# Anybody in the used-book business?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 14, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081 "2010-12-14T03:36:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stentor\_2.5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Stentor\_2.5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stentor_2.5)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081/1 "2010-12-14T03:36:24Z")

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I’ve been thinking about going into used books to sell on Amazon Marketplace. I’m just curious whether it’s worth getting into right now. Are people turning profits or is there too much competition?

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**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081/2 "2010-12-14T04:26:41Z")

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I’m tempted to say too much competition. Every time I go to a library book sale, there’s someone there with a bar code reader, methodically moving through the stacks and pulling out anything saleable. Seems like a fairly joyless undertaking, too.

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081/3 "2010-12-14T11:18:45Z")

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My sister used to do it- go to garage sales and pick up books and flog them (on Ebay). She didn’t make much- it was an interest.

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-in-the-used-book-business/564081/4 "2010-12-14T23:18:38Z")

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It’s a fun side business for me.

BTW–I have a Thread in SDMB Marketplace, with a link to my Amazon Storefront.

Look it up for an example.