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What eBay category should I list my books in?
- The question of what category to place your collectible book in can be a challenging one. If you are new to e-Bay, check out past auctions. For collectible literature it's safe to place your books in the "Books -> Antiquarian & Collectible" category. For collectible nonfiction however, you might want to consider placing your books in "Collectibles" and under the subject matter category. For instance, old railroad books will probably sell better under "Collectibles -> Transportation -> Railroadiana, Trains". Books chronicling the Spanish American War and printed contemporary to that conflict, would probably sell very well under "Collectibles -> Militaria -> Spanish-Amer War (1898-1902)" etc. If you're selling an older nonfiction book, browse the collectibles categories to determine whether there is a specific category for that subject. Your book may sell better there. There's nothing to stop you from placing your books in both "books" and "collectibles " but keep in mind, placing your book in two categories will increase your initial listing fee.
For other items (and even books), a great way to determine the best category to list your auction under is by using a survey of completed eBay auctions. Type the name of your item in the search box, select “Completed
items” (under “Display” in the left margin) and then sort the items by “highest priced” (located in the header at the top of the listings). Then it is just a matter of calling up the top selling auctions and noting which
categories yielded the highest prices.
The listing category may be important for selling new products, but in the case of books and other collectibles, the category may not be that important. This is the primary reason
that listing in more than one category is not recommended. Most buyers of books and collectibles use a search for the item that they are looking for. Ensuring that appropriate keywords are included in the auction description
and title is normally more important than the accuracy of the listing category that is chosen.
Using the Gallery option
- Placing your item in the eBay gallery can have a very positive affect on sales, but not necessarily for all items. Some buyers use the gallery view exclusively when shopping for things like paintings. But the option is not free ($.25), so you should be somewhat discriminating when choosing which books or items that you do place there. Items that are commonly differentiated by viewing, or whose form or style are not well known to most buyers are typically the types of things that benefit most when placed in the gallery. Commodities such as recent best selling books, or new electronics may not benefit as much as paintings, prints, artwork, or other collectibles. In the case of books, hard cover books with plain, dark-colored boards are not likely to benefit much from a gallery listing because the buyer is not likely to discern much more than a dark rectangular shape in the gallery view. Books with elaborate or colorful covers, or collectible books with dust jackets, especially older ones, are likely to benefit greatly from being placed in the gallery.
In the case of very inexpensive books, the cost to place such books in the gallery, may represent a significant percentage of the total selling price and your profit. Keep in mind though, that a gallery photo may make
the difference between a "sale" and no bids at all. If you suspect that a photo will help sell your item, we would opt for choosing the gallery option.
Reserve auctions
- Reserves protect the seller, but turn off the buyer. We have never used reserve auctions, but we can understand why some sellers do. Either their investment in the item is considerable, or they are emotionally attached to the item (I'll only sell it if I can get $xx for it.), or their understanding of its value is inflated. None are willing to let the market decide the value of their item (which is its true value) so they use a reserve auction to ensure that the item sells only if it reaches a minimum threshold selling price.
Unfortunately, reserves are all too often set excessively high and therefore lead to disappointment for buyers. Auction buyers, especially new ones, enjoy the thrill and novelty of winning an auction. On the other hand,
It's also very disappointing for high bidders to be turned away because their high bid did not meet the auction reserve. The auction was essentially a waste of their time. You might say "So what, the bidder can't leave any
negative feedback for me so there is no harm done." The problem is, buyers have a long memory and remember which sellers have disappointed them, and those that have made their eBay buying experience a positive one. A buyer
is not likely to place a bid on the auction of a seller who has previously disappointed them. You've just decreased your pool of potential buyers. After being "bit" too many times by reserve auctions, some buyers
simply decide to avoid bidding on reserve auctions altogether. Many sellers have recognized that reserve auctions are a turn off to many bidders and they make a "no reserve" policy a selling point. They
advertise their auctions as "no reserve" by placing the statements "No reserve" or "NR" in their auctions. Some go as far as placing these in their auction title.
Instead of reserve
auctions, a much better way to protect your investment is to set your initial listing price just high enough to protect your cost and prevent a loss. Nothing is hidden. Your minimum sale threshold, when built into the initial
listing price, is presented for all to see and you've avoided disappointing any bidders and potential bidders by a "did not meet the reserve" auction conclusion. If for some reason you feel that you need to use a
reserve to protect your investment, keep in mind that you are turning away bidders.
Buy it now - Don't use the eBay "buy it now" feature. We generally have not used this for collectible and rare books,
especially now that it is no longer free (eBay charges $.05). If a buyer makes a purchase using "buy it now", it's probably because they realized that the book was a very good value and therefore the seller did not
receive a maximum price for their book. The eBay "buy it now" feature is much more useful when dealing with commodities (such as new books) where the value of an item is well established.
International buyers
- Although we strongly recommend that you accept bids from international buyers, you'll find that many sellers on eBay do not accept them. Why don’t sellers accept bids from overseas? There are a few reasons. First, is a lack of understanding about available payment methods. Although we've had international buyers remit payment with cash in US Dollars, this is really not a good idea and should be avoided (explained later under “After the auction). A much better way to accept payment from international customers is to use Paypal, or through the use of International Money Orders. Both payment instruments can be
drafted in US dollars, so there should be no worry about having to accept Euros, Yen, or other foreign currency. These payment requirements can be written into the fine print of your auction listing ("International buyers
must make payment via Paypal or international money order in US dollars") so that buyers understand your terms. Another reason eBay sellers don't like international bidders is that they don't want to have to put in the
extra work required to ship outside of the United States. A declaration form describing the content of the package is required by the United States Postal Service when mailing
outside of the United States. A third reason that sellers don't like to sell internationally, is that insurance is not available for mailing to most other countries. However, we have had numerous overseas eBay buyers, mailed their books without insurance, and never failed to have one delivered. Almost all of the international buyers we've dealt with have been extremely friendly, prompt, and easy to deal with. Because so many eBay sellers in the United States are NOT willing to sell internationally, most of our international customers have seemed almost grateful for the opportunity to bid on our auctions. Before you decide not to sell internationally, reflect back upon what we've stated about the "secret" to eBay selling; attract as many bids as possible. And if you're trying to attract as many bids as possible, it's important that you don't limit the universe of eBay bidders solely to those in the United States.
Next: How to write an auction title
Introduction
Where to buy books to sell on eBay
Planning your auction
How to write an auction title
How to write an auction listing
Auction item photographs
How to maximize your selling price
After the auction
What if the buyer doesn't pay
Maximize Profits - Keep your costs to a minimum
What not to do - a summary
Top Ten Seller Tips
Register on eBay
Buying on eBay - buying tips
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