Yes (and no).  If you are just starting out in selling books online hold off in buying some expensive package of a PDA with a scanner and a monthly subscription to a service like Scoutpal.  You may get all gung-ho about your new venture of selling books and go out and spend hundreds of dollars on an PDA set-up.  Slow down…. you will eventually want to get a scanner but before doing so make sure you have some of the basics of online bookselling down first.  Get a feel for the process of listing books you already have and dealing with the shipping side of the business before you invest larger sums into your business. 

 The short version of this post would be don’t make larger investments in your business until you are sure it is something you are going to commit to.

The majority of online booksellers will need to eventually get a scanner and a handheld especially if your main inventory sources are places talked about in the previous post.  There are several experienced guys at every sale I go to (always first in line) who do not use scanners and do not deal with the general stock at the sales.  They go straight to the antiquarian books and are very knowledgeable.  They work at brick and mortar stores that specialize in first editions and other niches.  Scanners are of no use to them and they always leave sales with plenty of books.  If you are going to specialize in a specific niche and really know your stuff then you can likely save the expense of a scanner (and the monthly subscription fees).

I have a Dell Axim with a scanner that I no longer use and I cancelled my subscription to my scouting service.  I no longer need them though I am still a full time online bookseller.  I just have different sources of inventory where I no longer need to go to library sales. 

I found having a scanner and scout service were invaluable for the time I used them.  They helped me make thousands of dollars by finding books I had no idea were valuable and they also saved me much money by helping me avoid books I thought were good.  If you are in the market for a PDA and a scanner shop around on eBay first before buying a package from one of the scout services – you will be able to save a bunch of money that way.  I will talk about some of the scout services in a future post.

Where on-line booksellers get their inventory is on of their most closely guarded secrets.  If someone discloses where they get their books on a forum they are flamed by all the other booksellers – the comments with all their vitriol are hilarious.  The funny thing is all these booksellers get their books from the same places for the most part- such as library sales. 

If you do your homework you can find many sources of books that are not as widely used.  I am not going to disclose all my sources (I do that in my book which is linked over to the right under products I recommend) but here are some obvious places to find books to sell on-line:

• Library Sales – you and everyone else will be at these.  Go early, line up and run like you just been called down on the Price is Right.  You can find lots of stuff at these but to be honest I almost never go to library sales any more.  Too much hassle.
• Craigslist – put up an ad saying you buy books
• Goodwill, Salvation Army and all the thrift stores.
• Yard, Garage and Estate Sales
• Your friends, family and yourself.

None of the above are too big a secret but they can be a start for slowly growing you inventory.  The problem I have with all of them is there is too much uncertainty as to what type of books you will find.  I have stood in line for a few hours (with a hundred other people) at a library sale, paid my $10 -$15 bucks to get in only to find tons of paperbacks.  I guess using the above as my book sources is just too inefficient for me.

In future posts I will discuss some other options (some I have advertised on this site) and also talk about how to make the most of the above sources.

Another gloomy report in the NY Times again today.  Though traffic is up at Amazon sales are down.  Not good.  I have had good sales so far this month but am I missing sales?  Should I cut my prices to beat the competition.  On Ebay should I offer free shipping?  No – at least I am not – though on ebay I see a lot more free shipping.  I just had one of my biggest weekends  ever in terms of sales and am hesitant to cut my profits for more sales as even some of my very high sales rank books are moving.  If only the books with very low sales ranks (up to 100,000) were selling I would make changes.  Something to keep an eye on.  I hope your books sales are going well also.

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.

I think ebay is a great market to sell books on once you get over a few hurdles.  The biggest hurdle is getting your books listed on there.  Thankfully,  some inventory management systems have taken away the difficulty of getting your books listed.  The easiest way to sell your books on Ebay is to have your own pro-store there – of course this comes with a montlhy fee. 

Here are the benefits of selling books on Ebay and a quick comparison to sellin books on Amazon.

1.  A large worldwide market.  Once buyers go to Ebay to look for an item they often stay there – they do not navigate out to another site to purchase.  Amazon is similar but I think Ebay keeps people on their site longer.

2.  You can promote higher priced books to show up on the top of searches.  Plus your DSR scores can help your books show up in searches.  Witht the DSR rating system Ebay can actually reward sellers that provide a qulaity experience to buyers.   This is unlike Amazon where books are shown in price order – which drive people to lower their prices in order to show up.  Amazon’s feedback system doesn’t really benefit good sellers very much.

3.  Ebay lets you keep all the shipping fees.  Amazon keeps a significant piece of the shipping costs foro themselves.

4.  Best Offer – this feature is great.  I have “Best Offer” on every book priced over $40.  I get offers all the time and depending on where my cash flow is for the week I accept, counter or decline. 

5.  Prostores – within your store you can further cross-promote your books, have sales and provide info about who you are which can help personalize sales even more.  The Ebay buyer is much more communicative then a buyer on Amazon.

 I will post later about some of the inventory management service that expedite the listing of books on Ebay.  Amazon is still the largest market for selling books online but Ebay is one that should not be ignored.