Have you ever wanted to sell your books on eBay?
Selling books online is a great way to get rid of old and unwanted items while making some extra money too. The best part about it is that you can do it from the comfort of your own home!
This blog post will show you 15 tips on selling books on eBay with ease. You’ll learn the best practices for listing items, what categories work best, how to price your items competitively, and much more!
Whether you’re new or experienced, this guide has something for everyone.
Get started today!
What is eBay
eBay is an online auction site where people can buy and sell just about anything. From books to antique furniture, there are thousands of items for sale at any given time!
When we approached this site for the first time, we felt a bit confused about how to use it properly. So we started to read guides after guides and articles about what the site was and how it worked.
And after several months of trials and failures, we finally appreciated the first results in terms of sales and traffic growth to our product pages!
This is why we wanted to share with you the experience of our journey on eBay, writing this guide for beginners who want to do the same as us.
The eBay community is strong and active, meaning you have a great chance of getting your items sold. Just in 2017, nearly $21 billion worth of goods were sold on the site.
The site is available in more than 20 languages, making it accessible to millions of people around the world!
So let’s figure out what next, whether you just want to sell some of your old items or start a new business.
How to Sell Books on eBay (Step-by-Step)
If you’re wondering how to sell books on eBay, we have prepared a simple step-by-step guide for you!
1. Create an Account
Before you can sell your books on eBay, it’s important to create an account. This will help the process go smoothly and more efficiently.
2. Choose the Category
After creating an account, choose one of five different categories that best describes what kind of items you’re selling – in this case, we will choose the “Books & Magazines” category and click “Next.”
3. Create a Listing
Enter how many items, as well as their ISBNs if they’re available, and then click “Next.”
4. Type in your Title and Description
Enter a brief, but detailed description of the book. Use SEO keywords to make your title and description more appealing to potential buyers.
5. Upload an Image
Upload a picture of the front cover or spine as it appears on your book. Be sure to upload the highest quality image possible.
6. Price and Shipping
Enter your desired price as well as how much you will charge for shipping.
7. PayPal or Other Payment Option
If you want to be able to accept PayPal, which is the most common e-payment system on eBay, click “Yes” and then enter your email address. Otherwise, just select “No.”
8. Reviews – Feedback & Comments
Clicking this tab will display reviews of the item that have been left by other eBay users.
9. Condition
If your book is in excellent condition, click that option and enter the quality of your item on a scale from “poor” to “like new.” Otherwise, just select “good” or leave it blank if you don’t know.
10. Item Location
Enter the country where you are shipping from and the country where the item will be delivered to.
11. Lastly..
Enter the quantity of that item you have in your inventory. After clicking “Add this product” to save all these details, eBay will list it for sale on their website within 24 hours.
How Much eBay Charges for Selling Items
eBay charges the seller a small listing fee for each item listed, which varies depending on whether it’s an auction or fixed price sale.
They also charge final value fees which depend upon how many bids you’ve received in your campaign and what type of service they are (auction vs. fixed).
You need to be aware that items with no bids are charged a $0.30 (US) or €0.20 (EU) fee per listing in addition to any other fees that might be applicable, as the final value fee of 15% on the sale price for auction items which includes shipping and handling costs.
Listings are limited to five items per day for free listings. If you are a Pro or Premium service subscriber, you can list up to 50 items per day.
The “Add to Compare” button will allow you to compare your product against other listings that are the same or similar to get a better idea of how much it should cost.
eBay also provides an automatic price suggestion feature, which is based on what people have been willing to pay for items like yours in the past.
What’s the Difference Between the Basic and the Premium Subscription?
The Basic version is free to use for eBay members who have a feedback score of 100 or more. If you are not an eBay member, you will need to pay a fee of $0.30 (US) or €0.20 (EU) for each listing that is submitted with the basic service.
In Premium, eBay members are paying users who can list 50 items per day and have access to certain perks like extended customer support hours and discounts on shipping.
The benefits of being an eBay pro are:
- you may list 50 items per day
- have access to extended customer support hours and discounts on shipping rates
- your feedback rating will be highlighted in search results if it exceeds 1.000 points (100%)
Some cons are that eBay pro membership is not free and there’s an additional fee for using the service, which may deter people from signing up.
Another con would be that you can only list 50 items per day with this account type, which excludes many people from its benefits.
Also, some others say that there is not much of a difference between the free and pro accounts. In this case, it strickly depends on the person.
15 Tips for Successful Book Selling on eBay
Based on our personal experience, we are ready now to share with you our 15 best tips for successful bookselling on eBay.
- Know what you’re selling. Research your book extensively and know its flaws before listing it for sale. If there are any, make sure to mention them in the description so buyers will be aware of this flaw beforehand.
- List a clear and concise title that includes keywords about the item being sold (eBay pro membership is not free, additional fees)
- Add a thorough description of the item being sold in text form (50 items per day, flaws with your book). Include pictures or other features if you have them.
- Offer shipping discounts: buyers will pay less for their purchase and it’ll be easier on your pocketbook too! Plus, they get an extra incentive to buy from you over someone who doesn’t offer such great deals.
- If you’re shipping internationally, make sure to mention the cost.
- Read potential buyers’ reviews before agreeing to sell your items by clicking on “Read Feedback” on eBay and then scrolling down beneath the Buyer’s Profile tab for their feedback.
- Create a user ID that is memorable and easy for others to remember (e.g., eBaybooks).
- Learn to use HTML code. This will allow you to add images, links, and other features into your listing descriptions with ease.
- Be patient: in the beginning, it may take a while for items to be sold because buyers are reluctant about purchasing from someone new (especially if they’re not sure of how well the items are priced).
- Consider adding a list of Books for Sale to your eBay profile. This will allow buyers to find you more easily and remember who they have purchased from before.
- Learn how the advanced search function on eBay works so that if someone is looking for say, “19th Century Romance Novels,” you can make sure your listings show up in their search.
- Consider purchasing a domain name such as “myebaybooks” and using it to promote items on eBay (e.g., with ads) so that buyers can find you more easily when they’re looking for new books to purchase from sellers like yourself.
- Maintain records: keep track of what you’ve sold, how much it cost to ship the item (via eBay), and if there was a tracking number. This will allow you to use those numbers for your records when completing an Amazon tax form next year.
- Consider using Paypal or another online payment system such as Square so that buyers can buy on impulse without even getting out their wallets.
- Be realistic: if you’re going to sell a book for $50, it’s probably not worth your time and money to ship the item. Consider reducing the price of the book (or shipping it in an envelope), or choose another product instead.
Bad Practises to Avoid When Start Selling on Ebay
As we have been novices in the past, we know the common mistakes people make when selling their books on eBay, as we have been through as well! We want to share with you those so that you can avoid them in the future:
- They don’t have a firm grasp on what they want from eBay: do you want to just experiment or do you want this as your main source of income?
- They are not trusting in themselves. If people think “I can’t really get how eBay works” then it’s difficult because there is no manual!
- They spend too much time making the listing perfect when they should be spending more time promoting their book.
- Not following through with clients who make offers – if someone makes an offer but doesn’t follow through with it, send them an email asking why so we can learn from our mistakes.
- They don’t want to deal with the shipping process.
- They are not motivated!
- They think they can’t sell books on eBay because of the competition.
Conclusion
And that’s it! This is what we had to say about.
eBay is a great place for people to buy and sell goods, but it’s not always easy. If you want to get the most out of your experience on eBay, you must know the basic guidelines on how to sell properly books online.
In this blog post, we covered 15 tips for success on eBay so check them out if you’re interested in getting more from your time on the site.
Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned seller, these basic principles should be helpful as they apply across all levels of expertise when using eBay’s platform.
So are you ready to give it a try? Don’t wait further and get started today!
