booksellers: books in your ebay store and views
I have another thread going about debating quitting ebay due to slow sales. I got advice about dropping prices and sat down to work on that, only to scrutinize my listings and see a sea of listings with zero views, listed for a month. Makes me wonder if I have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than selling a book out of my ebay store.
What is your experience with this?
35 comments
lux.ra_14
·2 years agoIt's also a common misperception that digital killed print.
Printed books still outsell e-books year after year. And it's not even close.
Much of this discussion is really about low-end sellers of cheap books that have more supply than demand (if any at all. ) It's not really relevant to the rare and collectible market.
lux.ra_14
·2 years agoSomewhat off topic ... It's good to see a book discussion here, since the Bookseller board is functionally dead. Almost never any new content there, and it's just a few stalwarts barely keeping the lights on. I wouldn't be surprised if the board is purged next time there's an overhaul of the forums.
keziak
OP2 years agoI thought about comments on this thread today when the library I volunteer at got in large cartons of professional magician books and materials. That's a party in a box. I would be surprised if any of them are available on Kindle. It's a niche market but a few years ago I obtained a large collection of the same kind of books and they were good money-makers.
meme6253
·2 years agoI did Very Well with books for quite awhile, but not much at all lately!
jerseyboymusic
·2 years agoThere are the occasional books that sell... I used to sell a lot of books on Ebay in the past (they were never my specialty item) and book sales have tanked.
I used to be able to sell Bibles and cookbooks VERY regularly, but I think books are in the downturn right now.
TONS of books sitting on shelves at most all the thrift stores I shop.
AND if I want to BUY a book on Ebay, I always look for the lowest price.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI see that you have novels listed (Susanna Gregory, etc.) - most of those are available on Kindle, and I'd just donate those - I'm an avid reader but rarely buy books if I can get them on Kindle because my house is going to fall down if I stuff anymore books in it. People still like the feel of a paper book and will go for novels (I don't care, I just want the words) but they can easily get them anywhere for very little - why take up your precious time with them?
I'm purging my own books (we have two libraries as my SO is similar to me insofar as books go) and 90% of those will be donated - there's no market for them which is not already not covered by the giant booksellers - even obscure volumes. It's not worth my time to be listing stuff for $7 with free shipping or something.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoYou make a great point. Many books are read and throwaway. Few people want to save them. They are the books which Kindle has replaced. The print editions are plentiful and not worth any effort to sell. In the cases of some fiction, 90% of the copies printed were remaindered.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@tobaccocardyahoo
@chapeau-noir
"They are the books which Kindle has replaced."
Keep in mind, however, that Kindle (as well as the other electronic devices) has only been able to acquire all the available "public domain" books (those published before January 1, 1928, with many more to be added each succeeding January 1), plus a large number of the more recent book publications, beginning in the early 1990s, plus a handful of other significant titles published in the years in between.
Which obviously leaves a HUGE gap of MILLIONS of books, published between those two years, which are still not available for viewing on Kindle (and other electronic devices), for the simple reason that the authors or authors' estates have refused to allow republication in electronic format, or the subject matter was considered too esoteric and/or dated to be of widespread interest to contemporary readers.
Many of the antiquarian booksellers of whom I am aware are thus concentrating their inventory on that "in-between" period, that remains untouched by Kindle and the others. In addition, many book COLLECTORS are hunting for particular editions, and not simply for reading copies -- a service for which Kindle (et al) is not suited.
Finally, the electronic scanning services used by Kindle and the others are NOT infallible -- one of my friends was attempting to read "MOBY DICK" on a Nook device, and noticed that one sentence made absolutely no sense whatsoever. We compared the Nook page with a hard copy of the same book -- and realized that the electronic scanner had skipped TWO pages of text from the novel.
Whoops. . ..
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI was citing contemporary mass-market novels like the Susanna Gregory titles, many of which have digital versions. As for books like Moby Dick - there are so many publications of these sorts of classics that you can get them for next to nothing. It's why I don't advocate selling them online as they're already freely available.
ETA: The physical book market is definitely thriving, but it makes no sense to try to sell what is already so easily available.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoThat in between period has many worthless books. If they were best sellers in their day, they are probably in oversupply compared to today's demand. If they were not they are long tail, and most online sellers are not patient enough to wait for them to sell.
There was at least on seller on this thread who recommended a markdown after 30 days.
The successful used and antiquarian bookseller is as much a critic as a businessman, maybe more so. And he/she has plenty of space to store slow turning inventory.
Many is the time, that I have made a handsome profit on inventory which was another bookseller's dead stock. And other times I have picked up the phone and arranged to sell books I acquired to another bookseller who has a customer.
Way back in 1970's I sold books to supplement my income, filling wants advertised in AB/Bookman's weekly. Book scouts like me fed some of the top booksellers in the country, as well as little booksellers who sought specific books for their clientele.
Most of what I sold in those days would be worthless today. Who cares about James Oliver Curwood, or even Zane Grey. We can still sell Bennett's Chemical Formulary at a decent price but how many book sellers know that.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@keziak
You've been on eBay since 2003, and your feedback is over 22,000 -- a pretty darn envious record for ANY eBay seller, much less a bookseller.
I learned some wonderful advice from an older fella, whose bookstore I frequented many times throughout the 1960s. Harold made himself comfortable in his easy chair, a good book propped in front of him, six days a week, facing the front door to greet (and judge!) any visitors who walked through the door. He only found it necessary to rise from his chair to ring up a sale, or if the individuals entering his store didn't look like "book people." Otherwise, it was a book-browser's paradise, with no one brow-beating the customers with "Can I help you find something?" every ten minutes: the only discernible sounds were Harold turning the pages of the book he was reading, and the occasional rattle of the radiator in the wintertime.
Harold's advice on inventory and sales was really quite simple: if you made the right choices in the first place regarding inventory, those books will eventually sell. And, if you truly enjoy selling books in the first place, don't ruin your pleasure by worrying about slow sales.
As the saying goes, "This too shall pass."
As long as people enjoy reading, people will need booksellers.
You have a good looking site and selection -- don't throw in the towel just quite yet.
keziak
OP2 years agoThanks for your kind words. I spent some hours this evening combing through my inventory and removed well over 100 books for being deadwood. Some also needed removing from Amazon. I doubt any of that work will result in sales because I was removing not editing prices. Need to look at that next. But meanwhile I feel like the inventory is more up to date. I just need to figure out which - if any - books to list moving forward.
I am reminding myself that I have a large number of auctions ending Labor Day weekend so probably can't judge the viability of those. I am hoping when I list larger lots of this and that some buyers will be interested.
I purged a number of Great Courses, hardly any sell anymore so I wonder if they are dying like DVDs and audiobooks. I might have pulled enough to lot up and I have more unlisted.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoGreat courses sell very well, but you have one on India up for $50 and even new it doesn't get that. I've sold quite a few for between $20-30.
keziak
OP2 years agoIronically one just sold today on Amazon. But you are right about the prices. I think I removed all of mine from ebay.
cwsdenver
·2 years agoIn 1953 Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel warning us about a society where governments control thought and history, and go about burning all books. At the time he was saying what Hitler did in Nazi Germany could be repeated sometime in the future. Today, with many of the written and printed books being thrown away or destroyed, is an all-world government in control of AI very far away?
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoI don't sell books but I do sell similar long tail items. My experience is that about 30% of my listings get zero views in any particular month, this is on par with what I have seen for at least the past 10 years.
Probably 80% of my sales come from about 20% of my listings.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoWouldn't it be wonderful if you could predict which one's.
BTW the 80-20 rule has a name, the Pareto Principle and it applies to a great many situations, even the distribution of Ebay sales among sellers.
keziak
OP2 years agoBeing better able to predict what will sell on ebay, especially single titles in my store, would be wonderful. I can't predict on Amazon either but for some reason it bothers me more here.
coolections
·2 years agoZero views in 30 days. After 30 days reduce price 50%. If still zero views in the next 30 days throw it away or donate it.
keziak
OP2 years agoI am diving in and deleting a lot. Some of the books have been there since 2021 which is nuts. I'm casting a jaundiced eye on the books with zero bids.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoYou need to decide if anyone is likely to care before you list a book.
It is to some extent a meritocracy for used books.
Some books are easy the discard. Any bookseller knows that there is no market for Reader's Digest Condensed Books, Former Oprah's Book Club Books, 2 years ago's best sellering non-fiction and three editions out of date textbooks.
You need to know something about the book business, because the list goes on and on.
Once upon a time, one could get $15 and reasonable turns on paperback romance novels by Bertha Clay (early 20 century author). Now they get lotted on Ebay, and sit. I have a substantial quantity and doubt I could get media mail postage for them.
Many of us know that cookbook prices took a nose dive after the Internet was flooded with free recipes. There are lots of cookbooks by great chefs which used to bring some money and no longer do. It is hard to get a bookseller to come out to look at a cookbook collection.
There are a lot of online sellers whose stores are indistinguishable from others, this was originally a result of scanner jockeys who used criteria to buy.
There are other sellers who's stores have a more consistent appearance because they are indulging their tastes and interests. And there is my store which represents my chaotic mind, and unwillingness to work for free.
m60driver
·2 years agoBook selling has become brutal with some nonprofits and very large book sellers able to get discounts on shipping and who are willing to sell at prices that a smaller sell simply can not compete with. Not to mention that most books are very slow sellers. I still like selling books because the margins are high due to the low cost of acquisition, but I like to buy the obscure books with little to no competition, the books that the "scanners" ignore. Those books may not get any views until they sell.
deltilogical
·2 years ago"the books that the "scanners" ignore."
those people are very annoying at the book sales, but I laugh at what they pass over and leave for me be cause it doesn't beep right on their little scanners. Book sales used to be fun events but now you have these aggressive jerks who don't even read running around beep beep beep beep....
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoMy solution to scanner users is to arrive late, when they have removed the low margin books, and it is less crowded and easier to recognize treasures. Besides, most FOL sales are not unpicked books, many of the members of the group have done a sift, either for themselves, or a high end room, or for a bookseller who has a continuing relationship with the group.
Selling the drek is no longer enough to make the sale worthwhile for the sponsor.
44012
·2 years agoI read the prior post and just wanted to tag on to what someone else said the other day.
Maybe lot up the books by subject and list 5 books in a lot.
I have purchased quilt books, cookbooks, gardening books, art books and history books in that manner. I felt it was a value to me as well as time savings.
Hang in there.
onefootflipper2
·2 years agoPeople buying a book are usually going to search price lowest first.
I checked ONE of your books, scrolled down the page and clicked one.
"The Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie" you are at 13.24 shipped for the softcover.
Your competition is at $7.90 shipped and one seller has moved 25 copies at 8.44 shipped (although none in the last 90 days).
Checking actual sold prices the book usually sells for under $7 shipped and not even the hardcover has ever sold for your softcover price with the exception of a signed copy.
I would suggest researching the prices of all your books.
keziak
OP2 years agoYes, I need to do a better job determining if my prices are realistic for a book and not listing if not. My main site is Amazon and I double-list on ebay using Amazon prices but those are usually higher. In reviewing my listings I may find that this model just doesn't work 90% of the time even with the BEst Offer option (I will discount a small amount but not drastically). A legit question is how do I sell anything with this model.
coolections
·2 years agoYou don't. Two reasons. (1.) books are a dime a dozen and can be found anywhere. I can go out in a single weekend and if I chose to do so I would come home with 100 books easily for less than $1 each. (2.) With the internet not many even buy books anymore. A local bookstore near me has all the books you can fit into a bag for $5 once a week. You can put easily put over 20 books into the bag.
keziak
OP2 years agoYes but that argument fits everything - 80% of everything is junk. There are still tons of books worth money. Though I am the first to admit that lately things aren't selling well.
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoWe sell plenty of books, and plenty of them at high prices. It's all about selling the right items for the right prices.
lux.ra_14
·2 years agoA search with "book" in the title shows 4 million-plus sold books recently on eBay. And that's probably low, since most booksellers don't use the word 'book' in their titles.
Sales of three-figure books are too numerous to count, and there are multiple pages of four-figure books that have sold. The occasional five- or six-figure book sale is not unheard of on eBay. An incunable recently changed hands here for $65,000.
coolections
·2 years ago@lux.ra_14 The OP has been doing this for decades. I am sure she knows which ones are the 3 & 6 figure ones. With over 50 million listed, it is almost like winning the lottery to sell more common ones.
meme6253
·2 years agoYou can't go with competition all the time, Condition play's a big part!, Especially for a collectible book!
onefootflipper2
·2 years agoRight, in that case you price best for condition. However if the book in question only sells once a year then I am going to price my mint one lowest anyway, I don't want to wait 3 years for the unicorn buyer who both has the have the RARE book and also has to have the best copy.
Also, why are you shipping graphic novels ground advantage rather than media mail?
keziak
OP2 years agoIf you list graphic novels under Collectibles Ebay has no option for media mail. So you can either list there and choose GA or Priority. I think if you list them in Books you still get the media mail option.
I just purged a lot of graphic novels that I listed too long ago and never touched again. I have a lot to list that can't be listed on Amazon (like Marvel) but I haven't bothered on ebay in a long time. They are pretty long-tail.