Book sales question

[new_beginning_19]

Friends,

How do book sellers sell books for $3 and free shipping.

eBay takes 12% fee and pay pal takes 3%. 

that is .36 cents for eBay and .09 for pay pal.

then there is the media mail.  I know this is cheaper than other forms of mail.

they have to purchase supplies bags, ink, paper to print etc. expense.

is it the volume of books they put out in the mail.

I sell books on eBay and enjoy, but it seems like eBay is always taking more in fees.

Thanks in advance for any kind words of help.

[sun_tan_fan]

We sell books too.  You can't sell books for $3.78 and make a profit unless you're selling 1000's of books a month.

To be different from mega sellers we offer same/next day shipping, actual photos not stock, 30 day returns.  Look into finding a niche category of books ie. dog training, fly fishing, motor repair.  Bundling books together is also a good way to move inventory - same author or genre.  Complete sets also sell well, for example:  Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series.  Finally, branch out.  Find other items to fill in the gaps when no one wants to read! 

Good luck and keep at it.

[flipper2flipper]

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@new_beginning_19 wrote:

Friends,

How do book sellers sell books for $3 and free shipping.

eBay takes 12% fee and pay pal takes 3%. 

that is .36 cents for eBay and .09 for pay pal.

then there is the media mail.  I know this is cheaper than other forms of mail.

they have to purchase supplies bags, ink, paper to print etc. expense.

is it the volume of books they put out in the mail.

I sell books on eBay and enjoy, but it seems like eBay is always taking more in fees.

Thanks in advance for any kind words of help.

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Paypal takes .029% + a .30 transaction charge .... which comes to .39 in your $3 w/ free shipping example.

Selling non-rare books on Ebay has become a "race-to-the-bottom" in terms of prices.

The huge books sellers list their books on Ebay, and they also list the exact same items on Amazon .... and they all try to under-cut each others price be a few pennies ..... and if you look at their "revisions" on any of their Ebay listings, some of those mega-sellers adjust their price a few times a DAY !

Then, the non-mega book sellers look at the prices of the huge book seller, and they try to beat their price.

I know of one book seller on Ebay who has almost 1.5 million ( as in MILLION ! ) books listed on Ebay right now.

His other account has about 1 million books listed, many of which are the same books listed on his primary account.

Other mega-book sellers on Ebay have close to a million books listed.

Railroad books that I used to sell for $35 + S & H are currently listed by the mega-sellers for $10 or less with free shipping.

The "race-to-the bottom" pricing is great for buyers .... but it has killed the re-sale market for sellers.

Just my observations and opinion based on experience with trying to sell non-rare books on Ebay.

Good Luck Selling !

[luckythewinner]

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@new_beginning_19 wrote:

How do book sellers sell books for $3 and free shipping.

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They create a listing, they set the price at $3, and then they mark the shipping as 'free'. You did  ask HOW they do it, and not WHY they do it 🙂

But seriously, without looking at their entire portfolio, it is hard to say.

Perhaps they want to keep their transaction count up to reach TRS or to dilute problem transactions in feedback or defect percentages.

If they are auctions, perhaps they do not all end at $3 and the average price is acceptable.

Perhaps they work in the mailroom of a large company, and sneak them into the mail on the company's dime.

[iart]

There are a few reasons. First, most are big time sellers who hire minimum wage workers to do nothing but list books - and you can guess the quality of their operations. Low quality, they get a lot of returns but those are factored into their budget. Then, I think they get even a bigger break on shipping than we do because of so much bulk. They also buy books in bulk for a couple pennies each.

Then there are some who use repricing programs but they don't set the correct parameters and accidentally follow those low prices down - and lose money with those sales.

Our minimum sale has to be around $15 with free shipping or it isn't worth it for us. Those $3 books with free shipping are putting us out of business. Buyers don't seem to care as much about quality and service as they do about getting sweat shop prices.

Good luck!

[amricons]

This business is cut throat. Had a friend who told me that he used to pay to have books hauled off to save his storage costs. He was a publisher/distributor. LOL. You can gets books for 25 to 50 cents too if you look hard enough, LOL

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

I try to only list books that are rarities, which reminds me, I should list all the media I pulled off the river. Someday - after I finish the piles of other unlisted "stuff".

[joesoucie22012]

They get most all there books for free. They get massive postage discount for huge volume. 

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

And if not free - close to it per item as they buy by the container load.

[southern*sweet*tea]

If you're talking about the mega booksellers like Thriftbooks, they buy liquidation and closeout books by the train car load. They may pay a penny apiece for books, maybe less since they buy by volume.  They get massive shipping  discounts since they ship thousands and thousands of packages daily from their warehouses, doing their own presorts, etc.

They make their money on buyers that make multiple purchases in a single transaction. I know when I buy from them, it's never one book at a time, it's always four, five, six...or more.  (I buy for my own pleasure reading and not anything collectible.)

[upgradedendmills]

With most of the mega book sellers you only get the book you paid for about 50% of the time.  I stopped dealing with them a year or so ago and only buy from individuals now. The added service and better shipping make it worth it to pay 3X as much just to get rid of the aggravation. I still sell a few books, but there is a steady market for the ones I list. There are also quite a few books and collectible magazines that can be sold as collectibles and avoid the 12% FVF in Media. Once in awhile I actually make good money on them if they are signed or rare.

     I don't envy anyone trying to make any money with books.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@upgradedendmills wrote:

With most of the mega book sellers you only get the book you paid for about 50% of the time.  I stopped dealing with them a year or so ago and only buy from individuals now. The added service and better shipping make it worth it to pay 3X as much just to get rid of the aggravation. I still sell a few books, but there is a steady market for the ones I list. There are also quite a few books and collectible magazines that can be sold as collectibles and avoid the 12% FVF in Media. Once in awhile I actually make good money on them if they are signed or rare.

     I don't envy anyone trying to make any money with books.

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I sell books lol

Old cookbooks and old recipe books. There's money there, it's just sloooow money. Slow, but very, very safe, and I'm in no hurry

I've never had a problem getting the correct book from Thriftbooks, and I get reward points for free books. (yes, I shop through their website lol) Like I said, I only buy books that I'm going to read and not actually collect. When I get done with them I put them up here in lots, or swap them on PBS.

But buying a collectible book from the mega sellers? No way no how.