by Tomm Swords

Created on: February 04, 2010   Last Updated: February 05, 2010

Without a doubt an easy way to earn pocket money is by selling your books through Amazon. With the global recession more people are looking at making as many extra pounds, euros or dollars as they can, over and above what they already earn if they are lucky enough to be in employment.

Almost everyone has at least one shelf of books which they have read once and will never read again, yet still persist in hanging on to them. Why hang on to these books when money can be made from selling them? It is so easy to make money this way.

If it is so easy though why isn't everyone doing it? Well the easy part is sitting back and waiting for the money to come in. In reality you can make selling books on Amazon as easy or hard as you like, like most other money-making ventures, it is not necessarily about how hard you work, but how much you apply yourself to the task.

For example, in order to sell something you need to make whatever you are selling sound attractive to a potential buyer. In book terms this means giving a good description with respect to; what the book looks like, its material make-up, its condition, any faults or damage it may have and, probably of most importance, what the book is actually about. Giving a good description can be hard work, especially if you are a slow typist. With Amazon in particular the description is more relevant, as sellers are unable to include a picture of the specific book they are selling.

There are sellers on Amazon who will only say something such as "good" or "very good" in the description box, needless to say, they stand a lower chance of getting  a sale.

So how do you go about the actual process of selling your books on Amazon? First of all you need to sign up for an account. This is simple in itself and involves Amazon being given some personal details, and this will include your bank details, in order that you can be paid directly - no messing about with Paypal here. You should also choose a memorable username, as this will be the name you, as a seller will be identified by.

Once you have set up this account, there are two methods for selling through Amazon. You may sell as an Individual, or as a Pro-Merchant. Selling as a Pro-Merchant requires you to pay a monthly fee of £28.75 - you still have to pay a closing fee of 17.25 per-cent for each sale, though you don't pay the 86 pence completion fee. The Pro-Merchant account is only worth having of you sell in excess of forty books per month. That way you make up your

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