Buying A Book

[Connemmara]

I want to buy an old used hardback book - it is there on ebay or amazon but they are asking for 1p plus postage. Would this be true and why so low an amount and how does the seller make money. Thanks

[VHG]

How much are they charging for postage?

ebay don't charge commission on postage but they do on the product that is sold.

So by keeping the price of the product low and the postage high they can make profit on the postage and pay no commission on it.

[grasscarp]

It is true. People make little or no profit unless the book is very light so postage costs less than the standard £2.80 that seller gets. I have sold lots od books on Amazon but always think about the weight of the book to see if it is worth it.

[hc4361]

eBay now charge 'commission' on postage so the final value fee cannot be limited by charging 1p for the item and inflated postage.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/fvf.html

My guess is the seller is covering his postage costs and trying to increase his positive feedback.

[Hopkirk]

It's like a January sale, getting rid of stock they can't shift.