Selling books on Amazon? Many sellers are not aware of this trend.
Selling books on Amazon. It sounds somewhat reasonable – after all, this was the first product category on the trading platform – but at the same time, you probably aren’t hearing the imaginary cash registers ringing. In recent years (or decades?), it has fallen out of fashion to sell books on Amazon. For a while, the demise of the entire book industry was even predicted. Soon, only e-books would be sold anyway, and the physical book would be obsolete.
But is all of this true? For some time now, books have even been trending on TikTok under the hashtag “BookTok,” and many publishers and retailers have built successful social media profiles (e.g., Thalia). The total revenue of the industry increased by 2.8 percent to 9.71 billion euros in 2023 compared to the previous year. And the market continues to grow: “The share of online book sales in the total market was 24.8 percent in 2023. […] Compared to 2019, online sales increased by 29.5 percent last year, while traditional book retail saw a decrease of 5.5 percent during the same period.” (Source: börsenblatt.net)
Does that sound like people are no longer reading or only opting for electronic goods? Not really. Moreover, a stable market for e-books has established itself since the 2000s. And where do many online shoppers go when they want to order books? Right, to the most popular trading platform on the internet called Amazon. Selling books there sounds much more attractive, doesn’t it?
Of course, the competition is fierce; the book segment is no different from other product categories on the marketplace, and as always, there are advantages as well as disadvantages to selling books. Amazon sellers can attest to that. In this blog article, we will take a detailed look at who the book market is suitable for, whether selling is worthwhile, and when sellers should prefer to stay away.
Used vs. new books – a significant difference
Most sellers who sell books on Amazon have used goods in their inventory. And there is a good reason for that, as selling new books is quite costly. New books are typically distributed by publishers or wholesalers, which means that the buyer must purchase large quantities. Such an initial investment is not feasible for many marketplace sellers. Additionally, most new goods in the book segment are sold by Amazon itself, making it even more challenging to build a profitable business.
On the other hand, selling used books on Amazon is more rewarding. Typically, no huge investments are required, and sellers have better chances of competing against the competition. At the same time, sourcing the products is more demanding and time-consuming.
| New books | Used books |
| Costly | Low investments |
| Large purchase quantities | Time-consuming sourcing |
| Amazon as a direct competitor | less competition |
| B2B business relationship needed | No business relationship with wholesalers |
For these reasons, and because there are hardly any independent sellers selling new goods, we will focus from this point on the sale of used books.
Product purchase: Where to get it from if not stealing?
The resale of books, also known as book reselling, can be a lucrative business model. However, those interested should be aware that sourcing goods can be strenuous and time-consuming.
Basically, it doesn’t matter much where you get your goods from. Reselling and arbitrage are legal, both on Amazon and on other platforms. The only important thing is that the purchase price is below the selling price and that the profit margin achieved is worth the effort.
Selling books on Amazon: Step by step
In the following section, we would like to provide an overview of the steps aspiring marketplace sellers need to take to sell new or used books on Amazon.
Tip: Recognize and avoid FBA errors
As mentioned before, Amazon FBA is a super helpful service. But nothing is perfect, and sometimes even trained Amazon employees make mistakes or there are technical difficulties. For example, items can get lost in the Amazon warehouse. Marketplace sellers can lose up to 3% of their annual gross revenue due to FBA errors – a significant amount of money. Money that you can easily reclaim within a day.
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Conclusion: Is it worth selling books on Amazon?
Although books were long considered a less lucrative sales product, a positive trend is now emerging: The book market is growing again, and platforms like TikTok are generating new enthusiasm – the physical book is experiencing a renaissance. Selling books on Amazon can therefore be profitable, especially in the area of used books. Less capital is needed here, and there are good opportunities to compete against the competition.
Selling new books is difficult for smaller retailers. Amazon itself usually offers many new titles, and the high purchase quantities as well as price competition are additional hurdles. In contrast, reselling used books – whether through bookstores, flea markets, or online marketplaces – is easier to start and less costly.
Ultimately, selling books on Amazon can generate a lucrative side or main income if one is familiar with the peculiarities of the market and is willing to invest in marketing and product sourcing.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can sell both new and used books on Amazon. Amazon offers sellers two options: Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), where Amazon handles storage and shipping.
Bestsellers and in-demand titles often sell well, as do guides, textbooks, collectibles, and rare editions. Categories such as biographies, self-help, religion and spirituality, as well as health and fitness are also popular.
To sell books on Amazon, you need a seller account: either an individual or a professional account. In Seller Central, the items can then be listed by entering the ISBN.
The profit per book varies greatly depending on the category, demand, condition, and selling price. The average profit often falls within the single to low double-digit euro range, as selling fees and any shipping or storage costs must be deducted.
The costs depend on whether you are trading via an individual or professional seller account. The individual account charges a fee of €0.99 per sold item, while the professional account costs €39.99 per month. Additionally, there are selling fees that vary depending on the book category and book price.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) allows you to publish your own e-books or paperbacks. All you need is an Amazon account, a finished book file (in e-book format or print template for paperbacks), and a book cover.
Yes, using Amazon KDP is free. Authors do not pay setup fees, but Amazon retains a percentage of each sale as a commission. Royalties typically range from 35% to 70%, depending on the selling price and other factors.
Image credits in the order of the images: © stock.adobe.com – Shanti / © stock.adobe.com – hobonski / © stock.adobe.com – Omri / © stock.adobe.com – eugen
