Amazon £0.01 books

[Sheffield Tony]

I'm sure I've seen mention of £0.01 "used" books from Amazon. I came across one I quite wanted the other day listed variously at £0.01 and £0.51.

What's with this ? Is it genuine ? I can't get my head round why you'd bother posting something for a penny + postage instead of tossing it in the recycling; are they looking for contact details to sell on ? Experiences please ...

 

[marcros]

never had a bad experience with it. I guess that they are just happy with £2.81 for the book, posted. I guess that if they use efficient postage in volume, they may make a pound or two.

 

[morfa]

They're often the kind of books that are flogged for pennies at bookshops, so they're happy to sell them online for pennies. They are legit.

 

[JimF.]

I have purchased many of these books. I have never been disappointed with any. Obviously they can be in a used condition. Some have been quite new looking.

I think that the money is being made from the postage. Plus some of the books are ex library. Maybe the sellers have already been paid to take them away?

 

[henton49er]

I have purchased about a dozen or so books from Amazon at 1p each plus £2.80 postage. They have all been good value.

One book, sold as "damaged but complete" had a "Damaged" stamp inside the front cover but otherwise looked new and unread. Others have been ex-library copies which are good to read but not too pretty presentation-wise.

I am sure that the actual postage cost is around £1 each, but you then have to get the envelopes (cardboard or plastic) that these books come in, plus pay someone to locate, pack up and post the book, so I don't think £2.80 is unreasonable overall.

 

[RogerP]

Puzzles me too. If the package is less than 25mm thick it can be sent RM "large letter" £1.17p 2nd class but thicker than that and it'll be RM "small parcel" at £2.80 minimum.

 

[Ed Bray]

I've bought dozens of 0.01 books from Amazon on all sorts of subjects, not just woodworking and do not remember having a poor copy sent out. Occasionally they are ex-library books but not always. I regularly have a troll through the subjects I am interested in to see if there is anything new.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

I was looking for a woodworking book and it came up as 1p, plus postage of 2.80. I couldn't quite believe it, but I was very pleased when it arrived as it was in an "as new" condition.

 

[Silverbirch]

Offering the book at £0.01 will also get the seller at or near the top of the list of sellers when a potential customer clicks through from the main Amazon book page to the "other sellers" page. So they get valuable publicity, plus the chance to increase their feedback rating and the possibility of additional sales all at little or no net cost to themselves.

Ian (also a happy recipient of several such books.)

 

[John15]

I've bought a couple of books for a few pence from Amazon and they have been OK. Another good company I use for second-hand books is Abebooks. They have a lot on furniture making. I have bought several from them and have never been disappointed.

John

 

[AndyT]

Yes, Abe books - so useful that Amazon bought them!

 

[devonwoody]

I think it comes about because the publishers have a minimum print run and the then sell off surplus as a fire sale to these outlets. Otherwise they cannot find room to store there unsold large stocks.

Plus some books are genuine internet purchased returns for whatever reason. But you can also return them if dissatisfied, (I think some naughty boys and girls treat the system as a library).

 

[JohnPW]

Well, obviously it's not 1p, you're paying £2.81 for the book. These sellers sell a huge number of books, in the tens of thousands per year, they sell on Ebay as well. They get a big discount on postage as they send so many items, possibly half the normal price.

I once bought a book from this type of seller on Ebay, Woodworking Jigs or something by Robert Wearing. As is usual with these sellers,no cover pic and the only info about the book was from a database. Book turned to be a magazine freebie! They left out the full title which was "Magazine name's guide to Woodworking Jigs". It was a cut down version of the proper book with nearly all the hand tool stuff removed, what was left was nearly all power tool jigs, the book was useless to me.

To get my money back, I had to write several emails, print a label, take it to and queue up at the post office, what a complete waste of time and effort! I never buy from these sellers now, you just cannot be sure of the book you you're going to get.

 

[devonwoody]

Don't buy from ebay , I don't.

 

[lurker]

Don't buy from ebay , I don't.

I agree
I work on the assumption that everything is either a pirate copy or stolen goods where e bay is concerned