Two methods of chatteling....
 

There are (at least) two different methods of chatteling....

The first method is to focus on things which you can easily sell - items which are in wide demand. The key to success is being able to get them at a low price, to look for motivated sellers.... Common items. For example, I've bought and sold laptop computers (though doing this is too competitive for my tastes nowadays - too many people do the same thing), MP3 players, and other items....

When I did this, I've bought on the internet and sold offline. (I did this several times with laptop computers.) I've also bought at one online auction site, and sold on another online auction site for a profit....

The other approach is instead to find scarce items, which might appeal to someone for a high price. That is, their appeal isn't wide, but there IS appeal there for a niche market. And because these items are hard to get, you can charge more money for them....

Here, you can get amazing mark-ups. For example, I found a book yesterday (published in the 1960s), which I bought for 10c. I checked online to see what it was selling for (by looking through the prices at www.abe.com ), and it usually sells for $35 to $45. (Only 500 copies of this book were ever printed.) This is also where "antiques" fall under....

If you want to sell things this way, the key is to never pay too much! Look for interesting items, which seem rare (not widely made items), which have some kind of emotional appeal about them.... This kind of "junk" often gets sold for pennies or a few dollars. Often, you just have to just go with your instinct. When you keep your purchasing price low, you can afford to risk making some mistakes.... One good "find" will more than make up for any mistakes!

I'm just starting to do this, so I'm still learning the ropes on the "second" approach to chatteling, but it seems like an good way to do it.... The internet makes it even more lucrative, since (by using services like eBay) it's much easier for potential buyers to find you....

- Dien Rice

Re: Two methods of chatteling....
 

> There are (at least) two different methods
> of chatteling....

> Here, you can get amazing mark-ups. For
> example, I found a book yesterday (published
> in the 1960s), which I bought for 10c. I
> checked online to see what it was selling
> for (by looking through the prices at
> www.abe.com ), and it usually sells for $35
> to $45. (Only 500 copies of this book were
> ever printed.) This is also where
> "antiques" fall under....

Dien,

I've been trying to do the second approach you've mentioned and I am curious. Did you buy the book knowing it was rare? How did you find out only 500 copies were ever printed? I would like to develop a list/database of rare, out of print, in demand books, etc. So that when I am out "hunting" for bargains to resell I will be better prepared. I'm not sure where to begin. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Ken

Dave Vallieres is the man...
 

Ken,

I believe Dave Vallieres is a rare book collector and used to make quite a bit buying and selling rare books on eBay. Maybe he could give you some tips.

Dave, are you out there? Here's another project idea for you...

JDB




Starting a new book business?

Books!!!
 

Hi Dein,

Funny you should mention books. At a recent family gathering, I was speeking with a cousin who is working to replace her full time income by selling books online.

She gets her books at yard sales and through a small ad in a local paper. She sells most of her books through Amazon or Half.com.

She stays away for popular titles there is no money to be made with them. Her profits usually run from $5-$60 per book. Not bad for something she buys for 10 cents or gets for free.

It does not matter what form of chattel you prefer, there is money to be made.

Happy Chatteling,

Les




Want to get started chatteling? Look here.

Re: Books!!!
 

Check out this guy, he makes a lot of money selling books on ebay:

http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abu/y202/m01/abu0062/s02

Re: Books!!!
 

> Hi Dein,

> Funny you should mention books. At a recent
> family gathering, I was speeking with a
> cousin who is working to replace her full
> time income by selling books online.

> She gets her books at yard sales and through
> a small ad in a local paper. She sells most
> of her books through Amazon or Half.com.

> She stays away for popular titles there is
> no money to be made with them. Her profits
> usually run from $5-$60 per book. Not bad
> for something she buys for 10 cents or gets
> for free.

> It does not matter what form of chattel you
> prefer, there is money to be made.

> Happy Chatteling,

> Les

Les,
Do you think your cousin might share the contents of the ad she uses? I would also be interested to know if she specializes in only certain types of books (ie:Romance, Mystery, etc.) or does she offer a wide variety. I would also be interested to know how she gets them for free.
Ken

Re: Books!!!
 

Hi Ken,

I sent my cousin an email asking her the exact
wording of her ad. She said she has tried several but most
are along the lines of
NEED EXTRA SPACE. Don't throw away those
old books. I'll haul them away for you. Giving
you the space you need and not filling up the
landfill. Call XXX=XXXX

She runs her ad every few weeks not every week.
And Yes she does get people to call with books
to haul off. She takes whatever they have so she
does not specialize. She does not get many people
calling but enought to make it worth her time and
money.

She gets most of her books from yard sales. She
will usually buy all the books a person has for
sale by asking How much for all of these books?
She told me it usually works out to about
5-10 cents per book.

She has accumilated quite a few "popular" books
that do not sell well. She has been tring to
figure out what she is going to do with them.
She may start grouping them together to sell on
ebay.

Hope this helps,
Les

> Les,
> Do you think your cousin might share the
> contents of the ad she uses? I would also be
> interested to know if she specializes in
> only certain types of books (ie:Romance,
> Mystery, etc.) or does she offer a wide
> variety. I would also be interested to know
> how she gets them for free.
> Ken

Re: Dave Vallieres is the man...
 

John,

I made good money from selling used books from 1979-1997 as a hobby. In 1997 I found ebaY and went into it full-time as an online bookseller.

The market got saturated in 2000-2001 so I backed off somewhat and started my digital publishing businesses.

One thing I've learned about selling used and rare books is that there is always a market for first-edition fiction from popular novelists like Hemingway, Steinbeck, Kerouac-- all the biggies.

Second, if you "Buy it right" you'll always be able to sell it for a profit. I don't know if it was this board or another one I frequent but someone mentioned that "Buying it right" is the first step to making a profit in chatteling (or something to that effect). That's 100% correct.

'Buying it right' in the used book business is critical because "condition" is everything!

A first edition with tattered pages and no dustjacket, for example, might fetch $10.

With a dustjacket, in near fine or fine condition will say, get $150 or more for the SAME book.

I wrote an entire course on book selling online and you can still get it at http://www.gobizinfo.com or just do a search on google for 'David Vallieres' or if your a Warriors member you can get it in the Members section at: http://www.hosts4profit.co.uk/marketingwarriors/

BTW- I don't make any money from these links- I've sold the copyrights to the book.

Stick with the more 'serious' writers, first editions in dustjackets and you'll do quite well.

One thing to keep in mind: Don't spend ALL your time just buying books by the dozens at yard sales... you'll rarely find really valuable books there. Sometimes you hit on a good bunch, but it's very rare.

I like to purchase 'collections' or 'libaries' these days. I purchased a libary of 2000 books in 1998 for $1,000 just after I got started on ebaY to boost my sales - only 20% of those books were worth anything, the rest I had to discard.

But on those 400 books (the 20%) I made over $18,000 in less than 6 months.

So, you can advertise that you 'buy used books' in the local shoppers to get books, but instead of going to 3 or 4 houses a day searching you might want to stick to people calling who have 'collections' of 500 or more books to sell at one time. You'll save your time doing that. Just make sure they have a good 20% or more that are really valuable- you have to make your investment back and make a profit on that 20%!

Also, don't ignore buying directly from other used book sellers. Yes, they are knowledgable and you won't find 'rare' books at 50 cents each, but you get good quality stock. And most used booksellers will give dealer discounts of 10% or more to other qualified booksellers (Tax ID# required).

I have 3 dealers (sources) of used books in my area. All of them have been in business longer than I have but EVERY purchase I've made from them I made a profit on.

Why?

Well,...

1) I got a discount
2) They run a 'retail' store and 2 of the 3 don't sell at all on ebay, so I get good stock that generally does very well on ebay
3) The price you set on a first ed. book in good condition, w/dj is pretty much WHAT YOU WANT FOR IT.

For example, I purchase a first ed of Kerouac's first book from one local retailer for $250.00. I put it up on ebay, and sold it for $527.00.

You take a book that is sitting on a local bookshelf, with limited demand locally and put it on an International site for sale (ebay) and you can get a higher price.

So don't shy away from high priced books because, if you can't make a profit on it, at least you will always get your money back. True rare books are an 'asset' that rarly depreciates in price!

Another thing to look for is 'mistakes'. For example a very knowledagble and well-known bookseller in my area had a 'first' of one of the Wizard of Oz books. He counted 15 illustrations in the book, when it should have had 16. He discounted the book to $49 (it should be $300). I bought it thinking I'd maybe get $75 for it. I took it home and started counting the illustrations. Yep, only 15...hmmm. Well, at least I'll get my money back I thought.

See, one little 'problem' with a book like that will kill its value.

The next day I picked the book up again and started counting the illustrations. 15. I closed the book and it hit me! The 16th illustration was on the COVER of the book! The 'knowledgeable' bookseller missed it completely, and I almost did too!

I sold it for $375 on ebay in 3 days.

Anyway, this was written very quick... if I misspelled anything please forgive...

Best wishes,

-Dave


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