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***mandy*** · 11-20-2007, 12:14 PM,

Quote:Since the invention of movable type the sale of new, used and rare books has been a large, steady worldwide market. The sheer love of books has segued many from collectors into dealers, the 'prestige' of dealing in a respected product has compelled others into the trade, as have the mathematics: few collectible commodities can be as readily found as books. Even in today's competitive market, book gems can still be found in such pedestrian venues as flea markets, garage sales, thrift shops and even thrown out on curbs and in dumpsters...

The majority of new and used books are still sold in stores, auctions, flea markets and other face-to-face venues, but online book buying is an ever increasing niche with over 100 million used books alone offered for sale on the Internet. Bookseller Web sites aside, there are basically two universes of online book selling: the commercial book listing services and auctions, mainly eBay. Here we will offer the pros and cons of both platforms, tips to get started and road bumps to avoid, beginning with the listing services. Tomorrow we'll cover e-Bay in-depth in the second part of the series...

full article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions...hp/3712001

***mandy*** · 11-21-2007, 01:03 PM,

Part 2 of the article, selling books on eBay:

Quote:One huge advantage for book dealers who do business on eBay is the quick pace of sales. Waiting for a book to sell on a listing service or a personal Web site can be like watching an acorn turn into an oak tree. By one account, it takes an average of two years for a $100 book to sell on the listing services, five years and longer for tomes $500 and up. In eBay auctions, books sell within three to 10 days, providing a cash flow that simply does not exist for most listing service sellers.

Another positive aspect of eBay selling is that it's fun; it is a serendipitous and impulsive market. Marty Manley ,the CEO of the Alibris book listing service, which at one point kept several large selling accounts on eBay, commented here two years ago, "Buying and selling on eBay is entertaining, which is why eBay has customer frequency and dwell times that are the envy of all e-commerce sites." This remains true. Book buyers using listing service or Google and other search engines confine their searches to specific titles while eBay buyers tend to search by category of interest or keywords, frequently bidding on books they did not know existed...

full article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/essential...hp/3712296