Selling Textbooks on Amazon

Interested in selling textbooks on Amazon? The first thing you should consider is editions. There are various kinds of textbook editions, such as international editions, previous editions, and teacher editions. 

Make sure the ISBN of any textbook you list for sale matches the ISBN on that product’s Amazon detail page. The ISBN is the International Standard Book Number – every edition and variant of a publication receives an ISBN. For international editions, the textbooks should “be listed against separate ASINs from the domestic product,” per Amazon. ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. The ASIN is a product code of 10 characters that provides customers and sellers with the identity of a given item. See Amazon’s ASIN creation policy page for more information. 

The ISBN on the product detail page must match the ISBN on the book itself. The author, title, binding, publisher, and date of publication must also match on the product page. Amazon prohibits sellers from listing “inaccurate or incorrect book information or descriptions (including ISBNs). This means you cannot list a wrong edition, an incorrect cover-type, and/or any copied or unauthorized material. 

Follow Amazon’s Rules for Selling Textbooks

A wrong edition is defined as a book that is listed with the same title, but it is not actually the same edition as what is described on the detail page. The ISBN on the textbook has to match on the detail page. 

An incorrect cover-type refers to a detail page that describes the textbook as a softcover when it is in fact a hardcover, or the other way around. 

Copied or Unauthorized Material means that you cannot sell .pdf, scanned, photo copied, or any other kind of unauthorized textbook media.  

Amazon also prohibits the sale of Promotional Instructor’s Editions of textbooks. This means promotional copies, which are often the same as the Student Edition. The promo editions may have markings like “Complimentary Copy,” “Free Copy,” or the like. 

Amazon prohibits the sale of Teacher’s Editions and Annotated Instructor’s Editions of textbooks.

Solutions Manuals are allowed to be sold on Amazon, only if they are intended for a student audience. If a solutions manual is not intended for students, it cannot be listed on Amazon. 

See Amazon’s Selling Textbooks page for further details. 

Sourcing Textbooks for Sale on Amazon

The high seasonal demand of textbooks by college students makes selling them on Amazon potentially very lucrative. The possibility to properly source textbooks and make a healthy profit draws many sellers to these particular products. 

When it comes to sourcing, try to obtain the highest quality new or used books, depending on your budget. Consider pulling textbooks from your personal library collection, at first. From there, you can move on to wholesalers, who sell them to retailers and resellers. Typically, you will have to purchase a larger amount of textbooks from a wholesaler in order to maximize your profit. Online, you might consider sourcing textbooks from Craigslist, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace. These sites have affordable offerings, but it may be difficult to acquire textbooks in great condition. You can also buy textbooks from Amazon and resell them to make a profit, but this is probably only viable for Amazon prime sellers. 

Once you’ve sourced your inventory of textbooks, you will need to select a fulfillment method. As we mentioned in our previous article Amazon Seller, you can either use merchant fulfillment (MFN) or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). MFN means you will fulfill the orders by handling packing, delivery, and custom service. FBA allows you to have Amazon store your textbooks at a fulfillment center, and gives them the authority to ship your products and manage customer service. Please consult our Amazon Seller article for more details regarding how to open a seller account, list products, and more. 

Account, Fulfillment, Inventory, Ranking

After you have set up your account, selected a fulfillment method, and listed your inventory of textbooks, you should familiarize yourself with Amazon’s book rankings. The product detail page contains the ranking of a textbook. The ranking number of the textbook reflects the successful sale of the book as compared to other textbooks. The rankings generally work as follows… 5000 or less means the book’s demand is very high, so it will sell rapidly at a competitive price. 5000-30,000 means these textbooks sell around 5 to 25 copies per day. 30,000-400,000 means the textbook sells one or two copies each day and is not widely sold. 400,000 or more reflects textbooks that sell a very minimal amount each month. 

When setting the price for your textbooks, consider the condition. Is it new, very good, good, or acceptable? Textbooks cannot have any infringing, offensive, or illegal content. Amazon states that sellers cannot make a separate listing for a textbook that is already being sold by another seller. If a textbook is already being sold by another seller, you should add your product(s) to those listings that already exist. Also, since you are reselling the book, you are not required to obtain any kind of permission from the author or publisher of any given textbook. 

Avoid Selling Counterfeit Textbooks

Try to avoid selling counterfeit textbooks. If you do sell a counterfeit textbook, you could face a lawsuit. If a lawsuit is filed against you as an Amazon seller, your account will be frozen and you will likely not be able to touch whatever money you’ve made up to that point until the lawsuit is resolved. Be discerning when it comes to selling popular textbooks. Law firms filing suits on behalf of major textbook publishers can cost sellers like you thousands of dollars. Overall, use your best judgment and experience to assess whether or not a textbook is counterfeit. You can also use any of the available trusted sites online to check the ISBN of a textbook and see if it is likely counterfeit. 

Stockman & Poropat, PLLC is here to help Amazon sellers like you if any legal issues arise. If a restraining order has been put in effect on your account due to a counterfeit claim or lawsuit, call us! We handle matters related to intellectual property infringement in the Amazon seller world. Our team will thoroughly review your situation and craft a solution that saves you the most time and money. 

Up next we will be discussing Amazon Suspended Account.