Q&A: How can I use Amazon's 'Buyer's Waiting' list for scouting used books?

Question: Does your book "The Home-Based Bookstore" explain how to use the Amazon "Buyers Waiting" list while book scouting? Is the list just something to review or do I want to have it printed out and available when I go scouting?

Answer:
Well, the thing about Amazon's buyer's waiting list is that it would be really hard to find the specific books. I think the odds are just too high that you would stumble onto one of the books listed on there right after scanning the list. I think the most useful thing about it is that it shows you a crash course in what types of books are in demand. Books priced higher on the list will be truly rare, those at lower prices may be only scarce, but demand has outstripped supply.

So how useful is the list while you're actually scouting used books at a sale? Not much, the odds are high, precisely because the books on the list are scarce.

However, you can use Amazon's buyer's waiting list in the opposite direction: Say you find a book that looks rare, you can't find any listed online. Say you can buy it for $10, but you don't want to fork over the $10 unless you're sure you can sell it. If it's on the buyer's waiting list (say there's a pending order for $50), then you've got it made. The easiest way to find out if there's a pending order for a book is to click on the "sell yours here" link on Amazon, list your copy as "very good," and then on the next screen you'll see a message "Average pending pre-order price: $XX."

Say you find a book on the list, what price should you list it at? Selling it at auction on eBay may leave some of your money on the table. Sometimes you can make more by letting a book sit on Amazon for six months. Then if it doesn't sell, then you could try eBay with a reserve price of $20, say.

That reminds me of one of my best book finds ever. I was at a library sale in a rural area. In the back of the room under a table, there was a box of about 15 dog books. The whole box was priced at $5. I figured most of the books in there were junk, but I'd take the chance. The book that turned out to be a winner was about how to breed dogs to get a certain coat color, I can't remember the title. The book was about 20 or 30 years old. So I went to list it on Amazon and I saw there was a pending order for about $100. I priced it at $250 and it sold in two weeks. Woo hoo!

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