Ruminations on Selling Books Through the Blog

The title of this post refers to selling books I own, not ones I’ve written.  Just so we’re clear.

Not my house (yet).

I’ve been kicking some thoughts down the road to avoid dealing with them around to see if any will fall out of one of the holes in my head.  I’m pretty much out of space for physical books and need to clear some of them out.  I’ve also been looking for ways to generate small but hopefully semi-steady streams of cash.

I’m not sure I want to deal with ebay.  I’m also not looking to become a book dealer.  I just want to clear a little space.  We’re talking pizza and beer money amounts of cash, nothing that will pay my mortgage or utility bills.  I’m not sure it’s worth dealing with ebay for that.  I was thinking from time to time posting a picture or pictures of a few titles I’d like to move, naming a price, and selling to the first person who wanted them, assuming anyone wants them.

Most of my books I’m keeping.  There are two categories where I would choose what to sell, each with two subcategories.  The first is duplicates.  In some cases these would be paperbacks I have more than one copy of.  If the book is scarce, I would probably put it up by itself.  Otherwise, I might offer them in small lots.

The other duplicates are hardcovers from small presses, such as Cemetery Dance and Subterranean mostly.  These are titles I’ve picked up in grab bags that I already had or in a few cases things I pre-ordered and later forgot I’d ordered them and ordered a second copy.  These would probably be offered singly at less than cover but at least half of cover.

There’s a second category, and that’s review copies.  They also fall into two categories.  The book as you would purchase it in the store or online, and the ARC.  The ARC’s would probably be sold in small lots, with multiple titles by the same author or of similar type.  Many of these would be crime and mystery.  The ARC’s are not as high a quality as the store copies.  They have low quality binding, and the cover art might be different.  In come cases, not all editorial corrections will have been made.  As a general practice, none of the review copies would be of any titles released in the last six months.

Would there be any interest in trying this, or would I be wasting my time?  Thoughts?

10 thoughts on “Ruminations on Selling Books Through the Blog

  1. David

    Keep me in mind for a lot of the old pulp fantasy stuff – and any Kuttner doubles you find, I️ have only a couple of Elak stories in antho’s.

    Reply
  2. Randy Stafford

    Providing the book has an entry on Amazon, I’d sell it there. I’ve sold some books there and it’s generally easier than eBay. Of course, both take a commission. Bookfinder.com will pick up all the listings on Amazon for a book, so you’ll catch potential eBay buyers that way.

    Sets and ARCs you’d have to sell on your own.

    Of course, either way, there’s lots of trips to the post office and the expense of packaging.

    Reply
  3. Paul McNamee

    On a Facebook, there is a guy named Brian who has a page, Brian’s and No Bull Books. All he does is post photos of books with a price range. Then you Facebook message him, stake your claim, and PayPal him. (He bundles shippping into the price)

    I know you aren’t on Fb but you could do something similar on Twitter.

    Reply
    1. Keith West Post author

      Thanks. I’ve thought of doing something like that as well. I bought a batch of DAW paperbacks earlier this year that way.

      Reply

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