this earth as your prospects.

Summary To Choosing Used Books To Sell

The path you want to take when selling used books online and choosing those books can be summarized into:

1. Find the right audience or niche
2. Choose your online platform - eBay, Mudah.my, Shopee, etc.
3. Promote, promote and promote

... Afterall, this is a business and you need to get in front of the right people, gain their attention (marketing) and turn those used books into profits. Give this business model ample time to prove its worthiness to you before you decide to take the next steps.

Now, do you have new ideas or plan after reading this article?

Feel free to comment or share your thought below :)