World Famous Comics: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site
The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site
By: Steve Weber Publisher: Weber Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Weber Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 168 Publication Date: November 02, 2005
Product Description: Want to discover 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 new study by U.S. publishers. Learn how to start your business part-time, then expand at your own pace. This step-by-step guide, written by one of the most successful and highly rated sellers on Amazon and eBay, includes everything you need to know:
A Good Resource I've sold a few books on eBay, but I've never really tried seriously to make money at it. However, I have the advantage of having long experience in the book trade. Still, I was wondering what might be particular about the online world, so I decided to take a look at this book since Steve Weber is someone who started small and built a successful online business. For the most part, this book is a valuable tool for someone who really wants to make it.
There are a number of things that I really like about this book. He's very smart about where to find books and about what books are smart to acquire. He's particularly acute with suggesting areas that should be avoided and those that are easy to overlook (certain types of textbooks, particular areas of history-- "learn to find unusual books"). In these areas, his suggestions often gibe with my own experience, though I'm more excited about certain areas than he is.
He's also quite good on the mechanics of running an online business, though I focused mainly on his general suggestions about tracking inventory, pricing and customer service. He goes a bit overboard when suggesting websites and software worth looking at to manage some of these tasks. A few simple, straightforward suggestions might serve the beginner better.
And, of course, this book suffers from the fate of all books that deal with online services. Published in 2006, some of the specific suggestions, particularly concerning the smaller companies, are already out-of-date. If you stick with the larger companies, however, you probably won't have too much trouble.
In the end, this book provides valuable insight into running a bookstore. It doesn't matter whether you are someone who already owns a store and wants to get your inventory online or someone starting from scratch, there is valuable advice here.
Much more than you paid for! I read Home-Based Bookstore because I have hundreds of perfect condition used books I just cleared out from my personal library at home and wanted to see if I could sell them on Amazon and didn't know how to get started. Just like Steve Weber's other books, you get much more than you pay for. Weber fills this book with details covering every aspect of setting up your home based used bookstore for NO MONEY upfront. How cool is that? Where as other books on the topic have been reviewed saying they just recycle what you can find on Amazon help pages, Weber includes tons of insider information far beyond what is found on Amazon's help links, such as what and where to find books to sell, how to price them correctly, how to package and ship, get feedback from customer, handling negative feedback, handling taxes, etc. etc. etc. No question you can think up appears to be lacking an answer on these pages...and here's another exciting upside...within 2 days of reading this book and setting up my store, I've already sold and shipped THREE of my books. Thanks Steve...and keep sharing your insider information.
One of the best resources for people wanting to start a book store This is a top DIY book for finding and selling books on line. This was one of the many books that I purchased before I opened up my own store, and it has helped me ever since. Good advice, with excellent tips on what to do. A bit lite when it comes to dealing with angry customers, excellent for finding out where things are, wholesalers, and other places to purchase inventory. That is probably one of the most closely guarded secrets for any on line seller of anything, where do you get your stuff.
Overall a 5 of 5 star book, excellent in sources and things to do, filled with good advice, and interesting to read. This book is worth buying if you are wanting to start your own amazon or ebay store.
A Must Read for any new online bookseller I'm a newbie at selling books online with Amazon. I ordered 3 books (from Amazon - of course!) on how to sell on Amazon. By far, this book was the best one. It's a soup to nuts on "how to". I refer to this book often as a guide. It is rich with resources that you can look up online. I just found out that this author has written a similar book but specific to Amazon. I'm reading that one right now. I also appreciate the author's humble roots - starting out in a 1 bedroom apartment; 3 months later made enough to quit his job and do this full time and moved into a house. yet, the author quickly cautions people that this endeavor won't make you rich but can give you a chance to either make more money on the side or work from home if that is what you want.
The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site This is a great book, I found it easy to read and extremely informative, and even though this book is a bit dated (2003) everything still applies, just with today's prices, economy etc...The author left no information out and gave lots of research options for the people who want to go further in their quest. Really good reading!
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