Selling books on ebay?

[NappyShedSal]

Do any of you do it? Is it worth the hassle. I've got lots from popular authors - John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Maeve Binchy etc. But it looks as if they'd only sell for 99p, so is it worth it? Also there are loads listed already, so how many actually sell?

I've sold some books but the ones that go best seem to be baby books (as in 'manuals'/baby names books/baby whisperer/BLW book etc)

I tend to search for the books i'm trying to sell and see how many there are and if there are loads all starting at 99p etc I don't bother listing it!

I have noticed that popular reference books such as the 'for dummies' range sell very well (not suggesting all ebayers are dummies!) as well as self- help type stuff. I have bought literary novels and lit crit books far too cheaply, although Latin textbooks and Classics set texts can be pricey. That's just a snapshot of the sort of bizarre stuff I read/ buy on ebay, I'm sure there are plenty of genres I've never searched for.

I actually find that second hand bookshops often pay the best prices, provided they are amenable to random people turning up with piles of tatty paperbacks! It doesn't hurt to ring in advance and find out.

Actually I remember once on localbargainfinder I saw a guy advertising several boxes of bestseller- type books like yours, with the whole lot staring at 99p. They went for a lot more, probably to a car boot dealer (?). Wholesale and Job Lots might be the way to go if you have plenty.

I should mention that I live inside the M25- obviously if you are in rural Wales or somewhere than advertising 'collection only' might restrict the number of potential buyers so that the lot might actually sell for 99p! Obviously in a city/ suburb it could be worth it.

I've sold loads of books on Ebay - collection only wouldn't go down well anywhere - even if it were in London and you were, it could well cost a tenner to collect so you must always offer postage in addition to collection.

Generally speaking though, if you look at the same books on sale and then look at Completed Listings and hardly any sold for their starting price, it's not worth it. You'll end up paying the listing fee so you'll be in debt. Sell books that make money. One of the best ways to sell popular books is to sell them in sets.

I've sold lots of books on ebay but have only listed them individually if they are very specialist, current autobiographies or brand new current bestsellers.

I've sold more as bundles, usually by author or genre - so if you have a few Jodi Picoult they'd sell well as a bundle and then you could bundle the others by genre or lump the lot together and sell as modern fiction. Make sure you weigh the bundle in the packaging to get an accurate price for P&P too.

paperbacks are generally known as Aga food.
Check completed listings and ignore the values on Abe Books....

I started out selling clothes on ebay and eventually moved more into books. I sell 99p ones now and then but what seems to sell well are hardbacks, expecially good condition fine binding i.e marker ribbons, gold tooling etc. A small paperback costs as little as 66p to post first class so money can be made- it all adds up. Plus, even if someone has only spent 99p onone of your books, they may make a note of you and keep coming back to see what else you've got.

Selling books is worth it in my opinion.