Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Books for sale

Having liquidated most of my extensive CD collection, I’m culling books from my library – most of which is still in boxes in the garage – for sale on Amazon.com.

I came to the conclusion the other day that there are only a handful of books in my library that I’m likely to want to re-read and only a few references worth keeping. When we lived in Thorntown, my library filled about eight bookcases in the attic and office, representing an accumulation of about 50 years.

Happily, it turns out that some of them are long out of print and in some demand. When I list a book, Amazon.com tells me what used copies are selling for and I consistently set my price a penny lower than the lowest current listing.

The trick to quick selling is to constantly review my inventory and revise prices downward so as to always have the cheapest price for any particular book or CD I have listed.

I’ve got 54 titles listed and plan to dig out another box or two from Box Mountain this afternoon for listing. Amazon.com’s generous shipping and handling allowance makes it worthwhile to list books even if the going rate is only one cent.

And since I go to the post office every day to pick up our mail, it’s not really an inconvenience to include shipping in the daily routine. Interestingly enough, while the reduced rate for Media Mail is the way to go with hardbacks, the lighter stuff actually goes cheaper by First Class – something I discovered when I was selling CDs.

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