Amazon Marketplace Book Selling Tricks - Other Ways to Increase Your Sales and Make More Money
Having great books is not enough for Amazon Marketplace success.
Read on for a few more ways you can gain a competitive advantage.
Not only is feedback and accurate description important, but there are a few more factors that you might not have considered.
a) Geography Geography can play quite a significant role as to whether you get the sale.
Seriously.
If you are on the East Coast and most of the other books are located on the West Coast, a buyer from the East Coast may well choose your book over the alternatives, even if the others are a bit cheaper, because shipping won't take as long.
So check out not only how good your competition's feedback is but also where they are located.
Does it really make a difference? Yes, because the standard way for Marketplace vendors to send books is Media Mail.
And Media Mail takes its sweet time to get it its destination, especially when it gets close to the holidays in November and December.
b) Pricing One more thing: Ever since Amazon.
com offered free shipping, especially free 2-day shipping for Prime members, it's become a bit more difficult to compete.
The key is to keep prices competitive.
I try to price my books at least a couple of dollars and often four dollars below Amazon.
com's price.
That's because Amazon.
com adds a $3.
99 shipping charge, all of which it passes on to you to cover your shipping expenses.
But if someone is a Prime member, they can get the book without having to pay for shipping, and it's faster too.
c) Scarcity On the other hand, many books go out of stock eventually.
If that happens, you won't have to stay below Amazon's price.
In fact, sometimes you can sell your book at a real premium.
Sure, often those books aren't exactly bestsellers, so it may take a while for them to sell, but when someone is looking for them, and you have a good offer, you've got a sale.
In order to make the most of this, it's a good idea to regularly check up on the pricing of your competition.
A key part of this will be to check whether or not the book is still available from Amazon.
com.
And not just available, but available in a timely manner.
Just because Amazon still lists it doesn't mean that a buyer can get it or wants to wait for 4 to 6 weeks to find out IF they can still get it.
If you have a copy at a good price, they'll buy yours even if you're charging a few dollars more than Amazon.
com.
In fact, the scarcity principle applies here...
If someone really wants that book, they're likely to grab it because books can also become entirely unavailable.
And availability can change quickly, so sometimes a book you had listed for $11.
95 could later sell for $20.
00 or even more, sometimes a lot more, once the competition evaporates.
Then again, the competition can also reappear when a new edition comes out.
Read on for a few more ways you can gain a competitive advantage.
Not only is feedback and accurate description important, but there are a few more factors that you might not have considered.
a) Geography Geography can play quite a significant role as to whether you get the sale.
Seriously.
If you are on the East Coast and most of the other books are located on the West Coast, a buyer from the East Coast may well choose your book over the alternatives, even if the others are a bit cheaper, because shipping won't take as long.
So check out not only how good your competition's feedback is but also where they are located.
Does it really make a difference? Yes, because the standard way for Marketplace vendors to send books is Media Mail.
And Media Mail takes its sweet time to get it its destination, especially when it gets close to the holidays in November and December.
b) Pricing One more thing: Ever since Amazon.
com offered free shipping, especially free 2-day shipping for Prime members, it's become a bit more difficult to compete.
The key is to keep prices competitive.
I try to price my books at least a couple of dollars and often four dollars below Amazon.
com's price.
That's because Amazon.
com adds a $3.
99 shipping charge, all of which it passes on to you to cover your shipping expenses.
But if someone is a Prime member, they can get the book without having to pay for shipping, and it's faster too.
c) Scarcity On the other hand, many books go out of stock eventually.
If that happens, you won't have to stay below Amazon's price.
In fact, sometimes you can sell your book at a real premium.
Sure, often those books aren't exactly bestsellers, so it may take a while for them to sell, but when someone is looking for them, and you have a good offer, you've got a sale.
In order to make the most of this, it's a good idea to regularly check up on the pricing of your competition.
A key part of this will be to check whether or not the book is still available from Amazon.
com.
And not just available, but available in a timely manner.
Just because Amazon still lists it doesn't mean that a buyer can get it or wants to wait for 4 to 6 weeks to find out IF they can still get it.
If you have a copy at a good price, they'll buy yours even if you're charging a few dollars more than Amazon.
com.
In fact, the scarcity principle applies here...
If someone really wants that book, they're likely to grab it because books can also become entirely unavailable.
And availability can change quickly, so sometimes a book you had listed for $11.
95 could later sell for $20.
00 or even more, sometimes a lot more, once the competition evaporates.
Then again, the competition can also reappear when a new edition comes out.
