eBay

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎04-11-2023

I have a question about the eBay market for used books.

Years ago I was reselling a lot of used books that I purchased at library sales. Typically I'd list a book in a 7-day auction with a starting bid about half the average price in the same condition on ABEbooks. I'd sell about 50% of the listings, which I considered satisfactory.

I dealt mainly in technical books on odd and obscure topics that a person with a related occupation or hobby might want to buy for use. I also sold collectible books that would appeal to the same type of people. Here are a couple of representative listings that I have right now:

Designing and Painting for the Theatre, Pecktal - HB

Design Guide to Orbital Flight, Forward by Wernher von Braun, 1962

I've been away from eBay for three years, and away from selling books for years longer. Now I'm trying to liquidate the books I have on hand. I'm listing and pricing things the same way I used to, and nothing is selling. What has changed? What do I need to do to get a reasonable sellthrough rate?

brightlightbookseller · ‎04-11-2023

As another used book seller, we tend to price things based on the sold prices on eBay, and not reference other websites unless it's hard to find sales data (granted, some of the types of books you're dealing in that will likely be the case). We also almost never run auctions, as people rarely want to wait to find out if they are going to win an auction anymore. We simply do our best to price things reasonably and put them up as Buy It Now listings, though we're testing whether having offers enabled makes a significant difference in our sales. Hope that helps a little!

2013grotz · ‎04-11-2023

@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
I have a question about the eBay market for used books.

I've been away from eBay for three years, and away from selling books for years longer. Now I'm trying to liquidate the books I have on hand. I'm listing and pricing things the same way I used to, and nothing is selling. What has changed? What do I need to do to get a reasonable sellthrough rate?

Frankly selling books are a hard thing for a number of factors that have come into play.

1) People are generally more mobile and cognizant of the bulk that books represent. Given online platforms with ebooks, people are hesitant to put a lot of money on books because they know they'll have to give them away should they move.

2) With online resources available and books aging for reference, anything with content that has a relevant time frame on it is going to be near unsellable. In other words, almost nobody wants an encyclopedia set from 1967 for example. (Im hedging there but pretty sure no one is going to want such a thing) Basically all you can do with non-fiction books with old information like this is to just toss them out.

3) People tend to have a disposability factor with books too, for that reason. Most book sales on ebay are from people that mean to read the book and then dispose of it afterwards. This usually leads to them giving it away or simply throwing it out. This along with #1 are going to be reasons that ex-library books aren't going to work that well. If people want to buy books to keep, they want them to be a lot nicer than books that have been put through the wringer. People don't care that much about condition when they just want to read the book and pass it on.

4) Given #3, a lot of entities have taken to buying donated books for pennies on the dollar. Charities have also ramped up huge presences. Given advantages of both of these in procurement costs, shipping and lower FVFs (for the charities), they put out a large number of used books for very cheap prices on an industrial scale. To wit, I had to pass on listing a couple of books because the shipping alone was much higher than what a large number of other sellers were charging for the book. Basically put, I simply couldn't offer a competitive price on the item so I just didn't list it.

Basically put, my suggestion is to think about how someone might consume the books you put up (if it's Ex-Lib it probably is that for a reason). Then research each book as to what people are selling it for online, using Terapeak if necessary. Chances are if you putting a used book up for $15 that others are selling newer editions of for $5 (to echo a rather infamous example on these boards), you aren't going to even get noticed much less get sales.

Hope that helps some.

maxine*j · ‎04-11-2023

Just some things to think about:

More than 85% of sales on eBay are now at fixed price. People want to see it, buy it, get it. so think about using Fixed Price, with Immediate Payment Required.

Fewer and fewer people buy physical books of any kind, fiction or nonfiction, as they increasingly read on e-devices. Younger people don't want to deal with the bulk and the weight of physical books because they tend to live in small spaces and move around a lot for employment. Older people find e-readers a great boon for failing eyesight.

Reference and technical books age very quickly and those seeking current info just use the web. Many older reference and technical books, which interest hobbyists and historians, have been digitized and are readily available on-line.

You want your buyers to be pleasantly surprised, rather than the opposite, so it's always better to under-grade than over-grade. And don't be contradictory: You have one book graded as "Very Good" but then call it a "reading copy."

.

deltilogical · ‎04-11-2023

personally I don't think people are replacing books with e-texts. They are replacing books with texting and 1 min dance videos and an unending barrage of binge videos depicting human degradation as entertainment.

There will be a market for old books as the globalists rewrite and burn them and the power grid starts fluctuating and becomes privileged use.

moondogblues · ‎04-11-2023

"There will be a market for old books as the globalists rewrite and burn them and the power grid starts fluctuating and becomes privileged use."

Ha, a conspiracy theorist/survivalist (maybe) after my own heart! I have always though that a library of fix-it and how to books would be great after the Apocalypse. Assuming anyone lives through it, old cookbooks with recipes such as Possum Stew, and foraging for wild greens would be good. Old copies of Mother Earth News, how to identify edible mushrooms...building a windmill, digging a well. Raising sheep and chickens, spinning yarn, well you all get the drift. Hard copies will last after the electricity is gone. Not to be a Debbie Downer but the way the despots are waving the swords...I fear for the future and am glad I am old now.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎04-11-2023

The used book market has changed with the entire book industry. Some major shifts include the following:

1) The mega-sellers can list books for pennies on the dollar, driving the smaller sellers out because they cannot match the low prices the mega’s can.

2) Because of the digital revolution, US readers are utilizing e-books and e-readers like Kindle in greater numbers. 25% of American readers chose digital-formatted books over traditional books in 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.

3) In the same study, 20% of readers in the US listened to audiobooks, thanks in large part to Amazon’s acquisition of Audible, making it easy to find favorite titles.

But changes in book-selling also shows some positive shifts in the used book market. As of 2022, the market for second-hand books is at a net value of $24.03 billion.This shows a year-on-year growth of 5.5% from $22.78 billion (Used Book Statistics 12-20-22).

More than half of consumers within the US & UK choose to buy more second-hand than new books, driven both by lower prices on the goods and the environmentally-conscious.

For more statistics on the used book market, see link below.

https://wordsrated.com/used-books-statistics/

yuzuha · ‎04-11-2023

@maxine*j wrote:
Fewer and fewer people buy physical books of any kind, fiction or nonfiction, as they increasingly read on e-devices. Younger people don't want to deal with the bulk and the weight of physical books because they tend to live in small spaces and move around a lot for employment. Older people find e-readers a great boon for failing eyesight.

I know I haven't bought a physical book in literal years. If I buy an ebook, then I can read it on my phone and don't need to carry a physical copy of the book with me. Heck, I've got an entire library of Kindle books at this point and they all fit in my pocket on my phone.

dogofwar777 · ‎04-11-2023

I prefer to buy used books on ebay over new books from a certain internet seller, but what stops me is a sellers feedback. A book I wanted would of been cheaper on ebay than the other place, but the seller had bad feedback, mainly about packaging and canceling orders after the person paid. I didn't want to deal with that nonsense so I paid a couple dollars extra to buy it somewhere else.

dirk12955 · ‎04-11-2023

I'm still a book buyer and shop ebay for what I want. Mainly History non-fiction and mainstream novels

20th and 21st century.

I find the market on ebay over saturated with choices. At least for the sorts of thing that I buy

for my personal reading.

I just now did a search for a John Toland book that I wanted, and thought I'd look and see what else is available by that author. He wrote Historical non-fiction.

I found 1200+ choices to crawl through.

I needed a John Grisham and found over 30,000 listings.

I'm comparing apples to oranges regarding what the OP sells, But there is still so many more

choices for the modern reader now that they had in 1995

Wife only reads Kindle

Daughter #1 reads real novels and goes to the library

Daughter #2 does not read at all

So far, All 5 grandkids are book readers. They frequent the library and get books as gift. Their parents

and I are trying to instill the pleasure of reading into all of them. But for how long?

Times change, habits change.

wolfriverartifacts7 · ‎04-11-2023

I suggest you sell your books at Buy it now prices. It's simpler, and easier to lower or raise prices as you see the market change. Also, it is worth it to look at other sellers and see what the book is currently selling for (I also check Amazon). Just because you may think a book is very valuable and worth a lot doesn't mean the market price for that item is equally high. That also works in reverse: sometimes, an item is worth more than you think it is, partly because it is out of print or is about a hot subject. Good luck!

onlinecentral · ‎04-11-2023

Designing and Painting for the Theatre, Pecktal - HB
17 Active listings
1 Sold in the past 90 days, in February

Design Guide to Orbital Flight, Forward by Wernher von Braun, 1962
4 Active listings
0 Sold

Book sellers like Barnes Noble, B Dalton, Borders and Walden closed down in 2009.

The original eBay buyers in the desirable demographic of 25 to 54 years old are now 53 to 82.

Demand for all formats of media is dwindling in this streaming era.

What do I need to do to get a reasonable sellthrough rate?
You need to adjust your expectations downward.

coolections · ‎04-11-2023

@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
I'd list a book in a 7-day auction with a starting bid about half the average price in the same condition on ABEbooks. I'd sell about 50% of the listings, which I considered satisfactory.

I cannot see anyone on Ebay getting bidders on books. That would be a terrible way to try and sell. There are millions upon millions of books on Ebay. Stick with BIN.