Ebay or Amazon: where is it best to sell my old books?

[scoobysnax]

Just wondering if it is better to sell my novels on Ebay or Amazon - anyone know which is best for this?
(I'm on a clear out for the New Year and trying to get some money together for a holiday!)

I'll buy some - I love reading. Maybe I might have some you would like.

Have you read the no 1 Ladies Detective Agency series? I can recommend those ones!
I also have I don't know how she does it by Alison Pearson - a comic novel about working full time and being a mum too...
Most of my books are modern literature - Booker nominees and the like - is that your kind of thing, DSW?

Ebay is better if you want to be more certain of selling within a short period of time as it is an auction situation. But you have to pay for every auction you start, so if the auctions aren't successful then it can cost quite a lot to achieve very little if you're not careful. Amazon (marketplace - not auctions) is better
if you're not in a hurry because you don't pay anything unless you actually make a sale. So you can have a book on sale for as long as you want and it isn't costing you anything at all until the sale. Amazon marketplace is also probably quite a bit simpler than Ebay to get to grips with if you're new to it. But with Amazon you need to have quite a lot of books for sale in order to generate a flow of sales. This is because people don't browse much on Amazon - they will usually only find your book if they are looking for that book to start with.
It will also depend very much (obviously) on what you are selling and what price (Amazon) or reserve (Ebay) you put on them.
That's what I found, hope it helps a little. Amazon auctions (different from Amazon marketplace) is probably not worth bothering with as there are rarely any bids there at all it seems.

scoobysnax - I will read anything really. I have just read the Lovely Bones - can't remember who it was by but was quite bizarre it was about a girl who is murdered and then tells her story from heaven about how her family deal with it etc. I've got lots of books by different authors but dig them out tonite and have a look for some good ones - I have got quite a few by Martina Cole - have you read any of those? I would be interested in buying any books I haven't read - just contact me with costs.

From looking at the "fiction" section in ebay now, I would say Amazon is your best bet - there are loads of auctions with no bids about to expire (odd - no-one wants William Shatner's Delta Search!!!! )

But scoobysnax - I might be interested in a few of the modern lit ones. Or maybe the lady's noda. half the amazon price?

Put them on Mumsnet's buying and selling noticeboard

Are they collector's items, rare, or modern? If modern, I'd go for Amazon. If collector's items or rare and you only have a few, try Ebay... There are some specialist book sites for rare books... but you usually have to pay a registration fee and need a lot of items to sell to make it worthwhile.

Agh, just typed a long post and then dd (on my lap) waved her arms at the keyboard and my message disappeared

So, typing again -

Glad you asked this, I was wondering how to sell mine too!

The main problem with Amazon is they charge £2.75 postage to the buyer, so you have to make your selling price quite low or the total cost is too much.

On Ebay you can do an Advanced Search for the book you're selling, and tick "completed items" to see if loads of people have been trying to sell it with no bids.

Also I found a site that someone has set up for people to sell their secondhand books - here . First listing is free so I've put a book on there to see if it sells.

I've just put some books on the Mumsnet board if anyone is interested.

I think amazon is better for selling second hand books than ebay. Has anyone had any success buying or selling anything else on amazon auctions? They seem very quiet, but it is cheaper to list on there than ebay,and I am not sure if anyone else has noticed how slow ebay is these days to run searches. It drives me to distraction. Could be my pc of course.

If they are mostly paperbacks you want to sell, try greenmetropolis.com. They pay £3 for every book you sell via the site. For a paperback postage is included but for large/heavy and hardback books you can add postage costs. Not a huge amount but it helps and there is no charge to list your books for sale. Also a good place to pick up cheap books. They donate to the woodland trust for each book they sell too so it is also good for the planet

This is the green metropolis website which has been recommended by some people. Obviously depends on what type of books you're selling but worth a look.

Hey that is a neat site, I will pass it on to some of my friends. I am also interested in experiences of selling things other than books, has anyone tried the amazon auctions for say children's clothes or say toys?

I've sold loads of books on amazon - a lot less hassle than ebay imo

Mind you I like the look of that greenmetropolis site, thanks for the link

Yes I agree, I like the bit where you just have to post them, and the money is all collected for you and paid into your own bank account automatically. Have you tried children's books on there? I have only done adult novels and factual stuff. Some of the computer manuals are a bit pricey to post.

I've not sold children's books on there no, and a lot of novels are going for 1p in which case I don't bother listing them. I love the lack of effort required though, and last time I listed a batch I made about £40 in two weeks