posted on June 17, 2001 05:26:38 AM
I sell most of my books on Half.Com. If they are collectibles, I will sell them on eBay. I find that nonfiction in general will sell better than fiction. The books I have that sell best are history, biography, how-to, New Age, and textbooks (but only on the more obscure subjects rather than, say, Elementary Algebra).
Overall I find it a total waste to try to sell fiction. The other day I picked up "A Man In Full" by Tom Wolfe in mint condition. Since this was a bestseller I thought I could get a good price for it. When I checked on Half.com the price was so low I didn't even bother listing it. No big deal. I was planning to read that book anyway so I will read it instead of selling it.
Anyway, what types of non-collectible books do you have the most success in selling? Are there ANY types of fiction books that sell well?
posted on June 17, 2001 06:24:43 AM
It all depends. I just got done selling a series of books on eBay... I got much more selling on ebay than I could have gotten on Half.com. One book that is going for $1.25 on half, I got $2.25 at auction (book had some damage)... Another that is going for $5.50 on half I got $11.50 on ebay (which is more than you can get this book new!)
So I haven't done bad auctioning books on ebay - these are regular fiction books, but it is a very popular series...
posted on June 17, 2001 06:50:11 AM
I got a great deal on several hundred books at an estate sale (both hard and paperback) consisting of almost every fiction genre.
Here is what I found...
mysteries...70% sell thru, especially on folks like Grafton, Grisham, and Burke.
sci-fi/fantasy...pbacks sell, hbacks sit!
romance & western...ho hum.
general..."current" best-sellers, signed editions, and prize winning authors (pulitzer, etc.) go well.
gay/lesbian...had quite a few of these in the lot, and thus far, the sell thru is at about 98%.
posted on June 17, 2001 06:50:43 AM
Vintage out of print paperbacks, 1940's through the 1970's. You might be surprised at what some of these may bring.
I got $30 something dollars for a 1960's paperback on surfing, which had all the hot young surfers of the day in it.
Anything having to do with Hippie and Beat Generation culture can be good (everything old becomes new again). I saw one of those Reefer Madness type scare tactics books (smoke a reefer, go insane) from the late 40's bringing over $100 once and it was in rough shape.
Pulp fiction can be worth messing with, especially if it has good cover art (sexual innuendo).
posted on June 17, 2001 07:58:41 AM
Childrens' ex library sometimes can go high~ my friend sells only that and he makes a decent amount . Some can sell as high as $ 40 ~ $ 60.00 U.S. Hardcover with d/j
Other children books ~ again anything that would have been a big hit in the 1960's generation hard cover with d/j .
Witch children's books even ex library.
Here are some names:
Pierre probst ~ very high
Anne of Green Gables ( early editions like 1900's )
Labyrinth story book~ soft cover
anything with Gorey pics
Danny Orlis books ( religious ) paperbacks
some easy readers ~ Arty the Smarty (fish)
Barney Beagle
Some romance books even paperback can sell~ such as Georgette Heyer and Jean Plaidy
and of course Nora roberts ~ just sold some of her oop papperbacks and some went just under $ 20.00!
NIce Thread~ will have to rethink some of what I sell
posted on June 17, 2001 09:05:26 AM
I am starting to notice that some types of history that went a year or two back no longer seem to sell well. I'm speaking of Civil War. Old West is similar. I'm getting out of the book biz ASAP. I have two first ed. CW titles up for auction now and at well
below book value and no bidders on a 10 day auction close to the end. These are not that common a title, either. I have been picking up some stuff for my own library, at prices that could be termed a steal, in history. It must be half.com that's driving this down, or some other factor. If I wasn't buying at rock bottom I couldn't afford to be selling at what I'm selling for, but even then I see the handwriting on the wall.
posted on June 17, 2001 09:26:07 AM
Anything & everything sells. I have sold books on flower arranging, cooking, ninjas, WWII, dogs, squash rackets, farm machinery, anatomy, airplane construction, u-boats, make-up, records, horse race betting, thoroughbred breeding, mathematics, astrology, fencing (with swords), building bird houses, gold mines of San Bernardino, famous preachers, herbs & spices, the Russian Revolution, civil engineering, hookbills, flowers, trout fishing, sign painting, scuba diving, manners, the American Revolution, Geronimo, military medicine, famous artists, steel, early readers, poetry, science fiction & fantasy, horror novels, dog stories, the Rotary Club, the Masons, the Boy Scouts ...etc. etc. etc.
posted on June 17, 2001 01:18:49 PM
I agree with bunnicula. I found just about every book eventually sells. Although, I don't sell fiction, unless it is science fiction.
If mine don't sell the first time around, I relist them (sometimes not immediately), and they sell. Never had a book not sell.
Maybe I didn't make what I wanted out of the book, but my starting bid always is enough of a profit to satisfy me.
edited to fix ubb
[ edited by brie49 on Jun 17, 2001 01:19 PM ]
posted on June 17, 2001 03:11:33 PM
I think old bestsellers are too easy for EVERYONE to find, that's why they don't sell well. I'm with you, I like nonfiction the best but I'll sell fiction too if it's fiction that is "keyword-able". I think the trick is to put keywords in that people are searching for.
It was a surprise to me to hear that Civil War stuff isn't selling well. I thought those were 2 of the best keywords a seller could hope for, but then again it's not my forte and I don't sell a lot of that stuff. (Has a militaria speciatly site surfaced yet where all the bidders have defected to?)
On an unrelated note, have any of you sellers checked out the bookseller's co-op yet? it's at http://www.tomfolio.com .
I started a separate thread about it in the forum for "other online auctions" so as not to veer this ebay-related thread off-topic.
posted on June 17, 2001 04:04:13 PM
I did well selling some textbooks. I am currently taking an Anthropology class and had to pay $80 for a USED paperback textbook from the college bookstore. I would have preferred ebay or even half.com.
