Is there any point in listing penny books?

[BAGHAG999]

I have books on E/BID thinking about just dropping them at a charity shop or give them to a Car Booter.

They have a book swap shop in the village call in centre i may drop them there.

The time its took to list them its been a waste of time to be honest one sale in a year.

Regarding Amazon i dont think the seller gets all the 2.75 .

[Gothicina]

Very true and one day I may even manage to get them all onto book shelves and out of boxes.

When was the last time you managed that, was it when you were still in Kent?

Maybe once Mike's finished the roof.

Well as far as I know, for the first time in about 20 years, I don't have any of your books, & you don't have any of mine.

[leadhillsonline]

When we eventually sell the house, whatevers left will go to a charity shop as no point in moving a load of clutter.

We always say that but still end up taking loads of clutter with us. We used to go shopping in Wisbeach years ago when we lived in Lincolnshire.

They have a book swap shop in the village call in centre i may drop them there.

The time its took to list them its been a waste of time to be honest one sale in a year.

We have a similar thing in our local shop and you have just sold another book.

When was the last time you managed that, was it when you were still in Kent?

Maybe once Mike's finished the roof.

Yes it was back in Kent which makes it 5 years ago. The roof will not get done this year he still has to rebuild the rest of the wall.

[deltadelta48]

If you can buy books at £75 per tonne, and you have enough stock to sell at least 100 per week, and you have the sort of account on other sites which give you negligible fees if you sell books at a penny each, then go ahead on one of those sites. If not then list them on Ebid at a low price, but don't bump up the postage charge to make up for this; buyers are likely to be put off by this. Sales will be slow in any case; I haven't got enough books to test the 'the more you list the more you sell' theory, has anyone found out if this works?

The first stores to go out of business in our area because of the recession were the specialty ones. Those that sold only mattresses, or camping gear etc. The stores surviving have a variety of goods, and very good selection of each. i.e. Our local Half price books stores has a booming business while the stores that sell only new books do not. One is going under, a national chain. This half price place sells used books, records, advertising, magazines, and sells new stationery items related to books, diaries, notebooks, pens, reading lites, items for desk top, AND buy old books. The place is always busy and business is doing well. People are selling their old book, we are running it to get first dibs on the good ones we want. win-win.

I think our listings have to be like that to survive the economy, our own business startup slowness etc

For something as specialized as selling books here I think it takes more than quantity to sell them. I have mostly vintage linens and a fair amount of new and vintage cookbooks, goes hand in hand with that domestic thing People will come in off google and buy several books, then cross over and take another item or two. Or come off google for a tablecloth and end up buying a few books too. My free shipping second items gets them buying a second one, plus a discount on 2nd items, bigger one on 3rd, 4th etc. Once they look they have to be tempted to buy. Quanity does that, variety does that, so does a sale or discount.

I don't think selling is simple today, takes a lot of flexibility and a willingness to try something new or change it if it does not work.

Can't talk for any of those members selling just books but I think if someone is going to stock fly tying items, finished flies, reels, carriers, storing boxes, etc, it is a good bet that fly tying books will sell well, especially vintage ones, and that new books on fishing will do well too. In this economy you need that little nudge of having similiar interesting items to get the sales coming. And maybe the fishing part is not enough. Maybe in this economy clothing has to be added, or hunting gear/hunting books, in order to get the daily sales going.

[BAGHAG999]

Omg i take it all back ive sold 2 books tonight.

[zenbooks]

When 7 years ago I first started listing books on Amazonmarketplace I could post most of them off for 47p, and therefore a 1p book would net about £2.10, if I was selling as a Promarket seller. The funny thing is I did not bother listing 1p books because it was a waste of time, there were so many books worth good money. Now so many have gone down to 1p and the Post Office has bought in the thickness thing it is only thin 1p books which are worth listing on Amazon (and more valuable books of course).

Although Amazon has vastly increased its inventory, there are still many books which will not go on there and this is where I plan to use Ebid. I have had many false starts with Ebay (the dark side) but they seem to want to make it difficult by continually changing their rules.

So I have hopes for my Ebid endevour, the only problem is I wonder how many people know about it?

[bykimbo]

So I have hopes for my Ebid endevour, the only problem is I wonder how many people know about it?

If you tell everybody you know, the answer will be "a few more than yesterday". If everybody does that... :-)

[zenbooks]

If you tell everybody you know, the answer will be "a few more than yesterday". If everybody does that... :-)

When I joined up and paid my lifetime membership, I think the promised a free Ebid Tshirt, which I would have worn and spread the word a little further, but it hasn't arrived! Yet!

[bykimbo]

When I joined up and paid my lifetime membership, I think the promised a free Ebid Tshirt, which I would have worn and spread the word a little further, but it hasn't arrived! Yet!

Did you follow the instructions and tell them your size? If not, they're still waiting to hear!

[zenbooks]

Ah! I've done that now, I'll see what happens, you never know there may have been a lot of thick people like me, and you may have inspired many to apply for their Tshirts which they thought were long lost! Many thanks John