Want To Sell More? Use Your Hand Not Your Feet

After visiting hundreds of stores, libraries and large book sales I incorrectly began to think that the way to sell more books was to move faster in an effort to buy more great books. I thought I had to "race" to get to the books before anyone else did.

This caused me to get up early, show up to book sales before they opened and race around on Monday's to my favorite Thrifty stores in hopes to get to the good and valuable books before anyone else did!

But then I discovered something. I was trusting in my feet to get me the great books. I should have been trusting in my hand! The same hand that can make friends and shake on a deal. Deals that would allow me to be able to buy books before anyone else got a chance to buy them!

No kidding, I had one Library used book sale that would not even let their volunteers buy books until I bought what I wanted. Why - because of a handshake and a deal! The very deal I explain in the Benefit Bookstore Method!

If you have not checked out how you can depend on a handshake to win over running around then you need to check this out now!

Head over to http://BenefitBookstore.com for more details.

Where Can I Find Inexpensive Books To Sell Online

In an earlier blog I gave you the following sources to find used books:

Garage Sales
Rummage Sales
Thrift Stores
Good Will
Salvation Army
Library Sales
Large BookSale Events
Friends

Yet there are so many more places to look for great books.  However, if you find a big source, chances are many more people have found or will shortly find the same great source!

For many online book sellers you will need to turn to creative ways to find new sources. My sister takes big selling penny books to a used bookstore and trades them in for credit. She knows the used book store will want the books because they are still selling well, even though they have recently dropped in price. Then she uses the credit to find some "expensive treasures" among the used book store shelves.  But she admits that this is slow and a bit tedious.

I wonder if the real secret is NOT finding secret sources, but turning known sources into an exclusive source!

In the end it comes down to being able to scan books before anyone else scans them! And that takes personal relationships and a good sales pitch as described in the Benefit Bookstore Method!

If you want to check out the Benefit Bookstore Method head over to http://benefitbookstore.com/sales. For less than $80, most likely far less than you will make on your first exclusive deal you will land, you can get the benefit bookstore method. You really need to try it!

Why Value and Courtesy Still Matter

My local used paperback bookstore closed this past month. I was sorry to see it go. But honestly, I was amazed it had stayed open as long as it did!

I knew the second owner who kept the store going for more than 20 years and this past winter sold the store for $1. The new owner was not happy with the profit and decided to change things. She slashed the credit given for trade ins and increased prices to 50% of original book value. But honestly, if that was all she did, she would probably still be in business. Her real problem was her attitude. She was a bit grumpy and always thought everyone was trying to take advantage of her. She rarely gave the customer the benefit of the doubt and found it hard to be courteous.

Together, the lack of value and not being polite seemed a real problem. Apparently it was! I guess that is a lesson for all of us! Give value and polite service and you will last. Take away value and be rude, and you will close.

Good lesson for both online and brick and mortar booksellers. Even if you are not standing right in front of your customer, they still want value and polite service or they will not order from you again.

You can get a free 5 day bookseller bootcamp by visiting http://benefitbookstore.com/sales and sign up on the top right.

Happy selling!

Why Attempting To Market Your Books Is A Waste Of Time

Hard work typically gives you a good return.  If you work hard at scouting for good quality used books, typically you get a good return with finding many good books.  If you spend time building good relationships with the right people you will typically get a good return for your time.  However, one investment typically does not give you very good return.  No matter how hard you work at it, attempting to market and sell your books online by yourself usually does not give you great returns.

Simply put, unless you have several hundred thousand books, most individuals are not going to look on your website.  Unless you can consistently deliver a vast amount of books you are far better off listing your books on Amazon.com, Half.com, EBay.com or one of the other large used book retailers.

I know, they charge fees and those fees are growing.  But you cannot run your own website and get the huge audience that these sites can give you.  And truth be known, the fee is often less than what it would cost you to run your own ecommerce website.  Besides the monthly website fees, shipping processing fees and picture fees you have all kinds of maintenance (or a higher fee) and  3% credit card fees you will also have to spend a huge amount of time running the website.

You really should spend your time and effort where you can get a good return for your money.  Instead of setting up a website to sell your books you should set up a "static" website which helps establish you as a reliable buyer of quality used books!  As you establish good relationships with Book Sale administrators and used store owners you will be able to help buy good quality used books.

If you really want to you can post links to your Amazon or Ebay stores on your site.  This way returning fans can check you first but you don't have the large headache of setting up and keeping up an ecommerce site.

Let the big boys do the selling for you!  Instead understand that your real limitation to higher profits is a lack of getting good books.

If you would like to explore a way of getting loads of great books - check out the Benefit Bookstore Method!

You can check out this method at http://benefitbookstore.com/sales

Why the "Hunt and Peck" way of finding books is the wrong strategy

Did you know that birds do not blindly hunt and peck for food?  They have a system.  They know where likely food is.  They systematically work the soil so the worms come to the surface to drastically increase their efforts.

Many Amazon used booksellers do not have a strategy that is as sophisticated as the common bird.  Instead, these book sellers blindly go out searching for books here and there in hopes of finding books of value!

In many ways it is pure insanity!

I encourage everyone in the used book buying business to STOP for a day and just think about what you are doing.  Are you in a rat race looking all over the place hoping to find the next big score?  If you are it is time to carefully think about what you are doing.  Here are a few strategies to seriously think about.

1.  Carefully list your best book buying experiences for the last several months. 
2. Then list why you think you were able to buy so many good books at that stop.  What was different?  Why did it turn out to be profitable? 
3.  Now think about how to duplicate that success.

If you are looking for "luck" each time, you have to come up with a way to make sure you are "lucky" each time!  Think about this.  You happened to enter a thrifty store as the volunteer comes out of the back room with 5 boxes of donated books.  You scan the boxes and walk away with 50 books all worth $5 - $30 and pay $1 each.  A real score for you that day.  But how can you duplicate this?  I guess you could get the phone number of the volunteer and try to meet him or her at the store each week.  Well, that is a bit of a pain.  But what if you had a method to help you work out a deal with the store that allowed you to go through the boxes each week BEFORE the volunteer put the books out!  Now that would be making sure you were "lucky" each week!

If you would like to learn how to approach store owners, librarians and book sale volunteers, then you MUST go read about the Benefit Bookstore Method!  You owe it to yourself and your business.

Go check it out now!  You won't be sorry.

Free Used Book Seller 5 Day Boot Camp

Sign up for our FREE Bookseller Boot Camp. Get 5 emails with insights - on us! Sign up by heading over to http://benefitbookstore.com/sales and fill out the Bookseller Boot Camp form in the upper right corner.

This is completely free!

Thoughts On Repricing Your Used Books

I love used books and think they are all valuable, but the truth is a book is only worth what someone will pay for it!

So here are some basic thoughts on making sure you price your books right:

First, just like produce, many books will go down in value.  The older they get, the less they are worth.  So it is worth trying to sell them in a timely manner.  Pricing your book right will help you sell the book quickly.  But don't assume you have to price your book less than all others.  Remember your book and the service your company offers should have value so make sure you price your book correctly!

1. What is the ranking of the book?  High selling books move each night so don't price it too low.  I have also seen books below 1,000 ranking go up 20% between Friday during the day and Sunday night, especially if it is on its way up in sales.
2. What is the condition of your book?  If you have a book in great condition, don't price it low.  Instead, allow someone to buy it who is willing to pay a little more to get the better book.
3. Is there a reason to hold the book due to a probable price increase?  Will the book go up due to summer reading or textbook season or the movie is coming out or the next book in the series, etc.  Let is sit for a few weeks if you can get a reasonable amount more!
4. Do you have a good rating?  I do not lower my price down to the big sellers who have less than 95% rating.  I never buy from them and many people I know will not buy from them.  You are likely to ship faster and with better care and will most likely be more accurate in your listing.  So it will be worth paying a little bit more from you!

Hope this helps!

If you are looking to drastically increase the number of books you are selling you will need a system that helps you drastically increase the number of books you are getting.  Make sure you check out the Benefit Bookstore Method - Click HERE!

80 Year Old Used Book Store

Can You Still Make Money Selling Used Books On Amazon?

I have listened to many Amazon booksellers and read the "buzz" on forums and book selling sites.  It seems many are complaining and ready to throw in the towel claiming the profitable days of used book selling are over.

Well, the days of grabbing books for cheap and throwing them up online and expecting to make a profit are gone.  The profit margin on used books may be tighter forcing sloppy companies to shape up or get out of the business.  However, those companies and individuals who are willing to work hard and work smart will find plenty of profit in 2011!

Here are some words of wisdom for the coming year.

1.  Learn how to get books for free.
Some have snubbed their noses at book scavengers (as apposed to book scouting) but there is a real place and potential profits for book scavengers.  Those who are offering a service to the donating party can easily get books for little to no costs.

2. Only list profitable books.
The time for listing 99 cent books and below should be over.  Deal with books of a value of $1.49 or greater only if they have a very quick turn around.  Otherwise you should make sure you are dealing with books of $3.00 or greater - even if you got the books for free!  If you work the http://BenefitBookstore.com method you will find yourself with many, many books.  Don't fall to the temptation to list the cheap, slow moving books.  Instead activate the system and turn them into good through donations or recycling.

3. Make sure you have a  steady flow of books.
If you are going to make a profit, you are going to need to keep books moving.  In order to be able to deal with books that will make you profit, you will need to have access to a large supply of books to scan.  Now is the time to put into practice, effective methods of obtaining books.  Remember, Amazon and other online venues will do the selling for you.  Your primary business as an online used book seller is to find great books.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have a system of getting loads of great books.  If you have not already put into practice an effective method, I urge you to try the BenefitBookstore.com method.

4. Keep an eye on your efficiency.
Get rid of unnecessary expenses.  If you are paying to have an online bookstore that is not making money, close it.  An inexpensive website that helps you get books is far more efficient!  Take a look at your shipping methods and materials and make sure you are shipping efficiently!

The profit days are not gone for used book sellers, but the day of operating any way you please and still making money is gone for nearly all online sellers.  With some new year shaping up you should be able to make plenty of profit in 2011!

Using Bluetooth Scanners to Read ISBN Numbers

My two bluetooth scanners - the first is a soccet scanner. The second is a microvision scanner (marketed under the name NCR.)

I have used two types of scanners over the last 4 years. First, I used a Microvision click scanner. This was nice and usable. It had a very long batter life. The connection to my PDA was easy and straightforward. You did have to physically "push" it in order to get the laser to move and read your bar code.

I then moved to a Socket brand scanner. This was twice the price, but a very nice scanner. A soft touch to the button got it to read the bar codes. This scanner kept the laser "moving" on its own so the battery has to be recharged every day. If you are going to scan dozens of books I strongly recommend you get a socket type scanner.

When using this type of hand held scanner you either have to rely on the sound or have your PDA in a place where you can see it.  When I rely on the sound I like to put the PDA in my pocket and have ear plugs to listen to the sound in private.

Bar code scanners are helpful in helping you to locate valuable books, however, they are only part of how you obtain many great books.

If you want to learn how to find dozens of great books before others are able to scan them then check out the Benefit Bookstore Method!