I’ve recently began sourcing books at yard sales. In the past, I gave up on them because they were too “hit and miss”. It was hard to gauge whether or not the sale had potential. Now, I search on Craigslist and do a little research before I commit to the drive. For example, here is one that I attended last month:
There are three things that stick out in this ad.
- It’s a moving sale. Since books are heavy, they are one of the first things to go when relocating.
- It’s listed as “Books, books, and more books”. That sounds like a lot of books to me:)
- The books are described as “mostly science, math, and technical”. From my experience, all three of those non-fiction categories have extremely high profit potential on Amazon.
The sale didn’t disappoint. I ended up buying 40 books and 8 DVD sets. I paid $60 for everything. That comes to $1.25 per item. Here are some of the winners.
Objects, Abstraction, Data Structures and Design: Using C++
Sold for $73.84
Rank at Time of Purchase: 426,076
Analytical Mechanics by Grant R. Fowles
Sold for $93.99
Rank at Time of Purchase: 86,418
Giant Robo – Economy Pack (DVD)
Sold for $63.92
Rank at Time of Purchase: 133,405
After one month, 18 of the 48 items have sold (38%). Here are the numbers:
Amazon Gross Sales: $527.79
Amazon Fees: ($123.50)
Cost of Books: ($60)
UPS Inbound Shipping: ($16.80)
Total Profit: $327.49
Keep in mind that it’s only been 30 days since they’ve been for sale. I’m expecting more items to sell.
If you’re interested in getting automated email alerts whenever potentially deals become available on Craigslist, please check out this video.
The total profits from this yard sale were calculated using SourceProfit.com. The Amazon Sales Rank data was recalled using ScanLister.com
This is so true. I came across a lady a couple of weeks ago who had roughly 700+ books. By the looks of it, she looks like she MAY have been a reseller at some point. She was desperate to get rid of them and let me take them all for $30..lol. I actually had to leave a few behind, as I had STUFFED my jeep cherokee as full asi it would get. I just finished sending in my last package to Amazon off of that lot. So far, sales are over $1k.
I REALLY REALLY wish i could find more of these situations…
Nice find! Yes, those sales can be hard to come by, but it worth the wait when you can find them.
Thank you for all this terrific information, I really appreciate tha fact that you go above and beyond.
would love to learn more.
it’s good to be patient. If you see some good possibilities, and are willing to gamble, go back at the end of the sale when the seller really doesn’t want to pack them up.