Selling books on Amazon is a fantastic way to generate income and even establish a sustainable business. Whether you're reselling used books, selling textbooks, or offering new books, Amazon provides a huge marketplace with global reach. Best of all, you don't need a large investment to begin — starting with your old books can be an excellent way to get started without upfront costs.
Read more:
How to Register as an Amazon Seller: A Detailed Step-by-Step Guide
How to Sell on Amazon: A Complete Guide 2024
How to Sell Books on Amazon: Getting Started
Before you begin selling, you'll need to set up an Amazon Seller Central account. Afterward, decide how you want to fulfill your orders: via Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). FBA allows Amazon to handle storage, packing, and shipping, while FBM means you handle the fulfillment directly.
Finding Books to Sell
You may have old books lying around that are perfect for resale, or you might want to source books from external places. Here are six great ways to find books to sell on Amazon:
Sell Your Own Books
The easiest starting point is selling books you already own. Look for textbooks, rare topics, niche genres, or nonfiction books. Fiction tends to lose its resale value more quickly, so prioritize books that can hold their worth over time.
Book and Library Sales
Local library sales are goldmines for finding discounted books. Bring a scanner and an app to assess potential profits quickly. These sales are held frequently, so keep an eye out.
Online Arbitrage
You don't always need to go out. Find books at lower prices on websites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Barnes & Noble and list them on Amazon for a higher price. Make sure you're not violating any policies about selling new books without proper distribution channels.
Bulk Purchase or Wholesale
You can buy used books in bulk from online sources like eBay or Craigslist, often for significantly lower prices. Just be careful when purchasing large lots; sometimes, books may not meet Amazon's reselling criteria.
Estate and Closing Sales
Estate and moving sales often feature large collections of books. You can sometimes buy these books for very low prices, allowing you to resell them at a profit.
Free Books
Keep an eye on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for free books. These are often being given away for various reasons, but be cautious, as some may not be profitable.
What Kinds of Books Sell Best on Amazon?
To maximize your profits, you need to choose books that are likely to sell quickly. Here's a list of books that tend to do well on Amazon:
- Niche Books: Titles with a low print run, such as specialized or collectible books, often sell well due to their rarity.
- Comic Books: Both single issues and graphic novels, especially rare ones, are great options.
- Collectibles: First editions, signed books, and rare collectible editions are highly sought after on Amazon.
- Non-Fiction: These books tend to hold their value better than fiction, especially textbooks and reference books.
- Hardcover Books: These usually sell for more than paperbacks and retain their value longer.
How to Sell Textbooks on Amazon
1. Choosing the Right Textbooks to Sell
Textbooks in High Demand: Textbooks are often in high demand, particularly during back-to-school periods. These include:
- Current editions: These are always in demand, as students need the most recent materials.
- Core textbooks for popular subjects: Books for subjects like mathematics, engineering, medical fields, and law typically maintain good resale value.
- Niche textbooks: Textbooks in specialized areas (e.g., rare languages, highly specialized technical fields) can be more profitable as they tend to be less available.
Books to Avoid:
- Mass-produced fiction: These books lose their value quickly, especially in paperback format, and tend to have a lower resale value on Amazon.
- Children’s Books: These often have lower resale value due to their frequent reprints and high availability.
- Popular new books: Bestselling books from major publishers are often priced low for quick sales, and Amazon itself frequently sells them at discounted prices, leaving little room for profit.
2. Understand Amazon's "Brand Gating" Policies
Certain textbooks, especially those from well-known publishers, may have "brand gating," meaning Amazon restricts third-party sellers from listing them. This is a common issue with popular textbooks. Here's how to avoid problems:
- Check for Authorization: Ensure that you are authorized to sell specific textbooks. Some publishers require you to be a registered or approved seller before you can list their textbooks.
- Research Before Listing: If you're unsure, use Amazon's "Seller Central" to check if a specific textbook is gated. You can also apply for approval to sell restricted books through Amazon’s Brand Registry program if you meet certain criteria.
How to Estimate Your Sales and Profit
Before investing in textbooks, it's essential to evaluate their potential for profitability. Here's how to assess whether a textbook is worth reselling:
Best Seller Rank (BSR):
- Amazon assigns a Best Seller Rank (BSR) to every product, including books. A lower BSR (e.g., under 100,000) means that the book is selling well. Books with BSRs below 100,000 tend to be good investment choices as they sell frequently.
Tip: Focus on textbooks with a BSR under 100,000 but above 1,000,000. Books with higher ranks often indicate lower sales potential, which may not justify the investment.
Using Tools:
- Jungle Scout: This tool provides sales data and helps you track the demand for specific textbooks. It gives you an estimate of monthly sales, profits, and competition for any book.
- Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator: This is a free tool provided by Amazon to help you calculate your potential profit after factoring in Amazon's fees, storage, and shipping costs.
- ScoutIQ and Scoutify: These are mobile apps that allow you to scan book barcodes to estimate potential profits instantly by comparing the prices of similar books sold on Amazon.
Important Metrics to Track:
- Sales Price: The higher the book’s price, the more profit you can make, but this is balanced by competition and availability.
- Condition: Ensure that the textbooks are in good condition. Used textbooks in excellent or like-new condition are preferable. Books with highlighted text or marks will generally sell for lower prices.
Maximizing Profits with Amazon FBA
Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program can simplify the selling process by handling storage, packing, and shipping for you. This is particularly useful for textbooks, as it allows you to focus on sourcing while Amazon takes care of logistics.
- Why Use FBA: FBA textbooks are eligible for Prime shipping, which increases their visibility and desirability among Amazon customers.
Tip: Consider enrolling in FBA for your textbooks, as Prime eligibility often leads to higher sales.
Pricing Strategy for Textbooks
When pricing textbooks for Amazon, here are a few key strategies:
- Research Competitor Pricing: Check prices for similar textbooks in the same condition. Price yours competitively but consider offering a slightly lower price to stand out.
- Avoid Underpricing: While competitive pricing is important, avoid underpricing significantly. Textbooks are generally priced higher due to their educational value, and dropping the price too low might signal poor quality or undervalue your offering.
Optimize Your Listings
When listing textbooks on Amazon, be sure to include:
- Detailed Descriptions: Highlight key features, such as edition, publication year, and condition. Use clear and accurate language to appeal to potential buyers.
- Keywords: Use keywords that students are likely to search for (e.g., "economics textbook", "medical anatomy book"). This will improve your visibility in search results.
