selling your stuff on Amazon...part 2

A question about : selling your stuff on Amazon...part 2

So this is a brand new thread, the other had got so long that it was very daunting for a newcomer to find their way around.

This thread is like the old one, it's for new ideas, peoples experiences, helpful hints and tips all with lots of discussion of course.

The old thread began here with a little manual (I have pulled into a better shape since it was written in July) this will help a newcomer get started with selling books, CDs, DVDs and videos etc. there are bound to be questions that crop up along the way, please ask, someone will soon come along to answer them.

I don't think that any of us are full-time book sellers but there is lots of enthusiasm here and it's highly infectious.

...and the story goes on........

Best answers:

• Thank you Apprentice Tycoon for kicking off a new thread.
  All new questions or general discussions can carry on here, but newer readers might want to refer back to the old thread first, otherwise it is carry on as usual...
  Soo
• Thanks for this new thread - first book sold and posted and made Ј4.32 after postage so for a years old unwanted Christmas pressie I'm doing ok.
  Got a pending email for something this morning too so will have to wait and see where that ends up - why do these transactions seem to happen in the dead of night :rolleyes:
  Thanks again to AT for starting the (other) thread - I tried amazon with 1 book with no success last year but thanks to your tips you've spurred me on to have a go and I'm very pleased so far - when I visit my parents over Christmas I'm going to search for all the books I left behind there to see if any are worth listing and bringing back - I've not missed them so I guess most can go - Hopefully at this rate we'll be able to buy our wedding rings purely with money from things we've sold
• Somebody asked about feedback at the end of the last thread,here are the two experiences I have had with bad feedback.
  A lady gave me 3/5 and cited the high postage costs as a minus,I contacted her and explained about amazon fixing the postage costs and it was nothing to do with me and would she remove her feedback,which she did.
  Another woman(isnt that typical)said that the item she purchased was not new(which it was)again I contacted her saying if she was not happy with her purchase she should have contacted me, anyway I said I will give you a refund and you can keep the product,but would you remove the feedback,she did and sent the item back to me as she said she would have felt bad about keeping it,it did come back in worse condition that I sent it but cest la vie I kept my 100% feedback,which I think people do look at when purchasing.
  When I used send my dispatch emails I used to put something like if you are happy with your purchase and the service you have received please leave feedback,I dont do this anymore and still get feedback,I have 23 at the mo and thats after selling about 90 items.
  What a nice new fresh thread.
• I read HOLsale's post here yesterday about a site called readitswapit. I listed 6 books (ones that wouldn't have sold on Amazon I have to say) and have had my first swap partner this evening, I have to post my book within 1-2 days and my swapee will do the same.
  Thanks for a great post
• Thanks for all the advice in the previous thread, Apprentice Tycoon and all the other contributors.
  Now that a fresh thread has been started, I've finally bitten the bullet and listed my first book on Amazon.
  It's a book that I got from the Freebies board ages ago and never got round to reading it and don't think I ever will, so I thought it would be a good one to start with.
  There are no copies available on the main Amazon site nor on the marketplace so I've set a price that brings it about 75p under the full rrp including the postage costs. (It is in mint condition.)
  Does that sound like the right approach? :confused:
  I'm really excited. I've never even sold anything on Ebay before so this is completely new territory for me!
• just gotta say THANK YOU EVERYONE! i sold my first book on amazon tonight, hadn't been listed 24 hours yet
  it's kinda funny too, it was this awful book that came with my juicer, a proper book in it's own right, doesn't have any promotional stuff or anything but it's just awful... and i got Ј3.25 for it
  here's hoping the other stuff starts selling too, woohoo!
• phewww, the little haven's here then.
  having just spent a nightmare 2 hours locked into debenhams site, amazon mailing me to say the books i've ordered won't be arriving until after xmas, and then seeing the other thread locked, i need this little place of sanctuary
  i just wanted to reply to HOLsale's post #1017. thanks for that. the wife signed up for it but hasn't listed any books as yet. i think she thinks no-one might want best-sellers, but i think i got the meaning behind the post
  jo-b? i'd have asked for more and then come down in price. i don't sell on ebay either, but i'd list as much as you can. it can be really profitable. i only wished i'd taken the advice of another poster, i think it was apprentice tycoon, and signed up for the pro-merchant thing when it was half price.
  but good luck
  by the way, i had another strange sale earlier. the address looked to me like it was straight out of a spoof directory, until i checked the royal mail's postcode site. i bet they have problems if they buy from some of the ebay sellers
  thanks for thread two apprentice tycoon. being on dial-up made the other one a bit slow for me, so i'll copy and paste the useful posts from now on
• i'll look out for the pro-merchant offer apprentice tycoon, although when i was umming and ahhing about signing up, i don't recall it being overly advertised
  one thing i'd say to those who are thinking of selling, and don't have time to read all of that incredible thread that apprentice tycoon started, is to have a decent reserve of jiffy bags, sellotape, boxes etc at the ready.
  i know it seems like stating the obvious, but i didn't realise how quickly some items would sell, especially cd's - which i'm still sending out in a4 sized jiffy bags and recycle everything.
  jo-b? apprentice tycoon mentioned something i'd forgotten, the postage, so i'd hike up the price a bit more, especially now when amazon's books are taking weeks to arrive. well some are, mine included :rolleyes: but i mean weeks, like 6 weeks.
  now i can't leave without asking a question lol, so to any pro-merchants, if a book is selling for 1p and let's say the postage is 1.00 - how much profit is there? i'm only asking because i've recommended amazon to a friend and they're looking at it in ebay terms, which i know nothing about as i don't sell on ebay.
  thanks.
• Hi mike
  If you pal was a pro merchant he would get Ј2.27 from amazon for his 1 penny book so after his postage of, as you say, Ј1.00 he pockets Ј1.27 -the postage for an average paperback would be 58p - 71p - 83p - 94p by second class post - so he could end up with close to Ј1.50 AND NO RELIST FEES IF IT DOESN'T SELL STRAIGHT AWAY!
  It's 86 pence more than the basic seller would get.
• Hi Mike,
  I had a pro-merchant a/c on 3 months' offer back in 2004, though I cancelled due to drop in sales after the special price ended So I think they definitely will be round again
• Mmm, there are times I wish I was pro merchant although I don't sell enough to justify it at the moment. Sold one of my "penny" books this morning. Normally I just about break even if I send it second class (I normally post everything first class) It was quite a hefty old paperback though and, when I got to the post office the woman said that I'd missed the last 2nd class post to guarantee Christmas delivery so I decided to send it first as I always pride myself on my quick turnaround. It cost Ј1.59 to post. I got Ј1.41 from Amazon after fees and that wasn't even taking into account the brand new jiffy bag, time, petrol etc. Oh well, it is Christmas!
• soory if this has been covered already but I couldn't find it with a search:
  Can I sell e-books on Amazon?
• I just had a quick look on the Amazon category list and there was no mention at all of e-books, I think that it is just 'real' books that they (or we) sell.
  carol_a, I was told that today was the last posting day for second class, were you at the post office after the van collection?
• A week to go before Christmas and the Royal Mail have already given up on second class!
  Soo