What do I need to start selling books on Amazon
Making a decision to start selling books on Amazon is a great idea. It is the same decision I made some time back 
and I have never regretted it one bit. I have taken part in many online businesses but selling books on Amazon have been the easiest and the results are quick to realize.
To start your book business there are things you need to put together in other to start with and to guarantee a smooth sailing. A simple guide that will prepare you and provide the basics you will need for your Amazon book selling journey.
In this post, I have prepared 9 things you need to consider as you start your book business. These 9 things you need to start selling books on Amazon will make your decision for selling books on Amazon worth trying.
You Need A Positive Mindset
Starting a book business is not different from any other business. It is not going to be easy at the beginning and you will only fail if you give up. It was bumpy, I faced challenges, it was good at some points and I also made a lot of mistakes but what kept me going was the success I witnessed from other sellers from our group. You have to be positive and believe if any can succeed then you are no different.
Many fail in the book business because they fail to see it as a business. This is a myth and a limiting belief that will lead you to an early failure. Some look at selling books as a “side hustle” to get some extra cash while you work full time.
Some see it as a means for some extra cash to meet up with your bills or to just save up some money for a long-awaited vacation trip. If this is your perception of selling used books on Amazon then you will have to change your mindset and treat it as a real business and just like any other business.
The owner and founder of Amazon started by selling books online and it is where it is today because he was positive and looked at it as a business and not just a side hustle. We can all confirm by looking at where Amazon is today.
You Need A Valid Answer To Your “Why”
Even with the proper mindset, without a valid answer to your “why” you will not have any reason to pursue a successful carrier in selling books. When I talk of a valid “why” I mean the reason why you want to start selling books on Amazon. If you do not have a valid answer to the question “why?” you want to sell books on Amazon, you will always have excuses to quit. It is like looking at a map without a destination.
A valid answer to the question why? Will always give you a reason not to quit and to give in your all and join the top earners in this business. Please, if you haven’t answered your “Why?” It won’t take much of your time to take a pen and write them down. Just writing them down, you have already made the first step to success. You must make sure your “why?” explodes a burning desire in you and it is that burning desire that will be your fuel.
If you haven’t answered your “why” it is very important for you to stop reading this post right now and get a piece of paper, your journal or your planner and write a valid answer to your “why”. Your “why” should be a strong emotional reason for taking this venture.
Let’s say you are starting this business for your kids, are you a parent who will give up on your child? Just looking at your beautiful kids you will remember that blessed day you answered your “why” and you will get up to your feet and do anything you can to give your kids the best which is what they deserve.
And most importantly you must have faith. Faith is a mountain mover and believe is the dragon-slayer. Faith is ready to take you to the places where your legs can’t. You will be faced with some limiting beliefs but If you are able to have the faith in your business it will work for you. Many will tell you to stop or try to discourage you and tell you, you don’t have what it takes. All you can simply say is “watch me”.
Set Up The Right Amazon Seller Account.
Amazon offers two types of accounts for sellers, an individual or regular seller and as a professional seller. If you look at your new venture of selling books on Amazon as a business then it is very important to set up a professional business account.
As a professional seller on Amazon, you can sell unlimited items a month and required to pay $39.99 a month and other Amazon selling fees. Unlike an individual seller, you can only sell 40 items a month with a $0.99 fee per sale with other fees.
Amazon doesn’t charge for the first month as a professional seller. If you can’t afford the monthly $40 USD for a professional account, then you can register as a regular or individual account but remember to upgrade to a professional account as soon as you can to avoid the monthly sales limitation of 40 items.
Here is a list of countries accepted by Amazon
Registration confirmation can be instant is some cases and over 48 hours in some worst cases. Only after approval before you can have full access into your seller central account and be able to send in inventory to Amazon. If after 48 hours and no response from Amazon or approval then you can contact them directly to find out why you were not approved.
You will need the following to create a seller account on Amazon;
- A full address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Website (Optional and not necessary)
- Debit or Credit Card
- Bank Account
- Bank Statement
- Identification (Passport, National ID card or drivers license)
Getting Paid By Amazon
This is the most interesting part of the business, getting paid. You will be needing a valid bank account to receive payments from Amazon. After some hard work, investments and all the time sacrificed, we definitely would love to get paid. The bank account provided to Amazon during the registration process is the same account amazon will use
for your payments. Amazon pays two times every month and directly into your bank account. You can as well request payment at any time of your choice. It will take 2 – 3 business days to get the funds into your account. You can always find your payment summary at the top right-hand side of your seller central account as indicated below.
For international sellers, it is common if Amazon does not accept bank accounts from your country of residence. Do not panic as I also faced the same situation.
There are a variety of ways to go about it and for me, I used Payoneer which provided me with a USD bank account in the United States for a small fee. You can set up your own account with no stress and start receiving your payments from Amazon.
Before you start making sales, Amazon will charge your debit or credit card for the monthly professional account subscription fee of $39.99 USD. Once you start making sales, your card won’t be charged as the amount will be deducted from your sales alongside other selling fees.
An “unavailable balance” will be accumulated which will remain in your seller account. The “unavailable balance” will be used for any chargeback, returns, and fees incurred. This amount will be carried forward from statement to statement and will fluctuate with sales.
Read The Complete Amazon Rules And Policies
To be successful in any business it is very important to play by the rules. Shortcuts can be good but you should always remember they can be short-lift. Amazon watches very closely because one of it’s number one rules and why the company is listed as one of the fastest-growing company is by providing great customer experience and placing their customers first.
You can full amazon sometimes and get away with some practices but you can’t full them all the time. Amazon is dedicating a lot of resources to its end customers to be highly satisfied. They are very smart than you think.
Going against the rules will land you in serious trouble and it might end with you being kicked out of Amazon. If you are thinking to grow this business to another whole different level, learn to play by the rules for there is more to gain in the long run. Take some time to be familiar with Amazon’s rules and regulations.
Prohibited seller activities and actions.
Expectations for shipping buyer orders.
You Need Some Capital To Start With
Just like every business, you will need some capital to start by putting together all the things you need to run your book business and for buying books to re-sell. The good news is you can start with very little capital which makes it a very great business.
I have seen people who started with as low as a $100 set up their account and sourcing books locally from garage sales, thrift stores, library sales and simply re-investing the profits made. The capital you are willing to invest in your book business will depend on how fast you are willing to grow and how fast you are willing to reap the rewards.
The majority of your invested capital will be on sourcing books either offline or online. So your invested capital will reflect your inventory and the more inventory you accumulate the more sales you make and more profit generated to grow your business.
Even though you can start with little or no capital in case you have your own books to start with it can take some time to build a reasonable amount of inventory.
Considering the tools and resources that will go hand in glove with the business and for rapid growth, you can easily start with at least $5000. With this starting capital, you can easily get access to massive and profitable inventory both offline and online, a mentor and a couple of other tools you will need
This is not a compulsory starting capital as you can start with less than $100 depending on how you predict your growth and success. The book business model is a gradual, incremental, and cumulative business model with huge rewards if you can be patient and put in the work.
The more inventory you build the more sales you will be making. With small investment capital, it might take you longer than another seller with huge capital invested.
If raising funds is a crucial issue, you can apply for a credit card and start immediately. Also, you can still raise capital from Amazon itself by using the trade-in program offered by Amazon where you can search for books online to trade them in to Amazon for a profit.
Set A Flexible Strategy
Any business without a well-defined strategy is destined to fail. A strategy will easily predict the future of your business. You will be able to know what works and what’s not working. With a flexible strategy in place, you can step back and adapt to the ever-changing variables in every business.
A critical analysis and assessment of the book business can guide you to set a well-defined flexible strategy that will guarantee success within the shortest possible time.
With a strategy in place, you can easily monitor and make the right decisions. A flexible strategy will facilitate change and improvements for your success. It will go a long way to determine the direction of your book business in order to achieve the required objective.
You should be able to set the defined methods, pathways and tactics to achieve your current and future goals. The possible next steps will be scaling on what works best for you and harness continuous and guarantee profits.
Get The Right Tools And Resources
The right tools and resources will ensure rapid growth and success. No success can be guaranteed without the right tools and resources. To do the best you can with your book business, you will need the toolbox to make things easy.
It is always very important to work smart and save yourself valuable time for other projects rather than working harder and harder ignoring the possibilities of easily working alternatives.
The good news is
There are numerous tools and resources out there to use. These tools and resources are made available by successful booksellers who have done all the heavy lifting for you and all you need is just to work with them for your success. Such tools and resources may include books, groups, memberships, online sourcing platforms, book scanning applications and many more.
Not taking advantage of these useful tools and resources, you can guarantee a slow pace to your success. A 
good and ever-growing toolbox will guarantee a leading advantage and continuous success.
You Need A Mentor
If you want to witness rapid growth in your book business, it is very important to get the right mentors to guide you through. As adventurous as you can be, failing to have a mentor will make your path bumpy and unpredictable.
The good thing with a mentor is, they have made all the mistakes for you and pave the smooth path for you to just walk on to success. Using a mentor will save you the time and stress to go through all the hurdles the can be in the business.
Mentoring is not only important for the skills and knowledge but also at your disposal is professional socialization and personal support in times of need. Even if you are a genius or good at figuring things out mentoring will only make it easy for you as you lack the understanding when dealing with a new industry.
EndNote
Starting your book business with all you need will only make the experience exciting. Starting with the right mindset and a valid answer to your “Why?” will only set a solid foundation to start your book business and so as any other business.
Setting the right account for the right purpose will guarantee your objectives for your business and put you on the right track. Not forgetting to read and play by the Amazon rules will help you to avoid making mistakes along the way. Above all getting the right tools, resources and mentoring will speed up your success and save you time, money and enhance your ability to be profitable.
Leave a comment below with what you think a new bookseller will need in order to start selling books on Amazon as I will be pleased to learn more.
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