For used booksellers, Amazon Marketplace is tough to beat
Auction marketplaces like eBay captured most of the early online bookselling volume during the 1990s. But much of the buying has migrated to fixed-price platforms, and today the real action is on Amazon Marketplace.
Auctions can be fun for higher-priced items. But when it comes down to it, most book buyers would rather just buy the book and be done with it. Some booksellers still prefer auctions for truly unusual, rare books, hoping that a bidding war will erupt. But a growing number of sellers are opting to park nearly all their books on a fixed-price marketplace like Amazon and wait for the buyer to come along at your price.
A well greased marketplace like Amazon works as a reverse auction. Instead of buyers competing to offer the highest price, sellers compete to offer the lowest price.
Amazon Marketplace.
Amazon is the 800-lb. gorilla of online bookselling, with tens of millions of preregistered buyers. In May 2005, the site had 41 million visitors compared to 35.5 million a year earlier. Amazon sellers have access to the world’s biggest online book bazaar at no cost until after the sale, where a commission is due to Amazon.
The biggest advantage for Amazon sellers is that used merchandise is displayed right alongside Amazon’s new items. So buyers looking for a new books discover the used and collectible items at the same time. In just a few years, this has added millions of buyers to used-book trading.
If you are just getting into online bookselling, learn the business while working exclusively on Amazon. Most books will sell faster and at higher prices on Amazon than anywhere else on the Internet. Later, you can decide if it’s worth it to increase sales a bit by listing your inventory on more venues. Before listing on more sites, you’ll need a system for keeping your inventory current to prevent multiple customers from buying the same book on different sites.
New in paperback: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site (by Steve Weber)
Auctions can be fun for higher-priced items. But when it comes down to it, most book buyers would rather just buy the book and be done with it. Some booksellers still prefer auctions for truly unusual, rare books, hoping that a bidding war will erupt. But a growing number of sellers are opting to park nearly all their books on a fixed-price marketplace like Amazon and wait for the buyer to come along at your price.
A well greased marketplace like Amazon works as a reverse auction. Instead of buyers competing to offer the highest price, sellers compete to offer the lowest price.
Amazon Marketplace.
Amazon is the 800-lb. gorilla of online bookselling, with tens of millions of preregistered buyers. In May 2005, the site had 41 million visitors compared to 35.5 million a year earlier. Amazon sellers have access to the world’s biggest online book bazaar at no cost until after the sale, where a commission is due to Amazon.
The biggest advantage for Amazon sellers is that used merchandise is displayed right alongside Amazon’s new items. So buyers looking for a new books discover the used and collectible items at the same time. In just a few years, this has added millions of buyers to used-book trading.
If you are just getting into online bookselling, learn the business while working exclusively on Amazon. Most books will sell faster and at higher prices on Amazon than anywhere else on the Internet. Later, you can decide if it’s worth it to increase sales a bit by listing your inventory on more venues. Before listing on more sites, you’ll need a system for keeping your inventory current to prevent multiple customers from buying the same book on different sites.
New in paperback: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site (by Steve Weber)
posted by Steve Weber at 10/27/2005
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