I found this interesting as someone who purchases dozens of used books on Amazon.com and to a lesser extent Half.com. I find that many of the books can be purchased for the price of media mail shipping $3.49 + a few bucks making my average book purchase $6 to $10 and most of that going to the post office.
I assume that this person who “makes” $2300 is clearing that much after expenses.
If so, that’s pretty good… If they sell 15 books a day or about 300 to 500 per month, that’s an average profit of $5.75 per book after Amazon (or whoever) takes their cut.
But what is that per hour?
If the person is having to find all these books too… lug them, package them, mail them, etc. what’s the revenue per hour?
The biggest potential for increasing profits is likely follow up sales to these customers.
Does this person have a strategy to stay in touch?
Can they create information products (digital) to sell for higher revenues too?
Are their public domain older books they can scan and sell the digital product for 100% profit?
Just wondering. Great post Steve.
From Steve Weber:
QUESTION: I sell books on Amazon and have excellent ratings. I sell about 15 books a day and earn $2,300 a month, but that’s not enough. I’m a graduate student, so I have income from instructorships, but I also have a family and children. Is there any way to increase my sales?
ANSWER: Try not to be discouraged, I think you’re doing well, making more than $2,000 a month selling books part time. That’s probably better than most of us are doing. And the longer you do it, the better you’ll become at finding valuable books.
Lots of people are working full-time waiting tables and driving taxicabs, yet making less than $2,000 a month.
I know how it is to feel you aren’t earning enough. On the other hand, I feel fortunate to earn a good living selling books, which I enjoy so much.
There’s always a debate over whether things are getting better or worse, or whether it’s possible to earn a “living wage.” There’s an raging debate on Amazon’s seller discussion board on that right now. The original poster seems to be complaining about making $600 to $700 a week.
Everything is relative. I read somewhere that the key to wealth is not earning a lot, but simply spending a bit less than you earn.
The only way to do better at online bookselling is to keep doing it and getting better. Easier said than done.
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