Finance Gets Personal

OK, I’m officially OBSESSED with snowflaking my way to a new mattress.

First, we had a garage sale, which netted us about $240, plus I went ahead and snowflaked the $60 I took out for making change. So that’s $300.

Then, I started selling the books that didn’t sell in the garage sale on Amazon.com. Apparently, this is what I should have been doing all along! Within the past week, I’ve snowflaked $196.56 to the mattress fund from Amazon.com sales.

Of course, $196.56 is not my true profit. I’ve sold 25 items for a total of $182.76. Amazon took a commission of $85.95, and gave me a shipping allowance of $99.75. My actual shipping costs were $56.42, plus the bubble envelope mailers were about $25. Additionally, I did a little hustling on Craigslist and bought someone’s Marketing textbook for $35 and turned around and sold if for $66. Sooo…my net profit is actually $80.14. Not amazing, considering all the trips to the post office and Walmart, but much better than $1 per book at a garage sale. Plus, I’ve been paying the shipping and envelope costs out of pocket and snowflaking those too, so my mattress fund is up to about $529 now.

If you’re considering selling books (or CDs, or DVDs) on Amazon, here are my tips based on what I’ve learned this week:

Do a search on Amazon for your book’s ISBN (the number on the back of the book) to make sure you are listing the book under the correct edition. It’s easier to find the book you have for sale, and you won’t make anyone mad when they buy the wrong book from you.

Describe your item’s condition accurately. Amazon has standards for its condition options (New, Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable), and you want to be sure to follow them to avoid negative feedback. If you’re unsure, it’s best to be cautious with your item’s condition - for example, I usually put “Very Good” even if I think the item is “Like New.” That way, your buyer will be pleasantly surprised.

List your item at least 25 cents lower than the current lowest price. Unless your item is in a MUCH better condition than the lowest priced item, you need to have the lowest price in order for anyone to buy your book. This is especially important if you are a new seller because you don’t have any feedback about how trustworthy you are.

Don’t select any shipping options besides Standard Shipping at first. Amazon gives you a standard shipping allowance based on the type of item and the shipping option. You don’t want to offer international shipping only to find out the order you need to ship to China is going to cost twice what Amazon is going to reimburse you.

Speaking of shipping, you’ll find that many items are sold for 1 cent. However, it’s generally not a good idea to sell books for anything less than $3.50. Experienced sellers can nearly give away books and make money on shipping. You see, Amazon gives you a $3.99 shipping credit for standard shipping of books. Unless you’re a large seller with barcode discounts and access to very inexpensive shipping supplies, your actual shipping cost will be between $2.23-$2.58. Add another 50-99 cents for a bubble mailer, 15% Amazon commission, 99 cent transaction fee and $1.35 closing fee, and you’ll soon be paying to sell your own books if you’re not careful.

Monitor your inventory often to make sure your item is still the lowest priced one available. You’ll find that your item typically won’t sell unless it’s the lowest price, and even one penny can make the difference. Other sellers will get into pricing wars with you, so here’s another hint: If there is an unrelenting seller that keeps lowering the price but doesn’t have any other advantages over your item (such as a better condition or higher seller ratings), price your item the same as theirs. That way, their inventory page will still show that their item is the lowest price, even if it is just one of the lowest priced. Other people may do this to you to, so check out the individual listings once in a while to be sure.

Buy bubble mailers from Walmart and use the smallest envelope your item will fit in without damaging it. The larger the envelope, the more expensive it usually is. Walmart sells 5-packs of envelopes for decent prices, and I’ve found them to be a little cheaper than Target. Note: Only use new shipping materials - it’s Amazon’s rule, not mine.

You’ll usually want to ship your items via Media Mail, but with smaller books, First Class may be cheaper. Just tell the postal worker that you want Media Mail or whatever’s cheapest.

Reselling books you buy at garage sales or on Craigslist can be profitable, but be careful! I’ve been watching the books section on Craigslist for items that are worth a lot more than they’re being sold for. I bought a textbook and resold it, but I knew exactly what is was worth. Still, after it hadn’t sold within a few days, I began to worry - what if no one buys textbooks in June? In general, I’d suggest spending $1 or less on hardcovers at garage sales, and saving textbook buys for July/August (unless you’re not eager to recoup your money right away). In either case, try to bargain down the cost of the book - the textbook I bought was priced at $50, but I offered $35. Most people are desperate to get rid of these things unless they’re Amazon-savvy.

Are there any experienced sellers out there with additional tips on what worked for you?

This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Budgeting Babe.

Photo Credit: happy boxes by dchico, used under Creative Commons licensing.

Tags: Amazon.com, Garage Sale, Selling Books, Snowflaking