I’ve probably seen it all when it comes to making money online. Unfortunately much of it is scams. However sometimes you find some legit options like selling books on Amazon.
Well as interesting as that may sound, it may not be what you expected. Let me take you through everything you need to know about How To Make Money Selling Books on Amazon!
How Does Selling Books on Amazon Work?
There are a number of options to selling books on Amazon. Again, it’s not limited to you being a published author or having an inventory of books to sell on Amazon. Below I’ve provided several ways you can make money selling books on Amazon for different people.
- Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) to sell your own books, eBooks or audiobooks. KDP is a great option if you’re writing and publishing your own books as you get to keep and control 100% of your work’s rights. You also get to update or make changes to the book at any time in addition to earning up to 70% of royalties.
- Amazon Trade-in – You also have the option of trading in your old books for Amazon gift cards. You’ll have to check whether each book qualifies for a trade-in deal first though. If yes, you can complete the application process, and Amazon will give you a prepaid shipping label to send the book to them for free within 7 days. Once they accept the books you’ll get your gift card. If they reject it, they’ll ship the book back to you at no cost to you.
- Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) – With this option, you’ll basically post a book for sale, and let Amazon handle shipping, storage and after-sale services and support to the final customer. It’s a great way for beginners who don’t have a solid fulfillment plan set up.
- Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) – If you’re an FBM seller, you’ll be handling everything including storage, packaging, shipping and inventory management once you make a sale on Amazon.
- Amazon Vendors (AMZ)– This option enables you to sell the books directly to Amazon. Your profit margin may be significantly less than the other two options, but it’s a great way to sell books in bulk.
- Amazon Associates Affiliate Program – You’ll basically be selling other people's books for a small commission from Amazon. You’ll need a publishing platform such as a website where you’ll be using your affiliate links to track sales and get paid. All you need to do under this option is to sign up for the Amazon Affiliates Program.
How To Start Selling Books on Amazon
To start selling books via the Amazon FBA or FBM, here are the steps you’ll have to follow to get started.
- Create a normal Amazon account – With your email, password and phone number, simply create a Seller account under the “Your Other Accounts” option.
- Choose a selling plan – There are two selling plans on Amazon; the Individual Plan and Professional Plan. You don’t have to pay a monthly subscription rate under the individual plan, but Amazon will take $0.99 per sale. Again, you can only sell up to 40 items per month. The Professional Plan requires you to pay a monthly fee of $39.99, but you get access to reports, spreadsheets and other business-related resources.
- Register for an FBM or FBA Account – Depending on whether you want to ship the books directly to the buyer (FBM) or let Amazon handle shipping and after sale services (FBA), you can apply for either account at this point. FBM will pass the shipping cost to you. If Amazon is fulfilling your orders, you’ll pay order fulfillment fees storage and optional services in addition to cost of shipping. You can check out these rates here.
- Enter your payment information – To get payments from Amazon, you’ll need to enter your checking account information and SSN number. If you’re selling from outside the US, you’ll need an ACH-enabled bank account and a credit or debit card for your monthly charges. You’ll also need to get an US EIN Number from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). You can go to IRS.gov to apply for one.
Once you’re done creating your account you can now start selling.
How Much Money Can I Make Selling Books on Amazon?
There’s no telling how much money you can make selling books on Amazon. It all depends on how you’ve structured your business, your dedication, the niche and how much you’re willing to invest in the business.
The bottom line is, selling books on Amazon can replace your 9-5 paycheck, and you can learn everything about building your business using My Best Work At Home Recommendation.
But if you’re not keen on the idea of selling anything or just want additional easier sources of income, you can make money doing what you already do online. You can get paid for visiting sites, reading emails, taking surveys and more at SwagBucks.com, FusionCash.com and SurveyJunkie.com.
Selling Books on Amazon Complaints
Doing business online definitely does have its ugly side, and I bet this is the part you’re most interested in. So read the complaints about selling books on Amazon and decide for yourself whether it’s worth the effort.
You can lose your business overnight – This is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to you as a seller. Some of the horror stories we came across include people losing their million dollar businesses overnight. The reasons for this vary. Amazon retains the right to close you down if you’re an FBA or FBM seller at any point. If that does happen you can still earn money selling other people’s books as an Amazon Associate. To learn all about how to get started check out My Best Work At Home Recommendation.
Other amazon sellers may copy you – Doing business with Amazon doesn’t guarantee that you’ll exclusively reap the benefit from your hard work. Other sellers may set up their shop using your photos, description, videos and so on. You may report such cases, but Amazon may require you to prove ownership of these documents. This might take months to solve. The bottom line is, there’s no simple way of protecting what’s yours as a seller.
Business sabotage by competition – Sometimes your business may be so good that your competition feels the need to straight out sabotage your business. There are tons of ways to do that, which is basically using Amazon’s rules against you. They could leave false negative feedback, undercut you, accuse you of selling counterfeit products and such like evil tactics. Fortunately Amazon customer service is quite efficient in dealing with such cases. But it’s always good to be in the know.
Can I Make Real Money Selling Books on Amazon?
You can definitely make money selling books on Amazon. Remember Amazon started out as a bookseller. They created a strong foundation that people like you and I can use to make a living.
That said, there are certain complaints you’ve just read about. To get around some of them you can consider being an affiliate and avoid the complications that come along with holding inventory and doing fulfillment, etc. You can learn all about building such a business and the strategies, tools and training you’ll need to succeed using My Best Work At Home Recommendation.
Well, that’s all from me today. Would you consider selling books on Amazon, or are you already a seller? Let us know in the comments section below! If you still have questions about this topic, you can visit Amazon’s seller help page here.
Until next time
Eddy “with a Y”