📚 How to Find the Best Books to Sell on Amazon
Are you looking to make some extra cash by selling books on Amazon? If so, you're in luck! In this article, we'll show you how to find the best books to sell on Amazon, from textbooks to collectibles.
📖 Table of Contents
- **Introduction**
- **Chapter 1: The Best Sellers Rank (BSR)**
- **Chapter 2: Tips for Finding the Right Books to Sell**
- Textbooks
- Niche Books
- Collectibles
- **Chapter 3: Books to Avoid Selling**
- Fiction
- Children's Books
- Cookbooks
- Mass Market Paperbacks
- **Chapter 4: Where to Find Good Book Deals**
- Local Thrift Stores
- Online Arbitrage
- Book Sales
- Estate Sales
- **Chapter 5: Listing Your Books for Sale**
- Using the Amazon Seller App
- Pricing Your Books
- Shipping Your Books
Chapter 1: The Best Sellers Rank (BSR)
When it comes to selling books on Amazon, the Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is an important metric to pay attention to. The BSR is a number that indicates how well a product is selling in a particular category. The lower the number, the better the product is selling.
In general, you want to sell books on Amazon with a BSR lower than 100,000. However, don't pay too much attention to the subcategories. Instead, focus on the BSR for the overall books category. If you find a book with a BSR just over 100,000, you can use a tool like Jungle Scout to see the monthly sales, expected profits, Amazon fees, and track how the BSR has changed over time.
Chapter 2: Tips for Finding the Right Books to Sell
Finding books to sell on Amazon is usually pretty easy, but you don't want to waste your time listing books that no one will buy. Here are a few tips you can use to sort through all the clutter:
Textbooks
If there was a gold standard for used books, it would definitely have to be textbooks. Textbooks are the safest bet because they're always in high demand, especially during the fall and spring months when a ton of students are buying them. They're also really expensive, so if you find a good book deal, you can make a large profit even on older editions. The only drawback with textbooks is that sometimes publishers will brand gate their books just to prevent non-certified sellers from listing them. So if you can't find any good textbooks, try selling books with lower competition instead.
Niche Books
One good idea is to sell niche books. These are books that had very low print runs and are usually part of a larger collection. For example, our own Brian Connolly made a ton of money purchasing Dungeons and Dragon books on eBay and then reselling them on Amazon. Similar to Brian's approach, you can also sell comic books on Amazon too. Both single issues and graphic novels perform pretty well, and if you find collectible issues that are in really good condition, they can fetch a really good profit.
Collectibles
Speaking of other good types of books to sell, first edition books, signed books, or any other book that's considered a collectible can be a great option. One great source to know about is called AbeBooks.com. They have an entire catalog of both new and used books, and there are even sections where you can find textbooks, collectibles, rare books, and even comic books.
Chapter 3: Books to Avoid Selling
While there are plenty of good books to sell on Amazon, there are also some that you should avoid. Here are some of the ones that you should steer clear of:
Fiction
Fiction books usually have larger print runs than non-fiction, meaning that there are more copies in circulation and that tends to lower the value. Also, after reading a fiction book, people are less likely to hold on to it compared to a non-fiction book that they can still reference in the future. Typically, fiction also has cheaper cover prices and therefore is less profitable overall. Non-fiction performs a whole lot better on Amazon, but that's not to say fiction does poorly. They just tend to lose their value faster than non-fiction books.
Children's Books
Another type of book that most people get rid of once they're done reading is children's books. They also have much lower prices as well, meaning that it's tough to turn a profit when you're selling them competitively.
Cookbooks
We're not exactly sure why, but for whatever reason, cookbooks just don't perform well on Amazon.
Mass Market Paperbacks
Out of all the books you could sell on Amazon, mass market paperbacks are the worst. Not only do they have high print runs, which means more competition, but they're always very low priced, and sometimes they're purposely low. That's because these big authors are typically using their books to promote their other large businesses off Amazon. So on Amazon, it's not uncommon for them to sell their books at a loss.
Chapter 4: Where to Find Good Book Deals
Now that you know what types of books to sell and what to avoid, it's time to start looking for good book deals. Here are some of the best places to look:
Local Thrift Stores
One of the best places to look for good book deals is at your local thrift store. These can be your big thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army, but also don't discount the little stores that are just less popular. You'll be surprised at how often these smaller stores have really expensive books just sitting there collecting dust. A book that you purchase for cents on the dollar could end up selling for 25, 50, or even upwards of a hundred dollars on Amazon. Literally, scan every book you find.
Online Arbitrage
If you don't feel like leaving your house, a lot of sellers use the online arbitrage method of buying low and selling high. All you have to do is purchase a book from one website for a low price, wait for it to arrive, and then list it on Amazon for a higher price. You can usually find cheap book deals on sites like Facebook, eBay, and even Craigslist. There are even some good apps out there like OfferUp and LetGo where sellers are listing their items way cheaper than what they're actually worth on Amazon.
Book Sales
If you don't know what book sales are, they're in-person events that are usually hosted at a local library by a non-profit organization. However, the books for sale are not collected from the libraries themselves. Rather, they're mostly collected from donations. That's why you can find really good books for really good prices. If you live in the US or Canada, we highly recommend checking out BookSaleFinder.com. There you can click into any state or city to find a full list of all the upcoming book sales. Within just a few seconds, you'll quickly realize there's always a good book sale going on somewhere.
Estate Sales
Another great way to find low-priced books is by going to estate sales, closing sales, or other types of moving sales. These are awesome ways to find really good books since large collections are usually sold all at once. Typically, you'll even find you can make offers on entire collections for pennies on the dollar. There's a website called EstateSales.net that helps you find the ones near you. Simply type in your city or zip code, and you'll see a full list of all the estate sales going on right in your own backyard. There are even pictures of what's planning to be sold so you don't have to worry about wasting your time driving out there only to find a dresser.
Chapter 5: Listing Your Books for Sale
Once you've found some good books to sell, it's time to list them for sale on Amazon. Here's how to do it:
Using the Amazon Seller App
The easiest way to list your books for sale is by using the Amazon Seller App. With this app, you can scan a product's barcode to get more information about whether or not you should sell this item. You'll be able to see things like the BSR, the eligibility, the amount of sellers on the listing, the current selling price, the Amazon fees you'd pay, and the gross profit of selling this item.
Pricing Your Books
When it comes to pricing your books, we recommend pricing the book based on its condition. For example, books of acceptable quality usually sell for less than books in very good condition. But also don't just automatically match the lowest price as it may cause a race to the bottom. As long as your book is at least in good condition, it will usually sell even if there's a cheaper, lower quality option.
Shipping Your Books
At the bottom of the listing page, you'll select whether you're shipping the item yourself or if you're sending it to Amazon. With merchant fulfilled, your offer will usually appear on the product listing page within like 15 to 30 minutes. With fulfilled by Amazon, your offer won't appear until you send your books into their warehouses. If that's the route you're going, you'll need to know how to create a shipping plan inside Seller Central.
🎉 Highlights
- Textbooks are a safe bet for selling on Amazon, especially during the fall and spring months.
- Niche books and collectibles can also be profitable.
- Fiction, children's books, cookbooks, and mass market paperbacks are books to avoid selling.
- Local thrift stores, online arbitrage, book sales, and estate sales are great places to find good book deals.
- Use the Amazon Seller App to list your books for sale, price them based on condition, and choose whether to ship them yourself or use Amazon's fulfillment service.
❓ FAQ
Q: Can I sell any book on Amazon?
A: No, some books are restricted by publishers and cannot be sold by non-certified sellers.
Q: How do I know if a book is in good condition?
A: Look for any damage to the cover or pages, and make sure there are no markings or highlighting inside the book.
Q: How much money can I make selling books on Amazon?
A: It depends on the book and its condition, but you can make anywhere from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per book.
Q: Do I need a Seller Central account to sell books on Amazon?
A: Yes, you'll need to sign up for a free individual account to get started.
📚 Resources
- [Jungle Scout](https://www.junglescout.com/)
- [AbeBooks.com](https://www.abebooks.com/)
- [BookSaleFinder.com](https://www.booksalefinder.com/)
- [EstateSales.net](https://www.estatesales.net/)
