These days, book selling can be a game of nickels, dimes and pennies. The difference of a few cents should matter to you, because all that is all it takes to see your margins skewered. Books are selling for less, and costing more.
We’ve seen three postal rate increases, in May 2008, January 2009 and May 2009, with no change in Amazon’s shipping rates. We still get only $2.65 to cover cost of shipping, which includes :
• Postage
• Tracking
• Shipping materials
All together, shipping can actually cost you:
• $2.78 for 1 lb
• $2.77 for 2 lbs
• $3.16 for 3 lbs
Are you beginning to see the problem?
I sell 1000 books per day. My main challenge is postage. With all the rate increases on the commercial side, we’ve seen rates go up $0.70. To me that means an extra $700 per day in postage. Over 30 days that adds up to $21,000!!
You need to be making these kinds of calculations. A few cents here or there might not sound like much money, but it really adds up.
Ironically, the larger and more successful you are, the more something seemingly small, like a postal rate increase of a few cents, can really hurt you.
Always be aware of the nickels, dimes and pennies that can make or break your ability to make money selling books online, or you just might find yourself nickel and dimed into oblivion.