TIPS FOR BUYING BOOKS

As a purchaser of books on the internet you should be aware that some book sellers are not what they appear to be These sellers are sometimes referred to as phantom listers spider listers or dropshippers although there are many reputable dropshippers as I will explain Phantom listers are usually companies that use specialized software to scan a book selling service such as Half com This software notes the books for sale and the asking price The phantom lister then uses their software to check prices for the same books on some other services like JuuuungleBooooks or others When they determine they can make a profit they will relist the book they found on Half com over on the other service such as JuuuungleBooooks They mark up the asking price sometimes they mark it up a lot if it looks like there may be buyers They do not purchase the book yet If you buy this book from them through JuuuungleBooooks they turn around and immediately order it from the seller on Half com and have the Half com seller send it directly to you . You may not actually get your book since the phantom luster didnt really have the book they sold you They gamble they can buy the book from someone else after you order it and buy it for a price less than what you are paying If the book they relisted is no longer available or if they cant find another copy in the right price range most will refund your money But that refund may not be easy to get and you may have wasted a lot of time and effort getting a refund The phantom lister cannot attest to the quality of the book they are selling since they never had possession of it Some will copy the description and condition from the listing of the seller who actually owns the book not a particularly ethical practice or they will just substitute some generic comment like Fast shipping This means you may receive a book that does not match the description of the book you purchased
The phantom lister cannot make any claims about packaging or shipping since they wont be doing that They never had possession of the book They may claim to ship from a single location but in fact the book is shipped from wherever the true owner is located This may affect how long you have to wait for delivery Usually by looking at a sellers feedback you can tell if this is the kind of business you want to buy from but in the case of the phantom lister the feedback score only tells half the story You dont get to see the feedback of the seller who actually has possession of the book you are buying You may actually be buying from a seller you would not normally purchase from because of their bad feedback score The phantom lister has no business arrangements with the current owner of the book you are buying If they did that might offer you the buyer some guarantee as to the quality of this transaction but they dont Their listings are generated by computer programs that are continually scanning the internet and looking for price differences where the phantom lister can make a profit At least some phantom listers seem to not be concerned about the level of service they provide their customers If you look carefully at the feedback comments of a phantom lister you will see a large number of complaints about the kind of problems listed above In addition you will likely see many complaints about how unresponsive the phantom lister was when there were problems The phantom listers business is typically based on automated buying and selling of large numbers of books not customer service

Phantom listers actively seek to hide parts of the transaction from the buyer by often asking the current owner of the book to not include price or to not include a packing slip when they ship you the book The phantom lister doesnt want you to know how much you could have bought the item for They dont want you to know who actually owned the book you bought and they dont want you to know which selling service had a better price Half com requires sellers to include a packing slip with every shipment You could have gotten the same book cheaper somewhere else Phantom listers make their money by buying the book after you order it and then selling it to you for more Usually you could have bought the book somewhere else for the same price the phantom lister paid That is almost always less than what you paid Phantom listers make their money by selling to people who do not know the intricacies of the way they do business and the anonymity that selling on the internet offers The term dropshipper is sometimes used to refer to a phantom lister True dropshippers are hard working ethical merchants who work very hard to ensure that they provide excellent products and quality customer service Even a very conscientious book seller will occasionally and unintentionally list a book they no longer have While they may just apologize and promptly refund the buyers money sometimes a seller will purchase the book from another seller and have it sent to the original buyer This discussion is not about these sellers They do not make a business out of selling books they do not own

If you are interested in knowing which book sellers may be phantom listers before you purchase a book here are some suggestions

Look at the feedback total If the number is very high many thousands or hundreds of thousands continue checking This may be a reputable high volume seller but it may be a phantom lister

If the positive feedback score is not 99 or 100% look at the actual feedback comments Even an excellent seller can have a less than perfect feedback score especially if they dont sell a lot of books But if you see a number of comments like Never received my purchase Condition was not as described Would not respond to repeated attempts to resolve problem be careful Remember positive comments about the packaging or shipping are not a reflection of the quality of the phantom lister but the actual seller who sent you the book Comments about erroneous descriptions and bad communications do reflect the phantom lister

Compare the number of positive feedback scores to the number of items the seller has listed in their store On Half com you can do this by clicking on the sellers name Ive seen sellers with very good positive feedback scores and a total feedback number of a few hundred When you look at the sellers store you find they have hundreds of thousands of books for sale Be careful of this seller If a phantom listers feedback score gets to be too bad they may simply start doing business under a different name

Look for comments and descriptions that indicate that someone looked at the book being offered for sale If you find a good description that is not proof this is not a phantom lister since they sometimes copy the description from the actual book owners listing But if the comment is some generic statement like Fast shipping be careful

See where the book is being shipped from If the code is ML on Half com this means shipping is from multiple locations be careful This is either a very big company or a phantom lister I suspect that some phantom listers show a state code for a shipping location instead of ML even though your book may be shipped from anywhere They do this to hide the fact that they are a phantom lister

If you are not in a hurry ask a question of the seller On Half com click on the sellers positive feedback number it is just under the sellers name Once this window opens there is a button to contact the seller Ask them a question about the item you want to buy or just ask them if they have physical possession of the book and can confirm that the condition and description in the listing are correct Then wait and see low long it takes to get a response When you get a response make sure it sounds like a response from a person and not an automated response If you get a quick response from a person that is a good sign They may still be a phantom lister but at least you have got some indication they will respond if you have problems

Always check Half com for the book you are interested in Compare the description price and seller feedback against the book you found somewhere else I think you will often find the best price on Half com Just to be clear a person or company who finds a good deal buys a book takes possession of the book and then relists and resells it for a profit to someone else is not a phantom lister This is just good business and the heart of services such as halfvalue and Half com The problems with phantom listers most often stem from the fact that they didnt own the book when they listed it for sale and never had physical possession of the book That makes it impossible for them to make any claims about its condition packaging or shipping which is bound to lead to problems . It is not intended to question the business practices of any particular book selling service or any particular seller You should weigh many factors before making a purchase especially on the internet where it is easier for unscrupulous people to hide their bad business practices This guide is written in the belief that an informed consumer can make better

purchasing decisions and that is good for all of us

Buying books online is great for the reader. The Internet has opened a whole new world for people who can't get to a store because of health issues, distance, or weather. Now you can satisfy your need to read with the click of a mouse. There are many reasons people can't make it to a store to purchase books, for example, they work an odd shift and the stores are closed when they are awake, but the internet is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and even holidays. There are many online book sellers that make it easy and convenient. There are some that work in the used book categories. They don't really sell them, they match buyers and sellers. Often times you can buy used books online that cost less than the shipping charge especially if they are a few years old, this is great for college students. College books are outrageously priced and they are only used for a few months. Finding used college books online can save students hundreds of dollars.

When the decision has been made to buy a book it is time to search for it. If you know the author or name of a particular book it can be easier, but if you're not sure what you are looking for and want to browse, there are many online stores that can help. They usually have a side bar with different subject material listed. You can choose a topic or have a search done on a topic of the books they have. Then you will get a listing of books. In the listing is the name of the book, the author, and a small comment about the books content. Some of these stores will even supply the shopper with small excerpts and there is usually a comment section that other reader can use to help with your decision.

After the decision has been made on a particular book, it is time to pay. When paying online it is important to use a secure web page. There are hackers out there looking for your credit card information and will use it if they can. There are other ways to pay too, for example, using an online bank. Pay Pal is an online financial institute that allows you to deposit, withdraw, and spend money in the cyber world.

Usually after you have selected the book and paid for it, there is nothing left to do but wait. You can choose to have a book shipped to you on a faster mail service, but it does cost more. Then after a week or two your new book will arrive.

Author Resource: Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as buying books online at http://www.bargainbookstoreonline.com

Whenever I'm looking for a copy of an out of print book, I tend to head for Amazon Marketplace. Most of the time, I find the title I'm looking for, and the buying process is about as easy as it gets.

But, how do you know if you're paying a fair price, getting a bargain, or paying five times as much as you should?

The easiest way is to do a quick search on Bookfinder, at www.bookfinder.com, for other copies. By studying the listings you should be able to come up with an average price for the book, based on its condition. You might even find a cheaper source.

Sites and sellers from all over the world are indexed by Bookfinder, although the majority of the books listed are from the United States. The next most common is the United Kingdom, with most of the remaining sellers being based in other English speaking countries. Entries from Amazon are listed, along with ABE, Alibris, and other less known sites.

If the book you want is available cheaply from another country, it's still worth considering. Do check the shipping charges and factor them into the price, though. If the book costs more than $28 (US), you could also be charged import taxes. However, in practice, this only tends to happen with high value collectibles.

On the subject of buying abroad, it's also worth checking other Amazon sites around the world. Unlike eBay (tm), each listing by a particular seller on Amazon is shown on one site only, so you'll only find the bargains if you shop around.

Speaking of eBay (tm), it can also be a good place to buy books. However, because the site isn't as specialized as the others I've mentioned, you might have to wait a long time for the book you want. It's always worth a look though, as there are bargains to be had.

I frequently compare Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk when buying used books. It's not unusual for the prices to be so far apart that it's possible to buy books one, to sell on the other for a handsome profit even after paying for the extra shipping. You don't need to open a fresh Amazon account for each of the sites your current login details will do. You can also use your home delivery address and credit / debit card.

In addition to the condition of available books, supply and demand are very important factors, and account for price variations from one site to another.

If Amazon Marketplace has only one copy of a particular title then the price will usually be high especially if the seller is a professional dealer. Other sellers come along, and get a false sense of the book's value. They may undercut the first seller, but not by much. This establishes an inflated baseline price.

Sometimes they actually get the asking price, especially when the book is hard to find and the buyer is desperate for a copy. More often though, the books languish on Amazon until someone is brave enough to reduce their price. It's worth contacting sellers and making an offer. Amazon sellers are often happy to accept a lower price when a book remains unsold after several months.

By using a meta search site, such as Bookfinder, you'll be able to check out the prices a book is being sold for, across all of the popular sites and in several countries. This will help you find a much more realistic value than just looking in one place.

Bookfinder is also very handy if you're planning to sell a book online. It makes sense to get an idea of the price you can expect before placing a listing. If you set too low a price, you might get a quick sale but you'll reduce your profits too high, and your stock won't turn over quickly enough to make your business viable.

In case you're wondering, I have no affiliation to Bookfinder. I just find the site incredibly useful, both as a bookseller and a book lover. Once you've tried the site, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it.

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