Shipping books

[beaverplt]

Hi all, 

I have a question on shipping individual books. I see a lot of books selling in the $4-5 range with free shipping. My question is how to ship single books and still make a bit of money? I know they would ship media mail, but even then, I don't see how there could be much profit. Any tips on how it's done would be appreciated.

[dirk12955]

The only way I figure it,    They get the books for free.    And then,  they still don't make any money.

I have shelves of hardback books to get rid of.    I can't figure out how to make any money

 considering the time involved.    My local library does not want them.     They already have 

book sales twice a year to sell off excess volumes.   

[slpentico]

Im sure That if they make a profit it is less than a dollar but generally speaking books and movies can be shipped USPS media mail which is a discounted service ($2-$3) for a single movie or book meaning it would be possible to sell cheep and still turn a profit.

[collectfest]

One way they try to make money is if their low prices result in multiple purchases and they ship items together. I've been venting about this for 15 years. Also, many are/were shipping things media rate that did not qualify. To be fair eBay has made some small changes to help on this issue although there are still ways around it.

[slippinjimmy]

If you are talking about the big boys in books on eBay.........

They purchase inventory in container load quantities for pennies on the Dollar.

They make it up in volume, serious volume!

Many of these sellers depend on multiple item purchases to balance the low value orders

You pay $3.19 for 1 lb Media Mail, if you have the volume you can get presort rates which start at $1.91

I can't confirm but it's likely some of the big players do not pay the same fees the common folks do.

[mr_lincoln]

@beaverplt   No there would NOT be much profit at all selling books for  4 to 5 bucks ... the FVFs were 14% on books so after fees on the item, shipping and sales tax you have to ask yourself if a Net sale (notice I did not say "profit") of at or under $ 4 worth your time?

You also need to ship books in boxes not a bubble mailer, the latter is asking for damage issues right out of the gate.  One account here has sold a lot of books, they get packed in a box and sometimes a slightly wider fold over piece of cardboard at each end is added to protect the corners from damage.

You should probably start with determining what the lowest priced item is you will sell and then decide what you can sell for that amount and higher before you get rolling.  You will spend just as much time prepping listings, packing and shipping a $ 4 item as you will a $ 40 item or $ 400 item ...

I think a lot of Sellers over time determine a sweet spot for what they sell and how much they charge ... with the ongoing outrageous shipping cost increases and then sales tax and fees on top of that I am slowly limiting the number of larger heavier items I offer for sale ...

Mr. L

[coolections]

You would not believe how many people sell things for $1 to $5 range. For most it is not worth it as I would never list anything for less than $9.99. For some even $1 per sale profit is money coming in. 

[lepke1979]

Volume and hoping you'll buy more than one book with discounts (buy 3, get one free and the like). Might not make much (if any) money on one book sold. But get the buyer to purchase 2 or more. You should start seeing some decent profit because they'll be pocketing the shipping costs that are built into the price. Other side where sellers don't have free shipping. They might just pocket whatever shipping is for each book.

Books will also possibly be acquired fairly cheap.

Other way is to sell them in sets. One of the books might not be worth selling, but group it with two or more books, you might start seeing some profit. Particularly if the books themselves were bought at less than a $1 each (preferably 25c or less).

[iart]

Some people are simply selling a book they read. They just want to clear the shelf for more books.

But the big guys pay a few pennies per book. They hire minimum wage workers to scan the isbn numbers and process. They offer very little description. Often just Good, Very Good, etc. Usually they use stock photos or some random pic. Each worker can probably process 30 books an hour. They also get cheaper shipping rates and buy their shipping supplies in bulk.

You cannot compete directly with them. Focus on their weak spots - good descriptions, nice photos, great customer service. Or, buy their cheap books and resell for a higher price.

[kabilab]

I sell movies that were not being purchased in my store. At $5, one must consider the following:

1-Media Mail=$3.19

2-eBay's cut approx.=$.80+$.30

3-Mailer, toner, paper, wear on printer head and electricity approx.=$.35

If I am mistaken, please correct me.

[chapeau-noir]

I know that on Amazon the big booksellers don't combine shipping.  You get a book for a buck (Amazon finally dispensed with the 1 penny book sellers who made their money solely on shipping), pay $4.50 shipping and they don't combine.  When I used to purchase penny books on Amazon, I'd get 3 books for 3 cents, and pay $13 for shipping.  Having a Kindle ended that, but very few booksellers on Amazon combined shipping. And yeah, the really big book sellers probably have a bulk contract - they don't get subsidized (against postal regs) but they probably get a cheap bound matter/pre-sort rate where they just pre-palletize.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

Media Mail starts with $3.19. The price went up by .30c not so long ago. And the previous price was $2.89 for up to 1lb

[beautifulbeauty2012]

Unless it is coming from China, then they pay a few cents to ship to the US. Postal Union considers China as a developing country and grants them extremely low prices.

[m60driver]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

You also need to ship books in boxes not a bubble mailer, the latter is asking for damage issues right out of the gate.

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I have shipped many a small inexpensive book in a bubble mailer envelope over the years, the manila paper style bubble mailers,  and never had any issues.  If it is a large heavy book or an expensive book then yes, a box it will be. 

[coolections]

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@kabilab wrote:

If I am mistaken, please correct me.

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Correct, you are not mistaken, but wasting much valuable time and effort and taking chances on low feedback and returns all for $1.16 profit. Your choice so I can live with that. Personally, I would never do such a thing.