3rd October 2006
Hi,
I'm happy I paid over a fiver to post one book. Let me tell you why...
You'd think that £5.31 seems a hefty amount to pay to post one book... It certainly far exceeds my average postal costs for a single book. Why then can I possibly be happy to pay such high amount?
Well, because this book cost me 20p, 3 weeks ago at a car boot. The book is called the Glenans Manual of Sailing by Peter Davison. It was actually the second copy I had
obtained in the last 3 months.
The first copy was an ex library purchase and I received £19.99 for it. But this second copy was like new and when I came to list it on Amazon the price had risen and I received over
£25! In anyone's book (scuse the pun) the profit between 20p and £20 is huuuuge...over a 9000% increase. It's a win win situation!
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Everyone's happy!
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The car booter is happy because he got rid of some clutter, the buyer's happy because he has a book that cost at least half of the used selling price. Amazon are happy because they made
some commission, Royal Mail are happy because they made money too!
Of course I think I am the happiest because it made such a fantastic profit for me. If you have a copy or can get hold of a copy of this particular book, get it listed quick because current
copies are listed in excess of £50.00.This example is not rare but common, in most cases the books will be much lighter in weight, increasing profits even further. So instead of feeling negative about postage costs and Amazon commission deductions, think of the difference between what you pay for a book and what you receive percentage wise, often thousands of %, certainly 100s. How many retailers command this sort of mark up? Not many I would guess.
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Talking of postage it has been a month now since royal mail has changed to pricing in proportion. I know prior to its introduction I was quite optimistic as to whether my profits would increase, decrease or remain the same.
So one month on I thought I would do another comparison to check it out. After comparing a range of weights and sizes, results have shown that the difference between the old and new
price is £4.08p in extra profit for me!!! Ok some pricing has remained the same, and some have increased, but overall the results show that I am saving money - leading to higher profits. Obviously it will all depend on what books you sell, but I have still found that overall I have gained by the changes.
Thank you Royal Mail!
Last week I found a great product from a local post office. It is a plastic template for pricing in proportion, but it's on the same lines as a ruler and cost £4.50, it's really useful to check books before listing. Ask your post office if they can get them in - it's a lot cheaper than buying an actual template at £32.00. Its made by Helix and it has all the measurement you
need printed on the product.
Did you notice that Royal Mail are bringing in a new service where you can pay online and download a bar code to stick on letters? There is an up side and down side to this. Upside: no
more visits to the post office. Down side: no proof of posting and you have to use the label within 2 days of purchase. As far as I can see it only applies to letters, so is unlikely to benefit us book sellers!! Go to http://www.royalmail.com for more info.
And a final note: Do not forget these changes only affect inland post not overseas postage.
Good luck with your selling!
Until next time,
Sharon
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