We all like to make a profit, or rather, we would all love to earn money, one way or another. However, not all of us have access to the same goods nor have we had the same start to things. While some like spending their free time having fun in Casa Pariurilor Cazino, or similar places, others spend their free time by investigating how to make more side money from side jobs.
Writing books and selling them isn’t an easy task. There are tons of writers out there, but not all of them are bestsellers.
Amazon started as an online marketplace for books, and even though they have lots of services and products nowadays, they are still an online marketplace.
Would it be profitable to sell books on Amazon? It would definitely be better than nothing, but let us take a closer look anyway.
How to Sell Books Through Amazon?
The simplest way to sell books on Amazon is to create a Seller account. This is done by creating a regular account and then switching it to a seller account. Amazon charges 0.99$ for a regular seller account per sale and 39.99$ for a professional seller account.
Once you create a seller account, you can select one of the two programs that Amazon offers, FBM or FBA. The first one means that you will be handling the packaging and selling of the books, while the other means that Amazon will be handling the packaging and distribution of your books.
Physical books need their ISBN and need to be sent to Amazon if you opt for the second program. While the program makes shipping and selling easier, it comes at a relatively steep fee. Here is what that means in the long run.
The Fees Make it Difficult for Low-Margin Sales
The problem with Amazon handling the shipping and sales is that they charge solid prices per sale. This is problematic for people who sell their books at a low price. This also means that the profit will simply not be huge. A seller sold 25 books on Amazon as an experiment and had a gross profit of 243 dollars, while the fees were 237 dollars. In total, his profit for the 25 books was a measly 5.79 dollars.
This refers to physical books. However, even ebooks can be difficult to profit from, even though there will be no shipping and distribution. Amazon still takes fees for ebooks, no matter their format.
It is Hard for the Underdogs
Selling your books and ebooks on Amazon is not a good choice. They have too many fees and while they bring you exposure, they also cost you a lot of money in the process. What you could have earned is lost to fees.
If you have high-margin ebooks for sale, then you might earn more money. It also helps if you have a series of books, and not just a novel or two.
Shortly, Amazon is not the best platform for selling books and ebooks. While profit can be made, most of it is lost to fees.