Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips [Enhanced] [Paperback]

Michael E. Mould (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2006

This book has everything you need to start your own home-based online bookstore and more. It covers: where to buy the books worth reselling, the various available online marketplaces and the advantages/disadvantages of each, how to price and grade your books, how to safely store your books with ease of locating them in mind, how to plan your business, the legal structures of online bookselling businesses, in-state retail sales tax and Schedule C tax issues, how to pack your books to minimize "escapees," thrid-party wireless lookup service, inventory management software providers, re-pricing tools, online postage services, websites & advertising, shipping methods & trade-offs, how much to pay for books, shipping material suppliers, an exhaustive list of wholesale & remainder book distributors, and much more. The author has included graphs to demonstrate how long you might expect to wait to sell a book with a given Amazon sales rank, histograms of profit distributions you might expect, tables of Roman Numerals, photographs of packing procedures & bookseller terminology, etc. With this book as your guide you are well on your way to being a successful online bookseller. Printed in Times New Roman 9 pt font.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Aardvark Publishing Company L.L.C.; Updated and Expanded edition (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427600708
• ISBN-13: 978-1427600707
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Books & Reading > Booksellers & Bookselling

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars Hands Down, October 21, 2006

By 

Joe Waynick "Author of Internet Bookselling M... (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips (Paperback)

This is an excellent book on how to start your own online bookselling business. If you intend to sell books online but have no idea where to start, then this book is for you. If you already sell books online and want a few ideas on how to expand your business, then this book is for you too.

Michael Mould takes a comprehensive approach to the subject of bookselling. As of this writing, nothing else on the market compares. That doesn't mean there aren't other good books being sold about bookselling. What it means is that no other book has done such a superb job at covering so many aspects of the business in such depth.

Be prepared to get the nuts and bolts of the business hammered into your head. Sure, everybody wants to grab an armful of books, list them online, and then sit back and wait for the cash to roll in. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way. If you want to know how to do it right then you need to buy this book.

You'll find answers to questions such as:

* What does it take to get started?
* Where to buy your inventory?
* How much to pay for books?
* How to price and grade books?
* Where to sell books?
* How to establish an inventory process and management system?
* How to give great customer satisfaction?
* How to package and ship books?
* What are the different shipping methods available?

The author goes on to discuss many bookselling terms and techniques not found in any of the other books I've read. I especially liked his "A Day in the Business" section where he walks the reader step-by-step through a typical day in his life as a part-time bookseller.

To top it off, the author backs up his work with numerous charts, illustrations, graphs, and spreadsheets that give vivid real-life pictures of the subject covered. For example, when other authors talk about how to grade books, just what does it mean when you read in an online listing that a book has "moderate chipping" or "bumping", or that there is "foxing" on the inside pages? Ever see a chip, or a bump, or a fox? Now you don't have to guess. The author shows you what such descriptions actually look like!

Finally, you're treated to numerous spreadsheets to help you plan, measure, analyze, and manage your business. What a tremendous help that was! I'd go into detail but this review is already turning into a mini-book of its own. It would be better if you simply ordered the version of the book that includes the "Bookkeeping for Booksellers" companion CD.

Rarely do I recommend a book with such enthusiasm. This is such a case. If you're serious about bookselling, then you need this book and the companion CD. They'll pay for themselves a hundred times over, and then some!

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, November 26, 2007

By 

BillAustin "Bill" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips (Paperback)

This book is incredibly detailed and honest. It goes into the practical nuts and bolts of a small book-selling business: taxes, bookshelves, packing, inventory, cleaning the books, customer relations and basic business math.

It doesn't provide any quick-and-easy answers to getting new inventory -- the bottom line is that no matter what you do, it requires legwork, but the book really goes into detail about what legwork needs to be done.

By the way, the book is preview-able on books.google.com, where you can read maybe 25-50% of it. Still, it's definitely worth the purchase if you're interested in this business.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Mould Book, November 20, 2006

By 

Lance R. Wolf (New Freedom, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips (Paperback)

This was a great book. I have no experience in the online book business and i sold 14 books my first week. I really like how Michael Mould shows you how to save money at the post office. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to supplement their income on the side. The most exciting thing is checking your account in the morning and seeing another sale!! The book is only like twenty some dollars but i made made 8 times that the first week following his easy steps. Thanks Mike!