How to make it in the Mail Order Wholesale Book Business.
The real profit in selling books by mail is by
having dealers sell for you. Rather than mailing
out thousands of your own mailing packets, at
today's high postage cost, get hundreds of
thousands mailed out through your own dealers.
This can generate steady orders and profits and
is one of the secrets to a successful mail order
book business.
There are a number of prime source mail order
firms offering good mail order distributorships.
They offer high quality books, reports and folios
that appeal to the public; the kind of
publications that have generated consistently
high profits in the mail order business. You
should give wholesale book selling a try.
Recognise the profit potential and determine if
this method fits inwith your other programs.
Most of the better prime source firms offering
distributorships have a simplified program which
includes instructions, profit tested literature,
sales letters, brochures, order forms and return
envelopes that do the selling for you. The simple
instructions can be followed even by the
experienced person. The oldtimers in mail order
can use the wholesale book selling programs to
supplement their other projects, in many
instances combining book selling with their other
mailing activities with very little added
expense.
Imprinted sales literature, to solicit dealers
and for the dealers to use in selling to the
consumer, is furnished at reasonable prices; or
camera ready copy is usually available so that
the printing can be done locally. The literature
for dealers is priced a little higher than the
cost to pay for processing the order.
The prime source will ship your customers' orders
for literature, brochures, etc, under your
shipping label. They will also drop-ship the
books and publications direct to your dealers,
using your name or label.
Your wholesale cost for publications will vary
depending on whether you have the prime source
drop-ship direct to your dealers, or in quantity
to your place of business. The amount you charge
your dealers will also vary depending on
drop-swhip services or quantify purchases. You,
as the wholesaler, should make every effort to
purchase the publications for a minimum of four
times below retail price.
In other words, you purchase 100 booklets for $2
each = $200; you sell to your dealers at $4 each
= $400; your dealers must realise at least double
his cost when selling to the consumer, or $8 each
= $800.
You must ascertain that the prime source carries
sufficient inventory with a number of different
titles and that titles may be assorted in making
up quantity when you purchase in volume.
Determine if they are posted promptly and if the
prime source pays postage and charges so that
your cost is net. Even though your cost is net,
you must pay for shipping to your dealers; they
must absorb the cost of mailing to their
customers.
The price you have to pay the prime source often
is the determining factor in the success of your
program. If the book retails at a price too low,
considering the high postage and mailing costs,
no profit can be realised by your dealer, nor by
yourself, unless orders are limited to a minimum
number of titles for each total purchase. Be
certain that the program offered by the prime
source allows sufficient margin to pay for all
your costs, and your dealers, while generating a
fair profit for you both.
To find the right programs for your operation
write to a number of firms offering book selling
wholesale programs. These can be found in any of
the hundreds of mail order ad sheets, magazines
and publications available today. (some call it
junk mail, but if they only knew the money-making
potential of the right program, Gold Mail would
be more appropriate).
Get their literature, then order a minimum
starter pack of the programs that interest you
and fit in with your mail order schedule. Make
tests to prove the value of each program. Drop
those that do not prove out after a reasonable
test. When you find one that is hitting, multiply
it cautiously until you know it is a winner, then
go full blast in every direction to make it pay
off BIG. For more details of wholesale programs
and publications on disk, contact the publisher
of this title.
