Selling an out of print book

[cookymonster]

Hi all,

I have a copy of a book published in 2011, now surprisingly out of print. It is IMO a practically useful book for physicians. I looked all over the web for copies for sale to see how much it might be worth. I found one copy on Amazon UK for $51, and another on Amazon US for $3215. I also looked on sold listings on ebay but didn't see any sales. I'm sure the amount I can get for it is much closer to the first number than the second. However, it is just a guess, and I'd hate to sell it for $50 if I can get several times that.

When I sell (cheap) books online, I usually start at a competitive price and lower it by $1 a week until someone buys it or it costs more to ship it than I'll get paid. But I'm not sure what a competitive price for this is. I'd rather start higher and work down, maybe by $10 a week. Does anyone know of any tools or resources online that could be a better guide to determining what the book might sell for?

I also was wondering if people have suggestions for best website to sell this. Since half.com closed, I've been using amazon marketplace, and they take too big a cut for me to list something high value. Would ebay be the best bet?

Thanks!

[123]

Every once in awhile I come across extraordinary high prices for items on Amazon, right next to another seller with the same thing for much less. The high price items that I've seen usually come with overnight-type shipping included to practically anywhere in the world. So someone with lots of disposable cash anywhere in the world can get the item quickly. I suspect that most of those high-priced items never sell, but you don't have to sell one too often to clear a profit. Any particular item could be very important to some purchaser somewhere in the world sometime and there may not be a local copy/version of the item available to them.

Alibris.com seems to be a popular site for out-of-print books.

[Veiled]

I briefly worked as a rare books librarian before starting my real job.

Abebooks.com is another site for out of print books, but focuses more on rare books (doesn't sound like your 2011 medical text exactly fits the bill). I have sold through Alibris and Abebooks as well as Amazon, and all take their cut although Alibris and Abe are more moderate since they're used to selling quality books to a niche audience. I would assess 75% of the original cost of the book (depending on wear) as a good place to start. I have no idea why someone is selling a book printed in the last decade for 3k. Was it never reprinted? Is that copy signed by the very-famous author?

[sdsailing]

The reason is autopricing / repricing software. Also, amateur booksellers who do not understand the market.

[runner3081]

I found one copy on Amazon UK for $51, and another on Amazon US for $3215. I also looked on sold listings on ebay.

List price means zero these days when anyone can list an item and make up a price. Sold listings on eBay are where to set your price at. I could find a John Grisham book and list it for $10k on Amazon, there is nothing to stop me.

That book will likely never ever sell on Amazon.

[cookymonster]

The list price is $37.95 and it's paperback. It's not a textbook, more a how-to to help a doctor find the right job. I have to assume I can get more than that for it since it's almost completely unavailable.
I'm thinking I'll start at $200 and go down $10 a week... Hopefully it'll sell within a few months. The only major risks with that approach are that it's priced too low, or that more copies are published.
I don't think the book is anything special, but who knows if there's one person out there desperate to get their hands on it. The copy listed for $3,215 is only in "acceptable" condition.

[123]

I recently bought a replacement copy of a college textbook I used many, many years ago (I either lost or misplaced it in moving etc) off of ebay last summer. The book has had many editions over the years and I was looking for an exact match to one I had used.I found one on ebay for $20 in pristine condition, I bought it. Based on the book's condition I would have had no qualms about paying $150 - $200 if they had asked that (but they didn't). All a seller needs to do is to find that one eager buyer (or be willing to wait for one).

[daveydoo]

The list price is $37.95 and it's paperback. It's not a textbook, more a how-to to help a doctor find the right job. I have to assume I can get more than that for it since it's almost completely unavailable.

I think the market for that type of thing will only go down and down. It's not a classic and there's unlikely to be any arcane wisdom that's unavailable elsewhere (any more than if it were "How to sell your house"). The eBay sold price is what you'll get. If you're not an eBay'er, you'll spend some time and energy to get that $20.

[Dantes]

There is not a direct relationship between scarcity and value. For there to be some kind of predictable value there needs to be known demand. The usual reason for a book from 2011 to be out of print is that the book was not selling enough to make it worthwhile to keep in print. The usual reason for a relatively recent book to have low or no availability on the used book market is that no one bought copies in the first place.

That said, its perfectly reasonable to start at a high price if there is literally no competition for the book. You might get lucky, and in general it costs little or nothing to list an item for sale. But this approach works best for high volume and automated re-pricing. This type of sale is really random. What usually happens is what already has started to happen: a obscure book is listed on line at a relatively high price. Its the type of book that most scavengers would simply ignore as unsaleable. But someone notices the on line listing and thinks there must be something to it, so they list a copy for a bit less. And so on, until it reaches its natural value, which might be a few dollars, and which might be $0.

[pshonore]

I was researching type fonts a few months ago and someone recommended this book:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Search ... jers&isbn=

I'm puzzled by the price - did find it in a regional library which was hesitant to lend it to me because it was too valuable.

[stan1]

Give the book to a colleague or medical school where someone can use it. Or donate to a local charity with any other items you no longer need and take the tax charitable donation write off in 2017.

The book may be out of print but there is a lot of free information on the internet (including this site). Ask yourself this question: how much would you have paid for the book back when you wanted it? Would you really have paid $100 or $150? Guessing most people would not.

[cookymonster]

Listed on eBay for now. They take about a 10% cut, which is the lowest I'm aware of. Other sites (excluding Amazon) take about 15%.

[RudyS]

Listed on eBay for now. They take about a 10% cut, which is the lowest I'm aware of. Other sites (excluding Amazon) take about 15%.

I sell on eBay. The commission is about 10%, but it is also charged on whatever shipping you add to the price. And PayPal gets about 3%.