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

Someone’s finally written a book that helps you pick between the foods at various restaurants and from all the choices at the grocery store that LOOK so great (and delicious), that is, until you read the nutrition label… But who has time to read and memorize hundreds of packages, just to get to the right ones for your needs? And what about food at restaurants, where you don’t get a nutrition break-down for each item so you’re eating ‘blind’?

The book’s called EAT THIS, NOT THAT! and here’s an excerpt from the book description:

Americans spend more than $400 billion a year eating out, and behind each burger, turkey sandwich, and ice cream sundae is a simple decision that could help you control your weight-and your life. The problem is, restaurant chains and food producers aren’t interested in helping you make healthy choices. In fact, they invest $30 billion a year on advertising, much of it aimed at confusing eaters and disguising the fat and calorie counts of their products.

All of that has changed with EAT THIS, NOT THAT!. This book puts the entire food industry under the spotlight, and arms you with the savvy tricks and insider information it takes to eat well no matter where you are. With EAT THIS, NOT THAT! you’re the expert in every eating situation, from the frozen food aisle to your favorite fast food joint to your local sports bar. You control your food universe-and lose the pounds you want–because, unlike every other customer, you’ll know the smart choices to make-instantly!

EAT THIS, NOT THAT! is jam-packed with secrets the restaurant industry doesn’t want you to know.

For example:

• Burger King doesn’t want you to know that a BK Big Fish. Sandwich and fries have a whopping 1000 calories-nearly half your daily caloric intake! (Fish is usually healthy, but not this kind. Find out why with this book.)
• Pizza Hut doesn’t want you to know that a standard pizza in Italy contains 500 to 800 calories, but the same meal at Pizza Hut can top 2,100 calories! (You’d need to ride a stationary bike for more than three hours to burn off this mistake. Instead, eat all the pizza you want by making smart choices. EAT THIS, NOT THAT! shows you how.)
• Macaroni Grill doesn’t want you to know that a single serving of their Grilled Teriyaki Salmon has more than three times your daily allowance of sodium! (Cut your risk of high blood pressure by making smart choices at the same restaurant. You’ll find them inside.)

If only you knew the industry secrets, you could eat at any of your favorite restaurants-or chow down on everything from the company vending machine to your kids’ Halloween buckets-and know that every decision you made was smart, healthy, and the best possible choice for you.

For example, did you know:

• At McDonald’s, an Egg McMuffin. is actually a healthy choice, with just 300 calories. (The Hotcakes pack more than double that amount!)
• At Krispy Kreme, all you need to do is order the Very Berry Chiller instead of the Mocha Dream Chiller, and you’ll save 500 calories! (Do that once a week and you’ll drop more than 7 pounds this year-without trying!)
• At Chipotle, you can cut 570 calories out of your Chicken Burrito just by ordering it as a bowl (without the tortilla) and asking them to hold the rice. (Same great taste, but with 94 fewer carb grams!)
• Choosing a cinnamon roll at Au Bon Pain over Cinnabon will save you 463 calories and 20 grams of fat!

In the freezer section of your local supermarket, a turkey pot pie from Swanson’s has 610 fewer calories than a turkey pot pie from Pepperidge Farms. In the produce aisle, you’ll get twice the vitamin C-and nine times as much vitamin A-simply by picking red bell peppers over green ones. (Who said eating healthy was difficult?)

And that’s why EAT THIS, NOT THAT! is going to change everything. It’s time to level the playing field. We’re all tired of sneaky calories adding to our waistlines, and having to starve ourselves or spend hours on the treadmill trying to burn off the damage. Now-for the first time-you’re in charge. With this simple illustrated guide to thousands of foods–along with the nutrition secrets that lead to fast and permanent weight loss–you’ll make the smartest choice every time!

I’m glad someone’s taken all the time to do the research – this is info I’ve always wanted, but could never find all in one easy to use place…

Technorati Tags: Books, Diet, Fast Food

Check it out – someone’s finally figured out that most cookbooks follow the old 80/20 rule: out of 100 recipes, there’s probably only 20 you really enjoy and will make over and over, that is, if you’re lucky. Most likely there may be only 10 or so in each book that you can use.

So you end up buying 5 or more cookbooks just to get 100 great recipes. With cookbooks running about $15-35 each, that’s $75-165 to get what you want!

I think it’s neat that Tastebook has found a way for you to finally let you put together your own customized cookbook with all YOUR favorite recipes in it, all for only $34.95. You can pick and choose from their 25,000 tried and true recipes, or mix and match with your own to create a truly personalized culinary treat. Plus you can add favorite photos to the book. And as your tastes change or grow, the book can change with you.

Looking for a gift to give friends or family or want to create a collectible that you can pass down from generation to generation? A Tastebook definitely makes a great gift. You can even make ‘themed’ Tastebooks for the big events in your life – weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, family reunions, bridal showers, and more.

Check out this great Thanksgiving Recipe book:

Technorati Tags: Collectibles, Cookbooks, Gifts, Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, aka Harry Potter Book 7, may get more screen justice than ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: David Heyman, producer, is expected to announce that rather than trying to chop the last huge book down to movie size, two movies will be made of HALLOWS to accommodate the entire last installment in the J. K. Rowling book series.

Of course, this means more money for the studio, the cast and the author by making it into 2 films (something they all really need, eh?) but it also means we should get treated to the whole final story in all its glory, something Harry Potter movie 5, ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, missed its mark on, especially considering they took the longest book at that point and made it the shortest movie of all 5 to date. (Who’s brilliant idea was THAT? <slap> <slap>)

Meanwhile HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is currently filming with a release date of Nov 2008. Maybe they’ll get a clue from all the recent press and make sure book 6 gets good treatment also. After all, they all make more money the more we go see it, and we’ll want to see it more than once if its done well, right? (Duh…)

Back to watching the first 5 HARRY POTTER DVDs while we wait.

Technorati Tags: Books, DVD, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, MOVIES

So I see you’re still interested in how to determine book values and Part One of Book Pricing didn’t scare you off (or completely bore you…) LOL

So now you want to know where to start in your hunt for how to price your used, collectible and/or rare books.

First things, first, and one of the most important things I’ve found people don’t pay much attention to: asking price is not always selling price or true value. Too many times, I see people selling books offline (brick and mortar stores) that use prices from certain online resources – eBay, Biblio.com, BOOKSAMILLION.COM, Abebooks.com,
Amazon.com, Powell Books and more – that don’t always have a basis in reality, but are based on wishful thinking (or sometimes even typos!) You have to learn how to ‘weigh’ the information, and most times, use more than one source to get as accurate (and realistic) a value you can for your books.

However, as I mentioned before, a book is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and if you find just the right person at the right time, you may get a really high price for a title, but that’s rare and an unreliable way to valuate your books if you’re going to sell on a regular basis. Not to mention, if you have to pay for your listings based on asking price, and they don’t sell, you’ll be wasting a lot of money on listing fees when they don’t sell for those possibly over-inflated prices.

Example: a few years back, A TIME TO KILL by John Grisham was a very hot book, especially when eBay hit its stride, and good, clean copies of the Doubleday 1st printing were selling like hotcakes in the $50-$60 range. (Note: the Doubleday copy ISN’T the true First Edition, even with a full number line of 10987654321, but a First Thus – the first one Doubleday printed – but a lot of selling and buying novices didn’t know that, which helped drive up the prices for a little while.) I had a Canadian buyer who wanted my copy so badly she bid mine up to $102. So other people, using that one sale as an indicator of value, would be sorely disappointed when theirs failed to sell for the same price, especially if it wasn’t in the same or better condition than my copy and there wasn’t another buyer at that time as desperate to get a particular copy.

So exactly how would you decide what price to sell that book or any other for? (Especially if you didn’t understand any of the terminology I used in the example… LOL) In Book Pricing – How to Determine Book Values Part 3, I’ll go through a couple concrete examples so you can see some of our methodology.

Technorati Tags: book pricing, determining book values, first editions, rare books

A question I get asked a lot when people find out we sell used, modern first editions, and rare books on eBay is how we set our book pricing, or, in other words, how do we determine book values for the items we sell (and sometimes buy for our own collection).

Whether you’re going to sell books you own, going to search for books to sell, or just want to insure what you have for its actual value, you need to have some way to figure it out, don’t you?

To answer the question about book pricing, I tell them it’s part art and part science.

With millions and millions of books out there, some valuable and quite a few that aren’t (at least not from a resale or even collecting point of view), you need to have a good working knowledge of authors, titles, and trends before you dive in. There are quite a few online resources you can use to help you determine book values, part of what I call the ’science’ part of the process.

However, no one can teach you to have a feel for future trends – I think it’s one of those innate abilities you either have or don’t have – but you can discover what’s currently hot and use that to figure out what the books you have may be worth and try to apply it to what may become hot.

By the way, note I said ‘may be worth’ – that’s where the art part of determining book values comes in. A book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and finding that person is more than half the battle… Other extremely important book pricing factors include ‘condition, condition, condition,’ with rarity, popularity, topic and presentation coming in right behind. Another deciding factor is just who and how many people are actually looking for that title at THAT moment. In fact, the rarer the book and the more valuable, the more you have to find a way to make sure the right people with enough money see it if you want to actually get top dollar.

Most of that you’d think was common sense, but I see so many books (and other stuff) offered for sale where the seller hasn’t taken any or all of that into consideration (and probably wonders why they can’t seem to make any money selling online!)

So, if I haven’t scared you off yet of wanting to learn how to figure out what your books may be worth, then check out the next entry Book Pricing – How to Determine Book Values Part 2, where I’ll give you info on the online resources available for doing just that.

Technorati Tags: book pricing, determining book values, first editions, rare books