Not to be a mouthpiece for a giant corporation but selling books on Amazon.com is THE easiest thing ever. I have made $50 in the past 3 days selling books that were collecting dust. Even after Amazon’s hefty cut, it’s still worth it – provided you are selling the books for more than $5.
To give an idea of how much you can make:
Item: The New Moosewood Cookbook
Condition: Used – Like New
Buyer’s Price: $7.00
Shipping: $3.99
Amazon Commission: $-3.39 (variable)
Your Earnings: $7.60
From that $7.60 you need to ship, which costs about $2.58. So I made $5. Not much but it adds up. And if you sell a bunch then it merits the schlep to the post office.
I just found a short list of hotselling used books by this online selling ‘expert’ (http://www.skipmcgrath.com/products/sell-used-books-ebay-amazon.php) :
Art & photography
Transportation – Cars, motorcycles, aircraft, trains, boats, etc.
History books on almost any subject
How To books
Cookbooks
Children’s books
Medical and legal books
Certain textbooks
Old books on physics, science, math and biology
Illustrated books
Sports
I am on a major selling tear. While I am happy to donate things, I feel that selling a used book keeps people from buying new ones. Good for me, good for them, good for the environment.
I’ve now sold stuff on ebay.com, Amazon and craigslist. I found that the listing process for ebay is much more cumbersome and involved than Amazon’s. Craigslist is awesome: easy breezy and it somehow feels nice to buy from neighbors. Whatever doesn’t sell will find its way to Goodwill, Cradles to Crayons (Boston area) or freecycle.com.
