Is it worth trying to sell my second-hand books on Ebay?

[PollyEstherNightie]

I've had a big clear-out recently and have heaps of books I could get rid of. The extra cash would be useful, so I thought ebay would be a good option.

But I've read that books are unpopular on there and don't sell well; is that true? Would I be better off trying Alibris or Amazon?

I think it depends what sort of books you are selling. Check all 3 places and see what people are selling your books for. With the current postal costs it may not be worth it.

I sold a number of bundles of kids' books in December on eBay as well as some new, unread books. I have also sold some unread books on Amazon.

You could always advertise book bundles on Gumtree.

Amazon will buy quite a lot of 2nd hand books from you, much less hassle than ebay!

The problem is always postage when you sell books.

It depends what sort they are. My children sold a lot of theirs last summer by putting a table outside out front door with an honesty box. They made over £60 over 3 weekends.

I have also sold a lot of toddler and early primary school aged books at NCT sales.

It depends on the type of books. Amanzon is by far the best and most well known online seller of books.

Some books have a trade in value and amazon will give you money for sending it to them free of charge, as long as they are usable.

Search the books you have on Amazon, if they are new and go for a lot of money you can register and account, with card details and post yours for whatever value you want. Plus postage. Amazon sort out the money for you and you have to just post them.

I do plenty of shopping online, ebay is the last place I look for books.

I've sold a few out of print books on ebay, and new books if I'm selling them at less than half retail price (inc postage). Bundling them can work well (ie, several from same author or series).

ABE is the best spot for older out of print books, but the fees and the time it takes to catalog all your books (either on their database or by linking an existing one) means you need some pretty rare stuff and a lot of it to make money. Also they won't necc sell quickly, professional online booksellers might have stock up for 3-4 years before it sells.

Price some of your stuff (esp out of print items) on ebay and maybe stick up a few bundles. Double check postage costs though, books are heavy and can cost a stupid amount to mail.

Try Green Metropolis. They sell most books for £3.75. You get £3, but postage needs to come out of this. Ive sold a few books on there.

I have sold books on ebay and have had no problems. I think book buyers are not really the troublesome kind !

I quite often buy books on ebay too as I can use PP so it feels like they are for free !

Postage is the big problem these days unfortunately. My SIL in America informs me that you can post books in the USA for a massively reduced rate almost pennies civilised. Shame we cant do that here.

HormonalHousewife, I've had the same experience as your SIL in America. It IS 'pennies' to post within the US, but not from US-UK or US-Australia, etc.

Plus American booksellers never give trade discount. Hmmphh! English booksellers do. (I'm in Australia).

Back to OP, if she's still around- you def. can clear some books on ebay however:
-price them separately for new and OOP (out of print).
-Price your books on ebay & ABE. Amazon are NOT a good sales spot for old OOP books, and their fees are prohibitive. Nor are they a good reference point for OOP books.
-for books still in print, check Book Depository. If they have it, don't bother, they can do it much cheaper than you can.
-then calc postage (and stick with local postage to start with, don't mess with international postage yet)

• try bundling (same author/series/topic)
• Use Buy It Now at a price you're ok with & see how they fare. DO NOT auction until you're confident on what they're worth.

It all sounds daunting, I know, but have a look through what you've got with a focus on OOP. You might have some gems and don't know it yet.