Sign Up For An Amazon Selling Software
If you are new to Amazon and need help getting your Amazon business off the ground, registering with a third-party service is recommendable. For just as little as $39/mo, Seller Labs will help you get a clear picture of your competitors, increase buyer reviews with automated emails, lower your advertising ACoS, and track the overall performance.
Amazon Selling Fees For Books
It was rumours of high selling fees that initially put me off trying out selling used books on Amazon. However, with eBay fees of 10% and PayPal fees of 3.4% plus 20p per transaction, I thought it was time to see how Amazon compared.
Its worth noting that the example below is specific to my experiences in the UK. In the USA and elsewhere your individual mileage may vary.
However, the general answer to the question of how Amazons fees compare isnot very favourably. A selling fee of £0.75p / $0.99 per book, plus a referral fee of 15% quickly add up. In the example below, a book sold for £3.49 appears to generate a profit of £4.10. However, you still have to pay for the postage out of that £4.10, meaning that in reality you walk away with £1.10 at most .
Selling a book for the same price on eBay would leave you with around £2.82 after eBay and PayPal fees, plus whatever youve decided to charge for postage.
Reason : You Can Make Money Selling Books On Amazon
This reason is pretty simple: You can make money selling books on Amazon.
Dave Hamrick from claims that he has built a lucrative Amazon business that makes thousands a month selling used books on Amazon.
No matter if you want to sell used books or new ones. In both cases, you can make money.
Selling books on Amazon is also great to save money for future investments. For example, if you want to .
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List The Book On Amazon
To list your book, youll need to find it on Amazon, and enter your offers SKU, price, the number of books, condition, and fulfillment method.
Heres how to list your book:
#1. Log in to your Seller Central account
#2. Find a product page for the book you want to list by title or ISBN and list your books from the Amazon page instead of creating a new listing. Your book will be displayed on that page.
#3. Click on the “Sell on Amazon” button. If you’re allowed to sell the book, you will see a listing screen.
#4. Enter your books information:
- SKU your code for the book if you dont specify it, Amazon auto-generates it
- Price
- Quantity of books for sale
- Condition, one of the following: New, Like new, Very good”, Good, and Acceptable
- Fulfillment method FBA, if you want Amazon to fulfill it, or FBM, if you chose to fulfill it yourself.
- the SKU number for the book if you have it.
#5. Click Save and Finish. Now your book is listed for sale on Amazon.
Where Else Can I Sell Old Books
Donate Books
One of the easiest ways to get rid of your old books is to donate them. All youve to do is call a non-profit organization like the Salvation Army, and they will send a truck to pick up your old books. In return, youll get a recipe that you can write off on your taxes. You wont get much cash, but this is one of the easiest ways to get rid of your old books.
Used Bookstores
Another option to consider is to sell your book to used bookstores. The benefit is that it requires no effort, and youll get some cash. The drawback is that used bookstores only pay a small amount of money, even for books that look new.
Sell Books on eBay
Of course, you can also sell your books on eBay. However, I prefer selling books on Amazon because I had more success with it. This is mainly because theres more demand on Amazon, and you can use metrics like the to determine how likely a book will sell.
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Promote And Market Your Books
Take advantage of Amazon tools
Promote your online book business on social media
Pay attention to reviews
- Be honest about item condition
- Ship orders on time
- Respond to customer inquiries quickly
- If issues arise, solve them as soon as possible
Book Sales Ranks: Which Books Will Actually Sell
Understanding Sales Rank for books is unlike any other category. Can you imagine buying a grocery item ranked 600,000?! That’s actually not a bad rank for a book!
That’s because rank is relative to the number of items in each category. And Amazon has millions of book listings. I think the highest ranked book I ever scanned was 15,000,000 !
Because of this, it’s really important to understand Keepa charts for books. A Keepa chart or at least the 90-day average rank will tell you a lot more about a book than its current rank.
Here’s a book where if I had scanned it on September 7, I would have been pretty excited about its 126,367 sales rank.
But if I only saw that number , I would have missed that this book was ranked over 1,500,000 just one day earlier.
Again, because there are so many books, book ranks can be really volatile. The book in the screenshot likely sold 1 copy and jumped from a 1.5 million rank all the way down to 126,000. You can actually see that after just 3 more days without sales, it’s on its way back to 1,000,000+ again.
Just remember that this is something to keep in mind if you’re scanning books in stores. It might be worth the click through to Keepa on your scanning app before you get too excited about a seemingly low ranked book.
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Ensure Your Story Starts With A Hook
When marketing your book, you must ensure your story starts with a hook. The first sentence needs to grab the reader with a strong voice, a unique concept, an intriguing mystery, etc.
Many retailers offer readers a chance to read the first chapter of your book before they buy. Make sure your readers are hooked, so they end up clicking BUY.
Great examples of how to start a story with a hook:
- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
- You better not never tell nobody but God. Alice Walker, The Color Purple
- It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. George Orwell, 1984
- They shoot the white girl first. Toni Morrison, Paradise
Check out my article on How to Start a Story that Hooks Readers Right Away for more tips and tricks.
How Much Does It Cost To Sell Second
Like other selling platforms, there is a fee for each item you sell. How much you pay depends on the selling plan you have chosen. You can either set up a Basic plan which doesnt charge a monthly fee but you pay 75p per sale. If you opt for the Professional plan, youll pay a £25 monthly fee
This means if you decide to shift some of those books youll need to account for these fees, depending on the plan you choose.
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Make Sure Your Book Idea Is Profitable
One great marketing tactic when figuring out how to sell on Amazon is making sure your book idea is profitable in the first place.
No, you dont need a crystal ball all you need is a little Amazon marketplace research. I recommend using Publisher Rocket and Incognito Mode.
Learn more about how to validate your book idea.
Online Buy Back Programs
There are dozens, maybe hundreds of sites that will let you enter your book ISBNs, answer a few questions about quality, and then they will give you a price quote for your book and a shipping label.
Some of them have minimums, so you wont be able to cash out until youve sold X dollars worth of books with them. Use BookScouter to try to determine which of these sites will offer you the most money back.
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How To Sell A Book Thats Already On Amazon
If somebody else is already selling the same book, all the hard work is done. All you have to do is find the listing on Amazon. The best way is to search by ISBN or a similar identifier.
You can generally find the ISBN for your book on the copyright page. Some will show multiple ISBNs, such as one for paperback and another for hardcover, so be careful to choose the right one!
On Amazon, you can also check the ISBN or other identifier under Product Details.
When youre sure you have the right one, click the Sell on Amazon button.
Then fill out the little form that pops up.
Be 100% honest about the books condition. Honesty about the condition is crucial for all of the following:
- Gaining a high .
- Avoiding A-to-z claims and chargebacks.
- Limiting losses from returns.
You can find Amazons guide to book conditions here. If you cant tell for sure which condition a book falls under, go for the lower rating.
Once youve filled out the form, youre done! Skip down to Step 4.
If you cant find the book on Amazon, read on to the next section.
Selling Books On Amazon Bonus Tips & Secrets To Make More Money:
- Install Keepa, an Amazon price drop, and availability alert browser extension.
- Heres the search result for best selling used paperback books listed on Amazon. Study the type of books that appear here to get a sense of the market.
- If you are selling used books on Amazon, you mustfollow the condition guidelinesvery carefully when describing your book.
- to see what works best for your business.
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What Types Of Books Are Best To Flip
The niches that are selling well for Charlie are:
- Educational books, such as textbooks
- Religion
- Sheet music
- Most non-fiction books
Charlie lives in a college town, so hes always finding college textbooks for sale at the end of each semester. He often contacts the student online, makes an offer, and will have the books on his doorstep by the time he gets home.
Related: Here are some of top ways to make money in college.
How To Sell Books On Amazon And Elsewhere
Most sellers follow a similar procedure when reselling books.
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Collect An Email List
One of the easiest ways to build a platform is to compile an email list of readers and authors interested in what you have to say.
Perhaps you have an author website, a WordPress blog, a YouTube channel whatever it is, you should be pushing your email list like its your number one marketing service.
On this email list, provide value. People will unsubscribe if your email marketing is too spammy or unhelpful. Give your readers book recommendations, tips on how to start writing a book, or a handy list of marketing tips.
How Do You Sell Books On Amazon
I planned to use Amazon to sell my used books only, so opted for the individual seller account. This has no monthly fee and is perfect if youre having a clear-out. You can sell up to 35 items per month on this basic selling programme . If you plan to sell more than this, there is a professional selling programme priced at £25 plus VAT per month in the UK .
One key difference between the two account types is that you pay a per-sale closing fee with the individual seller account, while that fee is waived for the Amazon professional account .
I already had an Amazon account , which meant the registration process was pretty straightforward you provide a name for your selling account, along with your contact and bank account details and information relating to shipping.
You then decide which Amazon marketplaces you want to sell on. Im in the UK, so was offered five in total: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and Amazon.es. I assume that you are given a different selection if youre elsewhere in the world, presumably US and Canada if youre the other side of the Atlantic. You can change which marketplaces you sell on at any time, with a single click, in your account settings.
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What Books Sell Well On Amazon
Dominating the ecommerce sphere, Amazon has become a Google for shopping. You can buy almost anything on the platform.
Amazon started off selling used books, and you can too.
Amazon has controlled around 50%+ of US books sales for some years now. With millions of titles for sale on the platform, you might be asking yourself, How will my books sell with that many competitors?
There are some tips and tricks to standing out from the crowd.
Firstly, its important to consider what kinds of books tend to sell well on Amazon.
- Print vs. digital: While theres no denying the huge growth of e-books, Amazon print sales remain high. Theres also higher potential for profit, particularly with rare or unusual books.
- New vs. old: Nothing beats the smell of a freshly printed manuscript. Nothing perhaps, other than a well-loved book looking for a new home. New books can be a challenging biz unless youre prepared to do business with suppliers and wholesalers. Selling used books can cut out that need and be a little simpler.
- Fiction vs. nonfiction: On the whole, nonfiction books sell in greater volumes, but popular fiction titles sell most.
Ok, so there isnt one route that guarantees success but this is good news: Theres room for preference and manoeuvre.
One of the best places to start when figuring out which books sell, what their competition looks like and how coveted they are is to check out their BSR – Best Seller Rating.
Set Up A Facebook Author Page
Setting up a Facebook Author Page is one of the easiest marketing tactics on this list. Everyone knows how to use Facebook. Youve probably received at least one invite a month to your friends professional pages, be it Real Estate Agent or Professional Singer-Songwriter.
A professional Facebook page establishes legitimacy, encourages engagement, and is a great way to let your Facebook friends know when you start selling a book on Amazon!
Heres Kindlepreneurs article on , as well as . These are both invaluable resources for any writer, especially a first-time author.
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Can I Sell My Books To Amazon & Are There Any Alternatives
While scraping through our search enquiries this month, we came across an intriguing cluster of queries. Queries like:
- Can I sell books on Amazon?
- How to sell second-hand books on Amazon
- How to sell textbooks back to Amazon
- Sell book to Amazon
It makes sense Amazon is the worlds biggest bookseller after overtaking other retailers like Waterstones and WHSmiths. They dominate the market by selling their books and fulfil orders for other booksellers while taking a small percentage.
There are two popular questions people ask when theyre trying to use Amazon to sell their books, which are:
Lets look at the first question:
Don’t Explain Every Detail Just Give The Reader A Taste Of What To Expect
The blurb is where you tell readers what your book is about without giving away the goods before theyve paid. Dont overwhelm them with a blow-by-blow summary. The last thing you want is to sound like youre trying to prove youve actually read your own book.
Instead, focus on high-impact keywords that play to your target market. Terms like serial killer for a thriller or personal development for a self-help book will signal to readers that they will find exactly what theyre looking for. In the end, your blurb is all about building intrigue and drumming up anticipation for the moment when buyers get to read the book in full.
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