| Getting into the used books business is easy and can | | | | lead to great profits. |
| become a nice extra income or a whole new career. | | | | You're also going to need a lot of shipping materials. |
| Before you know it, you can be on your way to big | | | | In most cases a bubble envelope will work fine. |
| profits and the great benefits of owning your own | | | | These provide some protection for the book and are |
| business. It doesn't require a huge time commitment | | | | fairly cheap. If you might be shipping more expensive |
| either. In fact, you can start an online used book | | | | or fragile items, you might consider purchasing the |
| business in just a week. | | | | Easy Fold Mailer from This is made of cardboard and |
| First you need to think of the legal structure of your | | | | can adjust to the thickness of the book. |
| business. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited | | | | Now you're ready to begin selling. In most cases, is |
| liability company, or corporation? This decision will | | | | the best place to sell online. It gets lots of traffic and |
| affect what risks and liabilities you have, and what | | | | is fairly easy to use. In fact they do most of the |
| taxes you'll be expected to pay. Most sellers use | | | | business work for you. You simply list your books |
| either a sole proprietorship or limited liability company. | | | | and ship them out. To start selling, find your book on |
| Next you need to start buying books. Estate sales | | | | the Amazon web site, click on the "sell yours here" |
| and garages sales are a great place to find cheap | | | | button and you're in business! |
| books. In most cases, the people running these are | | | | When thinking of your prices, go for the middle. Don't |
| eager to get rid of the books and will often take a | | | | feel like it needs to be the lowest price possible. A |
| flat payment for the entire collection. Library sales | | | | good way to decide your price is to look at the |
| are another great place to find inexpensive books. | | | | prices listed, discard the highest and lowest, and then |
| And finally, consider looking into wholesalers. There | | | | average the rest. This could be your price. |
| are many great ones online, such as American Book | | | | When grading your books, be honest. Your |
| Company and Great Jones Books. You might have to | | | | customers want to feel like they're getting what was |
| buy a minimum amount, $200 for instance, but you'll | | | | promised to them. A book with some wear on the |
| be able to get popular titles for $1 or $2, which can | | | | spine is not "new." Keep it honest. |