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Saturday 13 January 2018

Selling my books on eBay?: An experiment

To date I have always sold my books via Lulu.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc., but I recently discovered that several online booksellers were selling my books via eBay ... so I have decided to see if it is a viable alternative for me to use as well.

At 3.00pm yesterday I listed copies of LA ULTIMA CRUZADA and both the hardback and paperback editions of DEVELOPING THE PORTABLE WARGAME on eBay, and if they sell, I may well list future books there as well.



The advantage to potential purchasers is that I will have to have copies of the book to hand to send out as and when they are sold, which means that they will get them quicker than having to rely on Lulu.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc.; the disadvantage to me is that I will have to finance their production upfront and keep a stock available. That said, it will mean that I get to keep a great percentage of any profits that are to be made.

This is very much an experiment, and presently I can only offer a limited number of copies post free within the UK. If it works, then I will look at extending the titles I can offer and adding postage to locations outside the UK.
Even before I uploaded this blog entry, I had already sold one book.

It is beginning to look as if this might be a viable option for future book sales.

8 comments:

  1. Still awaiting my copy from Amazon patiently but greatly anticipating the arrival of La Ultima...

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    Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      Sorry that it is taking so long for the printed copy of my book to be delivered. It only takes Lulu.com about a week to print a book once it is ordered, and less than a week to deliver the newly-printed book.

      I've sold two more books since writing this blog entry, and it has convinced me to sell any future books I publish via eBay as well as Amazon etc.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Bob, do you have a webstore set up on eBay? I am also curious on the royalty differences between selling modes. Care to divulge your trade secrets?

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    Replies
    1. Jonathan Freitag,

      At present I have not opened a web store on eBay. I want to see whether or not selling my books via eBay is a truly viable option. It might well enable me to make my books more accessible to potential readers BUT I don't want to end up having to buy and store large numbers of books, which I might have to if I do set up a web store.

      The royalties my books generate varies from seller to seller. For example, the difference between the royalties I get from Amazon, Barbes & Noble etc., for printed books is not much more than what I get for ebook versions. The greatest income comes from direct sales by Lulu.com.

      To date I've sold approximately 2,000 books ... and on average I have had just over £1.00 in royalties from each sale. If I was to buy books from Lulu.com and sell them direct to buyers post free within the UK, I might double that. If selling them outside the UK, I would have to pass on the postage costs.

      I hope that this explanation makes the situation clear.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Yes, that provides a wealth of information. Thanks for taking the time for answering my curiosity.

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    3. Jonathan Freitag,

      I think that some people believe that self-publishing writers make loads of money from their work. I hope that my explanation goes some way to showing that we don't!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. Your explanation makes it perfectly clear. Retirement should not be dependent upon the income generated by self-publishing wargaming related books. Still, well-worth the effort.

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    5. Jonathan Freitag,

      Luckily I have both my State Pension and occupational pension to rely upon. What my writing (and self-publishing) does is to keep my mind reasonably active and gives me some intellectual stimulus.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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