The economics of selling a paperback book online
 

So, as I've mentioned before and as I'm sure everybody has been losing sleep over, I have a bunch of books that I'm trying to get rid of. A lot of what I have is not worth a lot in terms of what it can be sold for online. But I did manage to pull a dozen or so items that are obviously worth my while if they sell. The goal is to get rid of them, but also to bring in some cash, so I'm gritting my teeth at some things. (I sold a book on Mayan history for $3. Now, why the hell would people sell a hardback for $3-$4 when the paperback is selling for $10-$12?? But of course if I had listed for $10 it wouldn't have sold, at least not as long as other people were undercutting it.)

Anyways, the lowest organism on the food chain here is the mass market paperback book. The vast majority of these are being sold on half.com for $0.75. My question is, at that price, is it worthwhile to sell? Half.com will take a 15% commission, leaving me with $0.63, plus a shipping allowance of $2.40 for a paperback book. For one pound or less media mail is $1.59. This leaves us with a net $1.44 after paying for postage.

That's not horrible, but you can't just drop the book in a mailbox. You also have to package it in some reasonable way. So what's the cheapest acceptable shipping envelope? Staples brand bubble mailers run about $1 each or so in small quantities, which wipes out a LOT of profit. Can I do better than that somewhere else? Do I really want to buy a bunch of envelopes in bulk to do this?

(For that matter is there any better place to sell? Amazon marketplace charges $0.99 per transaction plus a percentage unless you subscribe to their selling service, plus a $2.49 shipping allowance--how are people making any money selling stuff for $0.01 there?? Ebay is not attractive for this purpose. abebooks.com takes only an 8% commission, but wants $25 per month, which I guess is quite reasonable for somebody operating a used bookstore, but isn't helpful for somebody like me who just has 3 or 4 boxes of books he wants to move.)

I donated mine to the local library and wrote them off at their original cost. The time and hassle I avoided was worth it.

Our local library is currently turning away donations because they have more than they can handle. And none of the local used bookstores are buying.

I've been thinking about getting rid of a mess of paperbacks but I wonder if maybe we should just list books we have and trade them on the cellar.

Here if library dosen't want them, trash truck runs on Wensday. I feel the pain also about what I think are a good read. I have books about electronics and pipe design that I paid big money for. I'll never use again, but would be glad to give to someone who might use them.

I just can't bring myself to throw out an actual book. I wouldn't mind giving them away somewhere.

You may find an answer to your problem in this book. I do not think you'll like the answer, though.

this brings up a big past time of mine keeping old books i will proably never read i have a 13 foot high bookshelf full of books with about 4 feet of books stacked up in front of it i just can't bring myself to throw them away
i keep all books in the hope of being able to give them away to one of my friends or relatives


but back on topic
here are a few ideas
1. wallpaper
2. toilet paper
3. rolling papers
4. cheap winter heating
5. throw them at unruly neighbors (think what war and peace could do to that son of a bitch across the way)
6. are you short you could tie them to your shoes (once again with war and peace you could be fit to play in the nba)
7. help local bums with there winter heating
or my favorite
8. wave them in front of children to poor to buy there own books
(thus making you feel rich and powerful)

Steve, you can actually get boxes from the usps for free. Go to their website, and you can "order" priority mail boxes at no cost (any size to boot). Just cut a few slits, turn them inside out, re-tape, and you have a plain ol cardboard box to send stuff in. I get stuff off ebay like that all the time.
The only warning is that once you have "ordered" stuff from the usps, you won't stop getting new shipments (including stuff you didn't even ask for). You gotta look under the business section of the website.
Here's a link:
http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/po.../Priority+Mail

Why don't we just trade books or what ever here ? If I list my books that someone might like, you pay postage and shit they belong to you? Huh?

You can go to the post office and just take the priority mail boxes. They usually have them near the counter. That way you end up with as many as you need. The size that are best for books are not preassembled ... a little not-so-creative folding and you're good to go.

Any hospitals near you? Sometimes they'll take donated books. Another good choice for orphaned books is bookcrossing.com which is sort of a Where's George for books.

A friend of mine who regularly uses public transit sometimes acts as my book mule, bringing and replacing books from the free to a good home pile at the Paoli Train Station.

You practically gave away a book on MAYAN HISTORY and didn't tell me???! :bawling: I have a huge library of Mesoamerican art and history/mythology books, why didn't you let me know? Are you hoarding anything else like that?

I have a huge number of empty boxes, perhaps we should list our boxes here on the Cellar so we can trade appropriately-sized ones.

Point taken. Maybe I should just keep boxes of paperbacks by the fireplace.