Whether you’ve simply decided to get rid of excess books on your shelves or are looking at selling some books to bring in extra cash. Figuring out where to list your items can be tricky. While Amazon has long been a great place for books, thanks to alternatives like Kindle versions. You may be wondering, “Are people still selling books on Amazon?” If that’s the case, here’s what you need to know.
Are People Still Selling Books on Amazon?
In short, yes, people are still selling books on Amazon. Some people using the platform are actually are full-time booksellers, while others do it on occasion for a bit of side cash.
Now, it’s important to note that the Amazon Book Trade-In program is no longer available. This means you can’t sell books to Amazon directly. Instead, you would need to become a third-party seller, using the site as a platform for marketing the books you want to sell.
How to Sell Books on Amazon
If you want to sell books on Amazon, the first thing you need to do is register as an Amazon seller. The process is incredibly straightforward, and most people can get their accounts launched in short order.
Generally, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll be an individual seller or a professional seller. As a basic rule of thumb, if you’re selling less than 40 products per month, you’ll be in the former category. With more than 40 products, you’d go in the latter group.
You’ll also need to figure out how you want to handle fulfillment. Generally speaking, you have two options. You can either sign up for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program or for the Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) option. Each approach has pros and cons, so it’s best to do a little research to pick the right one for you.
Once you have that worked out, you’ll be able to get an idea of what it will cost you to sell items on Amazon. Each program has its own fee structure, though they are usually pretty simple to understand since you know the type of products you’ll be selling.
With those decisions made, you can create listings. If you’re selling a book that’s already for sale on Amazon, this is incredibly easy. You can use the main listing page as a starting point, filling in details about your selling price, the book’s condition, and other important pieces of information.
The FBM Approach to Selling Books on Amazon
If you’re using the FBM approach, once you’re done, your copy appears on that page within about 30 minutes. If you’re using FBA, you’ll get instructions to send your book to Amazon, and the listing will appear once it’s processed by a fulfillment center, which usually takes up to two weeks, though it can be longer during peak seasons.
At that point, you simply wait for your book to sell. If it’s FBM, you’ll mail it out when a person purchases it. If your FBA, Amazon will handle that part for you. When all is said and done, you’ll have money in your seller account that’ll get disbursed based on Amazon’s set schedule, which usually happens once every one to two weeks.
Have you recently sold any books on Amazon? If so, do you think it’s a smart way to make some money? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.