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.

The holiday season through the end of January is the busiest time of year for most booksellers.  I would say late August/early September is the second busiest (beginning of school year).  Last year my book sales spiked in December and were even higher in January.  Like many retailers, whether online or brick & mortar, we depend on this time of year.

The holidays are the biggest factor for the sales spike in December but what about the increase in book sales in January?  I think there are several factors to help explain January sales:

1.  Another school semester generally starts in January so all the students are buying their books online

2.  Customer Returns – many people are returning items to Amazon and using the credit to buy books

3.  Gift Cards/Cash Gifts – People receive these for Christmas and redeem them in January.

Hopefully the economy does not lessen the impact of items #2 & #3.

I would suggest that you still have time to increase your inventory to take advantage of this online buying season.  I have approximately 600 books coming from one of my sources next week to be ready for the season.  Library sales this time of year are few and far between so if they are your primary inventory source you will need to look elsewhere.  You will also need all the shipping supplies to meet the new demand.  Last year I was filling anywhere from 35 to 55 orders a day during these two months.

If you need help with finding alternative book sources for the holiday season I recommend several in my bookselling guide which can be purchased here www.booksellingguide.com.

No matter what  – prepare now for the online bookselling high season so you can actually enjoy them rather than running around looking for inventory.

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.