Side Hustle: How to Make Money Selling Books on Amazon
You can make money by selling books on Amazon, whether you buy wholesale or used books, or simply sell those you already own. Here are some tips.
Sept. 15 2022, Published 11:20 a.m. ET
Amazon has grown from a small online retailer to a massive e-commerce business.
When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in the mid-1990s, the business was an online bookstore. Today, Amazon is responsible for 37.8 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market. Although you won’t be a billionaire shareholder like Bezos, you can make money by selling books on Amazon.
Side hustles like buying Amazon return pallets for resale can help people make more money. Book sales are another popular way to earn some extra cash. Here are some tips on how to sell books on Amazon.
Create an Amazon seller account and decide how you’ll fulfill orders.
The platform has an online guide to how to sell books on Amazon. You must decide what kinds of books you’ll sell and then create an Amazon seller account. Two plans are available: individual seller or professional.
Individual seller: This is a pay-as-you-go plan. You don’t pay Amazon unless an item sells.
Professional seller: You pay a monthly subscription fee for access to more advanced selling tools.
Individual sellers pay $0.99 per item sold, while Professional sellers pay $39.99 per month. Both plans charge additional selling fees. Individual plans are recommended if you’re just beginning, while professional plans are good for medium-sized businesses or larger.
There are also two options for fulfilling orders:
Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN): You store your own inventory as well as pack and ship the books yourself.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): This is more like outsourcing: ship books to an Amazon Fulfillment Center and they take care of the rest. Getting Amazon Prime offers is easier with FBA.
You can sell books you own or buy wholesale or from other vendors.
If you just have a few books on hand that you’d like to get rid of, you can list them for sale on Amazon. Many other sellers buy books from wholesalers, auctions, local retailers, and other sources and then resell them on Amazon.
Price books carefully to be competitive.
When pricing your books for sale, check out competitor prices and also be aware of the condition of the books you’re selling. Monitor those prices regularly as well to be aware of changes. You’ll want to also take shipping and packing expenses into account when you set book prices.
You might purchase discounted books from bookstores and other retailers to list on your Amazon seller page.
Amazon also has automatic price adjustments. On its Seller Central dashboard, you can use its Automated Pricing Tool and the Match Low Price features to guide your pricing decisions.
List your books for sale by searching for the ISBN and selecting “Sell on Amazon.” Follow prompts to list your books correctly.
Market books well and run a solid business.
Marketing your books is key to running a successful book sales business on Amazon. Amazon provides Seller University with sales training and guides. You can also learn about advertising on Amazon.
Another way to grow your book-selling Amazon business is by simply doing it well. List your books accurately, be honest about book condition, pack and ship books carefully, and ship them on time. Doing this will help you secure favorable customer reviews and drive more business to you.
If you don’t want to deal with physical book sales, you could also try Amazon Associates, which means you promote products and receive a cut of sales you bring to the site. People with a blog or website often make money this way.