I started selling in January due to the loss of my job…. So far so good! I would love to supplement enough income so my wife could stay at home with our two beautiful girls. Its been a challenge and a learning curve but its getting better. Spending some quality time with the family has been priceless. I actually take the girls with me sometimes while book scouting and get them involved looking for books. They love it………. Especially when one of them finds a keeper. Now they are asking me when are we going to look for books Dad? I actually was educated by them on kids books. So don't overlook the kids books because you might just be surprised at what you can find. My wife would love to stay home with the kids and she is asking me daily how many books sold today? That actually pushes me to work harder and stay on top of things. Its been tough but also fun and eventually will hit our goals.

Thanks for your story.

Oh, how nice it sounds in theory! I tried having my wife help out with the business, but being around each other 24 hrs a day became a strain on our marriage instead of vice versa. I tried her out in every single task involved in book-selling, and she just didn’t like any of them! Our eventual conclusion was that we had to move the business out of our home, and she retired. Now I just make sure to give her an hour of my time each night before bed, and at least half a day/evening on the weekends. Otherwise I’m working every other waking hour. Oh, and I also have a dozen employees, which actually didn’t help with my wife. It wasn’t that she wasn’t great at the bookselling tasks (she was good); it was more often that she was frustrated with my employees or with the accounting or with me! So it might work for others, but I guess all the variables will be different for each couple & company.

I have been doing this for 2 years fulltime, and my wife started up fulltime with use a little over a year ago. We work extremely hard and are constantly struggling to take time out for ourselves, working for yourself is great, but it also seems like the work never ends! Its so hard to have a set time to work and say that you're gonna stop after that time (it never happens). We have both fell asleep either working at the desk late at night or while quality checking inventory (who says you can't use a book for a pillow?)

I have hired friends to help with wrapping packages, or my favorite, loaning friends money on the catch that they owe you X amount of hours of labor (win/win)

Unfortunately my daughter is 9 and not quite old enough to help out with books much, but she can weigh packages for us prior to printing shipping. She can actually help with wrapping packages as well, if we put the books in the envelopes and write the customer name on them, she can peel the adhesive strip and seal the packages (we don't use tape for 90% of all orders Thanks to Royalmailers.com poly mailers)

Also with FBA she can help a lot by applying the FBA stickers to the books, not really a way to mess this up. She knows how to use a scanner, and when she cleans out her own bookshelf every few months, she sorts them for donation or resale, pretty cool. I can't wait, as she grows older she will pretty much already have a job waiting for her.

-Glad you could ease your load a bit Adam, you seem like quite work horse lately, I bet you needed a little break… hhaha but will you take a break? Or will you just work more? That's the question once you work for yourself.

I have been doing this for 2 years fulltime, and my wife started up fulltime with use a little over a year ago. We work extremely hard and are constantly struggling to take time out for ourselves, working for yourself is great, but it also seems like the work never ends! Its so hard to have a set time to work and say that you're gonna stop after that time (it never happens). We have both fell asleep either working at the desk late at night or while quality checking inventory (who says you can't use a book for a pillow?)

I have hired friends to help with wrapping packages, or my favorite, loaning friends money on the catch that they owe you X amount of hours of labor (win/win)

Unfortunately my daughter is 9 and not quite old enough to help out with books much, but she can weigh packages for us prior to printing shipping. She can actually help with wrapping packages as well, if we put the books in the envelopes and write the customer name on them, she can peel the adhesive strip and seal the packages (we don't use tape for 90% of all orders Thanks to Royalmailers.com poly mailers)

Also with FBA she can help a lot by applying the FBA stickers to the books, not really a way to mess this up. She knows how to use a scanner, and when she cleans out her own bookshelf every few months, she sorts them for donation or resale, pretty cool. I can't wait, as she grows older she will pretty much already have a job waiting for her.

-Glad you could ease your load a bit Adam, you seem like quite work horse lately, I bet you needed a little break… hhaha but will you take a break? Or will you just work more? That's the question once you work for yourself.

I have been doing this for 2 years fulltime, and my wife started up fulltime with use a little over a year ago. We work extremely hard and are constantly struggling to take time out for ourselves, working for yourself is great, but it also seems like the work never ends! Its so hard to have a set time to work and say that you're gonna stop after that time (it never happens). We have both fell asleep either working at the desk late at night or while quality checking inventory (who says you can't use a book for a pillow?)

I have hired friends to help with wrapping packages, or my favorite, loaning friends money on the catch that they owe you X amount of hours of labor (win/win)

Unfortunately my daughter is 9 and not quite old enough to help out with books much, but she can weigh packages for us prior to printing shipping. She can actually help with wrapping packages as well, if we put the books in the envelopes and write the customer name on them, she can peel the adhesive strip and seal the packages (we don't use tape for 90% of all orders Thanks to Royalmailers.com poly mailers)

Also with FBA she can help a lot by applying the FBA stickers to the books, not really a way to mess this up. She knows how to use a scanner, and when she cleans out her own bookshelf every few months, she sorts them for donation or resale, pretty cool. I can't wait, as she grows older she will pretty much already have a job waiting for her.

-Glad you could ease your load a bit Adam, you seem like quite work horse lately, I bet you needed a little break… hhaha but will you take a break? Or will you just work more? That's the question once you work for yourself.

If I would work for myself I'd work myself into the ground.

I wish I was to the level to where I could hire a dozen employees.

Adam, you're not alone in trying to make book selling a family affair. I got into book selling because my friend’s dad was selling books on Amazon, and he did pretty well. Before I started selling books my friend would always be taking books down to the post office and he could go have lunch (with me) with the change from the money his dad gave him. We were in high school at the time, so any opportunity for a little extra cash was awesome. We were always suckered into helping him move boxes or bookshelves, but he didn't really try to make us an integral part of his business.

When I started selling books in college I moved back home into my parents house and did the thrift store and garage sale routes every week. My Mom loves garage sales and nine times out of ten she would tag along and go garage sailing with me on Saturdays. My Mom would always (without me asking her to) lift up a book and say “what about this one” I could pretty much count on her getting involved even though I didn't necessarily want her involved. Her heart was in the right place, but I liked my one-man show.

I'm moving to North Carolina in a few weeks and I still plan on selling books when I get up there. At one point my Mom said she would sell books when I'm gone. I want my Mom involved because she could make some extra income and my dad could quit his second job and they could have a family business on the side. That would be great but my Mom won't even touch a book or look one up now. In the past she said she could do better than I was doing at selling books online, but now I think she might have just been nagging. I want to think of something I can say to get her motivated when I’m gone. I know she could find some great books, she's good at that sort of thing, but I just don't know how to motivate her.

As for my friend's dad, we now go to library sales together. We both volunteered a couple weeks ago at a FOL sale and we both made out like bandits with some great books. My friend wasn’t interested in selling books but when I told his dad that I was interested he took me under his wing and showed me what he knew. In no way are we selling books together but we do sometimes collect together and give each other tips on where to snatch up books in town.

Ours is definitely a family affair! After my husband and I lost our jobs last year due to the economy — my husband was in magazine publishing (a field hit hard by the recession) and I was a teacher before my charter school was shut down due to lack of funds, we decided it was time to work for ourselves and try our hand at selling books online. We weren't sure what we were getting into, but decided to take the plunge — while holding hands. Two months later, I can definitely testify that we are having a blast working together. We seem to be most compatible when we are on the road, going on our weekly scouting trips. Sure, we have our ups and downs like any other working relationship, but we have worked out a rhythm and division of tasks that makes it work for us. For example, he is meticulous at packaging and shipping and listing our books, while I enjoy researching new inventory sources and looking for little gems when we go scouting. If only our household chores were divvied up that easily! :/

We also have our four-year-old at home with us now — we decided we needed to save the money we were spending on his half-day daycare class — and include him in the whole process. Ask him and he will tell you that he loves going to Goodwill. Why? Well, because while Daddy scans the books, he's scoping out the toy aisle with Mommy and making new friends. You might see that as added expense. Me? I think, Score! We've uncovered a whole new resource for great toys that are super cheap. Plus, that time on the toy aisle has yielded us some great finds that earned us a profit on eBay. Our son also enjoys taking our packaged books to the Post Office, where he gets a Tootsie Roll for making a fishy face at the lady behind the counter. Our recent trips to some Friends of the Library book sales have also garnered some awesome children's books for our home library for dirt cheap. I like to think that another bonus of doing this as a family is that all this constant exposure to books will make him lifelong book lover.

For a couple that was on the verge of splitsville due to the financial strain of losing our jobs, I would have to say that I am grateful for discovering the online bookselling business. It's been an adventure as well as an exciting challenge to see if we can make this a profitable livelihood for our family. We're not there yet, but I know we're getting close. And everyone knows, it's about the journey, not the destination. Right?

Thanks! I love hearing all the stories.

Thanks! Great story! Your story is going to be hard to beat. I,
unfortunately, hear about people losing their jobs and are forced to start
something and choose selling books. You may not get rich on it but it's
enough to pay the bills plus there isn't too much stress and it's great that
you get to spend more time with family!

I have been selling books online for a few years now! My best “employees” are my kids who are 7 and 10! I give them each $5.00 a week to help me shop and sort the books. They know where the categories are on the shelves and they know what to look for when shopping! They know that “bag-day” at the sales we go to means that they each get one to fill for mommy and one to fill for themselves! They are great helpers and they know that mommys job is the one that pays for the fun stuff like Wii games and extra activities and Dads job pays all the boring stuff like bills. They are more excited to help me because of the direct benefit they derive from it. I always tell them that mommy is able to help out at their school and go on field trips with them because they help me with my at-home job! I WOULDN'T or couldn't do it without them! They are the reason for it all!

I hope to get my almost 2 year old helping one of these days.

Since you volunteered, did this mean you got to go through and buy books before the preview sale?

…

It wasn't a preview sale, more like a grab and go.This is just an example: Today I went with the director of my local FOL and we went to a estate that was making a large donation to the FOL. We collected around 500 books and I got to look through and scan all the books I wanted. When we got back to the library we organized them into fiction and non fiction for the sale at the end of May. I made out with around 50 books (for free) and the director gave me $25 in gas money. Not only did I get a bunch of books but now I have that relationship with the director and she made it clear that if I volunteer for her then I can go through any of the donations.

The only reason I volunteered today is because my friend's dad had to work and couldn't. He told me about this opportunity and introduced the director and myself at the last FOL sale I volunteered at.

Its getting worse and worse, almost all sales are being cherry picked by”volunteers”.
Im not knocking your hustle, actually jealous that I havent gotten one of my local libraries setup like that. Also a possible wake up call for sellers who think they arent getting as much as they used to at FOL sales… maybe you should volunteer?

Hey, you have to do what you have to do to get ahead. If you just go out and actually talk to people then you can make a connection that can last a long time. I have the same set-up for a couple of thrift stores too. One day I was dropping off dead inventory and told the cute old ladies running the thrift store what I was doing with all of my books. The next thing I know I'm spending the rest of the afternoon in the back of the thrift store scanning books.

Now that I think of it, this happens all of the time. Last week while at a garage sale a sweet old lady lead me into her house to check out her book collection. She had some really great books and I wouldn't have gotten half as many unless I fessed up and told her I was a book seller.

It's all about using your charm against women that are fifty five and older.

Wow. That's a great contact.

True.

Lol

Adam~ what is Miranda using to scan the books into Amazon? I am doing it by hand and thought there had to be an easier way,3000 books later.

Adam~ what is Miranda using to scan the books into Amazon? I am doing it by hand and thought there had to be an easier way,3000 books later.

[...] reader wrote me awhile back when I had the family post asking for feedback.  His story was in regards to a doll that his 9 year old daughter found while [...]

I have been selling books for years now and make a good profit every semester. One of the things that has helped me was keeping costs low on all my supplies. I get my mailing supplies from ValueMailers.Com they are really cheap. I credit them for a lot of my success – them and eBay.