Are you interested in making money online by selling used books? Yes, you can earn decent extra income by selling used books. Read this post to learn how to make money selling used books from your home.
Second-hand books are abundant. You can earn handsome money by selling those books. From a professional point of view, you can also do it by buying books at a cheaper rate and selling them at a higher rate.
Here are the 10 Steps to Earn Money Selling Used Books
If you do decide to sell textbooks for cash, there are a couple of things you need to remember:
1. Decide on What Types of Books to Sell?
The very first step before starting an online used-book selling business is to decide on the kind of books you are going to trade. There are broadly four types of books that are in good demand around the year. They are the following:
- Textbooks
- Modern First Edition Books
- Out of Print Nor Easily Available Books
- Antique Books
Select the ones that fit you best. For beginners, it is advised to start with a specific category and then expand the collection when money starts coming in.
Read: Profitable Book Related Business Ideas
3. Find Sources of Buying Used Books
The next step is to find reliable sources from where you can buy those books. Some of the popular places to buy used books are family friends and relatives, thrift stores, garage sales, Craiglist, and online book-selling websites.
4. Check the Condition of the Book
Be sure to check the condition of the book before buying it. Most buyback companies expect a little wear and tear, but if there are ripped pages or severe damage to the cover, they probably won’t accept your book.
5. Give Importance in Packing
Pack your books carefully. Most buyback companies will give you a prepaid shipping label, but you are responsible for your own packaging. If the books are damaged during transit, you’ll have to eat the loss.
6. Payment Process
Be careful about payment processes. If you are offered the choice of a Paypal payment or a check payment, keep in mind that if you choose Paypal, you will need to deduct those fees from your profit margin.
7. Research the Demand
The profit margin is simply huge. You will find a variety of paid apps that allow booksellers to scan a barcode by using the phone’s camera.
It helps you in getting instant results as to the book’s value, sales rank, and more.
8. Fix Proper Pricing
There are many sites that buy used textbooks. The prices that this site offers vary widely, though. In some cases, one site may buy a book for one or two dollars while another site might offer $20.00.
Obviously, it is worth looking around to make sure that you are getting the most money for your used books.
9. Where to Sell Used Books
If you are interested in dealing in the used book business on a semi-regular basis, whether it becomes your living or a steady hobby, you might consider signing up for a professional seller account with BookScouter, Half Price Books, AbeBooks, and/or Amazon.
Find below the list of top 12 places to sell used books online and mean money:
- Amazon.com
- Bookscouter.com
- Ebay.com
- Sellbackyourbook.com
- Bookstore.com
- Abebooks.com
- Half.com
- ECampus.com
- Campusbookrentals.com
- Cash4Books.net
- Chegg.com
- Textbookrush.com
Abe’s professional sellers pay $25 per month plus fees, and on Amazon, you can sell as a professional for $40 per month plus fees or sell as an individual for $0.99 per sale plus fees.
Another option is eBay, where you can get 10 free listings per month plus fees (about 10%) after an item sells. If you have vintage books to sell, you can open an Etsy store and pay a listing fee of $0.20 per item plus fees after sales.
This is a great option for pre-ISBN books as well. Vintage items on Etsy must be at least 20 years old.
Suggested Read: How to Start a Book Review Blog & Make Money
10. Be Patient
The key to success in the used-book selling business is to remain patient and committed to extensive research in understanding the trends and demand from customers. A lot of people are making good money selling used books. As matter of fact, the used book industry is a multi-million dollar industry and is expected to grow in the coming years.
About the Author: 99businessideas.com led by Rupak Chakrabarty is committed to helping beginners, entrepreneurs, and small business owners in starting, managing, and growing their business. Our aim is to educate the entrepreneur on the various stages of entrepreneurship.
