Question: Which Used Books Can Be Sold At The Highest Profit Margins?
QUESTION: Which type of used books should I buy for resale? I want to sell books where I can have the highest markup.
ANSWER: Unless they were released very recently, bestsellers are usually too plentiful on the Internet to be worth your time. Once the sellers outnumber the buyers, prices drop like a stone. For an online marketplace, maintaining good sales volume will depend on having a competitive low prices, or having books that other sellers don’t have.
Out-of-print books should be a mainstay of your business. One economic study conducted in 2004 showed that used books that were previously on the New York Times bestseller list sold for only 15 percent of their original retail price on Amazon Marketplace.
Finding just a few scarce books per month can provide a substantial income for your business. For example, "Cards as Weapons," a 1977 book by Ricky Jay, regularly sells for $250 online but if you know to look for it, you can occasionally find a copy for a dollar at a yard sale. The book teaches card scaling, the fine art of throwing simple playing cards, and is constantly in demand by magicians, card sharks, and hobbyists. Look for quirky books, or specific scholarly works.
Unless you are already knowledgeable about book collecting a good organizing principle for your business is that nonfiction usually sells for higher prices, yet will cost you about the same to acquire.
Nonfiction is worth more because our customers need nonfiction books. Nonfiction books instruct the reader on how to get a job, fix their car, or use their computer. The nonfiction book saves the reader time and money, and thus has value. Fiction books, on the other hand, compete for the reader’s leisure time. Perhaps the reader will decide to go to a movie or go out do dinner instead of buying that novel.
Sure, that Stephen King or John Grisham novel may have sold a gazillion copies. But a couple years after its release, many copies will be listed on Amazon Marketplace for pennies. So the more popular a book is – unless it was published very recently – the less likely you’ll be able to resell it for a profit. Romance novels will sell quickly if they are brand new. But unless you know what romance novels collectors like, don’t bother with them.
So while fiction is the lifeblood of most book collectors, most of it ends up as dead wood for the online seller. Salable books must be rare and sought after by collectors. Unless you are an expert in certain collectible fiction – or develop an expertise and have access to lots of stock – concentrate your acquisitions on quality nonfiction titles, especially during the early stages of building your business. Today’s blockbuster fiction novel probably will last 6 months to a year. A quality nonfiction title will sell steadily year after year.
After a few months of actively handling books, you’ll develop a sixth sense for books that may be worth big money.
See a real-time list of the most highly sought after used and collectible books.
Read more free articles on selling used books profitably online: http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/selling.htm
Steve Weber is author of "The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site" (ISBN 0977240606). Got a question for Steve? Send to: steve_weber@yahoo.com
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