I sold 628 books for a total of $21,467 gross (excluding shipping, which is more or less a wash for me) merchant fulfilled on Amazon. $17,019 (79.25%) net before COGS and all expenses. Not really feeding the beast much this year as I was focusing on my brick and mortar spaces (my own store and a spaces in a few vintage vendor malls/stores). Just started on Ebay the very last week of December and it's going great--I think it's a much better platform for a lot of books when you're willing to put in some minimal effort with photos and descriptions and shipping (which I do anyway and enjoy). Spent a lot of the year culling off old inventory and only have around 500 listings now. Thanks for showing me the way on Ebay and motivating me to jump in after much procrastination through your videos!
Last year is when I got 'more' into books. 349 book sales (few lots) $14,159. Free ship and avg COG ~$1.50. Only in "books" categories. Not including automobile manuals, video game guides, and a few others that are not listed in books categories. I refuse to sell on AZ again. Granted COG is ~$1.50 per sale. Keep in mind all the duds that get lotted and sold for pennies, or just flatout get tossed.
Thanks for sharing your numbers with us. Interesting how close our numbers are. I was just a little behind you in sales, net (about $600 less), and quantity. My Average sales price was $32. Best of luck in 2024!
How many books are in your inventory in order to reach your approx. 2/day selling rate? You mention scalability, but size of inventory will be a limiting factor for a lot of people
Congrats on those numbers Shane. Could you clarify how much time you spend on your side hustle? Is it comparable to 1 or 2 days a week? Because that’s also a variable to determine the scalability! Cheers from Belgium 🖤
I probably average 5-6 hours per week including source time. Although that is the time I don’t really view as “work”- haha. I need to get to Belgium! Cheers! Have a Gulden Draak for me!
Hi Shane - What would the difference have been, do you think, if you had only sold all those books on eBay instead of splitting between Amazon and eBay? I'm also trying to be more selective, but that means I coming up empty from a lot of sources. I constantly am running a time meter in my head - is the time worth it? All the driving around, trips to post office, researching, descriptions and pictures... I shoot for selling books over $20, but often find I need to price lower after research. But, yeah, it's a hobby that pays for itself and more, and it's fun when someone gets a book they have been really wanting.
Before this year I would say I would make more with the split. But with my ASP I think it was a wash on profit. That said, I like doing the FBA so once I send things in AMZN handles everything. Makes my packs king and shipping time more manageable. That is mainly why I do FBA on Amazon.
Thank you Shane. I really enjoy your videos. Iam new to eBay, and trying to find a few niches to sell. I love books! My question is about pricing. I’ve listened to at least one about pricing, and your are very direct about the “complexities” - sometimes you just have to guesstimate, and hope for the best. So, I have a Harry Potter July 2000 First American Edition with dust jacket in good shape. (The spine is a little loose, but there is absolutely no writing in it.) Do I price it high, and revisit it - $400. Or price it “low”- $150.
Thanks for the channel support! If you have good comps on your book at $400, it doesn't hurt to list there. Turn best offers on and see if you get a any bites. You can always reduce price. If you list at $150 and it sells immediately, you might feel like you priced too low. I would start at the higher end, best offer on, and revisit it with price reduction. Good luck!
Hi Shane. As always your videos are always educational. Beside here, where can I get in touch with you? I'm interested in the pocket size vintage sleaze pulp books.
@@turntablesrockmyworld9315 hours spent sourcing? I would say around 30-35 hours per week. Thats just sourcing.. I spend alot of time packing and shipping and listing as well.
I have a few hundred $ per year on labels, ink etc. Boxes cost but I try to factor that into my shipping charge so it is a wash. Obviously gas for the car, etc. and taxes of course.
Hello, I’m so glad I found your channel, I’m new to selling books, I started small on Pango, I have sold a couple of books for good money, I’m still learning, I have a book that is almost 100 years old with a signature from a local “celebrity” or important person, there’s a college stadium and some other things named after her, her family is very famous in the area, I just don’t know how to price it, has been in my possession for at least 13 years, I think its time to let it go, any advice on this topic would be much appreciated, I couldn’t find any information or videos about this, now, I didn’t mention that she isn’t the author of the book, is just a random book that she signed and dated in 1925, may be just to show that it belonged to her. Any comments, videos would be much appreciated, thank you!!!
Sounds like an interesting book! They can be hard to price. I would look for anything else that is signed by her and see if you get any idea/comps. If you have nothing, just price as fixed price item for what you would want for it. Turn best offer on too. That way if it sells, you are happy with price and if it is over priced but has interest, then someone can make an offer and you can decide. Good luck!
I have heard some folks try an independent website. Some have success on Facebook marketplace. It is tough to compete without the visibility and traffic on the big platforms.
Probably 5-6 hours per week average. I have my day job of course. That said- my sourcing time is kind of down time for me. I’m fortunate to have very good sourcing with 10 mins of home though.
@@curatorofthelosthey there, this isn’t clear to me. Is that 5-6 hours for processing and additional hours to source? Thanks so much for this info, I am considering doing this!
@@curatorofthelost do you regularly calculate sell-through rate on a book in addition to looking at profits on scoutIQ? It seems like it might be harder to do that since these are rare/weird books.
I sold 628 books for a total of $21,467 gross (excluding shipping, which is more or less a wash for me) merchant fulfilled on Amazon. $17,019 (79.25%) net before COGS and all expenses. Not really feeding the beast much this year as I was focusing on my brick and mortar spaces (my own store and a spaces in a few vintage vendor malls/stores). Just started on Ebay the very last week of December and it's going great--I think it's a much better platform for a lot of books when you're willing to put in some minimal effort with photos and descriptions and shipping (which I do anyway and enjoy). Spent a lot of the year culling off old inventory and only have around 500 listings now. Thanks for showing me the way on Ebay and motivating me to jump in after much procrastination through your videos!
I’m down to about 500 listings right now. Hope to push things a bit in the next month. Thanks for the feedback and congrats on the eBay front!!!
Last year is when I got 'more' into books. 349 book sales (few lots) $14,159. Free ship and avg COG ~$1.50. Only in "books" categories. Not including automobile manuals, video game guides, and a few others that are not listed in books categories. I refuse to sell on AZ again.
Granted COG is ~$1.50 per sale. Keep in mind all the duds that get lotted and sold for pennies, or just flatout get tossed.
Thanks for sharing your numbers with us. Interesting how close our numbers are. I was just a little behind you in sales, net (about $600 less), and quantity. My Average sales price was $32. Best of luck in 2024!
Nice! Best wishes for an awesome 2024!
Similar numbers for me part time in retirement...selling books postcards print ads ..great for beer money!
I like the way you think!
I love the fact that your bookcase shows how much of a passion books are to you ☺️
Good job, Shane ! Keep plugging !
Thank you for the numbers that was very informative. I am looking to sell more books so this has helped me a lot hearing the profit margins. Thnk you!
Congratulations, Shane!
This was very helpful! Thanks Shane!
How many books are in your inventory in order to reach your approx. 2/day selling rate? You mention scalability, but size of inventory will be a limiting factor for a lot of people
Congrats on those numbers Shane. Could you clarify how much time you spend on your side hustle? Is it comparable to 1 or 2 days a week? Because that’s also a variable to determine the scalability! Cheers from Belgium 🖤
I probably average 5-6 hours per week including source time. Although that is the time I don’t really view as “work”- haha.
I need to get to Belgium! Cheers! Have a Gulden Draak for me!
thanks a lot! You're always welcome to pass by should you ever get the chance!
@@curatorofthelost
Hi Shane - What would the difference have been, do you think, if you had only sold all those books on eBay instead of splitting between Amazon and eBay? I'm also trying to be more selective, but that means I coming up empty from a lot of sources. I constantly am running a time meter in my head - is the time worth it? All the driving around, trips to post office, researching, descriptions and pictures... I shoot for selling books over $20, but often find I need to price lower after research. But, yeah, it's a hobby that pays for itself and more, and it's fun when someone gets a book they have been really wanting.
Before this year I would say I would make more with the split. But with my ASP I think it was a wash on profit. That said, I like doing the FBA so once I send things in AMZN handles everything. Makes my packs king and shipping time more manageable. That is mainly why I do FBA on Amazon.
Thank you Shane. I really enjoy your videos. Iam new to eBay, and trying to find a few niches to sell. I love books! My question is about pricing. I’ve listened to at least one about pricing, and your are very direct about the “complexities” - sometimes you just have to guesstimate, and hope for the best. So, I have a Harry Potter July 2000 First American Edition with dust jacket in good shape. (The spine is a little loose, but there is absolutely no writing in it.) Do I price it high, and revisit it - $400. Or price it “low”- $150.
Thanks for the channel support! If you have good comps on your book at $400, it doesn't hurt to list there. Turn best offers on and see if you get a any bites. You can always reduce price. If you list at $150 and it sells immediately, you might feel like you priced too low. I would start at the higher end, best offer on, and revisit it with price reduction. Good luck!
Thanks so much! @@curatorofthelost
Congrats Shane! Great numbers!!!
Hi Shane. As always your videos are always educational. Beside here, where can I get in touch with you? I'm interested in the pocket size vintage sleaze pulp books.
Shoot me an email at curatorofthelost@gmail.com
I'm full time and sell only on ebay, My gross sales including the taxes ebay charges buyers that gets added to my total was $51,468.
$70 average sale price
Woot! Now that is an awesome ASP!!!!
@@curatorofthelost My area has alot of amazing books and media! Connecticut.
@@Mr-Divine Thanks for info. When you say "full-time" what do you think your weekly numbers of hours spent on this is on average?
@@turntablesrockmyworld9315 hours spent sourcing? I would say around 30-35 hours per week. Thats just sourcing.. I spend alot of time packing and shipping and listing as well.
What about your other expenses? Supplies, etc.
I have a few hundred $ per year on labels, ink etc. Boxes cost but I try to factor that into my shipping charge so it is a wash.
Obviously gas for the car, etc. and taxes of course.
Hello, I’m so glad I found your channel, I’m new to selling books, I started small on Pango, I have sold a couple of books for good money, I’m still learning, I have a book that is almost 100 years old with a signature from a local “celebrity” or important person, there’s a college stadium and some other things named after her, her family is very famous in the area, I just don’t know how to price it, has been in my possession for at least 13 years, I think its time to let it go, any advice on this topic would be much appreciated, I couldn’t find any information or videos about this, now, I didn’t mention that she isn’t the author of the book, is just a random book that she signed and dated in 1925, may be just to show that it belonged to her. Any comments, videos would be much appreciated, thank you!!!
Sounds like an interesting book! They can be hard to price. I would look for anything else that is signed by her and see if you get any idea/comps. If you have nothing, just price as fixed price item for what you would want for it. Turn best offer on too. That way if it sells, you are happy with price and if it is over priced but has interest, then someone can make an offer and you can decide. Good luck!
Is there anyway to do this without Amazon/eBay and having to pay their cut or is that a necessary evil?
I have heard some folks try an independent website. Some have success on Facebook marketplace. It is tough to compete without the visibility and traffic on the big platforms.
I sell on eBay as an individual, not a business. My commission averages 15%
How many total hours for that much income? Like everyone else struggling to live, we already have full time jobs.
Probably 5-6 hours per week average. I have my day job of course. That said- my sourcing time is kind of down time for me. I’m fortunate to have very good sourcing with 10 mins of home though.
@@curatorofthelosthey there, this isn’t clear to me. Is that 5-6 hours for processing and additional hours to source? Thanks so much for this info, I am considering doing this!
That is 5-6 hours total. For me it just depends on how much I source. My stores are very convenient though- about is easy to stop by.
@@curatorofthelost thanks! Happy treasure-hunting!
@@curatorofthelost do you regularly calculate sell-through rate on a book in addition to looking at profits on scoutIQ? It seems like it might be harder to do that since these are rare/weird books.