EBay Power Seller Tips About Book Sales

Everyone who sells on eBay would like to be a Power Seller. The single most effective thing you can do to become one is to find a steady supply of merchandise to sell.

This is not so easy. Power Sellers who do find that source keep it a secret. One other seller on eBay with the same merchandise as you can cut profits in half, so if you discover a source, do not tell anyone anything about it.

I sell books online for a living. They are not tough to sell, but good ones are tough to find. I am going to reveal my best secrets because I now want to write for a living. So here I go with the insider's view.

One pretty obvious and pretty good place to start is at local church, library and school sales.

You've heard it before, "Rummage sales or church sales are a great place to find items to sell on ebay." But you'll find something else at many of those sales-competition. The word is out that deals are available, and the auction sharks will be there. There is competition for used books, but follow my Rules for Book Acquisition and you will do fine.

How can you win?

The First Rule of Acquisition is, "Get there first." If the sale starts at 9:00 a.m. and you arrive at noon, forget it. You might get lucky and find something, but the really obvious buys have been made already. Get there first. Be first in line. At some sales this means showing up only 30 minutes before the doors open; at really hot sales, you might have to arrive a couple of hours early to mark your spot (some people leave their box or bag to hold their place in line). The larger, more advertised sales demand earlier arrival times, so if you don't want to wait in line, find the small, local sales that aren't as well advertised. If you do, you'll be the shark. There's nothing like being the only ebayer at a sale, floating around, snagging all the great items.

The Second Rule of Acquisition is, "Get there the night before and help set up the sale." All that you have to do is call the church or community organization and volunteer to help set things up. Sometimes, if you help, they let you buy stuff the night before the sale! Even if they don't allow you to buy early, you have an advantage. You know which table has the good items. While everyone else is running around the next day scanning the whole room, you can calmly walk over and find the best items immediately. It is important to be polite and to keep that gleam out of your eye. Remember, you are there for altruistic reasons. Cough.

And finally, the Third Rule of Acquisition is, "Get the items before they're donated to the sale." How do you do that? Place a small ad in the paper, offering to buy the specific items that you like to sell. Or, just get the word out to your family, friends and acquaintances that you will haul away books and that you will accept any donation whatsoever. You'll be surprised how word travels and a friend of your mother whom you've never met will donate items to you, just to clean out her garage.

If you follow the first three rules above, you'll do well.

Here are a few more tips about taking the book sale route to Power Seller success.

Power Sellers take the extra step to win. If you find a good sale, make sure that you place your name on their mailing list for the next sale. It is a nice feeling to get that card in the mail. It might as well be informing you that your eBay sales will increase soon.

Also, library sales often do not advertise that they allow the Friends of the Library members to "preview" the sale the night before. That is where you want to be! You will not find any Power Sellers at the regular sale the next day because they were at the preview, snagging all the great books. Joining the friends usually costs about five dollars, so do it. No matter what they advertise, there is almost always a preview, just another word for the real start of the sale.

Finally, be ready for the action. You might think of sales as slow, relaxing things where you can browse and be intellectual. Good one. That is what they become after the first hour, when all the resalable used books, all of the merchandise, stock, eBay items are gone. The first hour of any good sale is a rush to the tables. You should grab anything that looks good and sort it all out later. Bring a coat or a blanket to cover your stacks of books while you go searching for more.

Book sales are only one good source for books. You can get them at wholesale prices.