| Book by Category | |  | Web Marketing | Home » » » The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site | | | | | | | Description: | | Want to know the most profitable, lowest-risk idea for your home business? It's selling used books online, which is growing 33 percent annually, according to a November 2005 study by U.S. publishers.
Here is the complete text of the most popular book about online bookselling of all time: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site
Learn how to start your business part-time, then work as little or as much as you want. This step-by-step guide, written by one of the most successful and highly rated sellers on Amazon.com and eBay, includes everything you need to know:
-- Where to find books
Find books in your own neighborhood to resell profitably to a worldwide pool of ready buyers. Get the best sources for valuable used books at low prices.
-- Where to sell Learn
How to list your books to sell at the best price on Amazon.com and eBay, and even your own Web store. -- Which books to buy What to look for in fiction, nonfiction, and collectibles to resell at the highest profits.
-- Grading and pricing your books
How to describe and price your books. Learn what buyers are looking for.
-- Handling customers
Tips on handling online book buyers. See the author's time-tested scripts for responding to customer issues. Learn how you can get and maintain high feedback ratings.
-- Fulfilling orders
Easy-to-use ideas for storing, organizing, and shipping your books and handling returns.
-- Automation tools
Maximize your efficiency with these tips on automating your business. Automatically notify customers about shipments, and print postage to ship your books without leaving home.
-- Taxes and legal requirements
How to register your business to obtain the proper permits and be exempted from paying sales tax on your inventory.
-- Exclusive list of wholesale book distributors
Exclusive profiles and contact info for 32 wholesaledistributors of used and new books. Order inventory at up to 90 percent off retail, shipped right to your door.
About the author:
Steve Weber started his home-based bookstore as a hobby in March 2000. Two months later, he quit his day job to sell used books full-time on Amazon.com and eBay, using his one-bedroom apartment in Virginia as warehouse and shipping depot. In the meantime, he has sold more than $1 million of used books to buyers in all 50 states and 31 foreign countries. In this step-by-step guide, Weber tells you how he took $80 in savings to buy his first batch of books, then invested the profits to build a successful business, and how you can too.
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Steve Weber | | Paperback:
| 168 pages | | Publisher:
| Weber Books | | Publication Date:
| November 02, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0977240606 | | Package Length:
| 8.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.5 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 132 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 InformativeNov 22, 2009
I wasn't sure I'd learn much from this book, but I was wrong--it's very informative. Also, the writing is very clear and to the point.
The Home-Based BookstoreNov 20, 2009
Great book! Writer knows how to tell the general public what it's all about in
laymens terms.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 More helpful for buyers than sellersSep 25, 2009
A lot of this book was content that was easily available online. I was disappointed by how small and unhelpful the customer service section of this book was, as well as how little time was spent emphasizing how important it was to be honest about a book's condition in order to avoid customer dissatisfaction issues.
I buy a lot of used books. There is a distinct advantage to being able to personally examine books. If you know up front the book is in x condition and are willing to pay the price, fine. The problem is that many online sellers seem to ignore what the very clear Amazon book descriptions state, and the bigger the seller, the worse the problem seems to get! And no more 4th and 5th party online sellers for me, either.
The author at one point mentions customers who are upset about the condition of an inexpensive book--if the stated condition doesn't match the book, the customer does have a right to complain, regardless of the price of the book (which online includes shipping/handling costs). Customers get really tired of returning incorrectly described/damaged books due to poor packaging back to sellers, and unlike sellers, we can't write off the trip (and in some cases packaging). A lot of sellers don't realize this, and this book doesn't get it, either.
I'm not saying all online sellers are like this, by any means.
Borrow this from your library. It was more helpful to me as a buyer of used books online. If I were going to sell books online I would look for a different book.
2 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 disappointedJul 24, 2009
Pretty thin for 17.05. Half of it consists of lists of websites. A lot of empty spaces, large type and semi-useless information. I already knew what dog-eared means. Anyone who thinks that someone named Robert Chambers wrote The Big Sleep(pg 81)doesn't know much about books.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
For the very beginner without internet accessJul 01, 2009
Weber's book is quite short, too general, and tries to include too many categories of information without discussing them in any depth. It's mostly lists: where to sell books, how to package a book, what genres to look for. This sounds like a good thing, but when they are unaccompanied by the thoughtful advice 5 years of experience should bring, they just tell you information you could easily google. Some examples: His inventory sources are fairly obvious, or too much for the beginner who might not want to expend a huge outlay (i.e. money for a lot of 400-800 books). His section on grading repeats information that Amazon gives in their help guide, when it could mention tricky cases -- he doesn't even mention ex-library books, which you'll frequently run into. His information on packaging can be found easily through googling, where you'll find better suggestions. His pricing strategy is to meet the lowest price so he ignores the nuances involved -- for instance, why would you meet the lowest price if that person has an 88% feedback rating? Weber doesn't even address any of these fairly rudimentary exceptions.
When he does give good information it's often too brief or incidental; for instance, his list of genres to pick is this general: WWI books are to be eschewed, but business and financial books are great. Vintage science books all do well. There is no discussion about the nuances or tricks that a seasoned bookseller should be able to impart: when do these categories fail? One major plus is that he's realistic about the money someone will make selling books; there are very few of the details many of this genre include about how you're going to one day find a Fitzgerald first edition and so forth. I appreciated how rarely I saw him mention books he bought for $1 turning around to $200. Instead, his examples talk about turning $1 books into $8-10 sales.
I've been selling for under a month and some basic googling told me almost everything Weber includes. He does have some suggestions for other books to read that look good, but I'd save your money and look elsewhere. For this book, you're paying for a collection of resources rather than a bookseller-mentor's training.
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