Selling Books

Since the beginning of January, I have been selling books on Amazon.com.  I am surprised at how easy it was to list the ISBN numbers and the orders started coming in within hours.  I listed 9 books, and sold 5 of them the first week.  With the sales, I have made over $55.  Not bad at all!

Our local library has a book sale twice a year at great prices ($0.25-$0.50 for paper backs and $1 for hard cover books.)  I have been thinking about trying to sell books from home to make some extra money and pay down the mortgage (or bulk up our emergency fund.)  The books I’ve sold have been pretty much brand-spanking new.  I sold them as Used – Like New.  The bindings had not even been creased.

I am worried that if I purchase 10-15 books from book sales (who am I kidding? It would be more like 25-50,) that I may not be able to sell even one. It is a risk. 

Upon further investigation, I found out that there is a business out there for Book Scouts.  Yes, that’s what they call themselves.  They go to these book sales, can scan the book ISBN and see how much they are selling for instantly on their PDA or web-activated cell phone. 

There is software you can download to use at these sales.  How much does it cost? $7.99/month or $20 for 3 months.

However, I do not have internet on my phone.  So that would be an additional cost.

I find myself getting so excited about my next business venture that I don’t spend enough time on one business to make it grow and become a source of income.  I want to get the other two businesses off the ground in 2011 and build a steady customer base and income stream, but I’d also like to get into this book selling business.

I have a book requested from a library “out of network.”  I’m not sure when it will come in, but it is all about the book business.  I cant wait to get it, read it, and then decide on what to do.  In the meantime, I may go to a book sale or two in my area and limit myself to 10 books, and then try my luck at selling them.  We’ll see.

Decision, decisions.

What would you do?

Craft Show

Well, we had our first craft show today!  It was a LONG one!  We got to the facility (a High School) at 8 this morning, and the craft show ended at 3.  We had lunch and came home. I am exhausted.  We sold SOME of our items, but not that many.  We didnt make it to the triple digits (but close.)  I have another one tomorrow that is only 4 hours long, but I will be doing that one myself. :-( 

I have learned what sells and what doesnt.  It turns out that the smaller items sell (and those are the ones that have the largest profit margin for me.)  So, I will continue to sell the small signs and will probably try to unload the other items and just do the signs at the shows.

What we sold wont even put a dent into what we owe on the credit card for everything I bought, but I learned alot, and I know what to do in the future.  But for now, we just have to sell some more product!  1 show down, 3 more to go this month.

Craft Shows!

I am now registered for 4 craft shows!!!
I cant wait to set up a table and get started! :-)
Today, I am taking a half of a day off of work and choosing what items I want to purchase from the wholesaler down the road.  I dont want to spend too much money, but the way I see it, the more my name gets out there, the more I can sell.  I love the products and I think alot of others will as well!

Wish me luck!

One of Two Businesses

I am an entrepreneur at heart.  I have always wanted to own my own business.  I have tried several, but never kept up with them.  Todd and I are working on one that we can do together, but it will take a bit of marketing to find the right market.  It is a higher-end service we would be providing.

Where we live, there is a distributor that purchases products from overseas and sells them to wholesalers and resellers around the country.  Their warehouse is a few minutes away from where we live.  I met the Sales Rep’s wife (Debbie) a month or two back (she does home parties with some of their items), and I thought maybe I could sell the items they have available.

I already have a Vendor’s license for the state of Ohio to sell products and services, along with an EIN number.  All I would need to get the special pricing from this distributor.

Todd and I went to the warehouse on Friday before our trip to New York.  We loved the items they offered.  It was like a very large Kirkland’s (one of my favorite stores!), but I got to see what wholesale pricing looks like!   The only downfall with me being a reseller of their items is that I would have to purchase products by the case.

I went online to see if there were any upcoming craft shows in the area that I could apply for, and there were plenty!  I called several people yesterday.  Two shows had no more tables available, one did not return my call, and the last had tables available.  I have already filled out and sent back my application to reserve a table!

So, it looks like I will be a vendor at our first craft show on November 6^th.  I am so excited.  So far, we are out $35 (the price of the application fee for the table & advertising.)  My next step is that I have to go back to the warehouse and choose which items I’d like to take to the show and purchase them.  The problem with this warehouse is that their hours are 9-5 Monday – Friday.  I work 9-5:30 an hour away from home.  So, I am going to be taking a half day off of work to go choose the items and to set up our account with the distributor.  We did not do this the other day because we were in a hurry to get on the road. 

According to my calculations, we will need to sell $75** worth of product at this show in order to break even.  Depending on how much product we get, we will be out that money until the items sell.  I am nervous that I may not choose the right items to sell.  I want to find items that fly off the tables and are “too good to pass up.”  Todd and I have talked about it, and we’d like to get the items that are less than $5 at first.  Yes, we’d have to sell many of them to make up for our costs, but we would have a smaller start-up in doing so.  I am thinking Americana themed items as well as inspirational.

I asked Debbie if she wanted me to take some of her inventory with me to the show.  This way, our table does not look bare, I can help her unload some of her stock (and hopefully get a percentage of the sales) without having to purchase the master cartons myself.  She has not agreed to it yet, but we are working on it.

So that is one of our businesses that we are trying to get started.

I want to get this going so that we can make an additional $150/month to pay towards our mortgage so that it will be paid off within 10 years.  Proceeds from the craft shows and bazaar’s will go towards purchasing new product and toward the early payoff of our home.

I am planning on listing some of the items on Etsy.com, craigslist.org, and the like.  I hope to have a website created by the end of this year, and enough sales to go to a very large craft show in Cleveland, OH that would cost $450 for the table.  This first show will be a test and to get our feet wet… I cant wait!

**Update.  I purchased business cards as well as a domain name for the business.  I will have to sell $120 worth of product to break even now.  However, I do not expect to have any other expenses than buying products to sell.

Do you have a business?

If so, what do you do?