The Value of Time and Space
By Kevin
I haven't sold used books in years.
Once upon a time, I had success with half.com. But eBay acquired half.com, and after the appropriate mourning period, first suggested and then demanded that I transfer my account to eBay and sell my stock using auction-style listings. This required much time and effort.
I refused. I simply emptied my entire online inventory, and stopped selling; eBay notified me days later that they couldn't believe how they'd offended long-time half.com users. They'd let me keep selling the old way. Too late. I still own most of that deleted stock.
Yet space limitations require that I now eliminate some of my books. Translation: our apartment is packed, and I must choose which books to donate to the library or sell, sell, sell! I used to sell books worth at least $5, and give away anything below the price floor; the going market rate for the rest was usually in the dollar to two dollar range, some down to a cool 1¢ (with the real money being made in the way-too-high shipping allowance). But being a low-volume seller of low-price books meant going to the post office to earn a dollar; so I would just donate them in bulk.
Now I've decided to sell off some of my books by becoming an Amazon Merchant. I was confident I'd sell many of my books because I follow two rules: I 1) keep my books in excellent condition, 2) undersell the lowest comparable used copy by 50¢ to $1.
So far, in twelve hours, I've sold 3 of the first 8 books I put up for sale -- all recent, popular, non-fiction titles. Now, this high volume tells me that I might have to rethink my inventory price floor; If I'm already going to the post office regularly, why not include the cheap books, and make a few extra dollars?
But then I remember that the point is to get rid of books I've read, will not reference, and will not read again; the point is to clear up space with minimal expense of time, not to maximize revenue on book sales; the point is MAX(U), not MAX(Π).
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