Why Amazon booksellers selling textbooks FBA profit more during textbook season than Christmas
I got a couple of incredulous emails after last week’s post, in which I explained why I make more during January than December. The textbook sales rush is a major boon for FBA booksellers, but a few Amazon sellers I heard from called me a liar (in not so many words).
Instead of being grateful for the advice, sometimes Amazon sellers just want to fight you.
If you’re selling textbooks FBA, it’s crucial to understand how is it possible to make more during the two weeks after Christmas (textbook season) than the two weeks before.
Two Reasons Textbook Season Is More Profitable Than Christmas
- Most Christmas shoppers on Amazon are buying new items only. I would estimate that 80% or more of my inventory is used. I still see a huge spike in sales during December, but it doesn’t come close to textbook season.
- My average Amazon sales price during textbook season jumps from $15.50 to $28. Do I have a secret new-condition textbook source? Not at all. I just price my FBA books high (aka intelligently).
What is the FBA textbook pricing “sweet spot”?
I covered this in last week’s post on textbook pricing, but $25 seems to be the pricing “sweet spot” for selling textbooks FBA. For textbooks with an Amazon Sales Rank of better than 800,000, $25 (minimum) is my price. Every textbook on Amazon, no matter what the merchant fulfilled price is, will sell for $25 (and up) in the absence of other FBA competition.
Every textbook? Not every textbook, all the time, but close enough to make absolutely more it profitable than pricing merely $10 more than the lowest merchant fulfilled price.
So yes, those that know how to price textbooks for the FBA environment will make more money after Christmas than before.
-Peter Valley
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