In Part II we gave a broad overview of various online book listing services. Today, we look at another very popular outlet - eBay.

Why eBay Auctions? The Parallel Universe Paradox
An indication of the effectiveness of eBay book auctions is the participation of Alibris on the site. According to company CEO Marty Manley, Alibris keeps three separate eBay accounts, including a thriving rare and out of print account and a currently inactive account that has accrued over 100,000 feedbacks. In Manley's opinion, eBay works because "buying and selling on eBay is entertaining — which is why eBay has customer frequency and dwell times that are the envy of all e-commerce sites." Add to this the huge worldwide user base ready to buy and sell, and you have a dynamic book market unique on the Internet.

Manley and many others have noted that books frequently sell for more on eBay than they can be purchased for on other online venues. Beyond the entertainment value and addictive qualities of eBay buying and selling, there is the general auction psychology that works in eBay's favor: a sense of competitiveness and the hope and/or dream of landing a bargain also drive the eBay auction buyer, as well as the all-American urge to acquire. eBayer's surf the site ready to buy.

Further, surprising numbers of eBayer's confine their online book purchasing to the site — never bothering to comparison shop on the rest of the Internet. The result is an excellent selling platform — for those who know what their doing.

Who Buys?
Booksellers regularly trawl eBay for bargains, along with millions of book collectors — advanced and otherwise, and general book lovers. Unlike those who seek specific titles on the book listing services, eBay book buyers tend to search by keyword and category and are serendipitous and impulsive in their purchases — instantly open to new ideas.

Besides Alibris, many of the largest auction houses, book stores and booksellers use eBay book auctions on a regular basis. Auction houses have taken to using the "eBay Live" format wherein books for auction run on eBay live for a period of days then open on the auction house floor at the highest price achieved on eBay.

What Sells? Research, Research, Research...
The first step in determining whether a book is eligible for auctioning on eBay is to determine its value. The most accurate gauge of performance on eBay is via an eBay search of current and completed sales. If this turns up nothing, then a check of the title on the book search engines should find prices for most titles.

Bear in mind, books achieve, on average, a high wholesale price in eBay auctions. Avoid posting common books found in quantities of 20 or greater, or values of $10 or under, unless you are willing to accept prices of $5 and less — or more likely, fail in selling the book.

Previously thought of as a dumping ground for common books, 'dead stock' or bulk lots by veteran booksellers (who would simultaneously surf the site for book bargains and frequent seller mistakes,) eBay book auctions now encompass the entire range of books from overstocks to rarities. Recently, a rare copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" in first edition with a dust jacket was offered by an established bookseller on eBay with a six-figure reserve. Currently, someone is trying to sell his entire bookstore — lock, stock and lease — with a $25,000 minimum. In between are every manner and form of book, magazine and ephemera offered in a sprawling array of categories and sub categories.

Below are the main eBay book categories with the current number of active auctions and sub-categories indicated in parentheses:
Non-Fiction: 189,482 (32)
Fiction 118,902 (22)
Antiquarian and Collectible 63, 096 (18)
Magazine Back Issues 55,291 (29)
Textbooks: 50,000 (21)
Children's Books 49,000 (26)
Other 9,000
Catalogs 3,866
Wholesale 3,642

Given the sheer volume of sales running in each category, the first step in finding the right selling niche for a title is to familiarize yourself with the sub-categories and list according to what best suits the specific book. Sometimes this requires listing in a category that might not at first seem appropriate. For instance, a high value book that might seem best placed in 'Antiquarian and Collectible' may actually fit better in a Non-Fiction sub-category. An expensive title of modern fiction might perform better in 'Antiquarian and Collectible' under the sub-category 'Literature' rather than in a 'Fiction' sub-category. Keyword and description searches will help the book be found among the ocean of other sales. However, sometimes books should not be listed within books.

Cross Listing
As if finding the right category and sub-category for book listing was not complex enough, the seller needs to consider listing books or cross listing books in non-book categories. Certain non-book-related categories can be a better fit for a title's contents. A book on the Masons can be listed within 'Non-Fiction' or 'Antiquarian,' and count on keyword searches for exposure. But a better fit might be within the 'Collectables' sub-category 'Historic Memorabilia' sub-sub-category 'Fraternal Groups,' with the final resting place 'Masons.' This occurs in many categories. Books on any form of transportation — from planes to trains — will fit within a sub-category of Non-Fiction books but also in 'Collectibles' within an array of sub-categories under 'Transportation.'

Cross listing items, of course, doubles the listing fee, but experience has shown this seller that it pays off over time. Sellers are well served by familiarizing themselves with all the sub-categories in 'Collectibles' and in other major categories where there are many perfect fits for specialized books.

Neither Fish Nor Fowl
Pamphlets, booklets, documents, brochures, trade cards, postcards and general paper ephemera are notoriously difficult to sell on the multi-dealer book listing sites that are geared towards specific author/title searches over keyword searches. General ephemera do quite well on eBay and can be posted for sale in several ways: in an appropriate Book sub-category or in the "Postcard and Paper" sub-category under "Collectibles."

Strike While the Iron's Hot
Sell similar topic books together to encourage multiple buys; the better the quality of the books, the more this makes sense. Be sure to note in each book's description that you have other books on the topic currently for sale. Some sellers place one book in "Featured" to draw attention and tout their similar offerings in the sale description.

Keywords
When all else fails, keyword searches are what get an item found in eBay's vast ocean of sales. Try and fill both the 45-character header and the descriptive text of your sale with as many keywords and keyword names as possible. If a book's author or title is obscure, use the header to play up the subject matter if it is popular; and use as many keywords as are related to the book's subject matter as possible. A catalog on a long-extinct widget factory in Brooklyn, New York will probably attract more interest from the thousands of Brooklyn collectors than the handful of widget devotees.

Tell The Story
Book buyers after all, love to read. Without sounding like a carnival barker, play up the book with a good, detailed description. If the book is important tell the potential buyer why. If the subject or topic of a book is of interest, explain that in detail. As a general rule, no descriptive text can be too long — as long as it sticks to the facts. This, of course, takes time and effort, but it will sell books.

"Condition is Everything"
It is critically important to accurately describe the condition of used books — both as an ethical and practical point of avoiding buyer disappointment. The camera can lie: if a superficially clean book has some inner defect, it must be noted, especially when hidden from view. This is, of course, particularly important when selling on a listing service without photos.

It is equally important to offer an overall grading of a book. The universal grading system ranges from Very Fine (mint,) to Poor (land fill material.) If you are not experienced in grading books or do not know the terminology of grading, the eBay book forum page, and that of many major book listing sites, will outline in detail the qualities specific to each grade of book as well as general book terminology.

For years, many online booksellers when foraying into eBay auctions, talked down to buyers, assuming them too unsophisticated to know or care about the edition status and the finer points of book description. Today, eBay book buyers are generally savvy and they are joined by many dealers. In fact, the higher the sale price of the title, the better the chance the book will sell to another bookseller or sophisticated collector — and they expect professionalism. Professional descriptions inspire confidence in prospective buyers and can make the difference between selling and not selling a book nearly as much as any other factor.

The Fast Nickel Versus the Slow Dime
Booksellers have a love-hate relationship with eBay and the listing services: bitterly complaining about fee and commission increases and service changes, but very glad of the existence of online bookselling, which, in many cases, makes their business survival possible.

eBay's terms and performance remain basically steady. Beyond small, if regular fee increases and ever increasing competition, eBay provides a reasonably stable platform for marketing books, and a means of generating quick sales, which in turn provides a major short term advantage over the book listing sites. After all, the entire eBay auction process is fun — constant action, verses the book listing service process, which is akin to watching paint dry between orders.

On the other hand, books on average sell for less on eBay than on the listing services and auction fees mount quickly, requiring sellers to choose carefully what they post for sale. Experienced booksellers adjust quickly to what sells in eBay book auctions — the novice will have to devote time and effort to acquire the proper footing in this venue.

The retail online book listing world can be volatile, in that the listing services are considerably more likely to change fees, rules and affiliations than eBay. The abrupt decision by Amazon to go it alone after many years of affiliation with Alibris and ABE, is just the most recent example. But this 'spinning wheel' venue is stable in that books can be offered to a worldwide market for indefinite periods of time at a cost of pennies a month. For those with competitive stock who can wait for the slow dime — the e-commerce listing sites are a smart choice.

E-commerce bookselling can be quite rewarding over time, but given the effort required for most people, it should probably start as a labor of love. Recently a 'newbie' posted a question on a bookseller forum asking for advice on what to expect on entering the online book market. One response stated, "Be prepared to do large amounts of work for little money." This somber warning is more fact than fiction. But e-commerce bookselling is an ever-growing market, and if books are in your blood — or basement — online bookselling works.

Frank Fortunado is a contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com and an avid eBay seller.