Frequently asked questions

Q: How do you prep books for Amazon?
A: I just remove most stickers and clean dirt off the cover with rubbing alcohol or goo gone.

Q: Do you wrap or bag the books for shipping to Amazon?
A: No, I just stack them in a box (packing them as efficiently as possible and cutting down the box to size if needed)

Inventory Loader file

I used to list book individually via Seller Central, but now I upload an Inventory Loader file that I create in a Google Spreadsheet.  Here’s how I do it:

1. Make a copy of this spreadsheet and fill it out.  I use consequtive SKUs in column A to make step 4 go easier.
2. Download the sheet as a tab separated values file
3. Upload it on this page (you can’t use the checker in Step 1 of that page.  Skip to Step 2)
4. Make a shipment by going to “Manage FBA Inventory” in Seller Central, searching for your SKUs, and choosing “Send/replenish inventory”.

Learning resources

As I mentioned at the meetup, I’ve learned a lot from Peter Valley at fbamastery.com

If you decide to buy any of his materials and use one of these affiliate links (the “buy now” links), I’ll benefit and appreciate you for it!

• To learn where to find books, if you already know your way around Amazon FBA, check out Book Sourcing Secrets: Every source of cheap books to sell for huge profits on Amazon ($47.00) buy now
• To get more in-depth info about starting an Amazon FBA business, check out Amazon Autopilot: How to start an online books & media business with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) ($47.00) buy now
• For a really detailed look at how Peter sources books (I learned tons from this, but it’s a lot of video to watch), check out Book Sourcing: 1k In A Day (3 DVD set) ($97.00) buy now

I’m also working on some custom Google Spreadsheet functions to look up information from Amazon’s Marketplace Web Service.  Check back at karl.kranich.org or watch for announcements at future meetups.