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MAIL ORDER BOOK SALES HBS B257
Selling books by mail can be a profitable and rewarding business, but unless one is careful (and crafty), it is profitable only for the book supplier!
The first challenge a newcomer encounters is finding books that he (or anyone) can actually sell by mail and make money. Many book company (not all are publishers) books have been on the market for years and and years and have been offered by literally thousands of "dealers."
Next, the book must be bought at a price that will enable the dealer to offer them at competitive prices and still make a reasonable profit.
finally, there is the cost of mailing lists, stationery, printing, advertising supplies and postage.
Many unsuspecting, would-be book dealers invest hundreds of dollars only to learn that "everyone else" is selling or offering the same books - sometimes to the same mailing list names.
Book suppliers are not stupid. They know how difficult and expensive it can be to locate potential customers across the nation for their books and are wiling to pay retail prices.
That's why many of them try to find someone else to do their advertising and mailing; they can make more money wholesaling at $2.00 per copy than retailing at $10.
This is especially true for books that have been around for a while and those that are only offered by mail -- where the customer cannot see before he buys.
Some companies offer a partnership deal. You pay a membership fee and/or purchase a minimum amount for the privilege of buying from them at "wholesale" or "sub-wholesale" (depending on the size of your membership fee).
They provide copy ready advertisements and price lists (which cost them a penny or so each) and the you, the dealer pay to have them copied (up to 10 cents each), prepared and mailed out. It is sort of like a partnership where you split the profits 50:50, but you pay 99 percent of the expenses.
Theoretically, you can sell $1,000 worth of books and make $500 profit - but, not so fast. You, as the dealer pay for the stationery, copying the advertisements and price lists, mailing list or advertisements, plus all of the postage from your "half" of the profits.
Unfortunately, your share may not cover those costs. A good to excellent mailing list response is 2 to 4 percent for book offers. When each package costs 35 cents to assemble and mail, a 4% response yields 40 answered per 1,000 mail outs.
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