Sell ebooks on Ebay and Etsy?

LongevityLetter · Feb 17, 2014

I was seriously thinking of trying to sell ebooks on Ebay and Etsy - has anybody tried that?
Since I was browsing several online markets for selling books, here are two such lists:
http://publishing.about.com/od/BooksellersAndBookselling/a/Ebook-Sellers-Where-To-Sell-Your-Ebooks-Online.htm
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/sell-ebooks/

Diana_Rajchel · Feb 20, 2014

Etsy does allow you to sell books you have authored. I used to sell crafts on there...the customer entitlement has become a serious problem. Write a great description and proceed with caution.

DreamWeaver · Feb 20, 2014

I used to sell an article on eBay via file download, but they changed the rules so one isn't allowed to list downloads on the auction site. They had to go in a classifieds section. I now sell the article as a mailed hardcopy, which is a pain but allows it to stay on the main auction site.

They may have changed the rules back, since that happened a couple of years ago. But I kind of doubt it.

LOTLOF · Feb 21, 2014

Do you mean selling there along with selling on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, etc.?

etherme · Feb 21, 2014

I'm not selling my actual book on EBay, but I'm selling "signed" bookmarks. I expect ZERO people to buy one, but IF I get lucky enough for someone to view the auction, they will conveniently be told about the book for sale on Amazon...

LongevityLetter · Jul 21, 2014

etherme said:
I'm not selling my actual book on EBay, but I'm selling "signed" bookmarks. I expect ZERO people to buy one, but IF I get lucky enough for someone to view the auction, they will conveniently be told about the book for sale on Amazon...

So you mean you're using Ebay for advertising only if I understood it well?

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 14, 2014

Customer entitlement?

Diana_Rajchel said:
Etsy does allow you to sell books you have authored. I used to sell crafts on there...the customer entitlement has become a serious problem. Write a great description and proceed with caution.

I realize you posted this awhile ago, but I'm curious as to what you meant by customer entitlement? I've thought about selling things on Etsy as well (not books, but it's an interesting idea).

Thank you if you see this and respond! Or anyone else who has some insight on this matter

TheaFair · Aug 24, 2014

Etsy is billed as a handcrafted market and customers there do expect superior products. There is not much to hold them accountable, and about one in ten transactions I think end up with a customer demanding a refund or they threaten to report/bad-review you. Several will claim problems and force you to give them their money back. An Etsy store lives or dies by it's star rating so either way the seller ends up at a loss. Also, since I've looked into this, ebooks don't do to well there. There's a lot up but few of them actually sell. I think the only thing that sells well are instructional books.

I don't see it as being a bad problem for downloads however. Neither Etsy nor Paypal will refund for digital downloads. Customers will expect you to be their tech support person if they cannot download or read the files however. I think the only downside to Etsy is that they do expect you to have your real name attached to the store. A problem if you're using pseuds.

snowpea · Aug 24, 2014

I have never sold novels or written works on etsy, but I used to have a vintage resale store and never had any customer problems.

Although I don't think etsy is a good platform to sell a novel on unless you are willing to work seriously hard to promote it on the site. Promotion on there takes a lot of hard work. I know it does everywhere but I was promoting every day.

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 24, 2014

TheaFair said:
Etsy is billed as a handcrafted market and customers there do expect superior products. There is not much to hold them accountable, and about one in ten transactions I think end up with a customer demanding a refund or they threaten to report/bad-review you. Several will claim problems and force you to give them their money back. An Etsy store lives or dies by it's star rating so either way the seller ends up at a loss. Also, since I've looked into this, ebooks don't do to well there. There's a lot up but few of them actually sell. I think the only thing that sells well are instructional books.

I don't see it as being a bad problem for downloads however. Neither Etsy nor Paypal will refund for digital downloads. Customers will expect you to be their tech support person if they cannot download or read the files however. I think the only downside to Etsy is that they do expect you to have your real name attached to the store. A problem if you're using pseuds.

Thanks, that was really helpful!

I was just curious about the concept, since I didn't know people sold books through Etsy. I think you're right on the How To books-- maybe a DIY book on crafts or sewing would do okay. And I can totally see customers frequently expecting tech support!

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 24, 2014

snowpea said:
I have never sold novels or written works on etsy, but I used to have a vintage resale store and never had any customer problems.

Although I don't think etsy is a good platform to sell a novel on unless you are willing to work seriously hard to promote it on the site. Promotion on there takes a lot of hard work. I know it does everywhere but I was promoting every day.

Thanks! That makes sense about all the promoting, since that site has so many shops. I love going on Etsy as a customer, and will continue to be just that-- a customer

frimble3 · Aug 24, 2014

I've bought stuff on Etsy, (both actual handmade stuff and craft supplies) and never had a cause for complaint, but it would never occur to me to buy a book there. Unless it had gorgeous covers or
illustrations, both hand-done.

Dallionz · Aug 24, 2014

I also sold on Etsy for several years (a crochet store). I was going to start selling patterns and I know they were having a lot of issues with people buying a PDF pattern on Etsy, turning around and re-selling it on Ebay or other stores like that as their own. I personally would hesitate selling any eBooks on Etsy. Actually paperbacks, fine. But not an eBook.

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 26, 2014

That makes sense, frimble3 and Dallionz: I wouldn't really buy a book on there either, come to think of it! And an ebook sounds like a bad idea.

Dallionz: That's too bad Etsy's had people reselling the work of others. It now makes sense though as to why I waited so long to see a crochet pattern posted, only to have it never happen!

Dallionz · Aug 26, 2014

AnnaPappenheim said:
That makes sense, frimble3 and Dallionz: I wouldn't really buy a book on there either, come to think of it! And an ebook sounds like a bad idea.

Dallionz: That's too bad Etsy's had people reselling the work of others. It now makes sense though as to why I waited so long to see a crochet pattern posted, only to have it never happen!

It really is too bad! I know a lot of people on there that had stores specifically to sell their patterns closed shop because their work was found other places. It's a shame!

frimble3 · Aug 26, 2014

Dallionz said:
It really is too bad! I know a lot of people on there that had stores specifically to sell their patterns closed shop because their work was found other places. It's a shame!

I remember hearing complaints about this from people creating embroidery patterns, and that was years ago, before Etsy. People were just stealing the images off the creators' website and enlarging, apparently.

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 26, 2014

Dallionz said:
It really is too bad! I know a lot of people on there that had stores specifically to sell their patterns closed shop because their work was found other places. It's a shame!

That is a shame! Some people have no ethics. And what they don't realize too is that they're hurting everyone, as creators stop creating.

TheaFair · Aug 27, 2014

I think the best stories I've heard were the people who were constantly being asked how they created a certain item they sold. There was no trick to it, a Youtube search could find the people asking some tutorials, but they asked the seller for their own reasons. The sellers instead of telling them to politely Google it put together a PDF of the process with some photos, and directed people to the tutorial which they could pay for. People could still sell the PDF off but most of the sellers I talked to didn't really care because the tutorial can be found pretty much anywhere. They just made a few bucks off of it without angering the buyer.

AnnaPappenheim · Aug 28, 2014

TheaFair said:
I think the best stories I've heard were the people who were constantly being asked how they created a certain item they sold. There was no trick to it, a Youtube search could find the people asking some tutorials, but they asked the seller for their own reasons. The sellers instead of telling them to politely Google it put together a PDF of the process with some photos, and directed people to the tutorial which they could pay for. People could still sell the PDF off but most of the sellers I talked to didn't really care because the tutorial can be found pretty much anywhere. They just made a few bucks off of it without angering the buyer.

Ha! That's really funny. Good for them!

Sell ebooks on Ebay and Etsy?

LongevityLetter

Diana_Rajchel

Writing from my Seaside Palace

DreamWeaver

Shakespearean Fool

LOTLOF

etherme

Making my own luck

LongevityLetter

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."

TheaFair

Mousy

snowpea

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

Dallionz

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."

Dallionz

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."

TheaFair

Mousy

AnnaPappenheim

"Quod me alit, me extinguit."