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First Amazonian week, about $400.

March 7th, 2006 · 7 Comments

Picture titled Todo está en ellos by Lorena Vigil-Escalera I made about $400 in the first week of selling some of my old books on Amazon! That’s after commission and shipping. I’m stunned, actually.

These were decent books, of course. They were mostly computer books, still topical, just not in areas I still pursue. Several were adoption books, useful while we were adopting, but now, not so much.

Time spent

All together I spent about four or five hours, watching TV while listing books and packaging sold books. Shipping is definitely a pain, with most of the time being used up in labelling and buying postage. Since I still have about 20 more boxes of books to sell, I’ve decided to spend half the money made so far on a label printer and a postal scale. I’m going to use the excellent Endicia online postage service to buy and print my postage. I will then be able to print labels rather than hand-write them, and I’ll be able to drop off my packages rather than stand in line to buy postage. This should vastly speed up the whole procedure, and make the next few weeks even more profitable.

Liberation!

The most amazing thing about selling my books is the intense sense of liberation I feel. I really did not expect this. In fact, I thought I’d be a little sad. I’ve always been one of those "look at my awesome library" guys. I’ve moved those books across the country more than once. I’ve carefully packed, shelved, repacked, shelved (on and on) some of these books a half dozen times.

So, getting rid of them is literally getting rid of a weighty anchor and a sense of responsibility. I’m loving it, and I really like the money. I just listed a few books last night which have been out of print for twenty years. They sell for $150 or more. C’mon Amazon collectors, buy them! You’ll love them more than I do.

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7 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Wandering Indian Monk // Mar 7, 2006 at 11:22 am

    Have you tried Stamps.com? The current promotion gets you $80 worth of stuff, for free, like supplies kit, postage and digital scale.

  • 2 I’m in the Festival of Frugality #13 - Fearless Money // Mar 7, 2006 at 6:46 pm

    […] Dump the fear, embrace your finances! « First Amazonian week, about $400. […]

  • 3 Bruce // Mar 7, 2006 at 8:14 pm

    I would do Stamps.com, but I seriously have a problem with Windows machines, and Endicia has a Mac program. Even if I was willing to use Windows, I’d have to buy another PC, get all the antivirus stuff, and hassle around with installing it. I could do it, but it would cost me more than $80, even for a used computer.

  • 4 Tim // Mar 7, 2006 at 9:13 pm

    Good job selling your books! What did you do with the $400 you made? Invest? Save? Spend? Great site!

  • 5 Bruce // Mar 7, 2006 at 9:56 pm

    I spent about $200 on shipping equipment, a label printer and USB digital scale. That will help me with the remaining 20 banker’s boxes of books I have to sell.

    All this money is going straight into my startup business as owner investment.

  • 6 Endicia for Mac Review, initial impressions - Coder’s Eye // Mar 15, 2006 at 1:19 pm

    […] I’ve been shipping a lot of packages lately. It was a big pain, and now it is not. That’s my basic review of Endicia for Mac. […]

  • 7 Tristan // Apr 10, 2006 at 8:45 am

    i luv Endicia on the Mac! I wish the monthly fee was bit cheaper though.

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