The Reason Why People Have Penny Books For Sale on Amazon

Anyone spending any time at all on Amazon willThe last concept to understand is acceptable profit.
notice the penny books for sale. And there aren'tWhat I mean by that is where do you look to judge
just one or two copies for sale but sometimesyour success? Do you feel like a failure if you don't
hundreds of copies. Do people really make moneymake a profit on each item sold or do you look at
selling books for a penny? Why do they list them forthe overall numbers and judge based on them. When
only a penny? I know curiosity drives some people toI was running an on-line bookstore I was happy when
pursue an answer because they are wondering ifoverhead was under five grand and total sales were
they are missing a sales opportunity. The one sureover fifteen grand. I figured if I lost a few dollars on
way to get flamed in the Amazon forums is to aska few books a month it was acceptable given my
these questions there. You will promptly be scoldedoverall profit. After all no one is perfect.
for not searching for an answer prior to posting theNow let's walk through the scenario. You have set
question. After all, the logic goes; this question isthe re-pricer to run four times a day on your entire
asked about once an hour on the forums and hasinventory. You have left it configured with the
been answered hundreds of times. Just look it up!default value of $.01 for the bottom price and you
The only problem is I have looked it up and thewant to be the cheapest by $.03. You then leave
explanations given in the "answer" are partial answersyour inventory in the hands of the re-pricer and
at best. So I have decided to stick my neck out, goconcentrate on listing new books. All the books you
on the record, and attempt a more thorough answer.list for sale start out with a price of at least $4.00.
After all, if you are an expert in online book sellingOne particular book you have listed has a competitor
you should be able to answer this one right? It's likethat is also running a re-pricer set to be the cheapest
the number of angels dancing on the head of a pinby $.02 and also left the default of $.01 as the
for a theologian or why the Detroit Lions can't win abottom price. Your re-pricer sees his price at $3.98
super bowl for a sports analyst (or win a game forand reprices your copy of the book to $3.95. His
that matter). So sit back, relax, and let me explain.re-pricer notices on the next pass that you are
The first concept to understand is a product called acheaper and lowers his price to $3.93.
re-pricer. This product will check each listing you haveThis process continues until you are both at $.01. You
on a venue like Amazon and compare your price withdon't really notice though because you would have to
all other current listings and then update your priceallocate time to look for this. Once identified you
for that item based on rules you set. You canwould have to pay someone to find the book on the
choose for example to be the cheapest, the mostshelf, de-list it from your venues and then pay to
expensive or in the middle of the pack price wise.have it disposed of. You are not only paying for this
You also have some control over how often yourwhole process but you are also diverting resources
re-pricer will run. This is typically a stand alone productaway from listing new books, thus reducing the
you purchase, a web based service, or some venuesnumber of books you sell. The cost to you then to
even have it built in like The tool is based on theeliminate the penny books is much more than selling
theory that people will buy the cheapest productthe book and shipping it at a penny. When shelf
that meets their needs.space becomes tight and you need to eliminate the
This has been validated to a great extent by theolder books not sold to make room for new ones
new media venue which recently went online tothat will sell you systematically eliminate the lower
compete with larger retail sites. When you go therepriced older books and dispose of them. I used to do
to buy you will only see the cheapest listing for anythis once every six months or so. By doing it once or
one product in a particular condition. If you look for atwice a year you can optimize the process and keep
book you will see one price for new and one forthe effect on your sales to a minimum.
excellent for example. When you list an item to sellIn summary, that is why there are penny books. No
there you are given a suggested price for that itemone starts out selling books at a penny. It is just the
at its condition and when you enter your desiredresults of using the re-pricer technology. So relax,
price they give you your location in the queue. Untilyou aren't missing anything really. There is no secret
you are the cheapest one (first in the queue) youof the penny books. One more thing before I go.
won't have a chance at a sale.The humorous part to the re-pricer is the newbie
The second concept involves understanding thebook seller that manually checks the price of his
priorities in the day-to-day activities of a largehundred or so books everyday. He notices every
commercial online bookstore. Let's say you havetime he lowers his price you promptly lower yours.
20,000 books online and are selling 100+ books a day.He then tries different strategies like lowering the
You get paid when books sell. This means you haveprice to near nothing and then setting it very high. He
to list books to sell them. Once they sell you have tobegins to take your actions personally. Imagining you
get them in the mail ASAP to keep Amazon andare setting at your computer day and night changing
your buyer happy. The more you list the more youyour price just to annoy him. I have actually received
sell and the more you make. That is your priority andemail from these sellers almost threatening me bodily
to keep overhead down you hire just enough staffharm. I had to explain they were trying to outsmart
to ensure you get your priorities done in a timelymy re-pricer and it would always win.
fashion.