Which Types of Books Sell Best on eBay?

[platinum1400]

I wanted to ask other booksellers: Which types of books sell best on eBay? Paper back or hardcover? Very old books? But also some newer ones, I'm sure?

Any particular subjects that people seem to be most interested in? If non-fiction, which catagories?

If fiction, do bestsellers tend to sell? The ones that made the New York Times best seller list, I mean. Or maybe Oprah's book club, although she doesn't have that anymore. Any other 'book clubs' I should check out? Any particular authors who sell well?

Health and fitness? Diet books? Health and healing? Religion and spirituality? Biographies?

I have an interest in psychology and spirituality, so I tend to collect a lot of books in that catagory. I'm also interested in biographies of musicians and anything music-related or entertainment industy-related. I like old movies, too. I know a lot about music and films.

For several years, I was an assistant to a bookseller who specialized in 1960s counterculture type books, covering everything from psychedelic drugs to Eastern spirituality to vintage beatnik and 'hippie' literature. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much. I read almost every book before we sold it, so I do know a LOT about those types of topics. I also knew another bookseller who specialized in the 'drug antiques' catagory of books. Both of these booksellers did quite well, so I guess a lot of people out there enjoy collecting such books.

This was pre-eBay, though. Each of the sellers had his own catalog of books, which he would send out to his customers on a quarterly basis or so. Some of this was even pre-Internet, so it was VERY difficult to find these types of books anywhere else, except maybe at the local library. These booksellers were able to charge very high prices, due to the rarity of the books. But now whith the Internet, anyone can find anything----and quickly! Now people can also 'comparison shop'.

I know the world is changing and I'm trying to keep pace with it. Do you suggest that I NOT limit myself to a specific 'genre' of books---even a very wide genre?

Thanks for any input on which types of books today's collector's seem to be interested in. I don't know if I want to go out on a limb and sell topics that I really don't know much about, but I also don't want to limit myself too much.

I personally have a pretty broad range of interests, so hopefully that will help.

Thanks so much for any advice! It's great to be able to talk with other booksellers.

[mecheng]

This will be just a general answer to your very detailed question, just based on my experience on eBay.

What I do is a quick search of a particular title or author... then click "sold" listings, then "highest first". This enables me to see what other sellers are getting for a similar item, and how their auction page is formatted. For example, I have a 1st edition copy of "Atlas Shrugged" with no dust jacket. So I do my search and this is the result:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=atlas+shrugged&_sop=1...

I scroll through the sold listings and find one that is close to mine. I do NOT copy the listing, but I make note of certain descriptive referrals and what is said in the auction title to allow it to stand out from others. Then I take good photos of the book, inside and out, and list it.... normally in auction format as opposed to "buy it now".

Selling books is tricky. Rare and "in demand" books sell easily. Others just get lost in a sea of others, and never receive a bid. Good luck in your pursuit!

[impertinentwit]

The short answer to your question is "Yes".

I won't live long enough to complete the long answer so I won't even try.

If you want to specialize in the niche market that you used to target, you can do well there. You have a clue as to what was sold a lot --so is not rare but has nostalgia appeal; and what was available only sporadically and sold quickly--so is in demand

It's not like it used to be, but money can be made. I was going to toss out a mid-19th century Eastern spiritualism booklet but gave it a whirl here and it had multiple bids from collectors and was gone in a week. It took me 6 months to sell a set of 10 Ghibran hardbacks and I barely broke even on them--they sell about as quickly in singles elsewhere for much better money.

The advice that was given years ago holds true today: sell what you know, and study what sells.

If you want to sell hippie, use hippie as a key word and search the solds for the last (two weeks? 3 months?) to get an idea of what has sold. The ones that sell often will probably have a clear price range to them. 

The best approach to each book is to dial it in. If it is a hippie cookbook from Northern California then use No CA in the title. Item specifics is an opportunity to push keywords for searches without paying for a subtitle. The condition box is an opportunity to succinctly mention keypoints. 

As always, your mileage may vary.

The key to success as a ragman is to understand what the market wants.

[the*bumping*squirrel]

---

@platinum1400 wrote:

I wanted to ask other booksellers: Which types of books sell best on eBay?

---

If you're someone who's selling books, the type of book which sells best is one for which prospective clients are searching.  If you're a bookseller, the type of book which sells best is one which you convince your prospective client that they need.

That silly little statement sums up  the whole of the antiquarian books Trade quite handily, but since the latter requires hard work, diligence and an overwhelming desire to catalogue each and every book with care, no one likes to believe it.

.

[cumos55]

The most important thing is to know what NOT to list.

Find a niche and work it.....  always on the lookout for books in that niche...

Find a niche  and develop complementary niches  and categories  where you have an understanding of the content of those book.

....  quality books  that few  if any sellers will list on eBay

-----------------------------------------------

I do remember a seller came to one of the boards  and complained little if anything was selling...  particularly the listings of books.

Went to the store..

and the first book in the list was priced at $10.00... reasonable you say....  but it was Da Vinci Code....

The next two listings  were also in that hundreds of listings on eBay category...

So much for research...

-------------------------------------------------------

If you want to establish a saleable niche... you have be constantly on the lookout for good books to list   and sell...

Be careful of pricing.... 

Do not be too high... for they will sit there for  what might appear to be an eternity.

Price to sell... and sometimes sell for less than what may be considered "True  Value"... It can still be a good value  in the hundreds... but not too many hundreds....

---------------------------------------------

I do remember a discussion about a book that sold for $350....  Why at this price  if it could be sold for $750, was the question.

The critical consideration is ... IT SOLD....  Someone said  they could have paid this $350 and then sold it for $750.

The seller of that $350 book has the money in the bank  and ready to buy more good books and sell them on eBay....

-------------------------------------------------

What type of book sells best on eBay

Your research... your choice...

I started with what I knew  and progressed from there..... All in relation to a major theme, and then branching off into categories of books where inventory was available

[lyceumdreams]

347,000 sold listings. Take a look and see what sells. The best way to increase your market knowledge is to study the market.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Antiquarian-Collectible-/29223/i.html?LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc

[cumos55]

As a Canadian seller  my main niche is everything Canada and Canadian.... as a major theme... with a primary emphasis on Canadian history

Then came specific categories..... Mennonite history  ( local immigrant population)  ... About Ukraine  ( my ancestry)

Bibles in languages other than English...

Sports... Hockey, curling Canadian football...  Canadian in character...

Books outlining the basics of  science  as they relate to wildlife  (Canadian in source)  ... these books are full of artwork...

Hunting, firearms...  have found some very unique highly collectible books.... 

Although agriculture  was my primary expertise  I have branched out into areas of science.... and had a very good knowledge and understanding of Canadian history....

Sell what you know... and know what you sell.....  non-fiction books..... 

Always looking for unique books....    always looking  and many times  finding.....

10 years ago  I sold everything and anything other than books.

Today it is 100 % books... non-fiction  primarily....

[back-spin]

I was going to start a related thread on this.

Anyway my question was about what types of books tend to sell well regardless of their age or books where age isn't a big factor? It seems with many books their age influences their value like with textbooks then it seems with many fiction books they're more valuable the older they are. So are there books you've come across where the age of them is less a factor?

[cumos55]

Old ... or more specifically age.... does not define  the value of a book.

Condition  is a start..

Number of books published.

and... Many books  have been published over and over again  .....  and because of this  the earlier publications  have little of no value.

With books published 75 to a 100 years ago....  there are critical factors to consider...  that could make it valuable.

Do not equate age with value without some major considerations.

Old books that relate to science are valuable if the author contributes significantly to a newer understanding of a scientific principle.... Darwin as an example

If it is basic science  then the newer publications are valued  because of their being up to date...

---------------------------

I sell history books... the earlier publications  are valuable... even though some want something more recent.

A history book published in the early 1900s is presented  in a manner uncomplicated by what happened subsequently....

Some say history gets re-written every 20 years....

An example is Louis Riel in western Canada... charged with treason as a leader of a rebellion in western Canada.... and hung in 1885... Yet today  he is understood as one  of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation... mainly because he  was the leader in Manitoba when Manitoba became a Canadian province in 1870.... There are other consideration with respect to Louis Riel that also allow us to look at him differently today than 100 years ago.......

[cumos55]

Another consideration...

One must list books  that will sell quite quickly....  lower priced, but not too low, and yet quite desirable...

The lower priced books should sell well and pay the bills...

It is the higher priced books that make the profit.

Never be afraid to list a book at a "right"  yet "acceptable" value....  neither too low nor too high...

Too many sellers are afraid to list at the right but too high price.....  for fear it will not sell...  All books will eventually sell... if it has the right price.

At a wrong price... most often a too high a price......nothing will well

I rarely list a book for less than $15... and routinely sell books at much higher prices than $15

[picture*books]

---

@platinum1400 wrote:

[...]

Thanks for any input on which types of books today's collector's seem to be interested in. I don't know if I want to go out on a limb and sell topics that I really don't know much about, but I also don't want to limit myself too much.

---

Sounds to me like you know a lot about books platinum1400. Seems to me you already know to sell collectible books or to specialize in some non-fiction areas.

Your question specifically addresses "today's collector's", and not "today's readers", which provides a good basis for selling books in the secondary market. For casual reading, by and large, there has always been more supply than demand in the secondary (i.e. used book) market.  With the advent and ongoing social conversion to electronic media for fiction books, there is an over supply of traditional casual reading books.

This over supply of traditional fiction will continue to grow. Because of this, best selling fictional authors, mass market paperbacks, and droves of other books should be avoided. Your capital is best spent on other areas where there is higher selectivity and better inventory turns.

[impertinentwit]

Interesting comment, Stan.

Yesterday I was talking with the leadership of my FOL group about what to do with the leftovers this year.

We used to sell them to a penny seller with space in Amish country, where there is a large community of readers who wouldn't touch an ereader with a manure spreader. But his ROI for a trip up to the shop has diminshed to the point where last year he wasn't paying and this year he may not be coming at all because between ereaders and postage hikes the pennyseller model isn't cutting it.

SO... what to do, what to do? 

Call the local pulper and see if he can drop a bigger dumpster at the loading dock and pick it up the same day? 
Fill up the one we keep in the lot on a regular basis until they are all gone?

Invariably the majority of these books are commodity--runnng the full range from cook books to kook books wth plenty of mysteries and so forth.

I will be on the look out for good sized lots of authors I've sold before quickly. 

Books I'd not buy for resale are books I'll rescue from the pulp mill for a few bucks.

All niches sell--or they wouldn't be niches and the books would not be there in the first place. Some are bigger with more collectors than others. 

If you have special knowledge, you are better off using it than jumping into the deep end with stuff you don't know about.

[picture*books]

---

@platinum1400 wrote:

I wanted to ask other booksellers: Which types of books sell best on eBay? Paper back or hardcover? Very old books? But also some newer ones, I'm sure?

---

I dunno.

[misstozak]

After 5 years of selling books on eBay and in my bookstore I've learned many things but here's a doozy.

The books you think are worth hundreds are worth NOTHING.  The books you think are worth nothing are worth HUNDREDS.

I have beautiful vintage books that are quite rare.  So does EVERYBODY.  Problem is there are few if any folks who want those books.  There is no longer a big enough demand for rare books anymore and eBay has succeeded in making these books not so rare.

You've got a first edition Teddy Roosevelt?  So does everyone!  100 listing and ONE sold in 5 years.  Don't waste your time.

Research.  Research.  Research.  But remember.  There might be only one buyer for that beautiful book and way too many listings for them to choose from.

[rixstuff]

Cheap ones.  I believe that all books have value and have bought many here myself over the years but please dont ask $40 for the same book the other 200 sellers with teh same thing are offering for $2.99.