How to Sell Books on Amazon: Complete Guide for 2023

Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly

Product Research, Product Selection, Selling on Amazon, Sourcing, Uncategorized

611 Comments

Selling books on Amazon is a fantastic way to make some cash — and even to start building an Amazon business. 

The best part is, you don’t need a lot of money to start. In fact, you can get started for free by selling your old books that are collecting dust.

While this article is geared more towards those who want to make money reselling used books on Amazon, this is also great for authors or those looking to sell new books on Amazon.

Before you start learning how to sell books on Amazon, make sure you have your Amazon Seller Central account created and choose how you’ll want to fulfill your orders — either FBA or FBM (or both!)

Here’s what you’ll learn:

How do you find books to sell on Amazon?

A great place to start selling books on Amazon is by selling old books that are already in your possession — but that will only get you so far as eventually you’ll sell out, or, the books you have are not good for resale.  

And if you’re wondering, yes, reselling used books (and other products on Amazon) is perfectly legal and okay to do so on Amazon. Though keep in mind that your account may be restricted in selling certain publications or authors — we’ll go over this more in the “How to sell books on Amazon” section below. 

The best part about selling used books on Amazon is that you can typically source them for pennies on the dollar. Especially when you find something like a textbook for $1 at a library sale that sells for $50+ used on Amazon. 

Here are six of the most popular methods for finding used books to resell on Amazon.

1. Sell your own books

This one is probably the simplest way to find books to sell and it’s how many sellers get started. Look around your house and see if you have some old books collecting dust.

Consider textbooks, rare topics, niche topics such as old comic books, or other non-fiction books. Mass-produced fiction books tend to lose their value faster than non-fiction books so they’re typically not worth selling on Amazon.  

2. Book/library sales

Book sales can be kind of like hunting for treasure. Plus, there’s always a book sale going on somewhere, especially at libraries.

Head to these sales with a book scanner and look for some picks that would be good to list on Amazon. By using a bluetooth scanner along with a book scanning app, you’ll be able to find profitable books much faster than the competition at these sales.

Scanning apps help you figure out your potential profit on Amazon after product costs and Amazon fees. 

Need help finding local book sales? Check out booksalefinder.com.

READ MORE | Best Amazon Scanner App for Retail Arbitrage Sellers in 2023

3. Online arbitrage

Don’t feel like going out? Some sellers look on websites other than Amazon for books with prices lower than what you could sell the same book for on Amazon. This is called ‘online arbitrage.’

All you do is purchase the book from the one website for a low price, wait for it to arrive, and then list it on Amazon for a higher price. You can find used books for sale on sites such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Barnes & Noble, and many others. 

Note: We don’t suggest reselling new books on Amazon without having a legitimate source such as a publisher or distributor. We’ll go over more of that later in the article. 

4. Bulk purchase/wholesale

You can often buy entire lots of books online for super low prices. You can buy full lots or even truckloads of used books on eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook listed at low rates. If you go this route, make sure you’re buying books that have not been sorted or scanned. If so, you could be buying another Amazon sellers ‘duds’ that are not profitable for Amazon.

5. Estate/closing sales

Estate sales, closing sales, and moving sales are awesome ways to find books since large collections of books will be sold all at once. Typically, you can  make offers on entire collections for pennies on the dollar.

To find local estate sales, visit www.estatesales.net

6. Free books

Check out Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace; there is always someone who is looking to offload books at no charge. All you have to do is go get them.

Just be careful, as sometimes these free books could be listed by other sellers who are getting rid of the books that don’t sell. 

What kind of books sell best on Amazon? 

Finding books to list on Amazon is usually pretty easy. However, you don’t want to spend your time listing books that no one will buy. That’s why it’s important to know how to find the right books to sell on Amazon. 

Books that sell well on Amazon:

  • Textbooks. If there was a “gold standard” of used books that you can sell on Amazon, it’d definitely have to be textbooks. Textbooks are always in high demand, especially during the fall and spring, and tend to have high prices — even old editions! The only drawback with textbooks is that sometimes publishers “brand gate” their books to prevent non-certified sellers from selling new or used copies so always be sure to check if you’re able to sell a particular book in your seller account before buying. 
  • Niche books. Books that had low print runs and are a part of a larger collection do well on Amazon thanks to a lack of competition. For example, there is money to be made purchasing Dungeons & Dragons books on eBay and reselling them on Amazon.
  • Comic books. You can sell comic books on Amazon, too. Both single issues and graphic novels perform well on Amazon, and if you have collectible issues they can fetch a decent profit.
  • Collectibles. First edition books, signed books, and any other book that could be considered “collectible” are also popular on Amazon. Again, be sure to check if you’re allowed to sell any “collectible” you come across on Amazon. 
  • Non-fiction. Overall, non-fiction performs a lot better than fiction on Amazon — in the resale market. That’s not to say that fiction does poorly, but in my experience, fiction books tend to lose their value faster than non-fiction books.
  • Hardcovers. Naturally, hardcovers have higher prices than paperback books and tend to hold their value better.

What types of books don’t sell well on Amazon?

  • Fiction. As I noted above, fiction doesn’t sell well on Amazon. I believe there are a few reasons for this. First, fiction books have larger print-runs than non-fiction books, meaning that there are more copies in circulation. Also, readers are less likely to hold onto a book of fiction they’ve read than a book of non-fiction which they can still reference. Finally, fiction books have cheaper cover prices. 
  • Children’s books. Another type of book people tend to get rid of quickly once they’re done reading them are children’s books. Children’s books tend to have much lower prices, as well, meaning that it’s tough to turn a profit when selling them competitively.
  • Popular new books. New books — even new, hardcover, non-fiction books — are not profitable for resellers on Amazon. The chief reason for this? Because you have to compete against Amazon! Anytime Amazon is selling a book, it’s going to be tough to beat their prices.

How to estimate your sales and profit when selling books on Amazon

Now that you know where to find books and the types of books to sell, how do you know what you’re selling is going to be profitable? Well, before buying any books to resell, you need to look at a few things. 

  1. You need to check the rank of the product. If it has a low Best Sellers Rank, the book won’t sell at all. 
  2. You need to determine your profitability based on the selling price and your buy cost.

Here are a few tricks you can use to sort through the clutter.

Check the book’s Best Seller Ranking

Every single product on Amazon gets a ‘‘Best Sellers Rank’ (BSR). The lower a product’s BSR, the more often that product sells on Amazon.

For example, a book ranked #1 on Amazon sells hundreds of copies per day. Meanwhile, a book ranked #1,000,000 might not sell a single copy for months.

A book’s best-seller ranking can be found on the book’s page listing in the product details.

Note: The Amazon Best Sellers Rank you need to focus on is the BSR for the Books category. You can ignore the BSRs for the subcategories.

In my experience, you want to sell books that have a BSR lower than 100,000. That means there is a pretty good chance that your book will sell within a week or so — depending on how many other sellers are on the listing.

Estimate the book’s likelihood to sell

There are a few tools you can use to estimate how likely a book is to sell on Amazon and some that will show you your potential profits. 

  • Jungle Scout’s Free Estimator Tool. Simply put in a book’s BSR, the market you’re selling it in, and the category. From there, the Sales Estimator tells you the monthly sales for that product. For example, if a product has 3,000 sales per month, it sells about 10 copies per day.
  • Jungle Scout Extension. The Extension shows you the sales history for a single product as well as the estimated sales for an entire page of search results as well. The Extension also features a graph on the product detail page that shows how the BSR and price has changed over time.

  • Book Scanners. Many book sellers use a handheld scanner to help them while they’re looking for inventory. To make life really easy for yourself, you can always use Amazon’s mobile seller app instead. It comes with a scanner of its own that gives you the product price, FBA fees, approximate profits, BSR, total number of sellers, and official Amazon category.
  • Book Selling App. If you are serious about selling books on Amazon, many sellers use a specific book scanning app to help them find profitable books to resell. Paired with a bluetooth scanner, you’ll be able to sort through hundreds of books in a short period of time. 

Estimate your profit

If you decide a book is good to sell based on rank, next you need to determine your profit. As mentioned above, you can use a book scanner app or the Amazon Seller app to help determine your profitability — which are your best options. 

Another option is to use Amazon’s free FBA Revenue Calculator. Simply paste the ISBN of the book you want to sell, enter your costs, and the calculator will show you what fees you’ll pay and your potential profit.

Note: If you don’t mind storing books in your own home for a longer period of time, or paying the additional storage fees (if you’re an FBA seller), then you can list books that sell more slowly. Just go with what you’re comfortable with!

How much does it cost to sell books on Amazon?

Like most online platforms, Amazon has certain fees you have to pay to sell on their platform. 

Here is a brief description of the fees you should expect.

Individual fee or subscription fee

When selling on Amazon, sellers have an option to create an individual seller account or a professional seller account. Individual sellers are sellers who sell 40 or less products per month. If you are an individual seller, there is no monthly subscription fee, but you do have to pay an additional $0.99 per-item fee after each sale. 

If you sell (or plan to sell) more than 40 products per month, go with the professional seller account as you’re not charged and do not have to pay the $0.99 per-item fee. However, there is a $39.99 subscription fee every month. This fee is deducted from your account balance or charged to a credit card you put on file.

READ MORE | Amazon Individual vs. Professional Seller Plans: The Complete 2023 Guide

Referral fee

When you sell a book on Amazon, Amazon takes 15% of the sale price. For example, if you sell a book for $10, the referral fee will be $1.50. This fee is subtracted from the proceeds after a sale is made, so you don’t have to pay it upfront. 

Closing fee

Media products such as books, DVDs, CDs, and Blu-Ray, come with a flat $1.80 fee per sale, and only sellers who focus on selling these products need to worry about these fees. So, if you sell books, you will be paying the closing fee. Non-media product categories will not pay this fee.

Like the referral fee, the closing fees are deducted from the proceeds of the sale so you do not need to pay these fees in advance.

Shipping costs

In addition to the two types of seller plans, there are also two ways to fulfill your orders on Amazon: Fulfillment by merchant (FBM) or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). 

A FBM seller is responsible for shipping their own products once a sale is made. Your shipping costs depend on your carrier, resources you use to ship products, and the cost of labor.

A FBA seller uses Amazon’s fulfillment network to store, pick, pack, and ship their products. This comes with an FBA fee that replaces the costs you’d normally spend shipping goods. Your FBA fee is determined by the size and weight of the book sold.

You can learn more about FBA fees in our in-depth article on the subject. However, it’s worth noting that FBA fees tend to be much less than what it would cost to ship your own books. Plus, Amazon does all the work for you! It’s a win-win.

Storage fees
When you use FBA to fulfill your products, you will also be charged a storage fee for keeping your inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. For any inventory in an Amazon warehouse at the end of the month, Amazon charges you a monthly storage fee. Amazon also has a FBA aged inventory surcharge for inventory stored in fulfillment centers for over 180 days. 

READ MORE | Amazon FBA Fees: How They Work and How to Profit as a Seller

Is selling books on Amazon worth it?

Yes, selling books on Amazon is definitely worth it if you can find a good source of profitable books. 

How is it worth it? Let’s look at some of the data from Jungle Scout’s State of the Seller Report. 

  • 8% of book sellers on Amazon have reached lifetime profits between $100,000-$500,000
  • 18.9% of book sellers have profit margins of 26%-50%
  • It took 21% of book sellers to be profitable in under 3 months

As mentioned above, one of the biggest benefits to selling used books on Amazon is that you can typically buy used books or very cheap — or even get them for free in some cases. 

When going to library or estate sales looking for books, they want to get rid of as much as they can, so don’t be surprised if you see books selling for as low as $0.25.

Selling new vs. used books on Amazon

Clearly throughout this article, we’ve talked about selling used books on Amazon — but what about new books? It is certainly possible to sell brand new books on Amazon, especially if you’re an author who wants to sell their book on Amazon. You can also self-publish your own books using Amazon KDP!

  • New Books. The only time we’ll recommend selling new books on Amazon is if you are the author, or you have explicit permission by the author, publisher, or distributor to sell that book on Amazon. Reselling new books the same way we talk about selling used books is possible, but many times the book will be restricted to sell without approval or unprofitable. If you can find a legitimate source such as a distributor or publisher to purchase the books at wholesale cost to resell, that is when you’ll see higher profit margins. 
  • Used books. Selling used books on Amazon is so desirable for many sellers because they’re easy to source and typically low cost to purchase. As mentioned, you can find used books for pennies on the dollar and resell them for near, or even above, the original MSRP. There are millions of books in circulation, so there are nearly endless opportunities to source profitable used books to sell online. 

How to sell a book on Amazon

Once you become registered to sell on Amazon, you can start listing your books.

The easiest way to do this is to go to the actual product detail page for the book you want to list. That’s right — you can actually list your books from the Amazon page itself instead of creating an entirely new listing. Then, once you list your book, it appears on the same listing along with the other sellers.

Here’s an example:

To access the product listing page, type in the book’s ISBN (which is the book’s registration code) under “Add Products” in Seller Central or on the Amazon Seller App. Or, if you know the books ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), you can use that instead. 

The ISBN can usually be found either on the barcode or somewhere inside the book’s dust jacket. 

However, if the book was printed before 1970, it won’t have an ISBN. In that case, you’ll have to enter the title manually.

Scroll down to the product details on the listing of the book you want to sell to find the ASIN.

Then search for that book in Seller Central.

On the next page, choose the condition of the book then click “Sell this product.”

From there, enter the following information:

  • SKU. This is your own personal code for the book. This can be whatever you want it to be, though it’s best if it’s something that will help you remember it. If you leave it blank, Amazon randomly generates one for you.
  • Price. I recommend pricing the book based on the condition of the book. For example, books of ‘Acceptable’ quality usually sell for less than books of ‘Very Good’ value. Don’t automatically match the lowest price as it may cause a ‘race to the bottom.’ If your book is in good condition, it will usually sell even if there is a cheaper, lower quality option.
  • Quantity. If you have more than one copy of a book, enter the total quantity here. Otherwise, it defaults to one unit.
  • Condition. There are five conditions for Amazon books: ‘New’, ‘Like new’, ‘Very good’, ‘Good’, and ‘Acceptable’. If you can sell Collectible books (see FAQs), you will also have options for: Like new, Very good, Good, and Acceptable books. I don’t recommend ever listing a book in ‘New’ condition—even if it is in perfect condition. This is because you may be reported by the publisher or Amazon may request an invoice.
  • Fulfillment Channel. FBM or FBA (see above in this article for the difference).

Once you enter that information, one of two things will happen:

  • FBM. If you selected to sell the book FBM, your listing for the book will appear on the book’s product listing page in 15-30 minutes. All you have to do is wait for it to sell.
  • FBA. If you selected to sell the book FBA, you have to prepare the book to ship to Amazon. It typically takes 1-2 weeks for your inventory to arrive at the destination fulfillment center. Then, it will take Amazon’s staff another three days to a week to unpack the inventory and distribute it to their network. This time could be longer if it’s a particularly busy period for Amazon, like the holiday season.

Selling books on eBay vs. Amazon

When it comes to selling books on Amazon vs eBay, personally, I feel Amazon is the better option. I’ve sold books on both platforms and I’ve had a lot more success with Amazon.

Here are a few reasons why Amazon is better than eBay:

  1. Inventory. You don’t have to hold your own inventory. Amazon keeps your inventory for you in their fulfillment centers and ships the products for you (FBA).
  2. BSR. Amazon gives each book a best-seller ranking. You can use this metric as a guide to estimate how likely a book is to sell on Amazon. This saves you a ton of time.
  3. Traffic. Amazon has more than double the online traffic of eBay with less than 1/10th of the sellers eBay has. That means a lot more opportunity for you.

Earn money by selling books on Amazon

We hope this article helped you understand how to sell used (and new) books on Amazon! Do you have more questions about the process or other tips that we didn’t include? Share them in the comments below; we’d love to hear them!

Want to learn more about how you can use Jungle Scout to launch, grow, and run your Amazon business? Click the “Learn More” button below!

Learn more about Jungle Scout

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Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly

Brian is a writer and entrepreneur with over 6 years of experience in e-commerce and selling on Amazon.

611 comments on “How to Sell Books on Amazon: Complete Guide for 2023”

  1. Reply reply

    I published a book that I would like to market on amazon. can you help? I don’t need to find a book to sell, I have one already. I can’t figure out how to sign up or anything.

  2. Reply reply

    Hello sir, what if I decide to sell audio books on Amazon, do you think it’s great and do you think I need to do any form of delivering to the buyer???

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kim,

      If you sell audiobooks using Audible, the file will be automatically delivered to the customer once they purchase.

  3. Reply reply

    Hello! I used to sell used books on Amazon about 12 years ago. I’m now considering getting back into selling used books again, only this time using Fulfillment by Amazon. One of the things I did was clean the covers of the hardback books and make sure I erased any pencil marks from inside pages. I also refrained from buying any books that smelled like cigarette smoke or were musty. I haven’t seen anyone mention these precautions as important before sending books off to Amazon warehouses. What are your thoughts about cleaning books prior to shipping?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Gary,

      If you have the time, I think it is great to clean off the books before shipping. I don’t think it is completely necessary unless the book needs obvious cleaning.

  4. Reply reply

    sir please, ii have over 50 books that i have written on sales at Amazon. can i get an Amazon selling shop, drop my books covers their, put the links for people to click and go straight to my KDP account to buy? or i must print them and put them at Amazon store for people to buy? i need help sir on how to sell my books at Amazon. i have eighteen children under my scholarship and i need money to sustain them in school, please help. what do i do?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi George,

      Yes, you can sell them on KDP by uploading your books to the platform. Once someone buys, Amazon will send them an ebook or print a physical copy of your book.

  7. Reply reply

    I’m planing on publishing a book this month and I’m confused on how to start do i need to download the Amazon kdp app on my phone or just the link?

  8. Reply reply

    Hi, is there a way to see what previous books have sold for? Ebay has a way to see what products have sold and for what price. Does Amazon have anything like this?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Jordan,

      The Jungle Scout Extension displays a graph on each Amazon listing showing you historical data such as price and sales rank. That will give you an idea of what price books or other products have sold for in the past.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Rebecca,

      Yes, the book category is not available in the sales estimator, though you can get an estimate in books using our Extension.

      1. Reply reply

        Hey Brian I’m just starting to sell used books on FBM. When I list the book on Amazon do I just scan the barcode on the back and it’s just automatically listed or do I need to make a new barcode? Thanks for the info

        1. Reply reply

          Hi Jeff,

          You can scan the barcode with the Amazon Seller app and list the book that way. It’s not automatically listed, you need to enter some information but it is very easy. You don’t need a new barcode for an existing product/book.

  11. Reply reply

    I am considering selling books on Amazon (used books). If I am currently reading your info, On a $10 sale with free shipping the Amazon charges would be $1.50 referral, $1.80 closing fee, and 99 cents listings fee, totaling $4.30. My additional cost would be in packaging and shipping, generally media mail by usps. $3.49 for up to 1 pound plus packaging of $1, my total cost would be &8.79.

    That leaves little for cost of goods or profit.

    Is there a price point where selling books looks profitable?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Scott,

      Look for a price point of at least $15 and above. Also, see what the costs will be using FBA vs FBM. Amazon has a free revenue calculator to estimate your costs for both.

  12. Reply reply

    Hello Js, please I want to train the smartphone sell books on Amazon,I want you to help me the video easy sent for me because I can’t heard your explanation due to am a deaf so be kindly.
    Thank you for understanding.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Buhari,

      Have you read this article fully? Lots of great information that will help you get started selling books on Amazon.

  13. Reply reply

    Is it possible to put books that are read from the right, such as Persian and Arabic for pdp or paper pack , on Amazon?

  14. Reply reply

    What if a book I have is in like new condition but missing the cover sleeve? I can “sell my own” but there’s not a way for me to add that it’s just missing the cover sleeve.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Jonell,

      In that case, I would not list it as “like new.” That would be good or very good. You should be able to add condition notes when listing that book for sale where you can add that it is missing the cover sleeve.

  15. Reply reply

    Thank you for this, it was very helpful. I have one question. If I sell FBA, do I wait until someone buys the book to send it to amazon? Or do I just automatically send it to amazon where it waits there for someone to buy it? Could I send a big box of a bunch of books I listed all at the same time?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kate,

      You will send all of your inventory to Amazon first. Once Amazon receives the inventory, it will go live on Amazon.com. Once someone makes a purchase, Amazon will then ship the item to your customer.

      Yes, you can send a box of books to Amazon. We have some articles and videos on how to create an FBA shipment!

  16. Reply reply

    I sent 1,000 paper back books to Amazon through there fulfilment program. Amazon continues to lower the price, now it is $6.15 when the list is $12.95. They control the buy box and when there is an order they produce the book with on demand publishing, while my books that i sent them sit in the warehouse. Is there anything i can do to get Amazon from publishing my book.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi John,

      The book is your own book and you sent 1,000 copies? Not sure how Amazon can then publish your book.

      Did you create the listing or did Amazon?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Vicki,

      Sure, it’s possible these types of books sell well. You need to do some research to figure that out. I suggest listing some of your books for sale and see if they sell.

  19. Reply reply

    I wasn’t focusing on some of the things you’ve mentioned here, and I will do that now. Thank you for sharing these vital details with us here. I greatly appreciate it.

  21. Reply reply

    This is a well written article. I have a few questions, how come jungle scout doesn’t have a “books” category, or is there and easy way to search books using the filters in jungle scout? Seems like such a large category it should stand alone, no? My biggest question, when looking at the sales how do we know how well they are selling “used” vs “new” it seems like the sales are inclusive and encompass both. How can I tell if the book is mostly selling new, or it sells well used, and is there a way to view used sales and at which price points?

    Thanks so much in advance, Charlie

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Charlie,

      The reason why there is no book category available in Jungle Scout is that the book category can see abnormal data swings due to the heavy presence of resales, polluting data accuracy.

      You won’t be able to tell which sales came from new or a used condition.

  23. Reply reply

    Excellent suggestions, but what about marketing new books? How would it work if you were a publishing firm and wanted to scale your sales on Amazon? We tried this recently, however Amazon does not accept ppc for new physical books. Any suggestions would be really helpful. Thank you very much!

  29. Reply reply

    I have some booklets written by Ayn Rand that are pre-1970 so they have no identifying numbers. There are 66 issues and buying a upc is expensive. Is it possible to sell these on Amazon?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Dianna,

      Yes, you can still sell these books on Amazon. Have you searched for the titles of the books you have on Amazon? If they show up in search, you can sell your offer on that listing–without creating a new listing.

  31. Reply reply

    Amazon require me to submit the receipts /invoices of my inventory. When looking at the receipt from the thrift store it just says book and doesn’t specify the item.

    Amazon are not accepting this as proof, have deactivated my account and will not allow me to withdraw funds.

    How can I provide evidence and get my selling account reactivated?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Catherine,

      No, you as the seller must pay to get your books to Amazon. Though the cost is typically pretty low when you purchase shipping with UPS in Seller Central. Start by creating a shipment in Seller Central and after you have all the items you want to send along with the overall weight, Amazon will tell you what the cost is to ship your books.

  33. Reply reply

    Very good advices but what about selling new books? Imagine having a publishing house and wanting to scale the sales on Amazon, how this would work? We recently tried this and unfortunately Amazon doesn’t allow ppc for new physical book. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

  34. Reply reply

    Hi- Is there a standard for how to know how to list books in what condition? For example, I have a couple of textbooks that I have never used, but have been sitting on my bookshelf. Could these be considered new or would they be like-new?

    Thanks

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Beth,

      I don’t suggest ever listing a book as New. For something that is near perfect condition should be listed as “Like-new.” This is because Amazon may ask you for an invoice if listed as new.

  35. Reply reply

    Hello there my friend actually I really like the way how from the first time you get involved business with Amazon till now n I’m sure now you’v been part of the Amazon success interpreneur n I hope you’ll be somebody in Amazon one day thanks for all your story it’s really helps me with my own strategic marketing plan to get involved with such a big gigantic name like Amazon so tqvm one’s again ya my friend.

  36. Reply reply

    I know this is off the topic, but I don’t know where else to ask this.

    I just published my first book with Kindle Publishing! It’s a kids book and I had a stuffy created that matches a character in the book. I want to sell the two together, do you know if this is possible? Can I sell a book on Amazon bundled with the stuffy and have it printed on demand by Kindle publishing?

    Thanks!

    1. Reply reply

      HI George,

      You would be able to bundle them together if you had physical copies of the book to package together with the stuffy. You will not be able to sell them together if you’re selling the book via Kindle Publishing.

  37. Reply reply

    I’m really at a loss on choosing books that will sell, I have read several articles on it, I have what categories sell best, which ones don’t. But, most yard sales have a ton of books, I can’t see, even if I knew what to look for, going through everything individually.
    I haven’t researched the scanning tools yet, but, it is still going through every book. If you knew what your were looking for it wouldn’t be a big deal looking at titles quickly.
    I am also curious to how people react to those scanning several books? What do you tell them you are doing?
    I really want to do this, but, I’m finding all the research fairly time consuming, I am one of those people who want to know everything before starting a new venture.
    Thank you for your help,
    Kelli

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kelli,

      If you’re going to sell books, I suggest using a barcode scanner and book-scanning software that can look up the book’s information and price very quickly. The scanning software will tell you in seconds if the book is profitable or not based on the parameters you enter.

  38. Reply reply

    What does “Country of Origin” mean? The country where the book was published? The country it will be selling from? I have been a seller for a while, and this requirement for some books but not others just pops up sometimes.
    Thanks.

  40. Reply reply

    THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT. HELPFUL AND MUCH APPRECIATED. I’M TRYING TO HELP AN AUTHOR WITH HIS INDIVIDUAL SELLER ACCOUNT AND HE KEEPS RUNNING INTO SNAGS.

    I’LL WALK THROUGH IT WITH HIM, USING YOUR TIPS AS A GUIDE. WE’LL MAKE IT HAPPEN.

    (I’M LISTING HIS WEBSITE, NOT MINE. WE’RE ALSO CLEANING UP HIS WEBSITE)

  42. Reply reply

    Hi,

    I have just bought a house and it comes with a collection of 15,000+ books.

    Will i need a professional account in order to list them?
    They are mostly all niche books on niche topics.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Daniel,

      Nice score! You don’t need a professional account to list them but it is recommended if you plan to sell more than 40 books per month, which you probably will. If you choose the individual account, you will be charged an extra $0.99 per transaction and the pro account is a flat $39.99 per month. If you sell more than 40 items with the individual plan, you will be paying more than what it would cost for the pro plan.

  44. Reply reply

    I have written a book it has already been printed and copyrighted I have copies of the book I would like to sell on Amazon I am keeping the inventory and I would like to pack & ship myself when a book has been purchased. How do I set this up??

  46. Reply reply

    Hello, I want to sell books, What if i sell a best selling new book without publisher’s permission on amazon, do i need to take care or it’s okay, can i sell branded items in generic category

    1. Reply reply

      Hello,

      You can sell a best-selling book as long as your account allows you to list the item. But be careful about listing the books as “New.” I suggest choosing “Used” when selling books.

      You can’t sell branded items under “Generic.” It must be listed under the actual brand.

  48. Reply reply

    Hallo Dave,

    Greetings. My name is Grace. I am looking to get rid of some academic books, mainly Respiratory Care and Math of various levels. It’s about 20 books. I was not very smart when it comes to purchasing my academic books in the past. To my regrets, I paid a hefty penny for most of these books at the time of purchase. I am looking to get some change from selling these books, but no grand expectation either. Selling on Amazon seems intimidating. I am willing to overcome that fear, but might need a substantial amount of guidance.
    Can you please assist me? Thank you for your time and consideration.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Grace,

      Once you get your account set up, it is pretty straightforward getting your books listed for sale! It is intimidating at first but you just have to jump in and try it. You can start with a free individual seller account with Amazon since you only have 20 books to sell.

      Search for the books you have on Amazon to see if they are available for sale already and to check the current prices. Then, you just list your product on that same listing as another seller.

  50. Reply reply

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for all of your tips! I am new to selling and have started with rare and historical automotive books. I am having issues however adding any product. When i type the ISBN in, the window comes up with ”show limitations’ and no option to sell. I have tried this with 5 other titles and all coming up with the same outcome. Does this mean I need to look at other platforms other than Amazon to sell them?
    Thanks in advance,

    Samantha

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Samantha,

      For those particular books, they may be restricted on Amazon. If so, I suggest listing them on eBay.

      What does it say under “show limitations?”

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Mick,

      You can still use “Add a product” in seller central or through the Amazon seller app. Go to inventory > add a product.

  52. Reply reply

    Hi Dave,
    Thanks for the helpful info. I am new to selling books on Amazon and have just sent my 4th book shipment. After shipping, I realized I had 2 books with labeling errors with their condition. I can’t seem to get to the bottom of how to correct this. Any advice would be appreciated.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Gina,

      In this case, you will need to make those listings Inactive and have Amazon ship those items back to you via a removal order. Amazon will not relabel them for you with the correct condition.

  53. Reply reply

    I have 100 copies of a new title at an Amazon FBA facility. I was just notified that I can’t advertise the book because I’m a 3P (Pro Account) Seller.
    Do you have thoughts on other ways to improve ranking and get some sales momentum going? I’m frustrated that I can’t advertise but have to find other ways to gain visibility and move product.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Gene,

      You should be able to advertise your product if your ARE a Pro seller. You cannot advertise if you are an Individual seller.

      Also, I suggest checking out our Listing Optimization article. That will help you with ways to gain visibility.

  54. Reply reply

    Hi Dave, I am somewhat new to selling on Amazon, my daughter and I bought a bunch o books new, we scanned them in store, and there is profit to be made… however, once we got home I noticed some books sell for high but the book has a price tag that was made with the book, not the sticker from the store but a publisher price. Should I just return these to the store?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Benson,

      I have experienced that before and have not had any issues. Normally it’s an older book that cannot be easily found and the customer is willing to pay extra than the original price.

  55. Reply reply

    Thanks for this informative article. Assuming that I set up to be an individual seller and plan to ship my own product, how do I know when the product is sold? Another way to ask is how does Amazon notify me of the sell and where to send the item sold?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Jennifer,

      Amazon will send you an email notification of when an item sells if using FBM. Also, download the free Amazon seller app, and what will notify you as well.

  56. Reply reply

    Everywhere someone is saying how easy it is to sell books on Amazon, use apps, where to buy books, etc., but no one says that Amazon doesn’t allow sellers to sell most profit books. There is a mountain of books that Amazon doesn’t even allow sellers to unlock/ungate, it just displays the message “not available” to sell.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kleber,

      Yes, there are books that you’re not able to sell but there are millions of others that you are able to sell. You just have to go out and find them!

  57. Reply reply

    Hi! I want to start selling books but what is the BEST scanner to use to figure out if the book I find will sell quickly (not take years to sell)? I have the Scoutly app but have no idea how to read it! I want to learn how to tell if the book will sell well.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Marcia!

      I use ScoutIQ as a book scanner and think it works very well. I suggest watching some Youtube videos on your app of choice to see how to read correctly–it can be confusing!

      Brian

  60. Reply reply

    Great info – question do you know if the $39.99 monthly can be cancelled? So lets say I have a few hundred books I want to sell… Lets say that they sell out within 6-7 months. Can you cancel your ‘subscription’ once you are done. —- DOES ANYONE KNOW ??? thanks for your help

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Leah,

      You will need to create an FBA shipment within your seller account to send the book info an Amazon fulfillment center.

  63. Reply reply

    Hey i would love to sell Books on Amazon. i got some but i see some Offers are the newest Edition and i have just the older one. how can we sell it? because i dont see the different Book Editions on Amazon. just the newest

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Marko,

      Have you tried entering the ISBN on Amazon? The listing may be out of stock which is why you wont see it.

      1. Reply reply

        Hey Brian, thank you for your reply. they share the same ISBN. so i saw mostly education books are profitable but i have Edition 2 printed 2018 and on amazon the same isbn the same book but Edition 3 printed 2019. so should i create a new listing? or is this not possible? because i dont want to get bad reviews when the customer want to buy of course the newest edition and gets a “older” one. or is there any trick?

        1. Reply reply

          Hi Marko,

          I would try to create a new listing with the correct edition. Multiple editions on one listing would cause lots of confusion.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Nikita,

      Look up “FBA prep centers” on Google. There are many companies that can help prep your items for FBA.

  65. Reply reply

    I am new to amazon seller. I want to start selling online very soon after I get all information.
    The BIG question is WHAT products to sell?
    Can you suggest?
    Best Regards
    Surin Poommai

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Surin,

      Unfortunately, I cannot recommend what to sell for you. You will need to go through the product research phase to find something that suits you. I suggest checking out our How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners guide for all the info you will need.

  66. Reply reply

    After I send physical copies of old books that i purchased and send to Amazon what are the next steps I need to take for example, do I need to open an account, because I have an account with Amazon when I want to purchase something, but I would like to sell the physical books on Amazon Prime. Tell me what do I need to do??

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Tracey,

      Your first step will need to be opening up your Amazon selling account. You cannot do anything until that is complete. After that, you’ll be able to create your shipments to send your books into an FBA warehouse.

  67. Reply reply

    Hello I have seen university and textbooks are here in Germany also used very lucrative. but now after I bought a few of them, I noticed that the ISBN always remains the same no matter what book edition it is and Amazon offer is always the latest edition. at the used offers you can not see which edition is offered. How do you handle this?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Manasan,

      There are no other listings available with the older editions? You can always try to create a new listing with the specific edition you are wanting to sell.

  71. Reply reply

    To whom it may concern:
    I have a variety of many books that I need to sell/donate. I’m in the process of decluttering and down-dizing and need to fine an effective way of getting rid of my books.
    I love my books, but have come to a point in my life where I cannot keep them any longer. Books are sacred to me so that I can’t throw them out as garbage. Please advise.
    Thank you,
    Mirian Hernández

  72. Reply reply

    Hi,
    Your answer to someone else said, “Yes, you can use media mail and purchase that through Amazon’s shipping services.”

    I’ve never been able to figure out how! I’ve been paying almost $10 each time I mail a book that Media Mail would be around $3. Can’t find how to do Media Mail!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Pat,

      You don’t see an option for USPS media mail in shipping services? That’s odd! You can always purchase the shipping outside of Amazon and add the tracking information into seller central.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Muhammad,

      Did you read through this guide? You should also check out How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners Guide. It’ll explain how to get started on Amazon no matter the product!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Tina! Take a look around our blog, we have lots of great resources to help you start. I suggest reading our free How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners guide. It will show you step by step how to sell on Amazon.

  75. Reply reply

    I need a step-by-step guide to getting started selling books on Amazon. I believe I have an Amazon account having purchased items and been billed to my Visa account. Can I post my books for sale and receive payment to my Visa account?
    Help! I am anxious to get started!
    Anne Kirkpatrick

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Anne,

      You will need to open up a seller account, which is separate from your buyer account. Also, you will need to connect your bank account in order to receive payment.

      Did you read through this guide? What other questions do you have?

  77. Reply reply

    I have many fictional books by known authors that are like new. All are hard covers. How can I sell them?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Joseph,

      Did you read through the post? It’ll give you all the info you need! Let me know if you have a specific question.

      Brian

  78. Reply reply

    I have a set of six Hemingway books as a kit to sell via FBM, in which shipping I will be take care of myself. What is the total Amazon selling cost for this 6-book kit.
    I may have some other individual books to sell later.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi,

      There is no way of knowing that without knowing the price of the item. You can use Amazon’s free FBA revenue calculator to estimate your costs.

  79. Reply reply

    I publish books through Amazon KDP. A Seller listed the book and somehow our details have been mixed up on the system. If I try to set up an Amazon Ad them I’m told there is only one book available, the book is at too high a price so my ads won’t be served. Amazon Ads even tell me the Sellers name but insist that I am that Seller.

    Logically I shouldn’t have only one book with publishing through KDP (Print-on-Demand) and I should have access to select the book price that matches the price I am publishing. I have been going around in circle for a week or two now unable to convince Amazon that they have got my details mixed with somebody else.

    Does anybody have any advice?

  80. Reply reply

    Very well done article. One issue that I was hoping to find the answer to is: if a merchant is doing the fulfillment, what information, and in what form, is Amazon going to present the buyer and shipping information to the merchant? Are you using USPS media mail to ship your books?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Tom,

      The customer will be presented with the shipping speed that is available. Once the customer places an order, their information will be available in your seller account. Yes, you can use media mail and purchase that through Amazon’s shipping services.

  82. Reply reply

    Hey I only see the option to pay 39.99 to set up a seller’s account and I want the one that charges 99 cents plus fees per item sold instead. Can you provide a link to that?

  84. Reply reply

    I have hundreds of books my dad wrote in the 90’s. The book is called A Ripple of Hope. About he and mother’s work in the civil rights movement ( white couple). It’s excellent. I can send one for you to read if you like.

  86. Reply reply

    Hi Dave, trying to get around the “deactivated for potential pricing errors” … I sell many books (religious, astrological, etc.) that have an older print date than those that are listed on Amazon. The pricing for these are being compared to paperback, newer additions. Do you have any advice to get around this glitch? Thank you.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Michele,

      Try setting a “minimum” and “maximum” price in your Manage Inventory section. This should fix the price error.

  87. Reply reply

    “Amazon” reduced the price of my used book so low that I needed to sell it at a loss. Somehow my FBM was changed to FBA, and when I tried to return to my original selling method (FBM) it would automatically change to All. After 16 years of selling on Amazon, what a horrible new selling method on Amazon in view of the present pandemic and job losses!!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Sandy,

      What do you mean Amazon reduced your price? Were you receiving a price error? Try setting a minimum and maximum price in manage inventory to avoid any errors.

  90. Reply reply

    Hi Dave thanks for the very helpful info on selling on Amazon. I wondered if you can help me with selling my own (fine art) book on there?
    Julie Luiz Murphy (Queensland Australia). 😊

  91. Reply reply

    Hello I am interested in selling as a hobby. I downloaded the FBA app but am having trouble understanding it. Any suggestions or videos on how to use would be appreciated.

  93. Reply reply

    Hello.
    Very informative article. I have some used books that I like to sell on Amazon. With the FBM method, how are returns handled? Who pays for shipping back the item to me? What if the person who bought the book sends it back in a damaged condition preventing it from being resold to others?

  94. Reply reply

    Hi Dave. Thank you for the article. I am someone who has a couple hundred books all over the house and have decided to start trying to sell them. I set up a seller’s account (FBM – which took about 10 days – it’s more of a process than I realized). I read every single article Amazon had in their seller’s guides, etc. However now that I’ve listed some books, I still feel unclear on a few things. One, as I input the new listing, I’ve used the “suggested low price” recommended. Then below, Amazon gives a chart of costs. As an example: a book is listed for $5.00 plus 3.99 shipping. According to the seller fee chart, there is a shipping credit for $3.99. Amazon fees are $4.14. And the total I receive is $4.85. I can’t figure out where the $4.14 comes from. I know there is a 15% referral fee and $.99 individual fee. Does this also include the $1.80 referenced in your article? Even so, it doesn’t add up to $4.14. I am able to justify that I will not make a ton of money on an example like this but just want to understand the fee structure better moving forward. In addition, I’m unable to find my own listings on the Amazon pages. I’ve tried all the books I input and can not find mine. Any feedback would be appreciated.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Lisa,

      Yes, that fee does not sound correct. I suggest using Amazon’s free FBA revenue calculator–you can search for it on Google–and it’ll break down the fees for you.

      I also don’t suggest using the suggested low price as you may even lose money on the sale. Keep your prices higher until the other competition sells out.

      To find your offer, you need to click on the book listing you are selling and go to “other sellers.” You won’t have your own separate listing, you will be sharing the listing with other sellers.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Sharon,

      Just start small and get familiar with the process. It can be overwhelming at times but you will get the hang of it as long as you are consistent! Take some time to read our many articles and How to Sell on Amazon beginner guide to help answer your questions.

      Brian

  96. Reply reply

    HI. My problem is selling in Canada, because the shipping is so expensive. Cheapest is Canada Post and Amazon foes not pay anywhere near enough to cover the cost of regular parcel, even with a business account. Some thinner books could be sent as oversize letters, but Amazon wants regular post with tracking number. What am I doing wrong?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Margaret,

      Books might not be the best to sell in Canada if that is the case for you. You can try sending them into a Canadian FBA warehouse instead of fulfilling the orders yourself.

  97. Reply reply

    I”m a used book seller. It seems like Amazon is taking my money. Is there a class for those who want to sell on Amazon? Is it better or worse to offer free shipping/handling? How do you adjust the cost of your book?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Doris,

      You need to understand your costs and Amazon fees before listing any item for sale. Are you using any software or scanning apps to help with your book business? They will calculate the Amazon fees to show you your profit. Also, I am assuming you are doing FBM. Have you sent any books to FBA?

  98. Reply reply

    I sold MANY books on Amazon in 2008–back when days were simpler!. Amazon says my account has been closed. No kidding! I am now downsizing and want to sell as an FBM, but I can only find info on how to sell as an FBA on Amazon’s site (while I have more than 40 books, it will take me longer than 40/month to organize and list them all).

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Susan,

      As long as you can get back into your Amazon account, you can choose to create an FBA or FBM listing. I believe you are talking about a professional account vs. an individual account. Check out Amazon’s selling plan page. This should be what you are looking for.

      Brian

  99. Reply reply

    On the Free Jungle Scout Estimator, under category, I cannot find “Books”. Is it under some other category? Please advise. Thank you.

  100. Reply reply

    I am not a book seller yet. I do have a question about labeling my books before shippng to Amazon for fullfillment. Do I need an inventory and label making product in order to label my books before shipping?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Karen,

      You can use a label printer to print out the FNSKU barcodes for each book. Or you can use your regular printer and use the 30 label sheets to peel and stick to your books.

  101. Reply reply

    Thank you for sharing this great article with all of us.
    . I like the point by point presentation you used to address the most important topics for the beginners.
    I have couple of questions:
    a) I have books in Russian language and the books do not have any ISBN number since the were published in Russia, how to publish this books on Amazon.com?
    b) where to read about posting the books and other details for the beginners?

    Thank you,
    Ada

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Ada,

      You should look into using a GTIN exemption in order to list on Amazon. That allows you to list a product without a UPC. Though, I am unsure if it applies to the book category. Check out our post on that topic.

      What information was missing from this post that you need to know more of?

    1. Reply reply

      Once your book sells, Amazon will add the funds to your available balance once the order ships. Amazon pays out every two weeks.

  103. Reply reply

    I have sold books on Amazon slowly over the past few years and it has always been easy to give an idea of the condition beyond just clicking “used- good”. Now I don’t see any way to explain the lower rating – “book has highlighting”, etc.

    1. Reply reply

      I believe condition notes are no longer available when listing products. Have you tried “advanced view” and see if the condition note section comes up?

  106. Reply reply

    What fees does Amazon get when I sell a used book on the Amazon website? I tried opening your FAQ to find out but the links don’t work.

  107. Reply reply

    I have written a book and it is about to be printed. I’m over 80 years old and cannot handle all the shipping myself. Can I have the printer send you 40 copies to store and then from those copies, can you fulfill orders that are placed on Amazon? The last book I wrote and put on Amazon, the publisher did all the work, so I haven’t done this myself before. The book didn’t sell well, so I don’t want to print too many of this new book to start. I don’t have a website. You can reach me by phone at 978-732-0073. Can you tell me how to begin and what the fees will be? Thank you for any advice you can provide.

    1. Reply reply

      Do you have an Amazon Seller Central account already set up? You’ll be able to create a shipment within Seller Central and send the shipping labels to your printer to ship to Amazon.

      The fees will depend on the size and weight of your book. We also have a post that explains the Amazon fees here: https://www.junglescout.com/blog/amazon-fba-fees/

      -Brian

  109. Reply reply

    I sold on Amazon quite a while back and went inactive. I am an individual seller and would like to start up again. I no longer have the inventory that was previously listed, so would just need to start over with fresh inventory. Is there an easy way to erase that previous inventory? How do I apply as an individual? All I saw was the $39.99 monthly fee version. Any advice appreciated. Thank you!

    1. Reply reply

      If you already have an account, don’t open a new one. Amazon only allows you to have one seller account. You can upgrade/downgrade your account with your account settings.

      You can delete your inactive listings from within your manage inventory.

  111. Reply reply

    Hello. Thanks for sharing great article.

    i would like to ask. If i’m new to this selling books at amazon thing, would you recommend FBM or FBA?
    i read articles about textbook flipping as well and most of them recommend FBA.

    Thank you

    1. Reply reply

      You can do both. It depends on on how fast a book will sell. If it has a decent sales rank, you should send into FBA.

  113. Reply reply

    I have written five books so far and have a quantity of about 75 of each in my home. How can i have Amazon handle the sales, shipment, and collection for the sale of the books?

  114. Reply reply

    Hello Dave i really benefit from the information about how to sells books on Amzone,i want to start sell like you on Amazon

  117. Reply reply

    Great article, thank you! How do you determine shipping cost and should this be folded in to the overall price and offer “free shipping”?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Jonna! Books are usually very cheap to ship via USPS. You can calculate the cost from your zip code to zip codes in other parts of the country to figure out the average cost.

      Roll the shipping cost into your price and offer free shipping. Buyers will prefer a free shipping option.

      1. Reply reply

        Will a customer see the price based on their location? In other words, you mention cost to ship zip to zip, but if I’m listing the price and want to roll the shipping into the price, how would I do that if the shipping cost for me will be different depending on where it is being sent.

        1. Reply reply

          Hi Doug,

          In that case, figure out what the median shipping cost would be across the country and roll that cost into your product. Also, keep in mind, shipping books through USPS is very cheap with media mail. You cannot set calculated shipping. Here is what Amazon states in their shipping settings, “Shipping to all states in the continental U.S. (excluding Hawaii, Alaska, and U.S. protectorates) for the same shipping fee is required.”

  118. Reply reply

    Hi

    Thank you so much for your article. I have a question is there a company that can check, repackage and ship your book? So that I cut the time of processing the books myself

    Kind regards
    Kelvin

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kelvin, There are plenty of prep centers for Amazon sellers that will process your items for.

      Just search Amazon FBA prep centers on Google and you will find a ton.

  119. Reply reply

    Hello,

    II’ve been using Scoutly to source books. When I was checking the thrift store the scanner said I would make a profit so I bought. A day later I rescan when I am entering the items to my inventory and has a different result to reject the book. What’s going wrong here?

    1. Reply reply

      Are you using the database with Scoutly? You may have had an older database downloaded with old information. If it came up profitable at one point, I would just list the book and hold until the price goes back to where you want to sell it at.

  120. Reply reply

    Dave – Thank you for this really helpful overview of selling books on Amazon. I’m getting ready to move and trying to reduce my library. Your article made a difference for me! Much obliged! – monica ps… Love the photo!

  121. Reply reply

    Thank you for all your information! What happens when your book or “product” has limitations? How can I show proof of my supplier?

  124. Reply reply

    HI! Question – I need to sell a few books of mine on amazon. I am trying to register as an individual seller, not business. Amazon is asking for my personal information, including the date of birth, country of birth, and passport or DL number and country and date of issuance. And Amazon says it is asking for this information because EU regulations require is to collect business and personal information and confirm identity. I do not see a comment as to how they protect this information, and how EU regulations pertain to US listings and sales in any way. Any comment as to whether it is normal for amazon to request this information and whether it is possible to do without disclosing it? I used to have a seller account on amazon years ago and I do not remember disclosing my personal information like DOB or identity documentation. Please advise, thank you!

  125. Reply reply

    Great article on selling books on Amazon. You didn’t mention the strategy of making a separate listing for a book by creating a listing for completely different edition that does not exist, which I’m seeing is ubiquitous on Amazon. These listings are created by changing the name of the book slightly by adding some extra words, names or dates, and changing the name of the publisher slightly, and providing publication dates that are in the 1700’s and the 1800’s. The listings do not have ISBN numbers (guess because they have such an old pub date), they have ASIN numbers instead. They use the same artwork, descriptions and reviews of the legitimate listings. Most of these listings appear to have been created by 50 different “stores” that can be traced back to one single holding company registered in Texas. Many of these books sell for around $1,000, but the prices fluctuate. These books apparently are not in the physical inventory of the sellers, because the ship date is several days after the normal ship date of books, which is within a day or two of the purchase. They not only hurt the integrity of the legitimate books and their listings, for example by pulling sales from the legitimate book and therefore lowing the legitimate book’s rankings, they confuse the customer with all the phony editions, and during this world pandemic health crisis, they unduly stress fulfillment centers and the post office. The books are also prone to more shipping damage because they are shipped twice, 2nd time usually in just a thin plastic bag.

    The sales from these phony listings risk the health of not only the fulfillment center workers and postal workers, but also health of the customers by the extra exposure to Covid-19 by having to ship the book twice for one purchase.

    What’s up with all of these phony listings? As an author, and also an individual seller on Amazon, I find them so unfair and disgusting!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Penny,

      yes, I do agree that is a problem! You can always report listing abuse to Amazon if you suspect any wrongdoings. Amazon will take them down if they find it to be true.

  126. Reply reply

    What do you recommend for selling college books and how much does amazon get from selling your books on amazon?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi,

      Selling college textbooks is a great way to start selling on Amazon. It depends on what your selling price is.

  127. Reply reply

    If there are 20 plus number of sellers in a certain single product, it is worth to list and sell that single product? What is the minimum of seller in order for me to compete in single product? Thank you.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Rogelio,

      it really depends on the sales volume of that product. If the book you’re listing sells 100 times a month, it’ll be worth it. But if it sells just 5-10 a month, it’s probably not worth listing unless you can match the lowest price.

  128. Reply reply

    hi! I am trying to get into book selling and appreciated all of this information! My question is about getting started. If I already have a decent amount of books I’d like to sell, and want to go the FBA route, is my first step scanning the books and posting them to sell? Once they are posted for sale, I ship them to amazon? Just wanted to confirm this step! My other question is what do you recommend for taking high quality pictures? And confirming that the sales rank should be less than 100,000 to have a better chance of selling? I have seen that a ROI of at least 30 percent is smart to make my efforts worth it. Would you agree? Thank you for taking the time to help! I am excited about this!

    I read that you started with just selling books. Was this a decent amount of extra income for you?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Sydney,

      Your books will not be live for sale until they reach an Amazon warehouse. You list them in your seller central account and choose the “Id like Amazon ship my orders” option. Then, you’ll need to create an FBA shipment.

      You can include all the books you want to send in one shipment and package them all in one box. But each book needs to be labeled with an FNSKU label so Amazon knows it is apart of your inventory.

      If the books are already selling on Amazon, you don’t need to take pictures on them. The listing will already have pictures. You are just another seller, along with other sellers, on one listing.

      With books, you can go over 100,000 ranks. Even close to 500,000 though it may take a month or so to sell.

      ROI is whatever you are comfortable with! 30% is a good number to follow.

  130. Reply reply

    Very nice, i learned so much.but now i must take action.oon in this month i will do FBA selling on amazon, never i sold on amazon, only on ebay i sold only one book.i like online selling not only for money, i like it as hobby too and i will feel himself free. thank you

  131. Reply reply

    Hello
    I created a brand new seller account. Interested in the Personal plan with Fulfillment by Merchant since my husband and I have a brick & mortar comic book store. We only want to list on Amazon trade hardcovers related to comic characters. Trying to list the first book, I ran into an issue with need to provide permission letter from Marvel to sell their products. Also mentioned was a commercial invoice from when we acquired the books. We have neither of these since all these books are used and generally come to our store from private individuals selling their entire collections. How feasible is it to obtain a letter of authorization from Marvel, DC, Image and other publishing houses?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Michelle,

      Amazon wants to be sure items from big brands such as Marvel are legitimate. To get approved to sell Marvel products, you will need to order items from an authorized Marvel distributor and send Amazon the invoice.

      If you search around on Google, you should be able to find authorized Marvel toy distributors

  133. Reply reply

    Hello,

    How do sellers receive payment from books they sell via FBA? Must the books sell before receiving payment from amazon? Thanks!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Joe,

      When you make a sale FBM you will not get paid for the transaction until the order is marked as shipped. Once you ship the order, you will see the payment in your balance.

  134. Reply reply

    I have an Amazon Fulfillment warehouse about 4 miles from me. Will I be able to take my items to sell directily there or will I still have to ship?

  136. Reply reply

    I just talked to an Amazon rep because I couldn’t complete the setup to Trade-In 3 books. They said at this time they are no longer accepting books for Trade-In. But…I did enjoy your article and glad that you talked about the independent seller option!!

  137. Reply reply

    I published a book and it was listed on Amazon 20 years ago.

    a link to the book page at Amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Angel-Roger-Campos/dp/0967606756/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=roger+a.+campos&qid=1596672498&s=books&sr=1-5

    1. I am my own publisher of my old book and have 100’s of copies. I want to sell them again on Amazon and/or Ingram as before. I don’t know how to get back on Amazon, make the necessary changes on their website so I am listed as the publisher and sell my inventory. I need some technical help with Amazon.
    2. Once I sell out of my existing inventory, I want to make some story text edits/changes and publish a new title and cover. This would be a new book perhaps coming out next year. This new book can have print on demand and all the new technology features available for selling books.
    To complicate the matter, I have a 13 song music CD that goes with my old book. My Son wrote and performed the songs. I want to have a soundbite of the theme song so the reader/audience can hear it. The CD goes with the old book. For the new book, I just want to have one song that will go with it.
    My first book was the first Rock Novel with Son and Father collaboration writing and performing. It’s unique.
    Can you provide some technical assistance or can you recommend someone for guidance?
    Thank you,

    Roger A. Campos 301 254-0048

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Roger,

      If you are the publisher of the book (and can prove it) you should be able to submit changes to the listing and have seller support approve them.

      If you are making story edits and publishing a new title, I suggest creating a brand new listing for the book. Don’t use the old listing, since technically, it won’t be the same book.

      You cannot add a sound bite to the listing but you may be able to add a video to the listing. I am not 100% sure about adding videos in the book category.

      I hope this helps.

      Brian

  138. Reply reply

    Hello,

    I have come across a YouTube video about reselling books online and it sounds very appealing. What the YouTube video talks about is how easy and profitable it is to buying book and reselling them using their training and software. The cost for the program is 2000 dollars. I will provide a link of the video. It seems for real but I am just afraid it may be a scam. It looks real when I spoke to one of the sellers and he showed me everything, but I am not sure. You must watch the video that is an hour and some odd minutes long before you can request a live zoom meeting with a seller.
    If you can assist me with this I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and God bless. Here is think to the video. https://approved.clickfunnels.com/bookoprofitsmemberstorieslevi27590071

    Sincerely,
    David Vitale

    1. Reply reply

      Hi David,

      I can tell you right now that you don’t need to invest in a $2,000 course to help you get started selling books on Amazon. There are tons of free resources out there, including Jungle Scout about selling books.

      Check out Reezy Resells on Youtube. He has a ton of free videos about selling books.

  141. Reply reply

    This was a great article! We have one book for now that we wrote ourselves. I have two questions: (1)… I see that our book is already listed on Amazon (though we did NOT list it) because two used book sellers are selling it. There is no photo of the book with product details, etc. So how would I go about listing it ourselves as OUR property? (2) what happens with shipping costs for Prime members? I assume that we add a shipping fee into the price of the book? Our book’s sales price is $24.95 on the back by the ISBN number. Can we list it for more to include at least part of the shipping cost? ie… shipping is about $6.80 so if we listed it for $28.95, we would at least get back about half of our shipping. Is that the way to go?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Marilyn,

      The listing for your book has no images on it? Then the listing should not be live if that is the case.

      You can list under that same listing as “new” since it is your book. Since it’ll be listed as new, you will get the buy box.

      If you ship your book into an FBA warehouse, your books will be prime and you won’t have to worry about adding a shipping cost.

      If you are shipping yourself, you can add an extra shipping cost. Though, I recommend offering free shipping as it will increase your conversions.

      With media mail via USPS, your shipping costs will be very low.

  143. Reply reply

    Hey I love the passion and effort in creating this blog to educate the like minded entrepreneurs. I am 34 and is interested in starting a business selling college text books. I only have 4 used text books to resell. My main focus is to branch out and be a College text book seller on Amazon. If I do list those 4 text books, they may or may not even seem. Where and how do I find new text books to sell? Th interested of mines have been there for 2 years I am ready to take the leap. Thank you!

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Shernelle,

      You can start by listing the books you have right now as FBM. That way, they can sit as long as they need to before they sell.

      You can find used books to sell at thrift stores, Goodwill, garage sales, FB marketplace, college campuses, library book sales, estate sales, and more.

  144. Reply reply

    This was an awesome article. Thank you. I wonder if everything still applies now, as it was written right before the COVID plague onset?

    I’m ONLY interested in FBM to sell books I own already. I DO NOT WANT TO PAY AMAZON $40 PER MONTH. If I sold 20 books per month, I’d be ecstatic. My situation is that I have way too many books that I myself have purchased over the past 40 years; have recently inherited a whole bunch more; need more physical room in my home; and have come to realize that I just don’t have (life)time to read many of these (esp as I will be buying more books in my specialized field in the future). Also – and this is where I really need advice – I seem to have quite a number of old books (but old books mostly in excellent physical condition, books that were never read and sat unused on shelves for 20-40-60+ years) that a superficial glance at their Amazon prices suggest sell for a lot of money (assuming they ever sell …).

    Why are some books bizarrely/obscenely overpriced – and do those hyper-high prices actually sell? How are such prices set? Here is a single example among many. Look at author Don Pendleton’s The Executioner #1 – War Against The Mafia (really, it’s instructive to do so). There is a contemporary paperback of this 1969 pulp fiction actioner priced at about $12 (this from memory). But if you click on “Mass Market Paperback” for this title – which is what I have from my long ago teen years – that edition lists for … $850 (or a little more)!!! How can that be? At first I thought I missed a decimal point. What does that mean? Why would that price be so high, when the exact same novel can be had for $12? And – most importantly – DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY PAY THAT PRICE, or anything like it??! And why wouldn’t sellers undercut each other? I would be delighted in this example to sell my copy for $100. Why aren’t prices bid down to a free market-clearing competitive price?

    Note: I understand that these outrageous prices are for NEW copies, and that most people who bought that particular edition (at some point from 1969 to the 1980s) probably read it such that the copy they now have is no longer “new”. But for me, here’s the deal. I have that entire series (around 20-25, from WAR AGAINST THE MAFIA to SATAN’S SABBATH), but only read fewer than 10. I purchased all of them during grade and high school, but never read many of them. Eventually, before college, I put them all away in a box, and there they’ve sat forgotten for 40 years. They are in pristine condition, other than being 40-50 years old. (And I have many brand new, unread but older books, among the many of mine and ones inherited I wish to sell.)

    Therefore, for at least a dozen of the overall “Don Pendleton’s The Executioner” series I can honestly list them as “new” on an Amazon page. Does that mean I can expect to get the hundreds of dollars for each of them (not every one lists for $850, but they’re all pretty high if “new”) that Amazon and its affiliated sellers list them for? That just doesn’t seem right. I have many other books which Amazon lists for obscene prices, but can’t believe anyone actually pays those (and don’t understand why people don’t undercut each other’s prices …).

    I have some other questions, but before I write any more, I want to see if this one gets answered.

    I’m not experienced in this. Maybe we could even do some kind of deal together? (Of course, as I’m not in any kind of desperate cash flow situation, it might be best to wait to really start selling stuff until the economy picks up, which might not be until the COVID crisis has passed.)

    Thank you.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Dave,

      Glad you enjoyed the article!

      I will try my best to answer your questions.

      All of this still applies, even with COVID-19. Amazon sales are stronger than ever and people are still buying books.

      You do not need to pay Amazon the $40/month if you choose the individual selling account. Though keep in mind, if you sell over 40 books in a month, it would be more worth it to switch to the pro account. With the individual account, you are charged $0.99 per transaction.

      To help give you a better understanding of if these books are actually selling, you need to look at the sales rank. I even suggest downloading the chrome extension “Keepa” as it will show you a graph of the sales history. Each spike in the graph represents a sale.

      For example: if you see a book with a sales rank of 100,000… it sells approx. 1x per day. If you see a book with a 1 million sales rank, it probably sells 1-2 times a month.

      The higher the number, the less it sells. Even though a book might be ranked 1,000,000, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attempt to sell it. If you are going to be selling FBM, you should list every copy you have and let it sit until it sells.

      I would be careful listing any books as “new.” You may be restricted or asked for an invoice/proof that the copy is new and that you got it from an authorized distributor, etc. If you have books in near perfect condition, I would list as Used-Like New.

      I see what you mean with the mass market paperback price. Why is the price that high? I do not know. Do people actually pay that price? Well, you would need to look at Keepa to figure that out. According to the keepa chart for that book, at least 1 person in the past year, has paid upwards of $800 for that book. Why? No idea, but some people will pay a ridiculous amount for certain books.

      Sellers absolutely do undercut each other in price but that often leads to a price war and race to the bottom. If you are selling a book that is currently priced high, it is best to price it similarly to your competition, based on the condition of the book — Especially if the book is actually selling for that high of a price.

      The best way to figure this all out would just be to list all of the books you have as FBM. That way, they can sit as long as they need to before they sell without worrying about FBA storage fees, etc.

      Now, if you have books with low sales rank (below 50,000), FBA would be a great option as well.

      Selling used books is one of my personal favorite ways to sell on Amazon because you can usually acquire them for very cheap and some books resale value is very high.

      I hope this helps!

      Brian

  146. Reply reply

    Hi!

    Is it possible to “buy” eBooks from somewhere else and then sell it on Amazon? Is it even legal? Will Amazon allow that?

    Please enlighten me as I also don’t want to get into trouble with the author or publisher.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Ann,

      Thanks for the question! I believe you can if your business owns the “master resale rights” of the ebook. Not every ebook you purchase will have a transferable license. Do some more in-depth research before jumping in!

    2. Reply reply

      Some ebooks do actually come with stated “resell rights”.
      Obviously you need the rights before attempting to sell multiple copies..
      I bought a lot of these a few years back but no longer have the details.
      I had quite a few about pets which I had listed on my pet website, which is no longer online !
      I also had dozens listed on a “Self-Improvement” site I had. I edited each one with my contact details and extra links etc.
      I believe there are still many sites selling ebooks with rights, at reasonable cost, which you can sell continuously.
      Some you are allowed to edit and re-brand with your information.

  147. Reply reply

    Helloo..
    I read your article..thanks for all the nice info you shared.I have 3 books written by me and i would like to market them..
    I would lime to have your concrete recommendation how to start moving..
    Looking forward to hear your suggestions
    I live jn Israel…
    +972 54 80 40 424
    Best regards
    David Levi

  148. Reply reply

    Please Dave help me to sell my novel it has two years and nobody has viewed. Titled COUGAR JUSTIFIED BY BONIFACE MACHOKI

  149. Reply reply

    I have reached my senior years and am having some difficultly getting all that is needed to get my new book on Amazon. Is there anyone who could help me with the details.?
    I need a helping hand!

    Thank you

  150. Reply reply

    Hey! I read this article but every time I try to do an individual account, it’s still charging the 39.99 selling fee per month. Did they do away with the feature for people just wanting to sell a few books? Thank you for all the other helpful info! Im wanting to sell but not sure If I have enough to make the $4o fee a month plus profit.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kylie,

      Thanks for the question!

      They still offer the individual selling account. You can downgrade in seller central.

      Top right in seller central hover over Settings > click on Account Info. On the left-hand side, you’ll see Your Services. Click manage and you will be able to downgrade.

      Also, I suggest contacting seller support and state that you have not used the professional selling account and have tried to downgrade several times. Ask for a refund for the months you paid, they should be able to help you out.

      I hope this helps!

      Brian

  151. Reply reply

    Hi Dave, very helpful advice overall. I am an individual seller, just want sell few books that I own ( less than 35 a month). The difficulty I am facing is that even when I press on the BASIC plan, it still takes me to £25 a month plan! It’s so annoying

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Jane!

      Thanks for the comment. If you cannot sign up first off under the individual plan, sign up for the pro plan and contact seller support and state you would like to downgrade and receive a refund. They should be able to help you out.

      Brian

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Anita,

      Do you have physical copies of your book or is it an ebook?

      If you have physical copies, the best way would be through FBA. You can sell your local language book but the listing information will need to be in English.

  153. Reply reply

    Hi Dave, I published my own children’s book last year and I want to sell it on Amazon. Is it worth it or even profitable just selling one book or is Amazon best for just selling lots of different books? Thank you, Liz.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Liz,

      You should absolutely list your book on Amazon! Even if you have just one product, it can be worth selling it on Amazon.

      It is worth testing out how it sells.

      Brian

  154. Reply reply

    I found there is a monthly fee for
    Global Selling Promotion
    Pay a monthly fee of 39.99 USD to access North America, Europe and Japan marketplaces.

    I remember that I had an account that I can upload used books without paying any fees.

    I wonder selling books in amazon seller central charges monthly fees?

    is there any amazon website i can upload books without fees?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Joy,

      The $39.99 charge is for a professional selling account. The free selling plan is the “individual account”, but charges you an additional $0.99 per sale.

      You can downgrade in your account settings.

      Brian

  155. Reply reply

    I took a break from selling books on Amazon but now getting back in. When I now list a book, the only description of used book condition is like-new, very good, etc. Previously I could give a better description like “no highlighting or markings”. Now I cannot find how to do that. Is that option gone?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Casey,

      Thanks for the question!

      I think I know the issue. The new layout in seller central has that section hidden. When you are adding your offer, you should see ‘advanced view’. Click that and you will see the condition notes.

      Hope this helps!

      Brian

  156. Reply reply

    Having Amazon do the shipping sounds great but….. If after 6-12 months there are books that did not sell can I request they be returned to me instead of paying more storage fees? Would there be any monetary penalty for that? How then would those titles be removed from where they were posted for sale?

    1. Reply reply

      Great question, Cheryl! And yes, if you sell FBA, you can get any books that don’t sell back by creating a removal order. We have more information about what you can do with unsold stock in our Liquidating Amazon Inventory article. I hope this helps.

  157. Reply reply

    I Dave I have published a book entitled The Character of Ireland. an enitial
    addition of 1000 books ,Hard back with dust cover selling at 35 euros or approx 40 dollars
    How do you recommend I go about selling on Amazon

  158. Reply reply

    Thanks so much for this informative post. I am a graduate student and have an individual seller account and would like to know how to automate pricing so that my books will be priced at the lowest and sell more quickly.
    I see that I can type in a range of prices I will accept, but when I look at my inventory, I see that my prices often aren’t matching the lowest price even if that price is within the range I designated.
    Am I not reading this correctly? How do I make this work on its own so I can just ship them as they sell?
    Thank you!

  160. Reply reply

    I have some interest in a few books books that I would love to purchase but they are expensive how could I get them at a lower price if the publishing company just remain at that price target with out dropping the price at wholesale rate that a person can make a profit off these books of interest I know some publishing companies may sell books in bulk are clearance sale you can also explain how this method works when purchasing books to sell them back for profit.

  161. Reply reply

    Dave, thank you for the detailed info. I’m a reading teacher with a ton of books I’d like to sell. Won’t it be costly to ship boxes of books to Amazon for FBA? After that shipping cost and fees won’t it be difficult to make a profit?

    1. Reply reply

      You’re right, Anna; there is a chance that it may be more expensive to use FBA to ship your books. For that reason, we recommend looking into the FBA fees that you’d be required to pay per order and compare that to the costs you’d incur if you pack and ship your books to customers yourself. Doing that will give you a better idea of which fulfillment method will result in bigger profits for you. Hope this helps!

  162. Reply reply

    Great site!
    Two questions:
    a) When I sell a book on Amazon, will they send me an email to let me know it has sold?
    b) I won’t know the shipping costs until the book sells. (I plan to use the US Postal Service.) How do I arrive at a total cost for the book without taking it to the post office first?

    1. Reply reply

      Christopher,

      1) Yes, typically you’ll get an email. I recommend getting the Seller app since it’ll send a notification to your mobile device.
      2) You might consider purchasing a postage scale. For media mail, it’s usually $2.57ish base plus $0.50 for every pound over the first.

  163. Reply reply

    I was surprised by how well Penguin Classics do on Amazon. At first I spent too much on packaging and postage, but I learnt to pack books lightly. Avoid selling heavy books online!

  165. Reply reply

    Thanks for the great info, Dave. I’m looking for some specific advice. We live in the US and have about 3,000 or so books. Most of these are signed or inscribed by the author, with dust jackets in Mylar, that range from Very Good to Like New condition. These range from rare celebrities, 20th century presidents, history and military history, non-fiction, sci-fi, natural history, science, and several volumes of expensive collectibles from Maggs Bros. Ltd. Rare Editions of London.

    We don’t want to donate or give these away, but we do want to get rid of the library so we can downsize to a smaller home quickly, and without a lot of hassle. What do you recommend we do? I don’t want to have to package and ship them. Would Amazon store all these and ship as they’re sold? Would I need to list each book on Amazon? Should I do this as a professional or FBM seller?

    Or would it make more sense to use an estate seller?

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Suzanne,

      Great questions all around. If there’s a number of high-value books in the collection, you might find an appraiser and sell it as a lot. If you were looking to do it quickly, Amazon probably isn’t the way to go. Even in my fastest periods of breaking down multiple thousand collections, it took months to comb through the list. And it’s even harder if you don’t have ISBNs (old books, etc.)

      If you do sell it yourself, you’ll have to list them all individually. You should probably do it as a professional seller (since it’s likely you’ll sell more than 40 per month) and yes, you can use FBA to store and ship the goods for you.

      An estate seller likely won’t know the value of the books and will price them as they normally would a large book collection: in the dirt. So be conscious of that!

  166. Reply reply

    Hi, I am new in Amazon to sell books. I bought few kids books for $3 CAD each,which is already listed in amazon for $8.99 by other sellers and bsr of books are 50k to 100k. Now, the FBA fee is charging me around $6, which doesn’t give me any profit, rather I am in loss if I sell them. What am I missing here? Should I look for cheaper books or increase the selling price knowing others are selling in less price? Can you suggest please?

    1. Reply reply

      Nabila,

      Good question. The profit is always in your buy. For books, I never try to spend more than a few cents. Also, I shoot for collectible books or rare books that sell for $10+.

  167. Reply reply

    I just read Brandod D. Wison’s article on selling books on Amazon.
    He made almost $6 after 6 months of selling.

    Here is a breakdown of the fees to sell this one book through the FBA program:

    Amazon Referral Fee: $1.35
    Variable Closing Fee: $1.80
    Per Item Fee: $0.99
    FBA Fulfillment Fees: $4.71
    Total Fees: $8.85

    I can’t see how it makes any sense.

    1. Reply reply

      Heya Noor,

      These days, you really have to focus on niche books. Cheap books are pretty tough to sell on the platform since they introduced the VCF. A lot of my success has come from selling collectibles.

  168. Reply reply

    Hi! I am from Brazil and want to sell several books (in English) on Amazon, and would rather sell them by FBA. But I have a question. Would I only be able to send my book to Amazon if they were already bought, or can I send them off once they are only listed? For convenience and price of shipping, I’d rather send all of the books I want to sell in one package to Amazon, so they store it until someone buys them, and they dispatch it. Would they accept that?
    Thank you in advance,
    Sara

  169. Reply reply

    Very helpful information to get us started. I would be dealing in American Civil War related books, so my big question is, Does Amazon have a problem with displaying any portion of a Confederate battle flag?

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Jim,

      Good question. Doing a quick search on Amazon, it looks like Confederate flags are not allowed. The ones that are on there are labeled as “old school southern states flag” or it’s a historical flag. However, if it’s in a book and it’s a picture, you should be fine.

      The best thing to do is to check to see if the book already exists. Remember: you don’t have to create listings for the books since they already exist on Amazon.

  170. Reply reply

    This should probably have some additional information about the buy box. If you are not eligible for (or eligible and not winning) the buy box you are not going to get many sales on books. Also a lower BSR means more competition and a lot of times pricing wars between repricers. Can you make money selling books? Absolutely. Is it as easy as buying books and listing on Amazon? Absolutely not.

  171. Reply reply

    I live in europe , its really good opportunity to sell books. But only problem in europe is , do i need to register tax numbers for each country that im going to send my books ?

    i might send only english books and probably my marketplace will be UK , but still if i can find other languages for example german i can even send them to germany as well

  172. Reply reply

    Re: “[Bezos] also stated that 140,000+ businesses selling on Amazon made more than $100,000 in sales.”

    Are you saying that each of those 140,000 made $100,000 in sales? Or are you saying that all 140,00 businesses’ combined sales totaled $100,000. I find both interpretations astonishing:
    — If it’s the latter, then each business only made $1.40. 🙁 That can’t be right.
    — But if it’s the former, then all of those business made (what I would consider to be) a TON of money! :-0

    Can you clarify the correct meaning? I can’t seems to infer it for myself because I find both of them fairly plausible. (If the former interpretation is correct, then I need to get cracking on this project! LOL!)

  173. Reply reply

    Dear Mr. Hamrick: :
    This article was one of the best I have read in a long time. You really sound like you love your job. If I can get the knowledge and wisdom you have from your article I would be the happiest woman in the world. I have been looking for something to make some money on for a mighty long time now and I think this just be the kind of thing that I can do. In the past I gave up, got taken and lost too much money.
    Two years ago I wrote a book and had it published and it is on Amazon. The Book Co. never did advertise it and did not live up to there helping me do it either.
    Since then a lot has happened to my health and my husband and I ran out of money. I now can hardly walk or leave the house.
    Don’t think i’m looking for pity, that i’m not. I have worked all my life and want to help my husband with the bills and make myself worthy of getting up each day.
    I love books and would be a good way to get books to people that really like good books.
    Thank you, Oh I forgot do you have to have the tools right away to get started.? Hope you don’t mind I copied your article. Thanks Maudie B. Dussault

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Maudie,

      When I started, I just “dipped my toe” in the water to make sure it was something I wanted to do. From there, I saw the advantage of having the tools and built out from there. These days I publish my own books.

  175. Reply reply

    How to I get around of paying the 39 dollar fee? Do I have to do international? I don’t have a lot of money to start and this would be a side job… I do have book inventory though

  176. Reply reply

    Great article! I am looking to sell some books FBM but was wondering what is the least expensive way to package and ship a book. Can you provide some details on how you packaged books when shipping FBM? THANK YOU!!

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Michelle,

      Awesome question. There’s a few methods, but I’ve found two that I particularly like.

      First, you can buy bulk bubble wrapper envelopes. I purchase mine through a company called fastpack.net which is not only the cheapest I’ve seen online, but their turn around time is crazy fast (hence the name). I usually buy 10 x 15 as they’re a good catchall for all sizes. For smaller books, I just stuff the book into the bottom of the envelope, fold it, and print.

      I’ve also done the cardboard shell method. You can buy a roll or corrugated cardboard from Uline or Fastpack, then wrap the book and staple it together with a high powered stapler. While marginally cheaper than envelopes, it is slower. Plus, the staples can sometimes stab your mailman.

      Hope that’s helpful.

  177. Reply reply

    If you are listing books FBM, can you suspend your account for a few days/weeks if you go on vacation or have an emergency and cannot ship right away? thanks.

    1. Reply reply

      Jane,

      Awesome question.

      Yes and you absolutely should. Amazon is very particular about their late shipment rates. Failing to ship books on time can get your account suspended. So make sure that you’re setting your account to away mode when you’re away.

  178. Reply reply

    Best information ever!!! I’ve been on the fence, but will now continue to completely climb over and hit the ground running!

    Thank you sooo much!

  179. Reply reply

    This information was very helpful to get me started on selling some of my books… I assume paperbacks are the way to go, although, I do have many hardcover books. Not sure if it is worth selling those.

  181. Reply reply

    Hi Dave , my name is Frank and I’m from NY. I’m A senior citizen and in desperate need to make some extra money to supplement our social security and to avoid foreclosure on our home. Im very interested in this opportunity but just not as sharp as I used to be. I’m inquiring to see if There is a simpler way to try and understand this process and realistically make about $500 a week. I’m a go getter and have been all my life but I need a good coach at this point in life. Like I said I’m very motivated to try this but could use some assistance, is that possible to do. Look forward to your response .

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Frank,

      Books are a good place to start as an Amazon seller, but if you’re concerned about expenses, I recommend finding a method that won’t have a lot of upfront costs. We’ve got a few articles coming up over the next couple weeks with different methods to earn an income on Amazon. I personally write my own books these days and use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform which doesn’t cost me anything more than the cost to purchase a copy of my own book.

  183. Reply reply

    How do you start an Amazon Seller Account ?

    Also, can you start as a personal account at Amazon, then switch over to the Pro accunt, fairly easy?

    1. Reply reply

      Hey John! Glad you reached out about this as you can start an an individual seller and upgrade to a professional account. In case you need it, here’s a link to an Amazon seller forum thread that explains how to do just that:

      https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/how-can-i-change-my-selling-account-from-individual-to-professional/19298

      And here’s a link to our post explaining how to set up an account:

      https://www.junglescout.com/blog/individual-vs-professional-seller-plans/

      Hope this helps!

  184. Reply reply

    Hello Dave,

    I read your post about a few weeks ago and tried to follow the tips outlined in it.

    Using it as a guide I was able to secure 16 different titles with BSR’s below 250,000 (10 copies of each with the exception of one that I was only able to get 7 copies of) for an average price under $1. However, some of those BSR’s have changed since I got my inventory and listed them.

    I signed up for an Amazon Seller’s account and shipped my stuff in for FBA.

    I started on Dec. 5 and have made 2 sales.

    I was hoping by following the tips in your post I would sell through my inventory in one month and then re-invest my profits in more inventory using the same model.

    Right now I’ve spent about $200.

    I’m disappointed in my results and was hoping to get some more in depth advice. I wanted to see if you’re available for a quick consult on exactly what I’ve done but, couldn’t find a better way of contacting you to find out if you offer consulting services.

    Could you please let me know via the email address I left when making this comment?

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Reply reply

      Heya Andrew,

      I won’t be available for a consult, but maybe you can give a little more information on the books! We’re also currently in the middle of updating this post as Amazon has made a few changes in the last year.

  185. Reply reply

    The area that I am confused about is how and when to ship and placing labels on the book and the shipping container. Should I list the book on Amazon before I add it for sell or ship it first then list it? I heard that I need to add an Amazon label covering the existing bar code on the book, also what is the process for printing the shipping labels to place on the shipping box that will be sent to Amazon? What is the estimated time frame for all of this to take place in the process? Please advise and thank you so much.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Edward,

      Often, the listings will already be on Amazon. So when you go to sell a book on Amazon, you’ll enter the ISBN and see the preexisting listing. This is different than a site like ebay, for example, where you would have to create a separate listing.

      Once you’ve put your own offer on the listing and you are ready to send inventory to Amazon’s warehouses, you can place the stickers directly onto the book. Then you put the shipping label on the box.

  187. Reply reply

    Thanks for this! I’ve been in and out of Amazon Advantage a few times selling my own book. I recently pulled it out because they wanted to charge me a 15$ penalty for the post office covering up a label…but now I’m wanting to put my hardcover books back up there to sell the rest of the books I have on hand and they won’t let me back into my Advantage account, so I may try FBM…I don’t have too many left though…the paperbacks are already printed, sold and marketed by Amazon and move pretty quickly, so now I’m hoping to perhaps sell signed ones via marketplace for cheaper than the list price? Can I do that? Do you think this would work?

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Danielle,

      If they’re your own books, you can definitely do that. For signed books, you might also see if you can qualify for collectible books, since that tends to be where signed books go.

      If you’re an author, I also recommend making your own books through KDP. It’s super easy and lucrative.

  189. Reply reply

    I need to unload a large collection of all types of books probably one time. What do you need first and where do I take them? Thank you very much. Franz

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Franz,

      If you’re not interested in selling them piecemeal and only selling them one by one, I recommend doing so with Ebay and selling them as a collection. Otherwise, you can list the books individually and ship them all to Amazon fulfillment center where they’ll be out of your hair for the time being. 🙂

  192. Reply reply

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  193. Reply reply

    Dave, an excellent explanation of the Amazon book selling business. But this is for sellers selling books generally. I am an author who runs a publishing company and will be selling my own books, therefore no serious competition. What do you suggest I should do differently?

    1. Reply reply

      Hey Peter,

      It depends on the volume you’re selling. Personally, I use Kindle Direct Publishing for the books I write since they do both Kindle-friendly books as well as printed paperbacks. It usually ends up being cheaper than sourcing them overseas, too.

  196. Reply reply

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for all the info. This is actually a great article! Very informative. I’m starting my journey this weekend. I’ll be following a lot of your tips!

  197. Reply reply

    I volunteer at a thrift store and am trying to help them turn over their used book inventory. How do help the thrift store become an Amazon Vendor that can sell directly to Amazon?

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Madelin,

      Good question. Unfortunately, Amazon selects their vendors on a case-by-case basis and typically the vendors must be doing millions in sales in order for them to be considered. However, your store should qualify to sell their used books as a third party seller.

    1. Reply reply

      Hi Kimberly,

      As long as you’re in the US, you can ship your books directly to the nearest fulfillment center, even if it’s out of state. For example, I live in Oklahoma, and up until recently we didn’t have our own FC. I had to send everything to Dallas. But I’ve sent goods as far as Wisconsin before.

      Amazon’s shipping rates for inventory are pretty inexpensive.

  199. Reply reply

    I’d love to start selling books on line using Amazon. How do i get started and where can I buy books cheap and get them sent to Amazon?