Textbooks are a great starting point for new online book sellers. Some reasons to start selling textbooks include a higher profit margin, and quick turnover(at the right times). One downside is that selling textbooks is mostly seasonal corresponding with college semesters.
So some tips to selling textbooks:
- buy textbooks in the off season and the end of semester - You can easily buy textbooks online from the same outlets you sell from if you monitor and know price levels. Also, contacting students at the local college at the end of the semester gives you an opportunity to get good deals on books.
- Let college students know you buy books - Go to the school, post flyers, and advertise. Make sure it is okay first to do these things on campus because some schools don't want competition with their in house bookstore. If that's the case advertise where students still look but won't interfere with campus rules
- Keep track of current books - College curriculum can change quickly so it is important to know what books are being used. You can check at colleges online and locally. Also, especially in technical in computer fields, make sure that the book you are getting is up to date as these technologies change rapidly and books become out of date
- Use a monitoring service - Many outlets, Amazon, Half, etc. allow you to make wishlists and notifications of books you want. This helps you monitor for good deals. I recommend using Bookfinder4u.com which allows price triggers and monitoring service all for free. Setup a price trigger and you will be notified by email whenever the price of a book comes up on a site for what you are willing to pay.
Following these simple tidbits will get you into the textbook selling field quickly, and provide you with an advantage over the competition.
