When selling books on Amazon, it’s important to know about the different book condition guidelines that are in place. Why? Because you need to ensure you’re accurately representing the condition of your book to potential customers.
By accurately representing the condition of your book, you’re providing information a customer needs to make a decision about purchasing your book.
I sell lots of books, and I’ve had to judge the condition of thousands of books since I started my Amazon business in 2015, so I know how to accurately determine the condition of the books you’re selling.
General Condition Guidelines
Before we dive into the specifics of book conditions, there are some general guidelines to know when selling books on Amazon.
First, a book must be complete in order to be considered for sale on Amazon. This means that if your book is missing any pages, you will not be able to sell it on Amazon. In addition, any books that have been damaged to the point where they are no longer readable are also not eligible for sale on Amazon.
Second, books that are promotional copies, advance reading copies, uncorrected proofs, or copies of to-be published books can’t be sold on Amazon. I mention this because you will occasionally find promo copies or advance reading copies at library book sales, so don’t try to sell them on Amazon.
Amazon Book Conditions
There are 5 conditions for books as defined by Amazon, which are:
- New
- Used – Like New
- Used – Very Good
- Used – Good
- Used – Acceptable
Here are what they each mean in detail:
New: A new book is exactly as it sounds. This is a new copy with its cover, pages, and any original protective wrapping (such as shrink wrap) undamaged.
It’s important to note that books with any markings, labels, or damage can’t be listed as New.
Used – Like New: A book in “Like New” condition can only have minor flaws, such as very minor wear. A “Like New” book will not be missing the dust jacket, have writing or highlighting, or have any other major flaw.
Used – Very Good: A book in “Very Good” condition can have several minor flaws to the cover, pages, or dust jacket. Unlike “Like New” condition, a “Very Good” book can have a missing dust jacket.
“Very Good” is the most common category I choose to list used books I sell, because it’s the most common condition I find most used books to be in.
Used – Good: A “Good” book is like a “Very Good” book, except a bit more beaten up. All of the pages need to be intact; some writing can be present. A “Good” book may also have library stamps and minor wear to the spine.
Used – Acceptable: A book in “Acceptable” condition usually has some kind of minor damage that doesn’t quite render the book unreadable. “Acceptable” condition can have significant writing/highlighting, minor water damage, but important to note is the text must be readable.
Amazon specifically prohibits the sale of books with missing pages or unreadable text, so if the book is so badly damaged as to be incomplete or unreadable, it can’t be sold at all, even in “Acceptable” condition.
If you want to read Amazon’s book condition guidelines page yourself, you can find it here if you have an Amazon Seller Central account.
Collectible Books
There is also a special category for books, called “Collectible”, which identifies books that are somehow unique, and therefore collectible. These types of books include:
- First editions
- Signed copies
- Advance copies
- Out of print
Collectible books have their own set of condition definitions, which are:
- Collectible – Like New
- Collectible – Very Good
- Collectible – Good
- Collectible – Acceptable
These condition definitions are generally the same as the ones I described above, but if you want to see Amazon’s exact wording for each one, you can find it here.
Determining Condition
Now that you know what each condition type is, how do you actually determine a book’s condition?
There are several factors to evaluate a book’s condition. These are:
- Damage to the pages, covers, spine, or dust jacket
- Wear to the covers, pages, or dust jacket
- Stickers for price or to denote the book was sold at a particular store
- Library stamps on the inside or outside of the book
- Writing or highlighting on or in the book
- Remainder marks
Let’s talk about each factor in detail.
Damage
Damage includes any tears, rips, punctures, etc. to either the pages, to either cover, or to the spine. Damage has a serious effect on a book’s condition, so a book with a lot of damage would never be considered “Like New”, and significant damage will render a book unsellable.
Even if the damage isn’t so severe that it makes the book unreadable, I usually don’t sell damaged books, because I find damaged books generate customer complaints.
Wear
I consider wear to be different than damage, because wear is not as severe an issue as damage. Wear includes dog-eared pages, rounded corners on the cover, or scuff marks to the dust jacket or cover.
Most used books you find to resell will have some amount of wear on them, so this is the most common condition factor you’ll encounter.
I would assign a book with minor to moderate wear, and no other major issues, “Very Good” condition.
Stickers
Books sometimes have stickers on them for a variety of reasons. I’ve seen stickers that promote a sale price, stickers advertising the store the book was sold by, or stickers listing supplemental materials the book may have originally have come with.
Some stickers are even cross-promotional, meaning the book is being marketed with the sticker as a tie-in to a movie, TV show, or video game being released.
Whatever their original purpose, stickers may affect the condition of the book. This is especially true if they have partially torn away and damaged the book, which is very common with stickers on the front or back cover of a book.
If the sticker hasn’t damaged the book or it doesn’t heavily detract from the appearance of the book, I give the book a grade of “Very Good”.
Library Markings
One of the many ways to find used books to sell on Amazon is at library book sales. Not surprisingly, some of the books available at a library book sale come from the library itself.
Former library books almost always have a stamp identifying the library inside the cover, and can also have a stamp on the bottom that says something like “WITHDRAWN”.
Books can even have the old card catalog sleeve showing due dates glued onto the rear cover, as seen in the picture below.
Writing/Highlighting
Some books, especially non-fiction and textbooks, contain writing and/or highlighting from previous owners. It’s important to note this in the condition notes of your book listing, because some people find highlighting distracting. Highlighting can especially be an issue with used textbooks, because not every student highlights the same text in a book.
Remainder Marks
If you’ve never seen one, a remainder mark is a small ink dot or line, usually on the bottom edge of the pages of the exterior of the book (see picture below).
Remainder marks are put on a book by publishers to identify books they are liquidating or books that have been returned to them from bookstores.
Books with remainder marks are not “New” books, so they should be sold as one of the “Used” conditions described above.
If a book’s only condition feature is a remainder mark, and its otherwise pristine, this is a case where I may say it is in “Like New” condition.
My Process for Choosing the Correct Condition
How do I figure out what condition a book is in?
The first thing I do is to examine the entire exterior of the book by turning it over in my hands. I’m looking for damage, like scratches or tears, wear to the cover, and also marks, stickers, or anything else that is detrimental to the condition of the book.
Once I get a good look at the exterior, I check the inside covers for damage, wear, marks, etc., and I quickly flip through the pages to look for writing or highlighting.
It takes a little time to figure out how best to do this, but with practice you’ll quickly become a good judge of a book’s condition.
As I said earlier, most used books I find are in “Very Good” condition, so sometimes I’m just looking for a reason to not choose “Very Good”.
If you’re trying to choose the correct condition of the book but you aren’t sure which one to choose, err on the side of a lesser condition. For example, if you’re not sure if a book is “Like New” or “Very Good”, be conservative and choose “Very Good”. That way, if someone decides to buy your book, they won’t be surprised by getting a book in a worse condition than they expected.
This will help to reduce your return rate and customer complaints, which are both something Amazon tracks very closely, and can have an impact on your Amazon “Account Health” score in Seller Central.
Include Condition Notes
You should include a condition note with every used book you sell. Why? First, it allows you to set expectations with the customer regarding the condition of the book you’re selling.
Second, it’s an additional marketing opportunity for selling your book or describing your business.
The condition note in the image below is both descriptive and allows the seller to mention their slogan “Read More, Spend Less”.
If you’re an FBA seller, the condition note is an opportunity to mention how your book will ship fast with Amazon Prime shipping.
I’ve also seen the condition note used by book sellers in the U.K. to state the shipping times to the U.S. will be 6 – 10 days or something similar, because the book has to fly across the ocean to get to the customer!
Frequently Asked Questions About Book Condition and Selling on Amazon
Can books with water damage be sold on Amazon?
Yes!
Ideally, books should be free of water damage if you plan to sell it on Amazon. However, if the book has a small amount of water damage, you can sell it on Amazon. Make sure to choose the condition of “Used – Acceptable”, because minor water damage is explicitly listed by Amazon as a factor for the “Acceptable” condition type. Also make sure to mention the water damage in the condition note.
Can books with warped spines be sold on Amazon?
I sometimes sell books with warped or bent spines, but only after trying to rehabilitate the book first.
You can often fix a bent or warped spine by putting a lot of weight on the book for several days. I’ve stacked other heavy books on the book with the bent spine, and in some cases, I’ve used a bench vise to force the book back into its original shape.
This is a lot of effort to put into a single book, so make sure you’re only doing this for a book you can sell for a high price.
Also, if you can’t get the book to a condition where a customer would be happy with it, just don’t sell it!
Can books with missing dust jackets be sold on Amazon?
Yes, you can sell a book that is missing its dust jacket, but the highest condition you can give it is “Very Good” according to Amazon’s guidelines.
Also note that the value of collectible books can go down a lot if they are missing their dust jacket.
In case you don’t know, a dust jacket, also known as a dust cover, is the protective outer paper wrapping on a book, usually (but not exclusively) found on hardcover books.
Final Tips
Remember these key points about book conditions and selling on Amazon:
- The 5 conditions for books when selling on Amazon are:
- “New”
- “Used – Like New”
- “Used – Very Good”
- “Used – Good”
- “Used – Acceptable”
- Books that are unreadable or incomplete can’t be sold on Amazon
- Always include a condition note when listing your book for sale on Amazon
- Most used books are in “Very Good” condition, so describe it as such, unless it’s obvious the book is in better or worse condition
- Quickly and accurately judging a book’s condition comes with practice
Additional Resources
Here are some additional resources you may be interested in:
Amazon has a book selling step-by-step guide that’s an interesting read if you’re new to selling books on Amazon and want to learn more.
You can find Amazon’s general condition guide, which covers more than just books, here.
Amazon also has a condition guide for its customers you can see here.
Amazon’s requirements for items being sold as new can be found here.
If you’re looking for used books to resell, you can find a list of library book sales here.
Now that you know how to properly grade a book’s condition, check out my list of pros and cons of attending library book sales here.
Need some tools to help you get books ready to sell? Check out my list of must-have tools here.