Howdy! My name is Caleb Roth and I have dabbled in selling books on Amazon for the past decade. In late 2014 I decided to approach my business more seriously, switched completely over to FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon), and haven’t regretted it for a second!
My goal with this site is to share my journey with fellow booksellers and invite you to join the FBA book bandwagon. Whether you are just starting out with Amazon or have been selling for several years, there should be something for everyone to learn on this blog. There is always something new to learn in this business, and I look forward to learning from each of you!
My background is in marketing and data analytics, and I worked for more than five years in a marketing role for a Fortune 100 company. I will bring lots of data to the table and help to dispel common myths that seem to be prevalent among booksellers.
I challenge you to follow my journey while starting your own. Don’t just sit on the sidelines – get out there and start your own Amazon adventure!
Let’s go flip some books!
Questions? Comments? Snide remarks? If you have ideas for future blog posts or want to share some of your own story, please contact me below. I’d love to hear from you!
August 7, 2015 at 4:37 am
Love your site and content Caleb. Thanks so much. I’m looking for information on what scanners you use for sourcing when you are out looking for books. Also, what kind of listing software do you use to get your books into the system at Amazon? Thanks so much.
Greg Mooe
August 10, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Thanks for the kind words, Greg. I’m glad you found my site! I use a ScanFob OPN-2002 scanner. It’s small and I use velcro to secure it to the back of my phone so I can operate the setup with one hand. They are currently sold out on Amazon, but you can find the OPN-2005 there right now (http://amzn.to/1gXnd2U). I pair it with ASellerTool’s downloadable database called FBAScan and it is lightning fast. For listing, I use InventoryLab. I’ll go more in depth into all of the above in my blog in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
August 20, 2015 at 12:07 am
Hi,
I’m enjoying your blog and I’m looking forward to new posts.
When you source books, what type of ranking numbers to you look at?
Do you look at all as to how many sellers there are for the book you are
sourcing?
Thanks.
August 20, 2015 at 9:14 am
Hey Randy – welcome and thanks for the kind words! I look at all sorts of data points when I source… including used prices, new prices, FBA prices, Amazon’s price, current sales rank, historical sales rank (on camelcamelcamel.com), and all of those data points help give me a clear picture of whether or not I should purchase the book. Right now I don’t really look at the number of sellers – if the rest of the data tells me the book is a “buy” then I will buy it. The only time number of sellers really comes into play is if there are only a few sellers and the price seems too high… perhaps it’s a repricer gone wrong and I may re-evaluate my decision to purchase the book.
August 27, 2015 at 9:35 am
Hi Caleb
Could you share your trigger setup for the fbascan?
August 28, 2015 at 9:53 am
Howdy! I actually don’t set up any triggers… I like to analyze the info from every book that I scan. One of the major reasons is that no scanning app shows you all of the FBA offers. They only show the lowest 10 “competitive” offers. There are countless penny books that have a low FBA price of $12 or $15, and I will buy those all day long. If I was just using a trigger I would miss most of those.
September 5, 2015 at 10:25 am
Penny books? Meaning they cost you pennies?
September 5, 2015 at 1:56 pm
A penny book is one that is selling for a penny Merchant Fulfilled. You can usually sell it for much more if you sell it FBA.
September 12, 2015 at 6:01 pm
If anyone is looking for a Scanfob 20002, I have one for sale on ebay. Look for ornamentalnature.
September 17, 2015 at 7:08 pm
Great blog! I’m really enjoying your posts. It would be great if you could write a blog post on how to price for FBA. There seems to be an art to pricing and I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
September 22, 2015 at 9:17 am
I will definitely do a post on pricing – probably with some screen videos to show you my rationale when it comes to pricing. I’ll show you my rules that I use, but there a more than a hundred ways to skin the proverbial pricing cat!
September 24, 2015 at 5:12 am
Hello, thx for info. See u latter.
November 11, 2015 at 11:34 am
Hi Caleb,
I was reading about the scouting app review and you are apparently happy with FBA Scan (Seller). But is this a good scouting app for the European marketplace ?
Another thing : which bluetoothscan are you using with your mobile ? Is it really that much faster then the normal mobile scan ?
November 12, 2015 at 9:57 am
José – thanks for your comment. I doubt that FBAScan works in many markets outside the US. Based on a few comments I’m hearing from international sellers it sounds like there is a high market demand for some quality book scouting software! The Bluetooth scanner I use is the Opticon OPN-2002. It works like a champ and has a very good battery life. It is much faster than using your phone’s optical camera scanner, and I find that it preserves the battery life on your phone as well.
November 11, 2015 at 12:13 pm
Hi Caleb,
Just figured out that FBAScan is actually only US. They have plans for Europe but it’s still very virgin.
November 23, 2015 at 10:32 am
Hi Caleb,
Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know I’ve found your blog really helpful. Lots of great info.
I’ve taken you up on the 100 book a week challenge. I’ve been hitting it pretty hard for the last month, so easily meeting the 100 book/week minimum.
Thanks again for the great blog!
Zach
November 23, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Hey Zach – I’m glad you found the blog! Good luck on your continued 100 books a week challenge… keep at it and your sales should continue to soar! Let me know how I can be of any help along your journey.
-Caleb
December 3, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Caleb,
Thanks for the info here you are providing here. It seems like there are quite a few expenses with various apps/suites that are used. Did you jump right in with these services.. I’m having a hard time justifying them but then again I’m pretty new to FBA.
Thanks,
Dave
December 16, 2015 at 9:14 pm
Dave,
I “limped in” with free software initially – utilizing the Amazon seller app to kick things off. I then switched over to Profit Bandit and Inventory Lab, but once I got caught with my proverbial pants down at a library sale in a basement with no cell reception or Wi-Fi access, I immediately switched over to ASellerTool and haven’t looked back since. If you’re serious about this business, invest in the proper tools sooner rather than later, and it will pay off in a big way.
-Caleb
December 5, 2015 at 4:23 pm
Hey Caleb. I also did not get any confirmation email when I joined your group. Would you please ensure that I receive the updated information on your software. Thanks very much, Ken.
December 16, 2015 at 9:06 pm
I confirmed that your email was on the list – if you weren’t getting email updates let me know and I’ll send you them again!
January 4, 2016 at 4:49 pm
Hi! I’m enjoying your blog as I have just begun dabbling in book sales on AZ. Here is a question that has stumped me. How can I find out if a hard back book once had a dust jacket? I have used children’s picture books and I don’t know if they are missing the jacket or never had one so I am stuck listing them as “acceptable” condition. Thanks!
January 6, 2016 at 6:56 pm
Hey Courtney, welcome to the site! I’m unsure of a foolproof way to find out if a book had a dust jacket or not, but I usually look at the image on Amazon and if it matches the copy in my hand I don’t worry about it. If the title isn’t printed on the hardcover cover, then it’s safe to assume it had a dust jacket and you can condition it accordingly.
January 12, 2016 at 6:52 am
Really enjoying your website and your writing style. Excellent content, Caleb! I’ve looked through your posts and I can’t find a definitive answer about AZ, MF and FBA pricing in relation to new vs. used. AZ may be selling a book for $19.95 new, MF is $9.95 new, and FBA is $27 new. Or, literally same numbers with used books. As an FBA seller, how do you price the book? If your book is used, do you only look at the FBA used pricing and go from there? Thanks for taking the time to answer and I look forward to seeing your eFlip service soon.
January 19, 2016 at 12:30 pm
I’m glad you found the site! First things first – eFLIP is live and you can check it out at eflip.thebookflipper.com. You can enjoy a 3-day risk-free trial to see if it’ll work for you and I’d also be happy to jump on a quick Skype call to show you a live demo of it. Just holler if you’re interested!
Regarding pricing… I rarely list a book as New, since Amazon does not give up the coveted Buy Box for new books. I will list as Like New in these cases to get the Buy Box and (usually) sell the book faster.
Amazon’s price is always the ceiling – I won’t list higher than Amazon. The cheapest MF price is the floor. As an FBA seller I’ll price between those two prices, and it depends on the sales rank history, the number of FBA competitive offers, and the condition of my book. In general, if a book is selling often, I’ll price higher and wait for the sale to come. If it’s selling rarely, I’ll price closer to the MF price to compete for the next sale.
January 12, 2016 at 7:12 am
In your post about the 100 book challenge, I see that you’ve listed your weekly inventory turn over at 2.5%. I am a novice book seller, but this seems incredibly low. If I sent 1000 books into Amazon, 2.5% means that in six months not even half of them would be sold, and I would still have quite a few left over at the year mark.
I’m not saying that youre wrong. You certainly have more experience than me, but are sure about that number?
January 19, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Great question – thanks for asking! Book sales are definitely seasonal, but on average I sell around 2.5% of my inventory each week. During textbook season the turn rate is closer to 8-10%, but only for a few weeks. In February, (the doldrums for selling books), the turn rate can slip under 2%.
Your math is spot on in that if you sent in 1,000 books on Day One and consistently sold 2.5% of them each week, by the end of 6 months you would have sold 469 of them, or just under half. The actual sales don’t work that way though… I typically sell around 10% of the books I send in by the end of the 2nd week, and that number is closer to 20-25% by the end of the 6th week. After that, I expect to sell ~1% of my inventory each week if I don’t readjust my prices. So, the 2.5% turn rate is an average assuming that you continue to add fresh inventory on a regular basis.
This is why selling books is not for the faint of heart – you won’t make tons of money quickly! It’s about building up a consistent inventory and being disciplined in your scouting approach.
That being said, you could increase your turn rate by pricing more aggressively (a.k.a. undercut other FBA sellers and price closer to MF sellers), or only purchasing books with a rank under, say, 250k. This business allows for plenty of different strategies – to each their own!
Hopefully that helps!
January 30, 2016 at 8:31 am
Hi Caleb,
I already have a lot of books and need information on exactly how to label them and send them to Amazon. So far I am confused about labeling. Do I have to buy all those gadgets?
Thanks.
February 5, 2016 at 10:30 am
Hey Nancy,
No, you can actually pay Amazon to label your books for you if you want to avoid buying labels, a printer, etc. The easiest way is to label your own with the 30-label sheets from a regular printer. Drop me an email for more info – thebookflipper@gmail.com.
Glad you found my site!
-Caleb
February 18, 2016 at 7:38 am
Hi Caleb
Inm really interested in your book keeping software as I would love t get rid of the cost of inventory lab. Only thing is, I am a completed novice when it comes to working with spread sheets and the like. If I buy it are there step by step instructions? Ie this is my 3rd year doing fba can I load all that data into this to start?
Thanks, Brett
February 22, 2016 at 2:28 pm
Hey Brett,
I’m working on a detailed guide on how to use every aspect of the Tracking Spreadsheet, including how to set it up if you’re an existing seller. Look for it over at thebookflipper.com/track near the bottom of the page once it’s ready to go!
February 18, 2016 at 8:10 am
Hi Caleb, I just bought your bookkeeping software and downloaded it to my Mac. I think I can use Numbers with it no problem but I need more start up instructions than your quick start video provides. For example I don’t understand the first part of your video right off the bat. I currently have been tracking my own inventory/sales on my own spreadsheets as I have been getting the hang of it (I am on month 4 with an inventory of about 700) so I have data. Are you pulling data right off of Amazon and if so which reports? Thanks!
February 22, 2016 at 2:29 pm
Hey Bonnie – drop me an email and I’ll help you through the start-up process on how to convert your listing data over to the spreadsheet. Amazon’s sales reports are a cinch to pull, but getting your listing data in there depends on how you have tracked it along the way. I’d be happy to help!
February 20, 2016 at 4:44 pm
Looking for information on how to populate the listing spreadsheet.
February 22, 2016 at 2:22 pm
You can watch a video on the process of using the Listing Spreadsheet here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrn_Hhrmzu4
February 24, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Hi Caleb,
I’m a new seller (been at it part time for roughly a year) and have enjoyed your blog. Your stuff is straight forward and always easy to understand. So thank you.
I want to make this my full time income and want to ask your thoughts for the fastest way to get there from your experience. I have grown my inventory up to only 240 products so far, mainly books. Thanks
February 24, 2016 at 7:02 pm
Hey Ahren – that’s a fantastic goal! There’s no “fast” way to get there, unfortunately. Keep feeding the Amazon beast, send in books every week if you can, and use every dollar of profit to buy more books and continue the cycle. Depending on how much cashflow you’ll need for full-time income, you will likely need to have a rather large inventory (several thousand books) in order to consistently pull cash back out of the business. Don’t quit your day job just yet, and keep hustling and tracking down books!
March 17, 2016 at 6:19 am
Caleb,
I have a question on your “track your Amazon data”. I sell on Amazon and on BOL (=Dutch Amazon). Does your spreadsheet work with other marketplaces then Amazon ?
March 22, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Jose – I’m not familiar with BOL. The spreadsheet only works with Amazon right now. You could add other tabs to track other sales, but my sheet is set up to pull data directly from Amazon’s sales reports.
March 18, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Caleb,
Another question : those social media icons, where did you get them floating ?
March 22, 2016 at 5:34 pm
Sumome.com. Pretty great software for website owners!
April 29, 2016 at 12:49 am
Hi, I started doing FBA selling a few months ago using a PDA / handheld bluetooth scanner it has been going well, however I am thinking of switching from the PDA to a smartphone. I would probably continue paying for the database so that I don’t have to worry about internet connectivity and just get a cheap data plan for the phone (something like freedompop).
However I am having trouble figuring out which smartphone to buy as I don’t know much about them. There seem to be many opinions on which apps, scanners and other accessories to use, but if anyone has suggestions for specific smartphones to use when sourcing that would be appreciated, I guess ease of use while holding a book in the other hand, battery life and price would be the three main factors. (I would not be using the phone for personal use). Thanks!
May 7, 2016 at 9:22 am
Android has several cheaper phones on the market, and you can pick up an older generation iPhone as well for a hundred bucks or so on eBay. Just make sure it’s unlocked or will work with the service provider you select.
April 29, 2016 at 5:01 am
Hey Caleb,
Really appreciate all the great content you put out there on your Blog.I really want to start my journey with FBA.
I am from the UK and was wondering if you can guide me to the process of sending it to the Amazon warehouse.
This is what I am thinking currently:
1. Open Amazon.com FBA account
2. Register for Eflip
3. Start analysing via Eflip and then make some purchases
4. This is where I don’t know what to do? Do you recommend using a FBA Prep company and If yes, do you have any recommendations
5. What is the best way of listing items now that I won’t be able to see or touch the book since I live in the UK.
6. Also, does Eflip work for Amazon UK site and if No, do you know if any such tool exists for the European market?
You guidance on this is truly appreciated.
Look forward to your reply.
Cheers
Rags
May 7, 2016 at 9:24 am
Howdy Rags,
Your plan makes a lot of sense, especially since the Amazon.com market is much larger than the Amazon.co.uk market. Here’s a great prep company that several of eFLIP’s customers recommend: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texaspps/?__mref=message_bubble. They should condition and list the books for you, and you can price them yourself.
Right now eFLIP only works with the US market, but we’re looking into a UK version at some point.
Best,
-Caleb
November 23, 2016 at 3:11 pm
Hi Caleb, i live in the United Kingdom, can i join Amazon.com to buy books,
do i then have the books shipped direct to the prep company from the seller?
Will the prep company then label the books and prep them and ship to
Amazon FBA, I take it i will have to list the books myself on Amazon FBA .
I would appreciate any information about this from you.
Thanks,
Paul
November 25, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Yes, absolutely! We have several customers from outside of the US who take advantage of the larger US market to sell here. A prep company can help you tremendously in this effort. I already sent you an email with more details. Thanks for asking!
January 21, 2017 at 2:38 am
Hi Caleb,
You’re information is fabulous. Many thanks. Also wondering if you have an update as to when eFlip will work for the UK market?
February 2, 2017 at 6:13 am
Thanks Mitch – eFLIP only works on amazon.com, but you can use a prep company here in the States to receive, label, and ship your inventory to a US warehouse and take advantage of the larger book market here in the US. We recommend texaspps.com, and they have a healthy discount for eFLIP customers.
August 12, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Hey Caleb, great blog and site. I recently started selling books on amazon as an individual seller. I am now at the point where I have about 400 books in my condo. …not good. I’m seriously considering the F B A route but I am a little bit leary. This is a much needed second income that I am committed to. I am faithful about planning time to source every chance I get. I guess I’m wondering if F B A should be the next step. Thanks
August 23, 2016 at 8:49 am
If I could change one thing in my business, I would have started FBA earlier in the process. Bite the bullet, dive in, and your business will thank you!
September 11, 2016 at 11:27 am
Hi, Caleb. I’ve been looking for tools like yours! I watched all your videos, but I still have a couple of questions.
1) How/Where do you record any sales tax you paid when you bought items for resell?
2) How/Where do you record or see sales tax you have collected for states that require it?
September 27, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Hey Sheila – great questions! Amazon provides sales tax reports for each state that you sell in, so you can collect that data from their reports. For sales taxes that I pay on items I buy for resale, I scan in all my receipts and store them in my other accounting software (waveapps.com), and then go back over those at the end of the year.
September 13, 2016 at 4:15 am
Hello Caleb,
I’m Thai, from Portland. Thank you for your posts
I am very interested in online used book selling on Amazon, so I read your posts carefully
But I have one question “How do you liquidate your unsalable books?”
I concern it because my space is limited that make me cannot keep unsalable used books in my house longer than 12 months
Can I sell them to recycling center?
Could you give me advice on it?
Thanks & best regards !
Thai
September 27, 2016 at 1:56 pm
Hey Thai,
Thanks for reaching out! I ship everything to Amazon’s warehouses, so I don’t store anything in my house. If something doesn’t sell, I can pay Amazon 15 cents to destroy it, or 50 cents to ship it back to me. From there I typically donate it or sell it in lots on Craigslist.
Hope that helps!
-Caleb
October 17, 2016 at 1:32 am
Thank you!
It’s really helpful
September 26, 2016 at 5:31 pm
Hi Caleb,
I have been reading your blog for about a month and am about ready to tackle this new venture. I have gone through a major life change and have been searching for a new way to support myself. Because of your precise information and your numbers, I feel confident that I will succeed and this will make me money. I am excited! I do have a couple questions for you.
#1 Any advice or must read info that you would suggest? I have read tons on your blog, downloaded FBA Scan and have the database on my phone, I have supplies ordered, I have gone to Goodwills on some “practice runs” where I take my time and analyze the data and try to think through the process of whether I should buy a book or not. My next steps are to become an Amazon seller and figure out sales tax. And then start listing and shipping (I have about 100 books I have bought). Am I missing something? Any “How To Start From The Beginning With No Experience” guides out there you might suggest? I want this to be as successful as possible from the very start. Of course I know there will always be a learning curve. But I want to eliminate as many rookie mistakes as I can.
#2 Do you, or anyone else out there, have something along the lines of analyzing data “tests”? Like examples of what pops up when we scan a book and then help with walking us through what goes on in your mind when considering all the info? I know you have covered it somewhat, and honestly I have learned probably even more from your replies to comments. But I wish there was a way to practice online and then see if I am “right”, or that at least my line of thinking is somewhat matching up with other people who are successful at sourcing books.
Sorry, if those are annoying questions. I’m just trying hard to get things right!
September 27, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Hey Jasmine – welcome to the world of book flipping! You sound like you’ve done your homework and have a good idea about how to run your business. I would jump in and learn as you go, being careful to track your results and make tweaks along the way. As far as other good sources of info, there are awesome resources on YouTube, including Reezy Resells, and other quality blogs as well.
I don’t have anything on data “tests”, but that would be a great topic for a YouTube video someday!
October 11, 2016 at 6:20 pm
Hey Caleb, thanks so much for directing me towards Reezy’s videos. It was along the lines of what I was looking for. Between you two I am confident this business will succeed. I haven’t tackled your spread sheets yet so I will probably have questions eventually. Thanks again for all this invaluable information.
September 27, 2016 at 10:36 pm
Hey Caleb! Quick question in regards to the tracking spreadsheet. Do you think it’s best to have two seperate tracking sheets if for example you previously could not control your data but now you have complete logs of everything? would including the old data with less (listing) info skew the data overall?
Thanks so much!
October 6, 2016 at 10:01 am
Hey Kazuto – no need to have two sheets going. You should be able to get a bunch of your data from the Active Listings Report, and when you can’t get data it won’t hurt your metrics at all. As you begin to use the Listing Sheet moving forward you’ll get better data moving forward!
September 29, 2016 at 7:13 am
Hi Caleb,
Couple of Questions about the listing sheet before I purchase.
1. What is the difference between the 19.00/per month and the one time 120.00 sheet?
2. I have been selling on AMZ for almost a year and have decided to focus on books. How do I upload all my previous sales info into the spreedsheet? Is that possible?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
MJ
October 6, 2016 at 10:03 am
Hey Martha – the $19 sheet is a one-time fee as well, and it helps you build customized descriptions quickly when you list your items. The $120 sheet is a glorified accounting sheet that will help you make better decisions about running your business. You can get your old data in a number of ways – check out the bottom of this page for more info: thebookflipper.com/track. Thanks for asking!
October 14, 2016 at 10:39 am
Hi Caleb, great job here, thanks for all your very clear info.
Do you have a discount for subscribing to Scanlister ?
Trying to save some as a newbie in this game.
Thanks
Finn
October 26, 2016 at 10:20 am
Hey Finn, I don’t have any discounts for ScanLister. If you are willing to use spreadsheets, you can download my free Listing Spreadsheet and list your items quickly on Amazon that way: thebookflipper.com/track.
November 7, 2016 at 2:15 am
Caleb, I love your spreadsheet and I just started books and fba in october. I’m trying to find ways to make my business cheaper and more effective. I’m currently using Inventorylab and your tracking spread sheet looks like it would be a better option. However the thing I’m concerned about is… I like the easy way to create shipments in Inventory lab and once I hit send all I have to do is log into amazon and complete the final steps of the shipment. How does your spread sheet handle the shipment creation. Does it just upload the books you scanned into your inventory on amazon then I have to hunt for the items i just scanned and create shipment? Or is there an easier way. Any info you could provide would be awesome. Thanks in advance
November 16, 2016 at 2:32 pm
Caleb,
Just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to speak with Chuck and me on Monday. Like everything new there is a learning curve so guidance and advice are always helpful.
Also, a big “thank you” for walking me through the negative feedback removal process. To my shock it worked – back to 100%! That was a major relief for me.
David,
November 21, 2016 at 10:39 pm
Hey David – thanks for the feedback – I’m glad it worked for you! It was great “meeting” you and Chuck over the phone as well. Good luck scaling your business!
November 21, 2016 at 5:31 pm
Caleb, I just purchased your tracking spreadsheet and I was trying to use your free listing spreadsheet. When I went to upload inventory from the free listing spreadsheet to Amazon it told me there were 7 errors on the sheet (I only used six books from a trial run). Does the spreadsheet need to be updated or is there anything I can do to fix this?
November 21, 2016 at 10:42 pm
Hey William – the listing spreadsheet should be working just fine. There’s a bit of a learning curve when submitting your first batch though. Follow the steps exactly as outlined at thebookflipper.com/track. If you’re still running into some snags, drop me a line at thebookflipper @ gmail . com – I’m happy to help!
November 25, 2016 at 10:02 am
Just bought your spreadsheet on Black Friday – I am assuming you can use this for CDs as I do both books and CDs. Does it also work with eBay sales? I have a ton of DVDs I can’t sell on Amazon so I am going to eBay and Facebook sell those.
Excited to get away from Inventory Lab.
Thanks
Mike
November 25, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Great! Yes, you can list anything on Amazon using the Listing Spreadsheets. Books, CDs, grocery items, anything!
November 25, 2016 at 1:52 pm
Thank You – Is there a how-to? Been listing in Inventory Lab and Bookkeeping with GoDaddy so what is the best way to get things moved over? Luckily I am only 5 weeks into my business but I have a lot of transactions.
Thanks
November 26, 2016 at 10:58 pm
Check out the videos over at thebookflipper.com/track. It’ll walk you through the steps.
November 26, 2016 at 9:58 pm
Great site, thanks for all the information. I have about 200 books (on religion) that I want to sell. What do you think of the site BookScouter? I’m wondering by the time I set up FBA and paid the fees, spent the time required to set it all up, it might be worth it to sell for less on bookscouter? Your thoughts? Thanks!!
November 26, 2016 at 10:58 pm
BookScouter is a great site to find buyback quotes, but many of them require you to send a few books at a time. Where are you located? If you’re close or you can provide me a list of books I can send you a quote or sell them on consignment for you if you don’t want to deal with them. You can email me at thebookflipper@gmail.com if you’d like.
November 28, 2016 at 7:35 pm
Hey Caleb, I love the blog and you’ve inspired me to start selling books through FBA. I have worked for an online company for over 7 years and a large portion of our sales are through FBA and I know the whole interface very well so I figured I would give it a shot! I have a big goodwill outlet near me and have hit it a few times and found some nicely ranked gems already (and only $0.25 a book!) Amazon won’t let me create shipments until mid December because of the Christmas rush but I am looking forward to sending out my first big shipment. My goal is to be able to pay my mortgage per month with just FBA books by the end of 2017! Thanks for the inspiration!
November 30, 2016 at 11:18 pm
That’s a noble goal, Dave – keep us updated with your progress!
December 6, 2016 at 3:26 pm
I have a version of Excel that is older than 2007. Will your tracking spreadsheet work on Open Office spreadsheet?
December 16, 2016 at 4:24 pm
Nope – Open Office isn’t a workable substitute for the Tracking Spreadsheet. You can find an older version of Excel for fairly cheap, or pay a monthly fee to access it on your home computer.
December 17, 2016 at 7:58 am
Hi Caleb
I just found your blog and find it refreshingly truthful as far as selling books through Amazon FBA.
One question I have for you that I just don’t know how to do easily:
How do you handle Nexus: sales tax from other states where Amazon has warehouses.
I had sold Amazon FBA a few years ago and loved it but got overwhelmed on how to deal with Nexus. I quit but I miss doing this business.
Could you tell me how you do this?
Thank you so much!
Lorraine
December 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Hey Lorraine – ask 10 CPAs and you’ll get 10 different answers about Nexus. One rule is clear – you MUST collect and remit sales tax in your home state. Other than that, it’s a gray area. Talk to a CPA you trust and follow their advice.
December 28, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Caleb – I’m brand new to AZ selling. I’m learning from Jim Cockrum’s podcasts and Facebook group and from Bryan Young’s course. Just heard about you today, and am reading everything here. You have put up a lot of really good info, and I appreciate that. EFlip is intriguing.
I have gone through my bookcases at home and have listed 40 single books and two sets of books. Since Nov. 22, I have sold 4 books on Amazon, and one of the sets on eBay. I’m working on AZ as an Individual Seller, MF or FBM. I haven’t been able to get out to thrift stores etc yet, but hope I might be up to hitting one or two a day soon.
For various reasons that make a long story, we are literally broke. I have had to take most of the money I have made selling books just to pay the past due bills on some of our utilities. I am pursuing other methods of income, including trying to find a job, but at the moment I’m pretty much broke.
I have looked at EFlip. I have not signed up for the 3 day trial yet. Some questions:
Do I have this right? Using EFlip,
1. Buy MF book on AZ.
2. Merchant ships to me.
3. Receive and inspect book.
4. Remove MF and other labels.
5. List book as FBA on AZ.
6. Put my label on book.
7. Ship book to AZ for FBA. OR DO I wait and ship a batch of books to AZ?
8. Wait for book to sell
Since I haven’t used FBA, I just want to be sure I have a pretty good idea of how the physical process works. Am I missing anything, or just plain wrong in my guesses?
To use FBA, do I have to have a Pro Seller Account, or can I continue as an Individual until I can afford to upgrade?
Can I set EFlip to search specific categories of books, e.g., Music, Military Science, World History?
In other words, if I buy EFlip today, I might be able to also buy 10 textbooks at $2 – $3 each. Is there time to flip these before the Textbook Buying Season ends Jan. 31? If there’s a fair chance I can increase the $100 or so I have available, that would help with utility bills. If the risk is too high, I’ll wait until I have more cash available.
I understand that you can’t and should not tell me, “Yes, you’re guaranteed to make $500 dollars next week.” But you’ve been doing this for years and know what a realistic scenario is.
I realize you don’t know which book I might find, much less which book might sell quickly. I’m just looking for percentages, trying to generally gauge my risk / reward ratio.
Yes, I’ve read that your personal average is selling 10% of inventory at this time of year. Is that a good rule of thumb in this situation? For a pretty ignorant newbie?
Don’t mistake this as a plea. I’ve been on my back, literally physically as well financially for more than a couple of years. I’m physically able to do a little now, and I just want to get back to providing for my family. I have come out ahead so far in the past few weeks, I just want to make wise and prudent moves to continue to inch ahead.
Thanks!
January 16, 2017 at 1:44 pm
Hello Caleb,
I recently purchased your tracking spreadsheet and while uploading my second shipment to amazon I am getting error on 1 of my items out of 50 is there anyway I can send you the excel spreadsheet to troubleshoot it? I have figured out which item it is but, for some reason cannot fix it.
February 2, 2017 at 6:16 am
Certainly – I can take a quick look. Send it to thebookflipper @ gmail. com
January 27, 2017 at 1:59 pm
H Caleb,
I’ll admit that I didn’t do a lot of digging on this. I own all of your spreadsheets (awesome!) but have been looking at Scanlister for listing.
I saw somewhere that Scanlister is compatible with your Tracking spreadsheet.
How would this work – exporting Scanlisters data into your spreadsheet?
If you can fill in this bit I’ll take a closer look at Scanlister.
Thanks!
February 1, 2017 at 9:51 pm
You would export your batches from ScanLister, then open it in a spreadsheet, then copy/paste into the Tracking Sheet. It involves a few steps, but the data is all there in the right format already! This option is also available through AccelerList.com.
January 31, 2017 at 8:46 pm
HI Caleb, I am an older entrepreneur type that is really quite tech savvy.You always amaze me, because you are are smart and share your wisdom. After much research, I think e-flip will be my next purchase, but after purchasing your spreadsheet through gum road pro edition, I’ am not happy with it and would like a refund. I also purchased the box level spreadsheet, that I believe is a winner, but most times my textbook purchases keep me in one box, yeah! I am new to bookselling, but see the profit in wise purchases with a knowledge of profit margin. tech,,helps here. Again, thank you for your updates, and a refund!
February 1, 2017 at 8:47 pm
Thanks for reading, Claire! I refunded your Pro Spreadsheet, so you should see the confirmation email come through. We’ll look for you over on eFLIP real soon.
February 4, 2017 at 10:10 pm
Hi Caleb,
I just bought your $19 spreadsheet. It seems great so far, but I’d like to change it so that the Amazon.com goes to Amazon.ca instead. Is there an easy way to change that?
February 5, 2017 at 5:25 pm
Also – how would I list a book to this spreadsheet that does not have an ISBN? I found an ASIN – but that does not autofill the data. Will this upload correctly?
March 3, 2017 at 11:58 pm
You’ll need to put something in the ISBN column, even if you just put a word or copy/paste the same ASIN into the ISBN column as well.
March 3, 2017 at 11:57 pm
Sure – change the formula in that cell to change the URL to reference .ca instead of .com. Or email me and I can make the change for you.
February 8, 2017 at 7:37 pm
Caleb –
First off, thank you for everything you do. It’s reassuring knowing that others set a goal of 100 books a week and have grown exponentially. You’re data is priceless.
My question is with the Lite Listing spreadsheet. I’m using Google Docs and I get an unknown range name error after I put in the ISBN? Do I need to be using Excel or is there a workaround in Docs? Thank you, Bryan
March 3, 2017 at 11:54 pm
Hey Bryan, I’m glad to have inspired you in some small way! The Listing Sheet will only work with Excel. I have a separate Google Docs version if you want to email me to track it down.
March 2, 2017 at 11:17 am
Will your spreadsheets work with Amazon.ca?
March 2, 2017 at 5:36 pm
Yes – email me for separate files though to account for different date formats and export formats. I have one but it’s not widely distributed yet.
April 15, 2017 at 9:57 am
Dear Caleb.
I am a 76 year young grandma ; and all my life books have been a passion of
mine.
Over the years I acquired a considerable collection.
I like to become a “Book- Scout”!
Reason: My modest Social Security needs urgent financial improvement!
I do own a – 1) SOCKET CF SCAN CARD
2) DELL PDA AXIM X51
My problem is the Set-Up-and I surely have tried-and since there is no one close to
me I could ask……
Caleb, Any Ideas for me? Maybe there is a friendly soul out there to get me going.
In appreciation to listen to my dilemma!
Chricket (grandma)
June 22, 2017 at 5:15 pm
Howdy! I’ll drop you an email and discuss options with you.
April 30, 2017 at 10:17 pm
Hi Caleb,
Thank you for all the info you share and the help you give us. I may be wrong about this but I believe you are the owner of eflip or somehow connected. This is not ingenuous but a real question, if it is so good in finding you books to flip. Why would do you source any other way or have others physically source stores for you. Wouldn’t be much more effective to just have your team source on eflip. What am I missing?
May 19, 2017 at 11:07 pm
Hi Caleb,
Thank you for the wonderful info!! I found your site because I saw a gal today scanning books at my thrift shop…I asked her about it and she was quite mum and not willing to give up any info.
I also dabbled in “hobby” book sales on Amazon for over a decade too, storing-packing-shipping-myself but quit about 5 ago because I realized I could not make a profit for the most part and could not compete with bulk sellers.
Then I saw the gal today and did a online search on the topic. WOW – kinda like falling asleep in the 80s and waking up in the millennium with technology haha! I read a little about FBA a few years back but it was from the standpoint of sellers upset that Amazon was asking them to take back full pallets worth of books and pay for it.
I have read through several blogs and find yours the clearest and most succinct. Love your data. I am ready to jump in, get the tools to try your challenge beginning in June.
I just need some explanations/helps for someone new FBA selling. For example, when you reference “print your own white labels for your book”s (something I never had to do when shipping directly) – where can get informed about those types of things? Maybe need the connect-the-dots to cover my bases and start it up right. Is it best going to Amazon and reading thru their info or some place else.
Thanks! I look forward to getting my tools, learning how to use your spreadsheet and e-flip too!
June 22, 2017 at 5:26 pm
Welcome aboard the book train, Linda! Thanks for the kind words – there’s tons of great info on YouTube to show you how to list books, package them up, etc. with the FBA game. Holler if you have any specific questions. Happy to help!
August 1, 2017 at 10:32 pm
I’m a 15 year eBay seller veteran getting ready to move into fba. I just used fbascan to scan several books I had at home and almost all showed a negative profit even though the cost to me is free. I am seeing 4 or 5 Amazon fees which end up totaling about 90% of the sales price or more. Is this accurate. Am I using the app correctly because I sure don’t see any good profit margins with this business model. I hope that something isn’t figured correctly on the scanner app.
Thanks for your time.
August 16, 2017 at 10:47 am
About 90-95% of all books that you’ll scan in a typical thrift store are worthless. If you can’t get at least $8-$10 selling via FBA, there’s very little profit after all fees are accounted for. Be sure your app can factor in all expenses, including inbound shipping, Amazon’s $1.80 per book fee, 15% referral fee, and outbound shipping fees (dependent upon the weight of the book). Niche nonfiction titles are where the money is. Welcome aboard the Amazon train!
August 4, 2017 at 8:29 am
Hey Caleb –
I’m new to the used book scene, and your site has been great so far, so much useful information. Keep up the good work!
Alex
August 16, 2017 at 10:56 am
Thanks Alex – welcome aboard the book train!
August 17, 2017 at 3:09 pm
Hey Caleb.
Working on a project to generate the Adoption Textbook data for the 400-500 largest (by enrollment) US Colleges. The used college textbook market really isn’t the primary target, but it occurred to us that there might be a number of good sized resellers for ebay/amazon who might be interested in the data.
Having the real/live ISBN of the books across different colleges ,could prove useful to the reseller.
We also realized that there are people like you, who might already have connections to this select group.
If you’re interested in a further conversation, let’s talk.
-bruce
September 28, 2017 at 3:22 pm
Sent you an email – thanks!
August 19, 2017 at 7:12 am
Hello Caleb,
I’ve been checking out your site for sometime. I got really intrigued about book selling while reading your article on how Nathan turned 600 into 6000. This was a really informative article and got me motivated.
I had some questions and wanted to know if you were ok with me sending them to you.
Thanks,
Roy
September 28, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Absolutely! You can ask them on our Facebook group (bit.ly/FacebookTBF) or email me at thebookflipper @ gmail.
August 27, 2017 at 3:03 pm
Hi Caleb, big fan of your blog and facebook group, I have a simple question, for OA book flipz can I use ScoutIQ too?
September 28, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Hey Renee – thanks for the kind words! You’ll need to use eFLIP for online flips – ScoutIQ is for physical scouting.
January 19, 2018 at 11:55 am
Just the clarification I was looking for. Does Scout IQ cover only books or does it include other items sold by Amazon?
December 22, 2017 at 4:37 pm
Hi Caleb,
Been perusing your excellent info. Just wondering if you have any plans to compete with the Z* product for ISBN arbitrage. Seems like a nice option. Not selling yet, but “scouting” the possibilities! Thanks for all you share
January 19, 2018 at 11:52 am
Hey Caleb!! Do you have a YouTube video or series of videos that you would recommend for those starting out in book flipping?
January 29, 2018 at 11:16 am
Hi
Do you have contract with any prep service for this business who doesn’t want to receive and ship books from home?
I would prefer this type of service, if you have and con set me up! if you do then i would consider joining eflip!
February 1, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Hi Caleb
Your tracking spreadsheet looks great! I’ve been selling books for the past year which has done quite well but now want to focus on RA and Wholesale. Will your spreadsheet work for the items I purchase to keep track of most profitable items etc? I’m based in the UK.
Thanks
February 4, 2018 at 8:40 pm
Caleb,
Like you I have been selling on Amazon for years. I never took it seriously and never even used a scanner… just good at picking winners in my fields of interest.
I recently sold a 75 cent book for $395. Most of these books do not have bar codes or ISBN. Time to get serious. The Amazon scanner app download will open some new avenues for me in others areas. Thanks
Oh, I have no idea what most of the cap letters stand for???
February 22, 2018 at 9:45 pm
First of all, great info on this site! Thinking about sourcing from Barnes and Noble bargain and clearance sections. Would that be a good start?
March 5, 2018 at 3:31 pm
NOW THAT 2017 is to my accountant…how do you setup for 2018?…just dont want to screw things up
March 6, 2018 at 9:16 am
Just keep adding to the existing spreadsheet – no need to start a new sheet! You can plug in 2018 dates for any of the reports and continue to manage your data properly.
March 17, 2018 at 10:20 am
Is it possible to replace my income in real estate with a new book flipping business? I had a $250,000 a year net profit business in real estate.
March 21, 2018 at 5:01 pm
It’s not hard to get started selling on Amazon. I know several people who run solo operations that generate $150k-$250k in sales, but not net profits. To get to $250k in profits, you’ll have to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of $600k-$750k in top-line revenue. If you build a quality team, find good sources, develop relationships, etc., this is theoretically possible. It’ll require a good chunk of capital and time to build, and you’d be in the very top tier of booksellers if you could achieve it.
April 1, 2018 at 6:16 am
Hi Caleb,
I bought your tracking spreadsheet. I generated the monthly report from Amazon.
My issue is I list a lot of books (at least 1k) on Amazon. So I can’t price them individually on ScanLister. How do I get the list price to be accurate using the data from ScanLister?
Thanks
June 7, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Just bought the listing spreadsheet & the tracking spreadsheet, is there a way to enter data from the first of the year?