Q&A: Can I resell remainder and overstock books profitably online?

QUESTION: As a new seller, should I try selling remainder books online? Should I contact publishers directly for remainders, or try a wholesaler?

ANSWER: Remainders can be a great sideline to your used-book business, and boost your sales volume. Buying books in quantity is much easier than hand-picking used books -- if you know what you're doing.

I've sold remainders profitably, and I talk about it in detail in my book. Just as with used books, you'll have winners and losers. But it's much easier to make bad mistakes with remainders and get stuck with tons of worthless books.

So this is something I don't recommend for new sellers. Dealing in remainders, hurts and overstock books is much more dangerous than selling unique used books. If you make a long series of disastrous mistakes you can lose a fortune with remainders. By contrast, with secondhand books, you can probably earn a decent profit even if you pick your books while blindfolded.

I've never gone through bookstores to get remainders, I buy them online at places like Book Depot and Kudzu Book Traders. I've listed the top remainder wholesalers at the bottom of this post.

With remainders, it takes a lot of work to find the few available titles that still sell relatively well (check the Amazon Sales Rank) and still command half their retail price. Through wholesalers, you can usually get them for about 20 percent of their original retail price.

In particular, I warn new sellers to avoid purchasing "skids" of remainder assortments. If you don't know the titles you'll be receiving, you'll probably be disappointed when you receive them. Your skid will probably contain fiction bestsellers from a few years ago that are practically worthless for online sellers. Think about it -- if a wholesaler is offering a great deal, they will advertise exactly what they're selling.

Here are the major remainder dealers who sell books in quantity through their Web sites. In cases where I've received shoddy service from a dealer, I've left them off this list -- I won't recommend companies that don't provide good service. Most of these dealers require you to have a state sales tax certificate before you open an account.

A1 Overstock
info@a1overstock.com

American Book Company
bburtner@americanbookco.com

Bargain Books Wholesale
Debbiesmith@bargainbookswholesale.com

Book Depot
rick@bookdepot.com

Book Sales, Inc.
sales@booksalesusa.com

BooksNSave
vasantabhyanker@hotmail.com

Bradley'’s Book Clearance
sales@bradleysbooks.net

Daedalus Books
pnuhn@daedalusbooks.com

East Tennessee Trade Group
larry@rhinosales.com

Fairmount Books, Inc.
psnow@fairmountbooks.com

Great Jones Books
sales@greatjonesbooks.com

J R Trading Company
deb@jrtradingco.com

Kudzu Book Traders
books@kudzubooktraders.com

LRA Books
customerservice@lrabooks.com

Marketing Resource
mavedis@mribargains.com

Maximus Books, LLC
sforsell@maximusbooks.com

Reader's World USA, Ltd.
inquiry@readersworldusa.com

S & L Sales Company, Inc.
jim@slsales.com
wcbbooks.com