We are less then a month away from one of the busiest times fo the year fro online booksellers.  All the college kids are going back to school soon and looking to save money on books (for more beer maybe).  If you have not alreay – now is the time to stock up on shipping supplies.

If you sell remainders (there are some that specialize in universtity presses) the text book season is when they move – so you could find some titles to buy in preparation for the school year.  Try Great Jones for academic books – the margins on these are not great but if you can find a good title to buy in bulk in might be worth it.

Also – be prepared for lots of questions if your listings are not complete.  Make sure you properly list what edition text book you are selling and if it has highlighting, underlining or margin notes – I make it the first thing in the item description.  Do not sell international editions (or if you do be prepared to be banned by eBay and Amazon as it is against their terms).

More on textbook season soon

When people find out that I sell books online they generally ask if I sell first editions.  When my response is that I sell anything that makes money they usually seem a tiny bit disappointed.  I guess selling books that make a profit is maybe too commercial and not “sexy” to them.  I may get a response such as “I have an old book about Ben Franklin – what do you think it is worth?” (actual comment). 

In some way books are just commodities that I want to sell and that bums me out to think because I enjoy simply being around them and want to imbue what I do with far more meaning. 

I am not expert enough in first editions or signed editions to specialize in them (nor do I know where to get enoug of them to make money).  There are plenty of people who do specialize and there are enough collectors willing to spend money on first editions.  I have sold many first editions, rare art books, leather bound books, signed books and other “collectible” books.  When I come across a first edition I do my homework on it by checking to make sure it is a first printing, has the original dustjacket and any other pertinent details.

I do not specialize in any niche be it romance, mysterys, textbooks, business books, new age etc.  If I can gross a minimum of 8x to 10x’s my cost then I will likely list the book for sale assuming it has a sales rank that is reasonable.  I have no one category of book that dominates my inventory.  My smallest category is fiction.

So, yes,  I am just an online bookseller and proud of it and no I do not know what that book about Ben Franklin is worth.