Andy asked me to type up a description of the Half.com sales process for a friend of his, and I decided to post it here, as well. I've been selling CD's, DVD's, and books online for us and other people since 2005. If you have zero interest in listing things to sell on Half.com, you'll want to go ahead and skip this one! BORING!


For selling CD's, DVD's, books, or anything with a bar code, my preferred site is Half.com. It is easy to list things on their site as well as manage them. Your inventory will be listed indefinitely until it sells. Half.com takes a cut of 15% of the sale price and gives the rest to you along with the shipping fee that is charged to the customer. I also use Amazon.com, when something is unlistable on Half or is a high value item that I think will sell for more on Amazon. They take 15% of the sale, plus $0.99 on top of that. They also only keep your listings for 60 days, then you have to re-list.

I ship my CD's in padded manila envelopes that I buy in bulk at Sam's Club: http://tinyurl.com/ygfedb3. They easily fit one CD, one DVD, or a small book. I purchased some 9x12" Tyvek envelopes to ship anything that won't fit in the 6x10", such as larger books or multiple CD's. I also keep a roll of bubble wrap for the Tyvek shipments.

I purchased a simple scale at an office supply store to weigh my packages: http://tinyurl.com/yfxp5rx. This saves me from ever having to go to the post office unless a package weighs over 1 lb. At that point, the USPS requires you to bring it inside to them. Most single CD's weigh between 4.5 - 5.7 ounces. For the most recent prices you can look on the USPS website for First Class Mail Retail Parcels. Anything under 7 ounces, it is cheaper to ship First Class than Media Mail. 7 ounces or above, Media Mail is the way to go. I had my own Media Mail stamp made at Office Depot so I wouldn't have to go into the Post Office to get my packages stamped. I don't use it as much anymore - when I first started, Media Mail was the cheapest way to ship, as it really should be.

Once in a while a customer pays for Expedited Shipping. Get some Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes from the Post Office (free) to keep around for these cases. You can print postage for these online at usps.com, and either schedule a pick up or bring it in to the Post Office.

I buy my stamps at usps.com. I go through their "extra postage" listings to find the right combination for what I need. For instance, the current cost to mail a package between 5 and 6 ounces is $2.07. I buy stamps with a value of $1.00, $0.05, and $0.02 to equal what I need. Media Mail under 1 lb costs $2.38, so for that I need 2-$1.00 stamps, 1-$0.10, and 1-$0.28. You only have to figure it out when the rates change, then you're set until they change them again.

I do not print out a packing list or any receipt to include in my packages, and I never buy insurance. I've sold a whole lot of CD's, and I've only had 1 that didn't reach its destination. A quick refund and you're good to go.

I do not keep track of income and sales for myself, but I do have a spreadsheet of sales I do for friends. On Half.com, I go into the payment history folder and cut and paste into an Excel document. Amazon is more difficult, I haven't found a quick way to get data from sales there. I have columns for Date of Sale, Title, Sell Price, S&H reimbursement, Actual S&H Cost, Half.com's cut, My cut, and my client's cut. Half.com's cut is the Sell Price x 15%. My cut is S&H Reimb - Actual S&H + whatever amount I decide to take, usually $0.50 - $1.00 per item to cover my time and supplies. The client's cut is the Sell Price - Half.com's cut - My extra $0.50 to $1.00 cut.

So this is really long, but it's a pretty simple process once you get into it. I hope that helps!