How To Sell Books Online: A Guide to the Best Platforms in 2024

Choosing the right place to sell your books online can be a total headache, especially with so many platforms and websites out there. Although they claim to offer the best deal, most of them fall short and leave you feeling like your books aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

To get your money back, you need a platform that’s not just cheap but actually helps you make a profit. It should go beyond the basics, offering features that help you reach a wider audience, manage your inventory, and personalize your store.

I tested a bunch of services to find the best ways to sell books online, evaluating each for ease of use, features, and return on investment. Of all the platforms I’ve tried, Wix stands out as the top choice as it offers tools tailored for online book sales, including integrations with platforms like eBay and Amazon (two of the best places to sell your books).

Want to know more about how to sell books online? Keep reading.

How To Sell Books Online for Beginners

Before you do anything else, you need to do some research. Without it, you won’t be able to organize your site, set the right prices, or find out what’s trending. Here are the main things you should consider:

Categorize Your Books by Niche

Categorizing your books by niche is the best way to maximize sales on your site. And since you already own the books, it’s the easiest and fastest part of the process (depending on how many books you have).

Textbooks, self-help books, and literary classics are top sellers, while genres like fantasy, romance, and mystery are always in demand. Organizing your books this way helps you organize your website, identify your target audience, and tailor your marketing efforts, especially if you’re selling high-valued collections.

Research Other Book Resellers

One of the best ways to boost your sales strategy is by checking out your competition, as it allows you to identify effective selling techniques and common pitfalls. Look at what they are doing well and implement those strategies. At the same time, make sure to look for weaknesses and try to learn from their mistakes.

Understanding your competitor’s prices can lead to faster sales if you’re looking to sell your books quickly. The purpose of creating a site is to cut out the middleman, meaning you have to make your books attractive to potential buyers – you don’t want to be way overpriced.

Create a Plan and Budget for Your Book Selling Store

If you want to make money selling your books online, you need to find out how much you can spend and what you want to achieve. Luckily, website builders like Wix let you set up your site and list your books for free, meaning you can take your time, plan everything out, and build your bookstore without the stress of funding your endeavor.

Choose the Right Platform To Sell Your Books Online

When deciding how to sell your books online, you have three main options: build your own store, sell on specialized platforms, or sell on social media.

Creating an online store gives you complete control over your inventory, presentation, and customer experience. You can choose what to sell, categorize them as you see fit, and design your store to match your brand. Best of all, you won’t have to deal with hefty fees that eat into your profits.

Selling on sites like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay might seem easy, but there are downsides. You have less freedom when marketing your books, won’t be able to create a storefront that reflects your brand, and there’s no guarantee your books will sell.

Selling on social media can give you a huge reach, but it’s a lot of work. Managing multiple social media accounts is time-consuming and difficult, especially if you’re selling popular books and chatting with multiple buyers.

Building a Wix store is the best option because it allows you to manage sales on eBay, Amazon, and social media platforms from one centralized dashboard. This way, you don’t need to set up a shop and keep track of inventory on every single platform.

Having control over your bookstore’s presentation is the best way to establish your brand and maximize its profit. Plus, with Wix’s free plan, you can build an online store step-by-step, giving you the control you need to succeed.

Choose a Good Name for Your E-Commerce Bookshop

Picking a good name for your online bookstore is crucial because it has to match your domain name. Without it, you’ll struggle to be memorable. A domain name is the address users type into their browsers to find your site – without it, you have no online store.

When picking a name for your Wix site, make sure it’s easy to spell and relevant to selling books online. It’s best to avoid complex words and long phrases, as this will make it harder for your customers to find you.

Remember, you’ll have to buy a domain separately, though some builders include it free for the first 12 months. If you’re unsure whether your domain name is available, Wix has a domain name search tool that can help you choose a name in seconds. If you can’t think of a unique name, it’ll also give you some recommendations.

Customize Your Online Book Store

Step 1: Choose a Wix template

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be redirected to your dashboard. From here, you’ll need to complete several steps, including adding products, setting up shipping and delivery, and more. However, if you’d like, you can skip straight to designing your website.

Simply click “Get Started” next to the “Design your website” section of your dashboard. You will then be given the option to design your website using AI or by selecting a template – I’d recommend choosing a template as this gives you the freedom to personalize its design.

Step 2: Add pages and images

By clicking on Wix’s page settings, you can add, delete, and rename pages quickly. Depending on the page you want to create, you’ll find numerous templates offering forms, calendars, and much more. I decided against using an events page and chose to include 3 main pages: a catalog, an about us section, and a contact page for inquiries.

If you have no images of your own, you can use Wix to find copyright-free images. Or, if you’re interested in testing out its features, you can use its AI image generator to create images for your bookstore from scratch. I typed in “Bookstore animation” and got a result I was happy to put at the top of my page.

Step 3: Edit the fundamentals

Changing the fonts, colors, and backgrounds of your Wix template is the fastest way to create a unique book-selling site. You can edit the line spacing, SEO, font, style, and more from within its text settings – all you have to do is click “Edit Text.”

Another benefit of Wix is that you can use its drag-and-drop editor to customize your site section by section. For example, I changed the color of my site from white to blue and altered the color of my title. When editing your site’s fundamentals, ensure your content is easy to read and consistent throughout – otherwise, it may look unprofessional.

Add Your Books as Products

When you add your books as products to your Wix site, you must make your listings attractive. Here’s how I did it:

If you’ve chosen a bookstore template, you won’t need to “Add your first product” as a selection of templated products will already be visible on your website. To edit them, you can either click on your catalog and select the “Manage Products” button or head to your dashboard, click “Catalog,” “Store Products,” and finally, “Products.”

To get your books looking good, click a product and edit it by changing its images, descriptions, ribbons, and categories. Once you’re done, it’ll automatically appear on your website – no extra work for you. When adding photos, ensure they have good lighting and showcase the book from multiple angles to help your customers inspect the book’s quality.

To get the most out of Wix, don’t forget to use words that people regularly search for. Keep it simple and tell your customers what makes your books unique. If you need help writing a description, use Wix’s AI content generator to create an engaging and informative description that entices customers to buy.

Once you’ve added your product info, simply scroll down to add a price, add your product to an inventory, allow customers to pre-order, or set up a subscription. If you only have 1 copy of the selected book, all you have to do is add a price and add it to your inventory.

To view your book on your catalog page, click “Save” and head back to Wix’s editor – if you can’t see it, reload the page.

Update Your Store Settings and Payment Information

Here’s how to update your store settings and payment information:

• Open your Wix dashboard.
• Click on “Set up payment methods.”
• Make sure to select your business location, in this case, the United States.
• Click “Connect” on credit/debit cards, PayPal, or manual payments.
• Select “See More Payment Options” for options like Klarna and Afterpay.
• Click “See Options” for third-party providers like Stripe and Square.

While connecting to Wix Payments, you must confirm that your business doesn’t sell any items on its prohibited list. However, this won’t be a problem as we’re selling books. Once you’ve connected to Wix Payments, you can switch on the following payment methods: credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Afterpay, Affirm, Tap to Pay on mobile, and Wix Point of Sale.

I recommend selecting as many as possible, as this allows you to cater to your customer’s diverse needs and increase your chances of selling out.

Preview and Launch Your Book Store

Before you hit publish, take a good look at your store. Most website builders let you preview and interact with your bookstore on both desktop and mobile screens, ensuring it looks great on any device. You’ll also be able to edit your site in web and mobile view, making it a convenient way to ensure its optimization.

In addition, you should try out your e-commerce features to ensure everything works smoothly. If your site includes scheduling or other interactive features like buttons and links, test them to make sure they lead to the right place. As a bonus, I found that running a speed test can help optimize your site’s performance and enhance your customer’s experience.

Start Selling on Amazon, eBay, and Social Media

Setting up stores on Amazon, eBay, and social media from within your Wix dashboard is super easy. However, some social media integrations and platforms aren’t built-in, meaning you’ll have to pay extra to use them.

For example, eBay requires a premium Wix subscription and Facebook Shops is a purchaseable app. However, if you’d like to sell your books through Facebook anyway, the Facebook Shops by GoDataFeed app comes with a 14-day trial.

Follow these steps to get started:

Amazon

• Go to your Wix dashboard and click the “App Market” button.
• Search for “Amazon with Wix” and open it.
• Click “Try It Out” to connect to Amazon without upgrading.
• Sign in to your Amazon account or create a new one.
• Follow the prompts to sync your products, ensuring accuracy.

eBay

• Repeat the process for eBay by searching for the “eBay with Wix” app.
• Enter your eBay login details or create a new account.
• Select the products from your Wix store you want to list on eBay.

Social Media (Facebook & Instagram)

• Repeat the process for Facebook and Instagram by searching for the “Facebook Shops by GoDataFeed” app.
• Click “Add to Site” and make use of its 14-day free trial.
• Agree to its terms and conditions by clicking “Agree & Add.”
• Either:
  • Create a new GoDataFeed account and click “Start my Trial.”
  • Sign in to an existing account.
• From your GoDataFeed dashboard, complete the account setup process by actioning each step, including “Connect to Facebook Shops.”
• Sign in to your Facebook account and click “Get Started.”
• Confirm the extension is activated by clicking on the “Meta Business Extension Dashboard” section of your dashboard.
• Follow the steps to set up your shop and sync the products from your Wix site.

Amazon and eBay are popular for booksellers due to the large number of customers and potential reach. Because of this, I recommend that you focus on Amazon and eBay before venturing into social media sales.

Promote Your Online Book Store

Promoting your online bookstore is essential to reach more readers and drive sales. I’ve found that different strategies work better for different niches, so it’s important to tailor your approach to selling books online. Here’s a look at some effective methods you should consider.

• Optimizing for search engines. When selling books online, you’ve got to make sure people can find your bookstore – that’s where SEO comes in. With Wix, you can access built-in SEO tools directly from your dashboard, making it easier to rank on Google.
• Starting an email marketing campaign. Email marketing lets you connect to your audience with little to no investment. You can inform subscribers about new books and promotions or just let them know what you’re reading. If you’re interested in reaching new customers without social media ads, check out our email marketing services review.
• Starting a social media campaign. Social media platforms can be a game-changer for reaching book enthusiasts and improving your bookstore’s engagement. For more information, explore our in-depth social media management tools review.
• Getting help from an expert. If you feel overwhelmed, hiring someone to help you can be a life-saver. They can build your store, design marketing materials, and even manage your social media profiles. Learn more about finding the right freelancer here.

Promoting your site takes time, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Consider selling on Amazon or eBay to get faster results while building your bookstore’s reach. You’ll get direct access to millions of potential buyers and can manage them via your Wix dashboard.

Here’s How To Sell Books Online in 2024

It’s quick and easy to sell your books online. However, you won’t have much luck with those book-buying websites. They’re all about making money, not paying you what your books are really worth.

Creating a site on Wix is the best option if you want to make money from your collection. Once you get it up and running, monitor its performance and update it regularly. This will attract new customers and help you sell your books as quickly as possible.

Remember, the first and most crucial step is to get started. Create a store on Wix and then come back to refine it – it doesn’t have to be perfect right away. Focus on your goals and take that initial step. With a well-planned approach and realistic budget, you can – and will – build a successful online bookstore.

FAQ

Is it worth trying to sell books online?

Yes, it’s definitely worth it, especially if you have a large collection. Although some websites offer way below market value, you can create a website on Wix and sell your books yourself. Wix is an excellent choice due to its large variety of templates and free plan, allowing you to set up your site without worrying about immediate costs or deadlines.

What is the best place to sell books online?

Your own website is the best place to sell books online as you avoid service fees, transaction fees, and low-ball offers. Most book-buying websites buy low and sell high, meaning you don’t need them to make a profit. With Wix, you can design your website, add a product catalog, and start promoting your books in just a few hours.

Where can I sell books for money online?

You have several options, including online bookstores, eBay, Amazon, or social media platforms. Alternatively, using one centralized dashboard, you can use Wix to sell your books on every platform. In doing so, you don’t have to manage several accounts simultaneously and can focus on establishing solid leads and building relationships with potential buyers. 

How can I sell my book effectively online?

The most effective way to sell books online is by creating a Wix site due to its customizable templates, SEO tools, and integrated payment solutions. Plus, you can utilize its eCommerce capabilities to manage inventory and promote your books through social media. For an in-depth approach, read more in the step-by-step guide on building a website in 2024.