So far I've listed:
6 DVD series and 23 books.
The DVD's were priced about $2 below competitors and sold very quickly. I insured the DVDs at $1.35 each plus shipping plus padded envelope $0.70 each. The shipping reimbursement from half.com ended up covering the insurance and the padded envelope, but not much of the media mail cost - figure the average DVD series cost about $2.50 in shipping which was not reimbursed. I still made a nice little profit.
I've sold 3 books so far. They are less profitable and some books under $20 I've decided not to ensure. That does make me vulnerable to people claiming the books never arrived. The post office recommended paying $0.65 for confirmation of delivery as a protection - I'm considering it. I'll probably do it after the first time someone claims they didn't receive delivery.
Most of the books were listed 7/11 with about 6 listed 7/18. The books are not selling very quickly. They're fairly technical and/or professional books. I may need to reconsider pricing in a month's time or so. With books, I think it's a good idea to let them sit a while - they usually sell very poorly on e-bay onless there is a big established market for a well known collectible.
Until then the books sit on my shelf waiting to be sold.
One thing I don't like about half.com is the fact that the seller must incorporate all costs (insurance, handling) into the item being sold outside of the media mail reimbursement rate (which is paltry). This means your prices are less competitive on price comparison search engines with listings that don't incorporate these prices.
Here's an interesting point, if you go to www.abebooks.com, you'll notice that virtually all used book stores charge $3.50 in shipping plus almost a $1 per additional item. Half.com does not give you that luxury.
I will continue to list items on half.com and hope they will sell gradualy. My cut off point is the value of them as a tax deduction. If I can sell it for more than 40% I'll do so, otherwise it's a donation.
Have a wonderful day,
makingourway
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2 comments:
try selling them on amazon.com
you'll get 1000 times more visitors than half.com.
selling on half.com isn't worth the effort. i'd rather throw my technical books away!!!! [actually i just stopped buying them - that really saves $$$]
empty/adventures,
I've looked at Amazon and been interested in trying them, however, I'm concerned they charge higher fees. Would that defeat the benefit of the higher traffic?
regards,
makingourway
www.makingourwayblog.com
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