Are there any Canadian Book Sellers here? I need some advice.

[musicyouneed]

I have a couple of old collectible books around the house that I am wanting to sell.  I am just in the process of doing some research to see if it is worth it.   What is going to kill the buyer is shipping.  I am wondering what you do?

1.  The book weighs 355 grams and is 5.5" by 8".  It just makes it though the slot for oversized letter mail (for Canada) as long as I only ship it in a brown wrapper.   I calculate that it would be $4.70 to ship within Canada and 10.66 small packet to the US.  Too expensive to ship international. 

What do you ship your books in?

Have you ever shipped with just plain brown wrapper, did it arrive OK?

Any suggestions feedback etc. 

[femmefan1946]

If the books are valuable, a plain paper wrapper would not be acceptable.

At the least, wrapping in  bubble wrap is necessary. You may also want to box the book.

Don't forget a plastic bag (I use food storage bags, not ziplock) for waterproofing.

And I prefer to use poly envelopes to paper ones. Waterproofing and hard to open.

Nothing is too expensive to ship. Internationally or otherwise. If the buyer wants it, that is part of the cost of buying it.

I've sold underground comix to the Netherlands where the shipping was double the selling price. No problem. Most of my hardcovers sell for $10 and shipping can run to $30 or more even in Canada. Still if the buyer wants it....

Which costs more?

A $5 item with $10 shipping?

A $10 item with $5 shipping?

The total cost is what the buyer pays. No matter how it is made up.

BTW, if you can offer Free Shipping within Canada (you add the shipping cost to the asking price and adjust Flat Rate shipping cost for other destinations) you will pay no shipping FVF on any of the shipping costs, no matter how high.

The best place I have found to ascertain the current market for collectible books is Addall.com which collects asking prices from a dozen other bookselling sites. As usual, be sure the item you are researching is the same edition and grade as those being offered. And remember these are the books that have NOT sold.

[maggiebvintage2010]

If you look up the cost of Small Packet USA for that 355 gram book, I think you will find the same $10.66 to US, and you can package it more suitably for shipping, since you're not limited to 2mm thickness.  BTW, you have not calculated the tax on your domestic shipping of $4.70 - that adds up to $5.31, and at the least you need a poly mailer.  As "femme" wrote, only the potential buyer can decide if international shipping is too expensive.