Amazon Marketplace

[Silver]

A few years back, I sold a lot of my unwanted books on Amazon Marketplace and it went pretty well. I made a small amount of money out of it, the books went to people who wanted them and my feedback was very good because I made a big effort to describe them accurately and send them on time. I also rather enjoyed in an odd kind of way as I was writing the buyer's address on the envelope, imagining the types of people they were. On one occasion, I even dropped a book off for a buyer just around the corner from my office along with a refund of the postage. They were pretty chuffed.

The other week, I had a big clear out of paperbacks and listed them all (100+ books, the vast majority in good-as-new condition) on AM. I wish I hadn't bothered.

Firstly, secondhand book values appear to have taken a massive nosedive and of the 100+ books, only about five could be sold for more than 1p plus Amazon's £2.60 P&P. Given the post office's increased charges for delivering small packets and Amazon's fees, I quickly realised that I was selling at a loss, even posting second class.

I sold 12 books before removing the entire listing because one buyer whinged that the post office had bent the book during delivery and downgraded me even though it wasn't my fault, then three books simply didn't arrive so I had to refund the buyers, thus losing both the book and the money I'd got for it. Add the cost of postage and it meant it just wasn't worth the hassle.

Very disappointing. I wasn't particularly looking to make money, I just wanted to pass my books onto a new home. They're now being donated to an Amnesty International book sale.

[RizzoTheRat]

Quite a few charity shops tend to have some shelves of books, I've picked up quite a few them recently, usually with a sticker on the front encouraging you to re-donate them when you've finished.