Bookstores.com is a convenient venue to connect potential buyers and potential booksellers
in a secure environment. Bookstores.com is committed to creating a safe and reputable
marketplace for customers to do business.
There is no charge to list your items for sale on Bookstores.com. If your item sells
directly on Bookstores.com, Bookstores.com will deduct a small commission (15%)
from the item's selling price. We do not take a commission for an order created
on one of your other sales channels. Bookstores.com does not impose
an additional commission on top of your commission paid to the site you’re selling
on (ex Amazon, Bookbyte, etc.) We take nothing for those sales.
Booksellers may list all types of books including, but not limited to fiction, non-fiction,
children's books, and textbooks. However, we do not allow booksellers to list stolen
items, pornography, electric versions of books and counterfeit, pirated, or knockoff
versions of books. For a complete list, please review our
Bookseller Policy.
Bookstores.com is the first (and only) marketplace on the web to natively support
all types of books--including international, instructors, and annotated editions
of textbooks.
There are several methods booksellers may use to list books.
- One Title at a Time. Recommended for individuals who only have
a few titles.
- Upload a file. For volume booksellers who wish to use our convenient
web interface.
- Automation Software. Bookstores.com is compatible with automation
agents such as FillZ, the Art of Books, BookTrakker and More. Please contact us
if you don't see your Automation Agent listed when signing up.
As a bookseller, it is your responsibility to ensure that booktraits such as international
edition, instructor's edition, etc. are properly noted and maintained with all titles
you list.
Bookseller Customer Service Information should contain useful details for buyers
such as return policy (or lack thereof), estimated delivery times for standard/expedited
shipping, and customer service information. * Please enter your return policy promptly,
even if it is “We do not accept returns.” If no return policy is entered a standard
14 days from the date of delivery policy applies.
Booksellers are required to accept returns within 14 days of delivery. Items must
be returned in the same condition in which they were sent. Modest restocking fees
no greater than 15% of item cost may be assessed.
Yes. Bookstores.com brings over two decades of experience in the book industry and
an established record of performance to provide a safe and supportive venue for
our booksellers. Bookstores.com takes every precaution to protect our booksellers
and their information. You can rest assured that Bookstores.com is not only a safe
place to do business, but also a good place to do business.
No. Bookstores.com only features books.
Signing up to be a bookseller on Bookstores.com is a two step process. For detailed
instructions, please visit our
How to become a bookseller page.
There is no signup fee and there is no charge to list your items for sale on Bookstores.com.
If your item sells directly on Bookstores.com, we will deduct a small commission
(15%) from the item's selling price or 15 cents per item, whichever is larger. Bookstores.com
does NOT charge monthly fees, listing fees, per-transaction fees, closing fees,
or other book charges that some competitor sites charge. You are not charged by
Bookstores.com unless you make a sale directly on Bookstores.com.
Yes. We have the most generous shipping credit policy in the industry. We give you
100% of what we collect. That's $2.99 for standard and $5.49 for expedited.
We offer several payment options for booksellers:
- Check (by mail)
- PayPal (Deposited into PayPal account)
- ACH (Direct deposit into bank account)
Payments are issued bimonthly and are processed two weeks after the close of a billing
cycle. This method helps to limit chargebacks for returns. Billing cycles end on
the 15th and last day of each month. If the day payment processing is scheduled
(typically the 16th or first day of each month) falls on a weekend or holiday, then
payments are processed on the following business day.
When we attempt to issue payment and a bookseller's PayPal or bank information is
returned to us as invalid, that payment is defaulted to a check. The bookseller
must re-enter their PayPal or bank information in order to receive payment via PayPal
or ACH in the future.
Please note that Bookstores.com is not responsible for payments that are not received
due to incorrect address, PayPal email address, or bank account information found
within a bookseller's account. Although we make every attempt to ensure your payment
is sent to the proper location, it is the bookseller's responsibility to verigy
that the financial information is correctly entered.
There are two reasons why Bookstores.com requires all booksellers to enter a valid
credit card number for their bookseller account. First it will protect buyers and
benefit booksellers by helping to minimize fraud. Secondly, a credit card will provide
an efficient method to collect outstanding credit balances due to Bookstores.com
refunds and cancellations. Bookstores.com greatly values all of our booksellers
and we are committed to creating a safe and efficient venue for them to do business.
Yes. This requirement applies to all booksellers.
Your credit card will only be charged if your account is "in the red" at the end
of a billing cycle.
Booksellers who do not enter a valid credit card number will be unable to create
an account.
Yes. Booksellers who are "in the red" at the end of a billing cycle will receive
an email stating their card was charged for the negative balance.
Booksellers may login and change their credit card information on the
credit card settings page.
No. The security code on the back of your credit card is used only to verify your
identity and limit fraud and is not stored by Bookstores.com.
What is Optima?
Optima is FREE web-based inventory management software designed
by booksellers for booksellers. When you use Optima, your books are automatically
listed for sale on Bookstores.com. Optima is also integrated with several popular
marketplaces like Amazon.com, Abebooks.com, Barnes and Nobel, etc, and allows you
to manage and control your inventory for all of your marketplace accounts in one
convenient location. Orders are received into our database, the item is removed
from inventory, and this change is uploaded to all of your marketplace accounts
to help ensure you never double sell again.
What are the features offered by Optima?
Optima has several exciting and useful tools for booksellers, including channel
automation, price automation, and a built in customer service system. Sellers are
able to activate sales channels for all of the popular bookseller marketplaces and
manage their inventory and orders right through Optima. Using Optima is truly free
– when you upload your inventory and activate sales channels, we do not take any
commissions from orders placed on your marketplace sites (other than orders placed
directly on Bookstores.com.) Payments and commissions for orders placed on other
marketplaces are between you and the platform the book is sold on – we do not take
any additional commissions on top of commission paid to the site you’re selling
on (for example, Amazon.com.)
Price automation is also offered for Optima users. Users can make various pricing
rules, ranging from the very specific to the very general. Price rules can be applied
to your entire inventory, a group of inventory, or to specific SKUs. Be sure to
upload cost when you upload your inventory to take advantage of unique features
offered by Optima’s price automation function. Uploading cost helps you fine tune
that bottom line and prevent you from selling below your breakeven point, or a set
markup. The choice is yours!
With our built in customer service system, you can keep correspondence with customers
organized. Our system automatically scans each Email and matches it to the appropriate
order number. Make folders to sort emails and keep things organized. Setting up
filters allows you to immediately filter incoming Emails into the appropriate folder
so urgent matters can be tended to at once. Our customer service system allows you
to create and store pre-filled responses to minimize the time necessary to respond
to cases.
Is there a charge to use Optima?
No. Optima is completely free! When you upload your inventory into Optima, your
books will automatically be listed for sale on Bookstores.com. If an item sells
on Bookstores.com, we take the standard 15% commission. Full shipping credits of
$2.99 (standard) and $5.49 (expedited) are given to the seller – we do not take
a cut. However, using Optima is completely free.
Which marketplaces are integrated with Optima?
Optima is integrated with several popular marketplaces, including:
- Abebooks.com
- Alibris.com
- Amazon.com
- Amazon.ca
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.de
- Amazon.fr
- BarnesandNobel.com
- Biblio.com
- Bookbyte.com
- Bookstores.com
- eBay.com
- Half.com
- TextbooksRus.com
- TextbookX.com
- ValoreBooks.com
For more information on supported features (confirm, cancel, refund) for each marketplace,
please view our matrix.
How do I set up Optima with my seller accounts?
Before you setup Optima we highly recommend that you make a backup copy of your
inventory. The activation of each sales channel will replace the inventory on that
marketplace (i.e. Amazon, Abebooks, Valorebooks, etc.) with your current Bookstores.com
inventory. If you do not have any inventory listed for Bookstores.com, your inventory
on the sales channel will be replaced with nothing, essentially purging your inventory.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you make a backup copy of your inventory prior
to activating each sales channel.
When you are ready to activate sales channels, here is the basic procedure you should
follow.
Process Overview:
- Make a backup of your inventory data.
- Load your inventory into Bookstores.com.
- Purge your inventory on the remote site.
- Login to the remote site and verify your inventory was purged.
- Configure the settings in your Sales Channel Dashboard.
- Activate your sales channel and allow time for inventory propagation and verify
listings are present.
A more detailed description of each step is also
available.
How can I learn more?
Ready to learn more? Please take a moment to view our
Optima demo and learn how to start selling more books at higher prices today!
Optima has a full time seller support staff dedicated to you! Please contact
seller-support@bookstores.com with any questions. Seller support vows to
answer all inquiries within 1 business day.