Selling stuff via Amazon

[mamakven]

So how has this worked for you? I'm speaking of the kind of selling where you pack a bunch of books up and send them to Amazon to sell.

[Lanny]

That's called FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).  Amazon does the Fulfillment, after there is a sale.  I am a Buyer, not a Seller.  I avoid FBA Sellers. Why? Because if I send them a message, asking where it will be shipped from, or how it will be shipped, they have no clue.  And, always, if I believe it is a small seller, I send a message, asking them to look at the book and confirm that the ISBN number is what my DD needs and confirm that the Condition of the book in their listing is correct. An FBA seller cannot do that. Some people probably prefer FBA Sellers, and others, like me, avoid them.  GL with what you would like to sell!

[Ali in OR]

I sold a box of books to Amazon and it worked out great. Here's what I learned:

 

1) They only want certain books. You enter the ISBN number to see what they will pay you. They aren't going to buy books that have low demand. So some in my pile-to-get-rid-of I couldn't sell to Amazon, but of the ones they bought, they paid me more than what I would have charged at a local homeschool sale (but I don't charge much).

 

2) It was easy--pack up the books and print the label. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY THE SHIPPING! I just dropped the box off at the UPS store.

 

3) Everything went smoothly--I think it was about 10 days later that they were all processed.

 

4) You're paid in Amazon credit which was fine for me as I had other books to buy for homeschooling.

 

5) I would definitely do it again.

[J-rap]

This is so interesting!  I hadn't heard about selling old books to Amazon that way.  I think I'll look into it.

[domestic_engineer]

I sold a box of books to Amazon and it worked out great. Here's what I learned:

 

1) They only want certain books. You enter the ISBN number to see what they will pay you. They aren't going to buy books that have low demand. So some in my pile-to-get-rid-of I couldn't sell to Amazon, but of the ones they bought, they paid me more than what I would have charged at a local homeschool sale (but I don't charge much).

 

2) It was easy--pack up the books and print the label. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY THE SHIPPING! I just dropped the box off at the UPS store.

 

3) Everything went smoothly--I think it was about 10 days later that they were all processed.

 

4) You're paid in Amazon credit which was fine for me as I had other books to buy for homeschooling.

 

5) I would definitely do it again.

I believe this is a "trade-in" and different than FBA. I get the impression that OP was asking about FBA.

[mamakven]

I believe this is a "trade-in" and different than FBA. I get the impression that OP was asking about FBA.

Nope! I was thinking of trade in, though I didn't know there was a difference😜 Thanks so much everyone!!

Edited April 4, 2016 by mamakven

[Ms Brooks]

I sold a box of books to Amazon and it worked out great. Here's what I learned:

 

1) They only want certain books. You enter the ISBN number to see what they will pay you. They aren't going to buy books that have low demand. So some in my pile-to-get-rid-of I couldn't sell to Amazon, but of the ones they bought, they paid me more than what I would have charged at a local homeschool sale (but I don't charge much).

 

2) It was easy--pack up the books and print the label. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY THE SHIPPING! I just dropped the box off at the UPS store.

 

3) Everything went smoothly--I think it was about 10 days later that they were all processed.

 

4) You're paid in Amazon credit which was fine for me as I had other books to buy for homeschooling.

 

5) I would definitely do it again.

 

WOW! This sounds better than waiting for someone see my books on the classifieds here. Looking into this. Thanks.

[Lanny]

OP    Sorry.  I thought you were asking about FBA and that is why my reply was about FBA.  Amazon will pay good money for some used textbooks.  You need to check each book, by ISBN number.  Some they won't pay anything for. Some they will pay a couple of dollars. But some, that DD has finished with, when I checked, they would pay about $25 as I recall. It varies depending on the demand they see for a book and the supply they have. I believe they also pay the shipping if you are in the USA.  They give you a credit to your Amazon account.  We live in South America so we cannot do that, but check it out for the textbooks you are done with. GL

[Carrie12345]

I've done Trade In a few times.  It's important to know your value, and how far you're willing to lower it to save time selling privately.  I'm willing to take low numbers for odds and ends that would be frustrating to follow up on locally, but I'll only trade in in-demand, big ticket stuff on the rare occasion that Amazon is feeling generous.  ;)

[mamakven]

NO, I'm glad to know about FBA as well. Particularly since I am having trouble finding books that qualify under trade in :)

 

OP Sorry. I thought you were asking about FBA and that is why my reply was about FBA. Amazon will pay good money for some used textbooks. You need to check each book, by ISBN number. Some they won't pay anything for. Some they will pay a couple of dollars. But some, that DD has finished with, when I checked, they would pay about $25 as I recall. It varies depending on the demand they see for a book and the supply they have. I believe they also pay the shipping if you are in the USA. They give you a credit to your Amazon account. We live in South America so we cannot do that, but check it out for the textbooks you are done with. GL

[RootAnn]

There was a new thing I found out about at the Cincy GHC Convention. It is kind of like Amazon's trade-in feature, but for homeschoolers looking to off-load their old stuff. I'll try to find the little card the lady at the booth handed out. You can either see what they want & send it to them or just send them a box of your stuff. I don't know all the details as I haven't looked into it since I got home.

 

Update:  It is usedhomeschool.com

 

Looks like they aren't set up yet, but hope to be ready to go in May. Details on their website. (Definitely NEW)

Edited April 6, 2016 by RootAnn