How to Start Your Own Online Book Business: Chapter Five

In previous posts, I've told you where to buy used books, how to list them, grade them, and ship them. And now I'll touch on where to sell your used books. I've already mentioned Amazon.com, the big dog of online book selling. But there are other venues for selling your used books, and which one you choose will depend on the type of books you sell and which site you feel is right for your business. The most popular, though, seem to be Amazon.com, Alibris, AbeBooks, and Half.com.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the best sources of good quality used books is your local library book sale. A great online tool for keeping track of the dates and locations of book sales all over the nation is BookSaleFinder.com. Just click on your state to find all book sales taking place in your immediate area. While you're on the site, enter your email address and the number of miles from your home that you're willing to travel, and BookSaleFinder will alert you when a book sale takes place within your area.

Finally, one of the most important aspects of running a used book business - and I can't stress this enough - is having a system of organizing your inventory. When you receive notice a book has sold, you want to be able to put your hands on it immediately. Fortunately, there are some great software tools for documenting and organizing your inventory of books. BookTrakker Pro offers free support by email seven days a week, and by phone Monday through Saturday during normal business hours. They also offer a 30-day free trial of the product, so that you can try it out and see if it's what you're looking for. Another option is PrimaSoft Book Organizer Deluxe 2.7. PrimaSoft also offers a 30-day free trial. PrimaSoft's Book Organizer is a ZDNet Editor's Pick and received its highest rating.

Selling used books online can be a great home business, especially if you're a book lover and enjoy reading, yourself. After all, with new titles coming and going daily, you'll never be stuck wishing for something to read. And if you sell children's books, neither will your children!

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How to Start Your Own Online Book Business: Chapter One

I currently work as a general transcriptionist online. But before this, I had my own online used book selling business for four-and-a-half years. When I mention to this to people, they are always very curious about how I got into it, what it involves, and what might be the potential income from online used book selling. They also want to know what provoked me to one day suddenly start up an online used book business.

So in response, I thought I would do a series of articles on online book selling, describing how I got into it, the expense involved, the venues available for online book sellers, and some of the tips and tricks I learned in my business. Keep your eye out for future articles on this subject.

But as a start, I'll tell you how I "fell" into online book selling. It was about six-and-a-half years ago. I was looking for something to do from home to make extra money. I had been selling antiques on EBay, done a short stint as a day trader (that's an interesting story), but now was looking for something a little less nerve wracking.

Also, I wanted to combine my interests into a new business. I love books. I love the feel of them, the smell of them. Ever since my mother signed me up for the Weekly Reader Club in kindergarten, I have craved them. I love having a giant stack of books by my bed, just waiting for me. And so one day, when I was browsing Amazon.com and saw a button that said, "Sell Your Copy Now," I clicked on it. And the rest is history.

Obviously, there's a lot more involved than my simply having clicked on a button. And so, in the next week or so, I'll write more about my book selling business and what it involved, for those of you who are interested. In the end, I had a room filled with thousands of books from floor to ceiling. But I was getting older. And the best and worst part about selling used books, whether they're first editions or mass market paperbacks, is that there's a lot of treasure hunting involved. It was fun though. And I'll admit it. I'm still tempted - when I see a great book in the used bin - to buy it. Somebody will want it, I can't help but think. Stay tuned for more...

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