Where can I find used books that can be sold online?

As you develop a business you will find that acquiring terrific used books, even books valued at $100 or more is not a difficult task. Unless you happen to live in an ultra competitive neighbourhood (but even that can be overcome).

When starting out though you may not know the hot spots. Perhaps you've only been trying garage sales and have found nothing but children's books and Nora Roberts titles. If you keep searching for new locations you'll eventually find a few gems. It will be like finding cash sitting on the shelves at these hot spots.

First I should mention that you really should pick out two niches for yourself and limit your buying to these titles. Of course if your planning on opening a bookstore then you need to have a bit of everything (for most shops anyways) but if you plan on selling online only you should become an expert on one or two topics. The reason for this is mainly to help you not buy certain books. That's right, you'll become a better seller once you learn which books not to buy.

The easiest thing for an online dealer to do is to fill up his shelves with five thousand books that never sell, or sell for just a few dollars. What you want is to have one bookcase full of two hundred titles each worth $50.00 and up. I'm just throwing out round numbers here so that you get what I mean.

OK, you've picked a few specialties, now for the book hunt. Garage sales simply take too much time. If you have nothing better to do then fine but if you are pressed for time wouldn't it be easier to head straight to one house knowing in advance that they have twenty books in your niche. It's easier than you think. Go to Craigslist.org and Kijiji.com and place free ads. I've used this method hundreds of times and more often than not find gems. I once came across (via Craigslist) about 8 boxes of books all on the history of cinema. A lady's aunt had passed away, she happened to be looking on the site and gave me a call. The price was $60.00 for everything. The first book I sold from the lot went for $85.00. Don't miss out on this time saver.

You'll still have plenty of time to make a stop at your local thrift shop but think about targeted buying. You need to be smart at this game. Good luck! Thriftshop Tip: Go the morning after a big sale. The shelves will be full of gems that were hiding in the back.

To learn about book packaging check our another of Bruce's Hubs.

If you need more bookselling tips then please come by The Bookshop Blog. Tons of book selling and buying information.