eBay

jt-libra · ‎12-30-2015

A few weeks ago, I decided to open a third selling account, just for books. Over the years, I have always given boxes of books to Goodwill, Children's Hospital, etc., but there were a few dozen that I thought I might be able to sell. While I know a lot "about" books, "selling" books is a whole new ballgame.

I did a lot of research online to learn about the edition of the book, the condition, the value and so on. Because I am so green, I found that with taking the pictures and including all the appropriate information, it was taking me a whole evening to list two books. I finally got 10 books listed, 6 of which have now ended. I stopped devoting time to that account over the last month due to family illness and Christmas.

One basic thing I am not clear about is when a book is "new" or "like new". If a book has been sitting on a shelf for several years but has never even been opened, is it considered "new"? What if it has some yellowing on the top edge from dust, is it then "like new". It doesn't really follow the specifications for "like new" as outlined by eBay:

Like New
A book that looks new but has been read. Cover has no visible wear, and the dust jacket (if applicable) is included for hard covers. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. May be very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover. Very minimal wear and tear. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections.

I inherited some books from a person who was more of a collector than a reader, so I know these books were never even opened, as are some of mine.

Once I gain some expertise, my goal is to focus on one or two genres of book .... spirituality, religion.

It's quite possible that this account will not be successful, and that's alright. But let's say I stopped listing, or closed the account, and I had made 3 or 4 sales. These payments would have been held back since I had not reached the minimum number of sales required, so how would I be able to retrieve this money. eBay can't hold it forever. I've never seen this question posted before.

I have a lot of questions about the sale of books, but these are the two primary ones right now.

Thanks for any input you have.

mr.elmwood · ‎12-31-2015

@jt-libra wrote:
@realjazz-123 wrote:
You have identified the biggest problem in book selling-shipping costs. As with any item, international shipping costs make selling difficult. A book weighing only .5 kilo costs $20 small package air and $50 tracked if shipped to UK. A slightly heavier read (say .59 kilo) is $38 air and $60 tracked. No need to give details for books over 1 kilo. Unless the book is a special, more costly one that might interest a collector, the chances of selling a low priced more general book are slim to none. Perhaps US/Canada buyers might be willing to pay about $20 shipping for a light read, but very likely the shipping costs will be greater than price of book.

My guess is successful book selling will happen only with hard to find, specialized titles.
I have never sold internationally and I probably would have been much more successful, financially, if I had. I only sell to Canada and the U.S., because I feel I have more control. I just don't want to be worried about lengthy travel times to Europe or Asia, or deal with the "where is my item" questions. There are too many other factors in my life that cause me stress.

Most sellers do sell internationally and have done very well. I just don't have the constitution for the potential aggravation.

My risk tolerance level is very high. I would periodically get my life threatened at work. eBay? Not so much.

For all of the way my life has gone, what I did for employment, eBay is a walk in the park on a summer day. In twelve years, for me, I have had less than zero aggravation from eBay.

However, it is not for everyone.

.
.
.

jt-libra · ‎12-31-2015

@mr.elmwood wrote:

My risk tolerance level is very high. I would periodically get my life threatened at work. eBay? Not so much.

For all of the way my life has gone, what I did for employment, eBay is a walk in the park on a summer day. In twelve years, for me, I have had less than zero aggravation from eBay.

However, it is not for everyone.
__________________________________________________________________________________

I think you misunderstood. I wasn't saying that eBay, in general, causes aggravation (although occasionally it does) but, rather, that I didn't want to deal with shipping delays, etc. related to overseas sales. So, let's say, international shipping is not for everyone.

mr.elmwood · ‎12-31-2015

I understood perfectly clearly.

.
.
.

rose-dee · ‎01-01-2016

@jt-libra wrote:
By the way, how many centimeters did you get in the last storm?

We ended up with about 20cm. Not too bad, and we certainly can't complain considering we'd had balmy weather all through December. Today much of it is melting away again. That's how it generally goes in winter in this corner of NS, so we're hoping we don't have a repeat of last year's onslaught.

I'm so sorry to hear your brother is still not doing well, and hope he'll recover soon. I know how difficult it can be to focus on this work of selling on eBay with a serious worry like this going on in the background. I wish you all the best for 2016!

38e_avenue · ‎01-01-2016

I just don't want to be worried about lengthy travel times to Europe (...)

Shipping to UK takes usually about 5-7 days and to US 10 days. Canada - often more than 7 days.

So if you are worried about the shipping time, you should sell exclusively to UK 😉

jt-libra · ‎01-01-2016

@38e_avenue wrote:
I just don't want to be worried about lengthy travel times to Europe (...)
Shipping to UK takes usually about 5-7 days and to US 10 days. Canada - often more than 7 days.

So if you are worried about the shipping time, you should sell exclusively to UK 😉

Thanks. I initially said that I've never shipped internationally ..... however, for a few short months when I first began, I shipped to the U.K. and Australia. There were very few sales compared to North America and I decided that, even though I didn`t have any major shipping problems, I'm just more comfortable selling to Canada and the U.S.

I find most of the U.S. Light Packets take on average about 6-7 business days, about the same as Canadian lettermail. Small packets take about 7 to 10 business days. Anything in Canada that I don't ship by lettermail, I send by expedited parcel. And I find Canada Post to be extremely reliable. I haven't had a problem with them in years. Even throughout the holiday period, many parcels were received even earlier than the scheduled delivery date. Oops, one small problem with CP. Occasionally when I haven't put enough postage on lettermail (or CP thinks I haven't), they cancel the stamps before returning it to me. Usually, I have to then re-pack and ship as a parcel, losing all the postage on the envelope. Try to find somewhere within Canada Post that you can get a refund on that postage.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎01-01-2016

@jt-libra wrote:
Occasionally when I haven't put enough postage on lettermail (or CP thinks I haven't), they cancel the stamps before returning it to me. Usually, I have to then re-pack and ship as a parcel, losing all the postage on the envelope. Try to find somewhere within Canada Post that you can get a refund on that postage.

I'm sure you can bring the envelope to a postal outlet and just pay the difference (they will print out a label with the difference and stick it on) if you really did short-pay, or just bring the envelope and show the clerk that you indeed paid the right amount.

I only had it happen once and that's what I did. Since then I always write the added math of my stamped envelopes to show that I put the correct amount on. Never had a bounced back mail due to postage issue since.

femmefan1946 · ‎01-02-2016

My goal is to focus on the spiritual, meditative, religious genre of books

I sell 'religious' books occasionally and frankly, I shouldn't because those are some of the most entitled customers out there.

And I carry the books because of my own interest in theology. (I am a professing Christian.)

But it doesn't seem to matter what the spiritual practise is, new age through orthodox anything. They are better than you are, so bow down to their whims.

cumos55 · ‎01-02-2016

I am constantly on the look for books to sell.

Many years of searching has allowed me to pick up many unusual books... outside my primary category of selling.

These are the books I have sold for $100 and more.... very good value...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then there are the unusual books...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

such as Alcoholics Anonymous published in Ukrainian... Turned out to be a first edition published at about 1995.

Religious books... bibles.... Many people get upset with the sale of bibles... That is when I stay quiet...about what I do.

I have found many gorgeous bibles... spectacular artwork... and more.... highly collectable publications

A most recent find is the Jerusalem Bible with artwork by Salvador Dali.... Everything looked good until I found out someone tore out the last series of pages with "Family information"... I have a solution, but right now it is just sitting there....

People are stripping out the images and selling them on eBay.... Salvador Dali Bible prints...

Then there was the bible in Haitian Creole.... and then every single European language... they all sold.... People do want them

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am out there looking for that something different... and the result is good to super good value...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

cumos55 · ‎01-02-2016

Many sellers on eBay focus one language... English.

I grew up..... in north Winnipeg... where if you walked down Selkirk between Salter and McGreogor... and hear many different languages with each step.

Winnipeg, and southern Manitoba, is a great source for Mennonite history... and add in many publications about Hutterites..... and sometimes more...

My languages..

(1) English... at the top.... nothing unusual about that

(2) French... I can read and translate as I go..... Caught myself the other day... The print was in French, but I was reading English

(3) Ukrainian..... Must read it out loud... easier to understand..... My ancestors were Ukrainian

(4) Russian... with a dictionary... It really blew me one day when I was looking at a book about Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko.... and I was confused ... until I realized it was published in Russian.... about a Ukrainian poet ???

(5) I can read music and sold many music books, and sheet music in days gone by... not worth the effort today....

(6) And then comes the language we all can read...... pictures....

Today I sell things about Canada, and everything Canadian... and in days gone by that included pottery, and art glass, and more...all by Canadian companies...

But... and that was an important but... I always looked for that something different.... now it is in books.....