half.com question - Page 2

PrincessPerky · #21 (**permalink**) 09-18-2005, 06:15 AM

I am trying to reduce the number of books in general, so I don't want to trade until I have a lot less

.

Gailete · #22 (**permalink**) 09-18-2005, 06:32 AM

Just a thought. Have you thought of selling your books as a lot on ebay? If you have 20-30 books all in good condition by same authors/themes/genres, etc. You should be able to get some money from them without waiting forever to sell them on half.com. A big box of books like that runs about $5-6 for shipping and you can have a reasonable price for shipping in the add.

Even smaller lots of 5-10 books all by the same author should go if they are in decent shape and are by a popular author.

Gail

niki_the_tiger · #23 (**permalink**) 09-18-2005, 06:58 PM

I tried selling some books in lots like that on eBAY, but I found I got very very little for them.

rdeel2000 · #24 (**permalink**) 09-18-2005, 10:03 PM

I have been researching selling books on Half.com and Amazon. I noticed that on Amazon many books are listed for .01. When you do the math after all the fees are deducted and shipping paid you end up .14 in the hole. Am I missing something here?

niki_the_tiger · #25 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdeel2000

I have been researching selling books on Half.com and Amazon. I noticed that on Amazon many books are listed for .01. When you do the math after all the fees are deducted and shipping paid you end up .14 in the hole. Am I missing something here?

That's what I noticed too... which is why I was wondering if maybe I was calculating wrong.

34saving · #26 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 08:54 AM

I haven't done anything with Amazon, but you can end up in the hole with Half if you're not careful. (And they have a 75 cent listing minimum.) So, it wouldn't surprise me . . .

niki_the_tiger · #27 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 34saving

I haven't done anything with Amazon, but you can end up in the hole with Half if you're not careful. (And they have a 75 cent listing minimum.) So, it wouldn't surprise me . . .

How can you end up in the hole with half.com? Oh, if you list a heavy book for too little a price? So far, I've always ended up ahead with half.com. I have been selling quite a few books lately - not a LOT, but about two a week woohoo!

rdeel2000 · #28 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 09:55 AM

I have decided Half.com is probably the way to go. Unfortunately, Amazon gets far more traffic since they are better known. It's too bad eBay doesn't market Half. com better being that they are one and the same. Many people I talk to have never heard of Half.com.

34saving · #29 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 10:51 AM

Ebay tried to kill Half about this time last year, so it's safe to say it's not their favorite. Yes, listing a heavy book at too low of a price is the easiest way to lose money on half

Textbooks have this problem a lot more than anything else.

Gailete · #30 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 11:21 AM

Quote:

I have been researching selling books on Half.com and Amazon. I noticed that on Amazon many books are listed for .01. When you do the math after all the fees are deducted and shipping paid you end up .14 in the hole. Am I missing something here?

This question has been asked aobut a zillion times on various book boards. If someone has a promerchant account with Amazon where they sell more than 40 books a month through amazon so they don't have the .99 per book fee plus the 15% fee to pay, they can make about $1.20 per book. They would have to do a huge volume and still wouldn't be making much money. But apparently some have been doing this and as a business model for them it works. I personally no longer list ANY book for less than $7.50 on Amazon or Half. I will do book lots on eBay when I have an expectation of making at least $5 profit, but that is one way to recoup buying 'mistakes'. As my DH and I do this as a side business, we have to run it as a business and try to be very professional about it, including decent book packaging, invoices, etc. I really hate buying a book and having it come wrapped in newspaper or a brown bag which doesn't protect it in the mail.

All this to say--price your books reasonably so that you make a profit with the sale, otherwise, donate it, swap it, or use it for firewood!

niki_the_tiger · #31 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 34saving

Ebay tried to kill Half about this time last year, so it's safe to say it's not their favorite. Yes, listing a heavy book at too low of a price is the easiest way to lose money on half

Textbooks have this problem a lot more than anything else.

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. I'm glad they didn't!