Accounting for Textbooks Sales using Bookscouter.com and Excel

Since the beginning of this blog, my article on selling textbooks through Bookscouter.com has remained the most popular and so I thought it was about time to make a follow-up post.

Textbook sales are particularly complicated because every textbook buyer requires a minimum order size to justify paying for shipping and when using Bookscouter.com you receive (when you're lucky) numerous competing offers.  It would be nice, of course, to simply pick the highest offered price and sell to them, unfortunately however, sometimes the highest price doesn't cover that particular company's minimum or it is necessary to sell a few books at a lower price so that you can sell everything you bought instead of having books left over from companies whose minimums you didn't meet.

To do this, especially after a trip to a book fair where you have a pile of books to sell, is easiest when you use a spreadsheet.  I previously described a spreadsheet to be used to keep general accounts and this textbook spreadsheet is designed to work in tandem (probably in different tabs in the same Excel or OpenOffice Spreadsheet file).

Click Image for Full-Sized View

 The system here is similar to that of my other book spreadsheet.  Column A is the book's title, column B was the cost of the book for me and column D is the book's ISBN (for more on ISBNs, see my post on the matter).  I will get to Column C in a moment but it is the highest price column.

The rest of the columns are listings of companies that buy books via Bookscouter.com.  So "BookByte" is Bookbyte.com, TextRUS is textbooksrus.com and TB.com is Textbooks.com.  I write the ISBN into the spreadsheet and then cut and paste it into the Bookscouter.com search engine, I then copy down all of the prices (if any) into the appropriate column.  It tend to bold the highest price and then write that company's column letter into Column C.  So, on row 11 (Plato's Symposium), the highest price was Bookbyte, which offered 75c and is in Column E, so I wrote "E" into Column C.

Row 12 (and it varies because you need to add a row in for every new book) is one of the few formulas, which simply totals all of the prices for that particular company.  So the formula for BookByte (column E) is as follows:

=SUM(E3:E11)

The first letter changes depending on the column, and the final number (in this case the "11" in "E11") is the last row before the total row, so as you add more books, it gets higher.

The next row, Row 13 in our example case is fixed and it is a listing of the minimum prices that each company will ship for.  The ones you're most likely to use are:

Bookbyte: $10

Textbooksrus: $15

Textbooks.com: $10

Bookstores.com: $10

1st Class Books: $15

Powell's: $5 (nice!)

Valore: $10

Sellbackyourbook: $5

Bookitbuyback: $10

Moola4books: $8

Webuytextbooks: $5

From here on out it's just a matter of comparisons and a bit of math.  If you have a large number of books, such as after a book sale, you may have to juggle a bit.  I highly recommend selling books as quickly as possible as prices change rapidly (and, in my experience, downwards), so you may not always get the best price for your books in an attempt to fill the orders and sell as many as possible.

P.S.: Those of you who want to know more about how to work Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Spreadsheet, here is a good primer. 

Good luck!

Report from the Syracuse Hazard Branch Library Sale

While sifting through Craigslist's Books and Magazines section last night I ran into an ad "$1 bag book sale tomorrow" at the Hazard Branch Library here in Syracuse.  While the Hazard isn't in my usual hunting range, it is close enough to warrant the trip.  The sale started at 9 and I got there a bit after 10 (what can I say... I like to sleep late on Saturdays).

The Hazard Branch is a pleasant, open space, on the big side for Syracuse's branch libraries.  Near Syracuse's beautiful Polish Sacred Heart Basilica, it obviously serves the large European ethnic communities in the neighborhood, with books in Polish, Ukrainian, and German as well as a Irish newspapers for the community based out of the Tipp Hill neighborhood.  These are old neighborhoods, high up on the city's western hills with ethnic communities going back over a century--it was originally popular with Catholic workers who were not welcome in the old city core (today's Downtown).  On my way home, I stopped by Harrison's Bakery which is just down the road from the library; the Bakery itself was worth the trip and I highly recommend a visit.

The book sale itself was decent, with around a dozen tables or racks sorted into fiction, nonfiction, mass market paperback, children's and non-English books (the had both Polish and German books).  There were only a handful of used library books, which is good as they a lower resale value.  Overall, the pickings were not fantastic, I found about $12 worth of resale textbooks (mostly cheap paperbacks bought for less than $0.50).  The fact that it was a bag sale freed me from having to be highly constrained by cost calculations, which was pleasant.

The one interesting find was a first edition of Aldou's Huxley's "Ape and Essence."  Huxley (the author of "Brave New World") wrote this dystopian novel in 1948.  The book had a bit of water damage, but was still well worth the price of a $1 bag sale.  I posted it up on ebay this afternoon, setting a beginning price of $4 and a buy it now of $6.50 ($3.50 shipping).  If the book wasn't 1st edition, the lack of dust jacket and the water damage (which is only to the cover) would make it pretty worthless, so I am hoping that the low price will bring in buyers who are not necessarily collectors but interested in the content as well.

Basic Accounting: Creating a Spreadsheet of your Stock

Click image for full-size view

As you begin to accumulate enough books that you don't remember all of them, the prices you paid for them, etc, it becomes necessary to keep an accurate list of your stock and pertinent details.  For this problem, I have used a simple spreadsheet program such as OpenOffice Calculator, which is a free, open-sourced software that I recommend.  Many readers may be more familiar with the very similar Excel Program from the Microsoft Office Suite.  My instructions here work for either program.

I have 17 columns of information for each book, some of which are filled out upon acquisition and some upon sale.

 

Description of the Book

Column A and B (Book Name and Author, respectively) are straightforward and filled out at acquisition--I prefer to put author last name first and put works like "The" and "A" after the rest of the title.

Column C is status, which is a shorthand for me to know what position this book is in.  Is use the letter codes: "A" for Acquired (a book which has been purchased but not put into an online sales program), "AC" for Academic (books which I hope to sell to textbook companies and have not put online), "P" for Posted (e.g. on the Amazon Marketplace), "E" for Ebay (and not Amazon, my usual default), and "S" for Sold.

Column D is the ISBN, which is filled out at acquisition; for books before 1966 I write "Predates ISBN" and for those after 1966 for which I cannot find an ISBN I write "Unknown ISBN."

After these four columns, I typically switch to Columns O, P and Q which are "Type," "Condition" and "Description," respectively.  For "Type" I use letter codes: "HC" = Hardcover, "SC" = Softcover, "TB" = Textbook, "MM" = Mass Market Paperback, "OT" = Other.  Condition Codes are pretty well established (I went over them here), but for reference are "N" = New, "LN" = Like New, "VG" = Very Good, "G" = Good, "A" = Acceptable, and "P" = Fair.  The final section, "Description" is a one to two sentence thumbnail of the book's physical condition.  Here is an example:

"Straight and tight spine. Slight wearing on spine jacket. Name on inside cover"

Descriptions are used in all of your postings and having this here helps you save time.

Calculating Your Minimum Price

Column E is the weight, in ounces, as measured by my kitchen scale.

"E Ship" (Column F) and "E Fee" (Column G) are for "Estimated Shipping" and "Estimated Fees."  This is a rough number that I put in so that I can estimate my minimum price (column M)-which is the lowest price I could charge for the book and still make a profit.  Estimated Shipping is based upon the weight plus a few ounces for shipping material compared to the USPS Media Mail Rates (don't forget to add $0.75 for tracking).  Estimated Fees is based upon the Amazon Estimated Fees and Pricing; as Amazon tends to be the most expensive site I use, I base my minimum prices upon it.

Column H, "Cost," is pretty straightforward: how did I pay for the book?

With Column A - H completed, I am able to calculate Column M (Minimum Price) and begin posting the book online.  Column M actually contains a formula which reads (for the first row):

=SUM(F3:H3;3.99)

The $3.99 is the automatic shipping rate Amazon adds to all books.  As rows F-H are written in negatives, this will typically produce a negative result.  You need to mentally delete the negative signs in Row M which will give you an estimate of the lowest price you can post this book on Amazon and still break even.

With all of the previous columns filled, you have all of the information needed to post the book online and begin selling.

 

After the Sale

Columns I - K are filled out after the sale.  Column I is for the actual internet fees for sale and J is for the actual shipping costs.  Like F and G, they are written in negative numbers.  Finally, Column K is for the sale price of the book.  With this data inputted, you should be able to calculate your profit in Column L.  Here is a formula you can put in that will do it automatically for you:

=SUM(H3:K3)

The only remaining column, N "Site," is for you to note on what website you sold the book as a reference.  Don't forget to change column C, Status.

 

Uses and Other Info

This spreadsheet allows you to keep track of how many books you have pending and how many you've sold (you might find it convenient to add a column for the date sold as well), where you've sold them and what your profits have been.  This can be done automatically for you by putting a little formula into line L2:

=SUM(L3:L244)

These formulas have also been used in lines F2, G2, H2, I2, J2, and K2 to produce ongoing totals of your expenses and profits.

Best of luck!

Ebay or Amazon

For a small-scale seller, Ebay and Amazon present the easiest options for selling books to a wide audience: both are (relatively) user friendly, require no up-front payments, and provide sellers with some protection from fraud. 

So which one is better?

In truth, I use both sites because they offer a different style of sales.  Ebay--while offering some semi-permanent sales listings--is primarily an auction site where buyers bid on multi-day auctions.  Meanwhile, Amazon Marketplace offers sales via permanent postings with unchanging prices.

Ebay

Advantages: Especially since Ebay has begun offering 50 free posts a month it is the site with the lower fees.  If you don't sell, you don't have to pay.  Even if you do sell, the fees are relatively low: $0.50 for listings between $10 and $24.99 (full fee list here). Ebay also allows you to put up individualized images (helpful for really beautiful or unique books) and give in-depth descriptions.
Disadvantages: Ebay has two really big pains for sellers.  The first is that writing up a new listing--especially one for which they don't have a standard listing on file--is a long process.  You really need to carefully look up details on the book, take photos, etc.  However, the bigger pain by far is the fact that PayPal (a division of Ebay) holds seller payments for 21 days.  While there are exceptions and it is possible to have early releases if your buyers give you favorable reviews, it is annoying and, at times costly to have your money held by PayPal. 
When Do I Use It:  I typically have a few items up on Ebay at any given time and they are my more expensive, higher-profit books.

Amazon

Advantages:  On the Amazon Marketplace, sellers create listings and prices for their books which remain present until sold.  This means you can spend an afternoon listing a hundred books and then they basically sell themselves, unlike Ebay which requires more regular tending and updating.  I have almost my entire stock up on Amazon at any given time.  Also, when a book is sold on Amazon, payment is released as soon as you put in the tracking number.
Disadvantages:  Amazon is pricey.  While there are a number of variables, they inevitably charge several dollars--several times the fees on Ebay.  Make sure to price your books accordingly.  Also, you are required to buy tracking.
When Do I Use It:  I put almost all of my books up, especially the lower-end ones.

Final Analysis

Neither one of these services is perfect, though if you have the patience to update Ebay and wait for payments to be released, it is almost always the more profitable option.

Book Hunting

So, you've scoured your shelves, begged from your family and run out of books on hand?  The time has come to begin book hunting in earnest.  There are three primary techniques that I have found useful for finding more stock for your shelves: (1) the Internet, (2) deals with acquaintances, (3) sales and shops.

(1) Internet
There may be other options out there--and I'd love to hear about them--but the best places I've found for buying books online are Craigslist and Freecycle.  Craigslist is a classified ads service that is free in most parts of the country.  It has a dedicated book section which is a bit of a crapshoot but it is possible to find great deals on books, especially when someone is selling off a collection.  Freecycle is a posting service where people put up objects they want to give away to the first comer.  Books are far rarer on Freecycle than Craigslist, but it offers a convenient daily email service which is worth a look.

(2) Deals
Once it becomes widely known that you are interested in books, people who have them but aren't able or willing  to sell on their own may approach you.  Sometimes these can be very profitable, such as a deal I had with a nonprofit in my town that was liquidating its library, I handled all the sales and we split the proceeds, what I didn't sell, I brought back to them for a rummage sale.  I had a similar deal with a friend for whom I sold a collection of Star Wars posters, my single biggest sale to date.  Figure out what you think is a fair trade, make sure to account for shipping and other costs and present these partners with an offer.  Sometimes it might be worthwhile to let potential partners know what your deal is--either by email, personal conversation or a post on a social media website.

(3) Sales and Shops
This is where the thrill of the chase really kicks in.  Thrift stores, garage sales, and library sales are major sources of books and I try to make the rounds once a week to look for stock.  Big library book sales can be a bonanza, though they often require long drives, commitment of a day and early mornings (best to get there when they're opening).  Check out Book Sale Finder for locations near you.  Less dramatic, but also useful are the everyday types of sales many libraries have.  These are worth checking out, especially as librarians often presort out worthless books.  The best deals come from thrift stores: Goodwill (Store Locator) and the Salvation Army (Store Locator) in the United States; in Britain I found Oxfam Stores to be good stops (Shop Finder).  Garage sales can be good sources, though I find that the big estate sales are better than small sales: when someone is selling a handful of objects they tend to price them higher than you want to pay.  Books available in big estate sales tend not to be priced with nostalgia in mind, meaning that the prices tend to be lower.  Flea markets/Swap Meets/Car Boot Sales can sometimes have good finds, but they tend not to be book-heavy locations.

Good luck and don't forget that when you're buying don't forget the calculation: Profit = Quality - Condition - Cost

Report from the Rochester Library Book Sale

The old Central Library, Rochester, NY

On Friday, my partner and I headed west to Rochester, NY for the yearly book sale at the Central Library.  We followed a previous pattern we worked out for out-of-town sales: I head into the sale with my phone, canvas bags and checkbook and she sets up with the internet on my laptop in a nearby cafe or (in this case) library.  I pick out potential purchases and send their information via text to her and she looks up the details.  In truth, she doesn't even need to be with me in the city (and usually stays home for my trips within the area of Syracuse, our home), but we tend to try to combine them with meeting friends and seeing sights.  This extra layer of online checking has helped to cut down on 'duds,' books that I thought are valuable but just don't sell well.

The Rochester Book Sale was within their new central library, an impressive, airy space with lots of computers and relatively few books (I believe most of the books are across the street in the old library building).  The selection was a bit disappointing: we arrived mid-day through Friday (around 11:30), several hours into the general sale and the real finds had already been snapped up.  That said, I had moderate success, including a decent copy of "How to Master the Violin" by Pavel L. Bytovetzski from 1917 and a few re-sellable textbooks.  All of the adult books were $1.00 except for mass market paperbacks and romance novels (which were going for a mere $0.10-a further lesson to all readers to avoid romance novels).

Inside the sale

After the sale, we stopped by the Strong Museum of Play (which would have been better with a kid in tow) and met up with a former roommate for Ethiopian food at Abyssinia Restaurant, which was almost worth the trip in itself.  Just don't make my mistake and make yourself sick eating too much delicious Injera bread.

Book Sale Tomorrow: Rochester Library

No blog post tomorrow because I will be in Rochester, NY at their Friends and Foundation of the Public Library auditorium book sale.  The sale started today for dealers and donors but will be up and running tomorrow (Friday the 16th) through Sunday for the general public.  Friday the hours are from 9am-5pm, Saturday from 10am-5pm and Sunday from 1pm-4pm (when they'll be selling $3 bags of books).  The Central Library is located at: 115 South Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14604.

Most books are priced from $0.25 - $1.00

If you stop by, I will be there with a Petit Branch Library canvas tote bag. 

See you there!