In what might turn out to be a fruitless effort to round up some cash to purchase a new iMac comfortably, I’ve taken to selling all of those rubbish books I own but haven’t read, don’t want or both.
I was going to eBay them off, and I still might, but first I am going to try Amazon’s Marketplace, which is a hard-to-find feature in Amazon which lets you list your books at a price you define.
I know this system can work. I’ve bought a few second-hand books off of the Marketplace and have been quite happy with them - you usually save a good pound or two.
The listing
So I went though my ‘collection’ last night, and added them to the pile. I’ve got lots which are up for grabs, and most of them came from Amazon.
Quite frankly, Amazon seems to have a magical field which makes books appear much better than they actually are, and I often don’t end up even finishing them.
Pricing them is a tricky bag - on most of my sales I decided I wanted to have the lowest price, because I wanted to shift them fast, and don’t really care how much dosh I get for them. I can imagine setting the price too high and the book never getting sold.
Then again, there are some books I own which I think are worth a little more than the lowest price, and they’re big’uns, too (so postage needs to be thought about).
Sold!
To my surprise, after listing the books at around midnight last night, I woke up to find that one had already sold.
A particularly rubbish book by the name of Making the Cat Laugh went for 3.74 inc. P&P (99p on its own), and I got £2.22 of that, which is alright, considering I managed to post it off for about £1.15.
It seems that the postage is meant to cover the fee Amazon incurs, which is slightly over-the-top. £1.33 on a book going for £0.99 seems silly, and I know that eBaying it up would mean paying less. BUT do eBay have the audience?
What’s up there now
Just to give you a little flavour (look for FintanWD or come to me directly if you want to buy them, eh?)
- The Liar
- Book of Useless Information (a bargain at 1p!)
- Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (I liked this one)
- Getting Things Done by David Allen (yes, it’s a good one)
- Remember Names and Faces (didn’t work for my feeble mind)
- Fat Land (unsatisfactory American self-hate)
- Web Standards Solutions (happily the cheapest price going - this one was a must-list for me!)
- Print Production for Graphic Designers (a rather good book, but big so it needs to be pricey, and I’m not in a rush to loose it)
- Logo Designs That Work (or not, as I checked all of them and about 20% of the businesses are still about… good logos though)
What will I do next?
It’s time for some eBay UK action!
How much can I ween out of the buyer with postage? We’ll have to see….
Oooh and I just sold another one, which I didn’t list because it’s a pansy book (sort of).
Get down! £6.47 is mine (-p&p)
Imagine the postage to the US…
Lots, no doubt. But you can offer this (I would expect it to go sky high, though).
You said “eh”! There must be a Canadian connection!
- Jon (from Canada)
Your method of book removal is better than mine. You get some money from it. All I get is the exercise from taking books to the library.
Since you are now saying “eh”, its only a matter of time before you start drinking Molson Canadian and wearing a toque.
Sold!
Web Standards Solutions to the young man who didn’t read my informative article.
Well, we can’t say anything bad about you selling THAT book because you DID review it before hand. Buyer beware!