Ebay Book Vendors: How Do They Do It ?

[beacon1040]

They are selling books for $3 or $4, free shipping.

Minimum ship for me, media mail, is $2.75. Average $3-$4.

Minus PP & EB fees.

So, how do these sellers do it, for such a low price and make money ?

[rpalma]

I buy from these mega-sellers for my teenage daughter when she is reading a series from the library and they have volumes 1-5 and 7 but not 6.

I wait until she needs books from a few different series and try to shop the "buy 3-get one free" sellers and the books work out to $4 to $5 apiece.

They usually end up being library discards, but she doesn't care since she just wants to read it. Sometimes they turn out to be brand new books.

I would not order from them if condition is a concern, but many people only want to read a book.

[threshold.sales.group]

Fwiw, I think the simple answer is that at those retail prices with shipping most of those sellers aren't making much profit (if any). Unless the seller is offshore there's really no secret sauce for shipping small packages. Media mail is the least expensive option almost always and those costs are there for all to see. Plus, at those prices, unit volume actually digs the hole deeper by adding overhead.