Do books sell on ebid?

[johnwash1]

You obviously haven't visited my bookstore.

Norty spot!

I know you were telling Spot to visit, not me, but here goes.

90 books on offer. Obviously I'm not going to check out all 90, but here's my findings for the first 3 that came up.

All are priced at 1.50 plus 2.60 postage, total of 4.10. Not unreasonable, but let's do a little more research. The first is on offer at Amazon for 35p (plus 2.80 postage of course). The next two are on offer at a PENNY!

In other words Amazon sellers are undercutting you by at least a pound in all three cases. Is it any wonder that I say ebid sellers are unrealistic?

The one thing that you have in your favour is if you allow personal collection (I didn't notice whether you encourage that in your listings), in which case if someone local is looking for one of your books and can grab it for 1.50 that's more attractive.

[Pink_Panther]

I know you were telling Spot to visit, not me, but here goes.

90 books on offer. Obviously I'm not going to check out all 90, but here's my findings for the first 3 that came up.

All are priced at 1.50 plus 2.60 postage, total of 4.10. Not unreasonable, but let's do a little more research. The first is on offer at Amazon for 35p (plus 2.80 postage of course). The next two are on offer at a PENNY!

In other words Amazon sellers are undercutting you by at least a pound in all three cases. Is it any wonder that I say ebid sellers are unrealistic?

The one thing that you have in your favour is if you allow personal collection (I didn't notice whether you encourage that in your listings), in which case if someone local is looking for one of your books and can grab it for 1.50 that's more attractive.

Did you check like for like as in condition etc?

EG: Napoleon Mint Condition £1.50 plus postage Amazon like new £15.88p Plus £2.80 P&P

[johnwash1]

Did you check like for like as in condition etc?

EG: Napoleon Mint Condition £1.50 plus postage Amazon like new £15.88p Plus £2.80 P&P

I didn't, but my impression is that most buyers of 2nd hand books are concerned with the content rather than condition, unless we're talking about collectables. However I admit that impression has no hard evidence to back it up, so I may be utterly wrong.

Also, since I only did a spot check (oooh, spot50 check, geddit?) (sorry, I love puns, even really bad ones), it may be that the 3 I looked at were unlucky and you have 87 bargains on offer. But that leads me to another problem, one that as a seller I'd love to know the answer to.

Sometimes I've had books to sell that weren't in the Amazon 1p class (though not particularly special). I've listed them close to the lowest offer, e.g. a tenner, and then watched day by day. It's a game I can't win, a race to the bottom. Every day the big sellers reprice their stock. Admittedly sometimes this has worked to my advantage as a buyer -- I see a book I'd like to get but am not too worried about, I wait a few weeks and eventually I get it at a significantly keener price. Or, of course, someone else does, and the whole charade starts over.

Anyhow, I wish you well with your sales.

[Spot50]

You obviously haven't visited my bookstore.

Norty spot!

Pink, no I haven't, if you scroll back a few pages on this thread, you'll see a post from you saying that there's no money in books any more (apart from collectables which you sell on the river) and you're closing your book shop after Christmas.

On another thread you stated that my listings' needed a lot of improvement and you were surprised I'd managed to sell anything' I did ask for some advice on where these improvements were needed but you never replied.

[Tiskets]

Books do sell and I have bought and sold books both on here and on the river. On the river, I have recently sold 11 books and none were on at a low price, indeed some were well over the £10.00 mark.

The sellers who sell books for 1p are probably mega sellers and are happy with a miniscule amount of profit from the postage the River allow for a thin book. It would certainly not be enough if it were of small parcel weight or a coffee table book. However, mega sellers can have their costs massively reduced by having a contract with, say, RM.

Small scale booksellers such as myself cannot or don't wish to compete with these '1p' prices. I just sell my books honestly for what I think they are worth going on condition, interest or rarity.

[Pink_Panther]

Pink, no I haven't, if you scroll back a few pages on this thread, you'll see a post from you saying that there's no money in books any more (apart from collectables which you sell on the river) and you're closing your book shop after Christmas.

On another thread you stated that my listings' needed a lot of improvement and you were surprised I'd managed to sell anything' I did ask for some advice on where these improvements were needed but you never replied.

You are correct. The books that I have listed on ebid are basically being given away.

I make my real book money on Amazon.

Being a book lover though I'll be loath to close down book selling completley.


I think I may move to offering Mint condition books only and those will be non fiction only.

And they will also only be books that appeal to me; If I end up with a huge library then so be it.

As for selling advice there is loads on the forums, my input would be no more informative and even less value than what you would get from full time business sellers here.

[Spot50]

You are correct. The books that I have listed on ebid are basically being given away.

I make my real book money on Amazon.

Being a book lover though I'll be loath to close down book selling completley.


I think I may move to offering Mint condition books only and those will be non fiction only.

And they will also only be books that appeal to me; If I end up with a huge library then so be it.

As for selling advice there is loads on the forums, my input would be no more informative and even less value than what you would get from full time business sellers here.

I wish you lots of luck with your specialised book sales in the future!

I find your comment about sales advice somewhat puzzling, you felt able to tell me that my listings were poorly done but not in what way!

[Pink_Panther]

I wish you lots of luck with your specialised book sales in the future!

I find your comment about sales advice somewhat puzzling, you felt able to tell me that my listings were poorly done but not in what way!

I can't remember, I just didn't follow up the comment.

I may have gone out - opened the tinnies or turned on the telly.

Not a big deal really.

Just had a quick look at my books and I think 73 will have to go!

I just love swinging that axe at the dead wood!

[deanosaur1972]

The sellers who sell books for 1p are probably mega sellers and are happy with a miniscule amount of profit from the postage the River allow for a thin book. It would certainly not be enough if it were of small parcel weight or a coffee table book. However, mega sellers can have their costs massively reduced by having a contract with, say, RM.

Small scale booksellers such as myself cannot or don't wish to compete with these '1p' prices. I just sell my books honestly for what I think they are worth going on condition, interest or rarity.

Yes that pretty much sums it up.

The 1p books are a bit of an on-line price anomaly, it is possible to compete but not on price. Remember that some buyers are price sensitive, some are condition sensitive and others are service sensitive, or a combination of any of those. What those 1p sellers can't compete with is your listing and service. Where you have an accurate description and a picture of the actual book - they are likely to have a cold stock image with little information on condition. They are a mega store and their customers are nothing more than a number, yours can be valued custom. Also it is one area where buyers wouldn't expect you to compete with those mega 1p sellers, they know the situation.

These mega sellers generally upset about 1 in 10 customers (often more). Also if you have a decent amount of books then it is just about impossible that they are going to have every single one of your books at 1p. As a (vague) comparison then consider bricks and mortar supermarkets, they all have ranges which are cheaper than the others and it alternates throughout the year from one supermarket to the next.

[Pink_Panther]

Well I've been swinging the axe with evil intent!

Chopped my listings down to 30.

The books that are left in store I priced after comparing to ebay and Amazon (I tried to factor out the idiots and 1p merchants).

All I need now is for Santa to blow up every kindle on the planet!