Used books sell more than new, why this is, and tricks to exploit this for profits.
In this article:
- Why used books sell more than new.
- Using this to your profitable advantage by listing New books as Used.
- A cool profit hack you can implement right now.
I like making sweeping proclamations without any statistics to back them up, but I know the following to be true:
People buy more used books from third party sellers than new books.
This is not the case in most other categories. And it may not be the case when you factor in sales placed with
Why people buy used books more than new
Before I talk about specific ways to profit from this, let’s look at the reasons why. I broke it down into the three major ones (the third one is the biggest).
- There is no stigma to a used book.
Purchasing used items in many if not most other categories might carry a subtle stigma. Can you imagine buying your family a used board game? Practically speaking, there’s no reason not to. But you might pay the extra $10 just so your kids don’t think you’re a freak. While this might not be a bias you or I am afflicted with, many are.
Books are a different story. We’re conditioned to assign no weirdness to a used book, especially among those of us who went to college and depended on used books to get through. Unless it’s a gift, most of us just want the cheapest option.
2. Books can’t break.
They can be pen-marked into un-readability, but the usual concerns about buying something used (missing parts, shorter lifespan, disc being scratched, etc) don’t apply.
3. New books never get the Buy Box.
This is the biggest one.
And what if
(Every time I mention this, I hear from
When you consider it’s estimated that 70% of all purchases are made through the Buy Box (estimates vary), this is a huge detail to overlook. It means that anyone wanting to buy your New book must forgo the convenience of the Buy Box, click over to view New copies, and then (assuming you’re an FBA seller) filter by Prime-eligible offers.
That’s asking a lot of someone who would rather being doing anything than sitting on their computer, shopping. And it will cost you a lot of sales.
How to exploit all of this for maximum profits
- Create a removal order for New books that haven’t sold in over one year.
I will then relist them as Used, and ship them back into
But I will do this only when both of the following conditions apply:
- Selling as Used will still yield me at least a $3+ payout (this is just my personal threshold).
- The price-drop from New to Used isn’t more than 70% (again, there’s no science here, this is just a personal parameter).
Since most used books on
What’s the logic here? If a book hasn’t sold in a year, I’d like to “reactivate” it, boost its chances of selling, and get it out the door. And the best way to do that is get it into the Buy Box.
Added bonus: Any customer who thinks they’re buying a Used copy and receives a New one will love you forever.
2. List New books as Used out of the gate.
If I have a New book in my possession, I will actually list it as Used if both of these conditions apply:
- The price gap between New and Used is less than 30%.
- The book has a poor sales rank (or sales rank history).
Basically, this is something I’ll apply to “long tail” (low demand) books for which I want to increase the odds they will sell.
I’m not afraid to sit on an item for a year or more, but if I’m only sacrificing 30% or less in profit while increasing the odds it will sell by 70% (if you accept that statistic of 70% of all sales occurring through the Buy Box), then I’ll do it.
Recent example: I wrote last month about using some Cyber-Monday sales to purchase expensive items at a discount, and reselling them back on
When I went to list, about 40% of these box sets had no significant gap between the Used and New copies. So I listed them as “Like New” (a condition category I almost never use and recommend against), despite them being brand new.
That gave them the Buy Box, a greatly increased chance of selling, and only marginally diminished profits.
It’s all about the Buy Box.
A post-Christmas profit hack
If you’re reading this and its anywhere close to Christmas, here’s something you can profit from…
I think we can agree on a couple things:
- Sales go crazy during the holidays.
- Most of what sees a surge are items in New condition (people just don’t often give used books as gifts).
Amazon has surged to surpass WalMart as the biggest store in the world, and having an item for sale onAmazon is like having shelf space in the world’s biggest shopping destination.
If anyone wants your book, assuming you’re the lowest priced copy with the shipping options they’re looking for, your New items will fly out the door during the holidays.
If you have a New book that does not sell during Christmas, what conclusions can we draw?
I consider that a sign. A bad sign.
It doesn’t mean they won’t sell next Christmas (or at some point in the interim). In fact, they probably will. So you may not want to follow my lead here, but here’s what I do…
I take the last few days of the year to do some purging.
I go through and look at any item I’ve had in my inventory for which the following apply:
- In New condition.
- Been in inventory longer than six months.
- Didn’t sell during Christmas.
- It will get me at least a $3 payout.
Then I create a fulfillment order and have these items returned to me. Then I relist them as Used, and ship them back in to
This is the same process I described earlier, however it’s especially useful just after Christmas. If you have a New item that didn’t sell over the holidays, that’s a sign you need to step up and bring it back to life. It needs the Buy Box.
Guess what I’m doing tonight? Creating fulfillment orders. Lots of them.
-Peter Valley
PS: Strongly agree or disagree? Leave a comment below.
Also, claim your free book:
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Great article, Peter. Why do you recommend against listing books as like new?
I’ve found that customers hear “like new” and think “new,” and are disappointed when they receive a merely close-to-new book. The one time I use Like New is a genuinely New book with a minor blemish such as remainder marks.
I suspect that a reason that Amazon won’t give the buy box to 3rd party New, and why customers don’t buy 3rd party new, is that there are too many sellers who list used books with flaws as New. The probabilty of receiving a book which is actually new from a 3rd party seller is actually very low. It is almost certainly a used book which the 3rd party seller has listed as new because they think they can get away with it, and many of those sellers have low standards and think they can get away with some pretty major flaws listed as new. Thus, the reputation of 3rd party sellers, as a group, is low and lacks trust from both Amazon and customers with regards to the New category of books.
Great theory. I don’t expect any seller who lists clearly used books as “New” will last very long, but what you’re saying makes a lot of sense.
My other theory is that Amazon has a lot of money tied up in the new books at its warehouses, and has a strong financial interest in steering everyone towards books it sells directly. Whereas Amazon owns no used books, other than those sold by Amazon Warehouse Deals (which have no risk of not selling because they’re the worst lowball FBA offer offender).
Great article and great advice! I often buy new books from wholesalers and many titles languish.
I have a batch of around 40 new books, most without remainder marks. I am going to try listing them in a condition other than New and see what the results yield!
Thanks for all the great information this year Peter! Happy New Year!
Macky
Awesome! Report back with your results.
Hi Peter. I’m using Zen Arbitrage to find textbooks. Does this strategy of listing new books as used also apply to the textbook market? Please advise if different.
Sure. It’s no different, except that you are likely to encounter even bigger price gaps between New and Used with textbooks, making holding your ground with a New book more profitable. Often but of course not always.
Totally disagree, but only because of the margins. We do the opposite. We take a brand new looking book, wipe it down, clean it up, shrink wrap it and sell it as new. It might take longer to sell (to your point about the buy box) but the margins are much greater when we do sell and that is worth it to us.
As far as numbers about buy box, etc. Nobody knows anything and its all guesses.
We might not disagree that much – I’ll only do this when I’m not sacrificing profits significantly, and only then when a book hasn’t sold for awhile.
I’ve watched new books sit for months, well priced and with a great sales rank. I never bothered removing and re-listing as they eventually sold, but I will rarely list a book as new anymore.
As far as listing “like new” I will do that with a book that is in new condition, where I don’t want to list it as new for the above reasons. Quite often, though, I will just list it as “very good” and reap the glowing feedback, when the buyer gets more than they thought they would.
Like New is best used for books that are simply New. Definitely agree. Good points.
Hello Peter,
If a book’s sales rank is quite good and the price gap between new and used is less than 30%, is it still a good idea to list them as used?
If the rank is good, I will list them as New, because they’re likely to sell due to the demand.
Wonderful information ! I am creating removal orders today on some new books that I thought would sell but not one single sale even at rock bottom prices. Thanks so much!
Awesome! Let us know how that works out.
Thank you for the reply. I asked that question as I sourced textbooks for $1 to $4 and can net $40 to $60 per book after FBA fees.
Here’s an example of Amazon holding the buy box for new books even if there are lower priced FBA offers,http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0324782179.
In this case, listing it as new still applies?
That particular book is well ranked enough that I don’t see it being an issue to sell as New. It should move quickly despite the Buy Box.
Thanks… I just bought one of these from a MF seller to flip AND found 6 copies of a book recommended by Amazon based on this search. Got them in good condition from trusted MF sellers for about $7 each (including shipping). They have sales rank well under 100K for the last year (according to Keepa) & the FBA price for “Good” is $29.95. DONT forget to “chase the rabbits” when sourcing for AZ-AZ flips. Where did I learn this stuff? PETER VALLEY!
Amazing. That level of genius was all you man!
As the rank is sitting now on the example above, and with the number of FBA sellers, is this still a good scenario for buying MF and flipping. Trying to get some ranges in my head for ranking vs number of sellers. Possibly the ranking is lower now than at the time of the original comments because of the time of year? Thank you!
Nice post Peter! I always look forward to your creative and insightful selling ideas!
How does total number of sellers factor into this though? There are a few items I sell where I seem to be one of a handful of sellers with access to new copies, but there are a ton of used copies listed. For the customer who has to have a new copy (gift, picky, whatever), I think I’d rather compete with 2-3 other sellers versus the 50+ used copy rat race.
Interesting point. All other things being equal, I’d definitely prefer to be competing against 3 sellers vs 50, even if I had to sit on something longer. Generally when I’m downgrading a listing to Used, it’s because I’ve been sitting on it forever, and looking to get it out the door – even at a slightly reduced price.
Peter,
Instead of having the books shipped back to you and then sending them back in (shipping cost both ways) couldn’t you have Amazon change your listing from “New” to “Like New”? Is that possible, or, if so, is it a bad idea for some reason. Seems like even if they charged a few cents per book it would be cheaper and quicker than the shipping back and forth.
It is, unfortunately, not possible.
This book illustrates your point. Like New has the buy box at $29, while there are new FBA copies at $24
http://www.amazon.com/Oola-Find-Balance-Unbalanced-World/dp/0985869402/
Perfect illustration. Thanks for that.
Interesting Article. Just for anyone’s attention who is interested in changes that Amazon has made pertaining to listing items as “New” and the receipts they will start asking for that you’d better be able to produce or their bots will shut down your account, I suggest getting a copy of Cynthia G. Stein’s book (e-book) Suspension Prevention. Amazon hasn’t made this information readily available to third party sellers and it is catching a lot of sellers, especially third party sellers, by complete surprise when their accounts are shut down for no apparent reason. It only has to do with “New” listings. Used listings are unaffected. But, it is a serious situation that if you are unaware of it, it could cost you having your account shut down and thousands of dollars in an attempt to get your account back.
And, I make absolutely nothing by suggesting Ms. Stine’s book. Just trying to make people aware by passing along information that was passed along to me by extremely reputable people. Happy Holidays!
If I’m not mistaken, the Books category is not affected by these changes.
How do you find the New books in your inventory?
Lots and lots of places.
Sorry. I didn’t express my question clearly. What I meant was how to find New books currently in inventory other than scrolling through pages in Amazon Seller Central and watching the “Condition” column. I could do that but hope there is an more efficient way.
Got it. I wish there was a more efficient way, but I do Control+F and search for the word “New.”
Duh! Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you!
No. You are mistaken. I thought that also until I read Cynthia’s book. The changes apply. Plus, where you obtain your books also becomes an issue the Amazon minions address. I was really surprised. Again, the changes only apply to anything listed as “new”. Anything in the used category is unaffected at present. And, that applies to the used “like new” category also. You can list things as “like new” and the bots won’t flag your account. But, they are, and will increasingly be, targeting and flagging accounts with items, including books that are listed as “New”.
Definitely something I want to be aware of. I’ll pick up Cynthia’s book for sure. Thanks for that.
My personal percentage of inventory that is New is probably under 10%. Are you aware of exactly what Amazon’s bots are looking for?
Sorry for the delay in replying. I’ve had a lot hit my plate in the last few days.
Cynthia’s e-book explains, to the best of current knowledge, what the bots are targeting and supposedly will be targeting. But, we all know that Amazon can be pretty secretive about what they are planning.
I’m a member of a forum where the moderator, well known and respected, also brought out the point that the area of bundling (which doesn’t apply to books) could easily end up being targeted real heavy. He pointed out that the bundling listings have grown from 300 million listings to over 700 million listings with a lot of the listings failing to meet even current requirements for creating bundles. And, Amazon is starting to crack down on sellers. A number of sellers on that forum have already mentioned that their ability to get a bundle authorized has dropped way down. And, Amazon is wanting receipts that meet their criteria which has become pretty stringent for any “New” products. So, as the moderator put it, the area of bundling is a prefect target for the Amazon bots.
Cynthia’s e-book (and her last name is spelled Stine – I screwed up the spelling in my first post) covers the info. in pretty eye-opening detail, far more than I can pass on (and get it all right).
The one thing I do know is that arbitrage for Amazon has changed. But, most of us don’t know it has changed because Amazon hasn’t been even the least bit good about sharing the information. And, the Amazon seller central reps, at least currently, are generally pretty clueless about the changes – in other words, you won’t get any needed help from them because they don’t know.
I hope this helps.
On the new vs. used subject: I purchased a couple of deeply discounted “new” camera items sold and fulfilled by Amazon. One arrived in a plain brown box instead of the manufacturer’s packaging (and even that had been opened and resealed). The other was in original packaging but it had been opened and the box was pretty dinged up. So, if I received them as “new” from Amazon as the seller, but they don’t meet Amazon’s standards for me to FBA as new, what are my options? I guess I already know the answer…list as used or return for refund….: 🙁
We’re talking new value of several hundred dollars per item purchased at 10% of that, so I guess I’m not exactly losing the farm by selling as open box or something.
Sellers who do this won’t last long.
But, Amazon was the seller. I purchased from them for resale thinking I was getting ‘New and could resell the products as such.
Amazon should take them back and issue a refund every time in that case.
Hey Peter, any numbers you’re willing to share for 2015?
From your blog and whatever book(s) I’ve purchased from you, only two tips have ever been relevant, but those two were like divine revelations that led straight to profit. This was one. Thanks!
(not saying your other stuff is no good, I’m just not physically up to sourcing below waist level or climbing into bins, and don’t have an interest in some of the stuff that is fun for you). And your marketing is a little cheesy for me 😉 But learning two profound things was well worth a little cheese and skimming over things I wasn’t going to use, I’m a pretty fast reader.
Hi Peter,
I’ve noticed that 3rd party sellers will often list used books at a much higher price than Amazon’s new book listing. If the book has a very favorable sales rank, will these used books sell quickly? And…does it make sense to buy the new book from Amazon, then resell it as used for a higher price?
I wouldn’t suggest trying to beat Amazon. People will always win, because people prefer to buy from Amazon when they’re the lowest price option, and often when they’re not. I personally never price higher than Amazon, and consider their price the ceiling.
I thought books with remainder marks where a no no?