How to Sell Books Online
Are you an avid reader who sells books after you’ve read them? Or perhaps you’ve recently read an amazing book that you want to send to a friend or loved one? Well, sending books in the post couldn’t be easier with our fast and reliable parcel delivery service. Send a book from as little as £1.99 *(ex VAT) and share your love of words with other book worms.
How easy is it? Amazon and eBay vs. trade-in sites
Books are generally quite cheap and easy to send in the post, which makes them perfect for buying and selling online. There’s a range of sites you can you use to sell your books; generally, you’ll use your eBay or Amazon seller account to sell any unwanted items or you can bulk sell unwanted books, CDs and DVDs via trade-in sites.
Selling books on Amazon and eBay takes a bit more time but they’re generally the best option for making more money and securing higher mark ups on prices, especially if your book is rare. You can also incorporate the cost of posting your book to your seller to make even more profit.
1. You will already have a seller account or will need to set up seller accounts.
2. Do your research on how to price your book
3. List your book for sale with all details, including imagery, description, postage and packaging options
4. Once your book has sold, send it to your seller
5. Get paid!
Read more about how to sell your unwanted goods on eBay and things to consider.
Selling books on trade-in sites like Ziffit or We Buy Books is often much quicker and easier, but you can run the risk of being quoted a fraction of the price you could secure elsewhere. They will, however, create you a label for your sold items, meaning post and packaging is generally free.
1. Enter the ISBN number
2. Get a valuation
3. Print off labels and post
4. Get paid!
Popular books to sell online
Many sites recommend selling non-fiction books on all sorts of topics; art, antiques, collectibles, photography, crafts, cooking, history, regional subjects, sports, cars, trains, motorcycles and music. Other books which sell well are:
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Large coffee table books on any of the topics above
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Children’s books and pop-up books
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Hardcover books about crafts and hobbies
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Regional and geographical books
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University textbooks
What condition should my books be in?
To get the best price for your book or books they need to be in quite a good condition; generally the best-selling books are in a ‘used like new’ condition. Selling a battered book with missing pages and a ripped cover will decrease its value, so it’s worth asking yourself whether it’s worth selling anything in this condition. Don’t try to be sneaky either – forgetting to mention those tea stains on multiple pages could negatively impact the review your recipient gives you, which in turn will affect your trustworthiness as a seller.
Ideally your book won’t have any:
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Tears to the cover
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Missing or damaged pages
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Stains or water damage
Pricing books to sell online
One of the biggest challenges when selling books is setting the right price. First, do your research and find out how much the same book is being sold for elsewhere; there might already be a number of listings at lower prices than you expected. You may need to weigh up whether it is actually worth selling the book, considering how much money you’ll get back including the cost of sending. Taking time to do your research also enables you to see how many people are already selling it, what they say about it and perhaps even how rare it is.
Packaging and posting your book
If you’re selling on Amazon or eBay then getting the items to your seller quickly and in a good condition is essential to maintain a good seller rating.
You can send a book from as little as £1.99* (ex VAT) using our next day delivery service. We also have lots of helpful advice on how to package and waterproof your parcel, so you can ensure your items arrive quickly, safely and securely.
As a seller, you can also link your eBay account directly to ipostparcels, meaning you can seamlessly import the information of your buyer to the booking form.
If you’d like any more help and advice then please head to our help section, or alternatively get in touch with us on Facebook or twitter.
Resources
www.ebay.com
www.amazon.com
www.webuybooks.com
www.ziffit.com