So, you’ve decided you want to sell books online after all, but need to find out what price you’d have to set on each to make a profit.  So, where do you even start?  Here’s some ideas of how you could get to the numbers you need.

(The following examples are based on selling on eBay as of November 2008, with the fees in effect at that time and the given that only PayPal will be accepted from now on, and are only a guideline.  You’ll need to put in your own actual expenses to get your possible income/profit.)

To keep things easier, I’m working with multiples of 10 or 100 for easier math…  I’ve also figured out the numbers based on the following types of sales: 1 – Listed only in your Basic eBay Store 2 – Listed as an auction 3 – Listed as an auction with a Buy It Now Price also offered 4 – Listed as an auction that failed, then relisted as a store item Let’s say you’ve decided to sell your books for $6.25 with a shipping rate of $3.75 so the customer ends up paying $10.00 for each book.  Here’s what the fees and profit would look like for a single sale based on the current eBay/PayPal fee structures and assuming you could buy all your books for only $1.00 each–not impossible, but getting harder all the time–and that you would pay $2.71 to ship each (the avg postage for a book under 2lbs).

So from the example above, it looks like for every 100 books you sold, you’d make as much as $492 profit.  Wow.  Makes you want to run right and become an online bookseller, right? Unfortunately, there are other factors to consider.  For instance, for every 100 books you sell, you may actually have to list 400.  (Most people would kill for a 25% sell rate on eBay, especially in today’s economy, so I’m probably being a little over-optimistic with that number for a first-time seller with no established reputation and who may or may not be an expert in resellable book titles, but it helps keep my numbers neater.)

Another point – the above calculations don’t take into consideration the recurring monthly fees that you have to pay out of your profits and the cost of all the books that didn’t sell.  Here’s a little more realistic example of what would happen your first month if you purchased 400 books at $1.00 each to sell online:

So, in this example, instead you’ve only made $271 total profit working 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, not close to the $500 you thought you’d make, plus you owe more cash than you started with because of the 300 books you purchased, but which didn’t sell yet. Of course, you now have $300 worth of books to try to sell again next month, so you’ll only have to buy $100 worth the next month to reach your 400 listed/month.  That means you may have some cash left at the end of Month 2 not having to put out as much as before, but you still won’t be making more than pocket change at this rate, especially if you figure out how many hours it takes you to accomplish all that.  (It does get better, however, once you have a system and reputation in place – it’s getting them together that can make or break you – working at Taco Bell would probably be more profitable otherwise.)

These examples can be used for other items you want to sell on eBay or anywhere else, too.  You just have to plug in the appropriate fees depending on the items you’re planning to sell to estimate what’s possible, profitwise, and what it will take you to earn it.

Technorati Tags: book pricing, eBay, eBay Books for Sale, Selling Books Online

According to Variety, the catchphrase from the first season of HEROES was “save the cheerleader.” This season, it could be “save the scripts.”

Tim Kring, the series creator and executive producer has axed his co-exec producers and writing team, Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, in an effort to prove to the network that he will be taking a more personal hands-on approach to the upcoming season.  NBC has been hinting that he’d delegated too much of the story development to the two and that the series had gone from a fan-favorite good-vs.-evil virtual live comic book to an overly convoluted, overly plotted confusing mess.   Given the $4M an episode price tag, NBC is definitely interested in getting the show back to its old numbers.  (Viewership dropped almost 21% from season 2 in the main demographics.)

The firing, however, may now prove a little awkward: On Nov. 15, Kring is supposed to appear at the Screenwriting Expo at the L.A. Convention Center, with Alexander and Loeb.  (Oops.)  However, it looks like it may be great for us fans if we can get back to the characters we all love to hate and hate to love…

Technorati Tags: Heroes, NBC, Tim Kring

Coming January 2009, this prequel to UNDERWORLD and UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION brings back Bill Nighy (Viktor), Michael Sheen (Lucian), Shane Brolly (Kraven) and Kevin Grevioux (Raze – he also helped write the original story the first movie was based on).

Rhona Mitra takes over the part of Sonja, Lucian’s love.  (Her character was only previously seen in flashback, played by Jazmin Damak.)

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS gives us the backstory of the Death Dealers and their slaves, the Lycans, taking us to where it all began.  (UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION already gave us some of the origin story, but this provides the entire tale.)

Technorati Tags: Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Rise of the Lycans, Underworld

Paramount and J.J. Abrams have released 7 new photos from the upcoming STAR TREK movie: Also, the upcoming issue of Empire magazine will have an exclusive photo shoot of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine, including three exclusive new stills straight from the USS Enterprise.

Technorati Tags: Anton Yeltin, Chris Pine, Eric Bana, J. J. Abrams, John Cho, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Star Trek, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana

STAR TREK The Experience - Las Vegas

For 10 years, the Las Vegas Hilton has hosted STAR TREK The Experience and now an era is coming to an end: September 1st, the attraction is closing.

According to the AP, thousands of fans are flocking to the shows (the new BORG Invasion 4D and the original attraction, Klingon Encounter) to get a glimpse before the whole thing closes for good.

I always thought it would be fun to check out, but never managed and now it looks like I never will. (1 day’s notice IS a bit short, hmmm?)

Guess this means that Vegas doesn’t give the new movie very good odds, eh? (Otherwise why close the attraction now if there were going to be an upswing in Star Trek interest again??) However, CBS/Paramount, owners of the franchise, seem to be hunting for a new home for it, so maybe all is not lost…

Technorati Tags: Las Vegas, Star Trek

J.J. Abrams and Paramount have finally issued promo ‘posters’ at the official site for the upcoming STAR TREK movie which is being called variously STAR TREK ZERO (as it’s a prequel) or STAR TREK XI (the eleventh movie in the franchise) or just plain STAR TREK. They of course can’t use STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE – that’s already been used. =)

The newest film will star Chris Pine (James T. Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (Leonard “Bones” McCoy), Simon Pegg (Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), John Cho (Hikaru Sulu), Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov), Zoë Saldana (Uhura), Winona Ryder (Amanda Grayson), Bruce Greenwood (Christopher Pike) and Eric Bana (Nero). It tells of the early years of the crew of the original ENTERPRISE and their 1st 5 year mission.

I’m of mixed opinion on this one. It seems that the even numbered ones have been the better ones – WRATH OF KHAN (II), THE VOYAGE HOME (IV), and so on – but with J. J. Abrams (ALIAS, LOST) backing this one, it may get the treatment it needs to succeed. Also, it stars some actors I really enjoy watching: Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Karl Urban. However, they’re stepping into very big and iconic shoes, and it will be VERY hard not to be constantly comparing them with the originals while watching.

Technorati Tags: Anton Yelchin, Chris Pine, J. J. Abrams, John Cho, Karl Urban, MOVIES, Sci Fi, Simon Pegg, Star Trek, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana

Paul Giamatti as John Adams (HBO)

With 23 nominations, including Paul Giamatti’s nod as Lead Actor in a Mini-Series, HBO’s JOHN ADAMS mini-series was the overall frontrunner in 2008’s Emmy Awards announcements.

In a new twist, 2 basic cable shows, MAD MEN and DAMAGES, also managed to achieve Best Series nominations, something basic cable programs had never managed to do until now.

Here are just some of the 2008 nominees (with the ones I’d like to see win in red):

Technorati Tags: ACTORS, Awards, Battlestar Galactica, Emmy's, House, Hugh Laurie, Tin Man, TV

Recently, I was listening to a TV music channel in the background when MERCY by Duffy came on. I looked up to watch, expecting to see a retro-1960’s black girl’s group singing it, only to be surprised to see this little Welsh blond belting it out. Needless to say, I was quite amazed at what a great voice she has, part Billie Holiday, part Ronettes, and a little Ben E. King mixed in. =)

Duffy looks like she’s got the chops to be another Bonnie Tyler or Dusty Springfield (if she keeps getting such good material.) She’s an artist I’ll be keeping an eye on to see if she fulfills her promise – I’d hate to see her end up a 1-hit wonder given her voice. Check it out:

Technorati Tags: Duffy, Mercy, MUSIC, Soul

It appears the Jolie-Pitts have added a few more to the growing brood: twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline join Maddox, Zahara, Pax and Shiloh. I’m not so hot on the name Knox, but Vivienne Marcheline flows nicely. (For someone who’s trying to bring children’s issues to people’s attention, especially all the orphaned and abandoned kid’s needing parents, I think Angie needs to maybe reconsider her birth control choices… Or maybe Brad does, hmmm? But that’s just my opinion. LOL)

Guess it will be time to adopt again next, eh? Wonder which country they’ll go for next? (Can you say “Cheaper By The Dozen?” LOL)

This time around she had a C-Section, so I guess more Lara Croft movies in small swimsuits will be off the table for awhile or forever…  (Then again, with today’s movie magic and makeup magic, who knows?)

Technorati Tags: Angeline Jolie, Babies, Brad Pitt, Twins

With Heath Ledger’s death before THE DARK KNIGHT was released, he joined a sad, but growing number of actors and actresses who died before their last movie was finished and/or released.

Not all final movies have gone on to break box office records like THE DARK KNIGHT–in its opening 10 days it’s already done over $330 million–but they all mark a sad moment when a Hollywood star was lost.

Here are just some of the actors who passed too quickly and their final films:

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May They All Rest in Peace…

Technorati Tags: ACTORS, Heath Ledger, Heather O'Rourke, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Oliver Reed