In recent years, the used book business has been booming. A slow economy means more people are buying their books used instead of new. More people are buying them online too. In particular, Amazon has become the top place to buy and sell used books online. If you can spare as little as five hours every week, you could make some nice extra cash selling used books. We could all use a little extra money. So what do you have to lose?
Selling used books on Amazon is quite simple. You find the book you want to sell on their web site, click on "sell yours here," and you're in business. That's it! But first you need some books to sell. Unless you're drawing from your personal collection, you're probably going to have to go and buy some books. But won't that be expensive? Not if you're smart about it.
First of all, used bookstores probably aren't the place to look, unless if they're having a great sale. The best places? Estate sales, garage sales, and library sales. These can be a real goldmine of used books for very cheap. In most cases the people at these want to get rid of the books, more than they care about making a huge profit. You can get a whole box of books for maybe $1 or even less per book. Often on the last day of the sale they might sell the books for a quarter or even give them away for free!
When looking for books, avoid those that don't sell well. These include fiction books (chances are there are hundreds of copies of that John Grisham classic for sale. Don't waste your time selling this. You'd only make a few pennies, if that), computer books (out of date before it leaves the printer), art books (heavy and expensive to ship), and damaged books (people don't really want these).
Instead, look for cookbooks, how-to books, audio books, and history books. These are hot sellers and can make you some nice extra cash.
Once your books are listed on Amazon, make sure you have the right shipping materials. In most cases a bubble envelope will do. You want to be ready to ship your books the same day an order comes in. Prompt delivery will make it more likely a customer will write a positive review/rating about you on Amazon. If people see you are a highly-rated seller, they are more likely to buy from you.
Continue buying and selling the right books and shipping them promptly and you will soon be earning extra cash selling used books. You may find yourself with a successful online business sooner than you think! To learn more about the business of selling used books online, read Used Books Into Gold, available from: http://extraincomebulletin.com
