Book dropshipping business allows you to set up a storefront where you sell books without having to worry about inventory or shipping logistics.
When a customer places an order, you notify your book supplier—such as Amazon FBA, AmericanBookCo, etc. who ships the products directly to the customer.
Before you do anything, gather all relevant information, make sure you have the right budget, and get to know some key dimensions of this business model.
Probably wondering how to begin? Don’t worry!
This article has everything you need to start dropshipping books.
To start a profitable book dropshipping business.
- Understand What Book Dropshipping Really Means
- Study Your Market
- Pick a Niche
- Find Top-Selling Books and Genres in That Niche
- Study How Existing Authors and Publishers Are Promoting Their Books
- Choose an Ecommerce Platform
- Set up Your Store
- Choose a Payment Method
- Familiarize Yourself With Relevant Dropshipping Tools
- Select Your Book Suppliers
- Set up Shipping
- Promote Your Book Dropshipping Business
Alright! Let’s dig in deeper.
1. Understand What Book Dropshipping Really Means
To start dropshipping books like a pro, understand what book dropshipping really means.
With book dropshipping, you sell someone else’s books for a profit, through a third-party—fulfillment company—without having to worry about storage and shipment.
Note that this business model involves selling physical books. You have a huge product selection of books from different authors and genres, giving you the option to diversify within your niche.
Pay attention to these tips when setting up a book dropshipping business:
- Verify books before placing them in your store. Make sure they are from reliable authors or publishers.
- Read customer reviews on your targeted books to be sure they have what it takes to occupy your storefront. Remember, customers, rate your store based on the book quality you list.
- You don’t need a business license to start a book dropshipping business, especially as a beginner. So, don’t hinge on that as a reason not to begin. However, get a business license as your business keeps growing. With a business license, you cover legal costs and get product liability insurance.
- Don’t dropship pirated books, unless you enjoy being behind bars.
- Note that you’ll need to pay taxes as a business. Consult a lawyer, an accountant, or a financial expert on the basic requirements.
These tips are crucial as you get started with the book dropshipping business.
2. Study Your Market
To dropship books and make a decent living, study your market to know whom you are up against. Call this your preparatory stage.
Know the current industry outlook on book dropshipping using metrics such as the market size, trends, and projected growth. Gather relevant data to back up your conclusion on the research.
Study the competition to know who your competitors’ target audiences are, their offerings, locations, market advantages, and disadvantages.
Use competitive analysis frameworks such as Growth-share Matrix, Perceptual Mapping, and Customer Journey Map to gather intel for your book dropshipping business.
Gather additional data from state and local ecommerce websites, information from focus groups within your target market, and trade journal articles.
Use findings from the market surveys such as emerging trends, customers’ demographic, purchasing power, needs, and demands to pick the best niche for your business.
These metrics impact the overall performance of your book dropshipping business.
3. Pick a Niche
To start dropshipping books like an expert, choose a target market, so you can tailor your ad campaign effectively.
At this point, you have all relevant data from your market survey such as emerging trends, customers’ demographic, purchasing power, needs, and demands. Use the data to pick the best niche for you.
Pay attention to key factors—such as age, location, income, educational level, occupation, marital or family status, and gender—to get things started the right way.
Decide on the kind of audience your store exists for (such as children, adults, religious, business class, etc.) and narrow your search to what’s trending.
Conduct research using relevant tools like Google Trends so you know what books are currently trending in the market, including the most popular book categories.
Consider that as you prepare to kick things off, so you won’t go “running around in circles.”
4. Find Top-Selling Books and Genres in That Niche
To start dropshipping books like an expert, find top-selling books and genres within your niche.
Observe key factors like the number of sales the book has, reviews from customers, and appearance on popular bestselling lists such as New York Times and Guinness World Records.
Also, check its performance on book ecommerce platforms such as Amazon. For instance, Amazon offers a powerful search function that helps you zero in on your quest.
To find top-selling books from Amazon, go to Amazon’s home page and click “Books.” Click on “Best Sellers” in the bookstore and choose a genre using the links on the left side of your page. Select a subgenre to further narrow your search and see a list of best-selling books.
5. Study How Existing Authors and Publishers Are Promoting Their Books
o begin a successful book dropshipping business, study how existing authors and publishers are promoting their books. That way, you gather relevant info to promote yours.
Note that most authors and publishers use a multi-platform promotional strategy (promoting across different online platforms) to reach consumers beyond the platform on which their store exists.
Pay attention to some of the ways authors and publishers are promoting their books:
- Book Fair: Promote your books by meeting with authors and readers and sharing ideas about the kind of books people enjoy reading.
- Social Media: Create specific content for your social media pages where you promote your book business using instruments such as memes, book reviews, book descriptions, etc. to create awareness.
- Writers Conference: Use the Writers Conference to promote your book business where different writers meet to hone their crafts, rub minds with fellow authors, and share promotional strategies.
6. Choose an Ecommerce Platform
To kick off a lucrative book dropshipping business, pick a trustworthy ecommerce website where you can build your store.
The platform you choose for your store plays an important role in the overall performance of your business.
Whatever you do, pay attention to Shopify and Amazon.
Use Shopify’s easy-to-use, customizable features to create a unique dropshipping book store. Leverage Shopify’s business tools and plugins so you can integrate your social media accounts for business promotions. You can also link payment methods to your store.
Or…
Build your book dropshipping store on Amazon which has two ecommerce plans: individual and professional plans. The individual plan comes with a $0.99 fee plus an additional selling fee per item sold. While the professional plan comes with a $39.99 fee plus an additional selling fee per month.
Pick what works best for your business plan.
7. Set Up Your Storefront
To make millions of dollars dropshipping books, establish an enthralling online store that your future customers can easily browse to find—and purchase—their next literary gems.
Sign up with the most suitable platform—Shopify or Amazon, among others—to get your store up and running.
Be clear about what you sell. Visitors should, within seconds, tell the kind of books your store sells. Clearly spell out your business mission and vision, including your core values.
Make sure your book store is optimized and is responsive to all devices—laptops, desktops, iPads, or Phones, especially on mobile devices.
Include a clear call-to-action to guide visitors while they are in your store. Add unique book descriptions (title, author, etc.) to increase your return rate and visibility.
Develop a unique writing style and tone for your product description and content creation.
Design a unique business logo and use a fitting color combination for your branding.
8. Set Up a Payment Method
To begin a book dropshipping business, set up a payment method so you can send and receive payments.
Use “Shopify Payments” (owned by Shopify), and “Amazon Pay” (owned by Amazon) to efficiently manage and process payments on your store without involving third-party payment gateways.
PayPal and Payoneer are also bigwigs in this service. Each has its pros and cons. The good news is that both Shopify and Amazon allow these payment gateways.
Read the terms and conditions of the gateway you end up choosing for your business.
9. Familiarize Yourself With Relevant Dropshipping Software
To start dropshipping books, even as a beginner, get used to relevant dropshipping software so you can automate the process between sales channels and suppliers.
With dropshipping software, you can automate things like managing multiple suppliers, updating order tracking information, creating listings, etc. This saves you a lot of time to do other productive things.
Whatever you do, pay attention to these software:
- Inventory Source: Comes with an all-in-one solution that automates the entire dropshipping process including syncing inventory, uploading products, inventory management, etc.
- Modalyst: Integrates with Shopify to manage private label manufacturers, explore designer brands, source the best suppliers, etc.
- Spocket: Compares different suppliers around the world so you can find the best products to sell.
Note that each software comes with subscription fees.
10. Select Your Book Suppliers
To begin dropshipping books like a pro, get the right suppliers who take care of the shipment process on your behalf.
There are several dropshipping suppliers for books you can choose from—Amazon FBA, Acutrack, AmericanBookCo, etc.
Choose the best supplier that provides your business needs. Check customer reviews to gather relevant data to guide your choices.
Verify each supplier’s shipping fees, including supplementary charges that come with their services. Gather all necessary info before choosing your supply.
11. Set Up Shipping
Set up shipping so you get the necessary things in place—shipping profiles, rates, and location.
12. Market Your Book Dropshipping Business
To start a well-paid book dropshipping business, promote your business to get more sales.
Don’t forget to optimize your store along with the descriptions for your site page, products, and meta titles.
Use tools like Google Business Profile and Google Shopping so customers can search your store locally.
Use email campaigns to connect you with your customers and direct them to your landing page. Install email plugins—such as MailPoet, Sumo, and SendPress— to automate your email collection process so you can promote your store at a low cost.
Leverage the power of social media marketing, hiring influencers to promote your business, and writing compelling content to attract visitors.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Recap
To begin a lucrative book dropshipping business, understand what dropshipping books really means, and conduct a viable market survey.
Pick the right niche for you and choose an ecommerce platform where you can build your book store.
Find top-selling books and genres in that niche and study how existing authors and publishers are promoting their books.
Set up your store to make it appealing so customers can have a wonderful experience while in your store.
Choose a payment gateway so you can send and receive payments. Also, familiarize yourself with relevant dropshipping tools.
Finally, select your book suppliers that fit your business model, set up shipping, and market your business to increase exposure and sales.
