Is there a way to sell ebooks?

[GomerBoy]

First off, Merry Christmas everyone! I am so happy because I got my very first Kindle today (Kindle Touch)! I am rushing through the paperbook I am currently reading, so I can get to reading virtual lol! Anyway, I thought of a question today when I was exploring my new device...is there a way to sell an ebook that you don't want anymore?

You can definitely sell hardcover/paperback books you don't want anymore, can you sell ebooks also?

[jbcohen]

I believe doing this is illegal.

[KimberlyinMN]

is there a way to sell an ebook that you don't want anymore?

You can definitely sell hardcover/paperback books you don't want anymore, can you sell ebooks also?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.  We don't actually "own" the ebook - we are purchasing a license to use the book.

[mikeschr]

The short answer is no, you can't.

It's not illegal in the U.S. at all.  There's a legal principle called "doctrine of first sale" which allows you to re-sell an item you've purchased.  The problem is that there's no effective way to resell e-books because of the DRM.  Even if you sold your copy of the file, the other person wouldn't be able to read the book, because it's linked to your Kindle.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't know of any legal impediment to reselling books that don't have DRM (which applies to very few books on Amazon.)

EDIT:  I read up on this some more, and the legal question is apparently up in the air.  One US court has held that software licensing, even without a definite term, is still a lease and therefore not subject to first-sale doctrine.  A strange decision for an item with no term length and no requirement to be returned, to be called a lease, but that's the US courts these days.
Anyway, there's no way to do it with Kindle books.

[ElaineOK]

The legality of reselling books bought without DRM probably hinges on what it is that you bought.  If you bought the book, then fine; but you probably just bought a license.  If so, that license is probably not legally transferrable.

Elaine
Norman, OK

[sheiler1963]

I suppose if you were a jerk you could use the 'book loan' feature to convince ppl to give you $$ for things that should be and are free. Why anyone would choose this....no clue.

[Betsy the Quilter]

I suppose if you were a jerk you could use the 'book loan' feature to convince ppl to give you $$ for things that should be and are free. Why anyone would choose this....no clue.

Not sure where you're going with this, sheiler? it's not what GomerBoy has asked about.

GB--there's no way to sell ebooks from Amazon--the Terms of Service make it quite clear that you can't do that.

Betsy

[GomerBoy]

Not sure where you're going with this, sheiler? it's not what GomerBoy has asked about.

GB--there's no way to sell ebooks from Amazon--the Terms of Service make it quite clear that you can't do that.

Betsy

Thank you for clearly answering my question Betsy.  I am new to the Kindle world and was just wondering.

[GomerBoy]

So I guess I will be going to my public library once and a while, so I don't have to use up a lot of money on actually buying books.

[KimberlyinMN]

So I guess I will be going to my public library once and a while, so I don't have to use up a lot of money on actually buying books.

Don't forget to check to see if your library has ebook borrowing enabled!!    If so, you can browse and check out the ebooks online... My library allows me to have up to 10 ebooks checked out at a time with a lending period of 14 or 21 days.

[BTackitt]

also there are THOUSANDS of FREE books to read from Amazon. I think there were 600+ new just today.

[acellis]

Interesting thread.

[jbcohen]

The short answer is no, you can't.

It's not illegal in the U.S. at all. There's a legal principle called "doctrine of first sale" which allows you to re-sell an item you've purchased. The problem is that there's no effective way to resell e-books because of the DRM. Even if you sold your copy of the file, the other person wouldn't be able to read the book, because it's linked to your Kindle.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't know of any legal impediment to reselling books that don't have DRM (which applies to very few books on Amazon.)

EDIT:  I read up on this some more, and the legal question is apparently up in the air.  One US court has held that software licensing, even without a definite term, is still a lease and therefore not subject to first-sale doctrine.  A strange decision for an item with no term length and no requirement to be returned, to be called a lease, but that's the US courts these days.
Anyway, there's no way to do it with Kindle books.

Actually from a purely technological basis its possible and doable, I simply do not like to run around telling people that I know how to get around the DRM issue.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Note that DRM or not, possible or not, Amazon's TOS are quite clear about reselling their content. Not allowed, as has already been said.  We'll keep this thread on the original topic, however, which was NOT about getting around DRM.

So I guess I will be going to my public library once and a while, so I don't have to use up a lot of money on actually buying books.

As folks have said, getting library books online--check with your local library or neighboring library systems that may have reciprocity with yours.  Generally, one starts with creating an online account using one's library card number.

We have many threads here on KindleBoards for finding free books.  One is at the top of the Book Bazaar.  There is another sticky at the top of the Book Corner with resources for books.

And the authors who post in the Book Bazaar will post if their book is free.

Betsy

[Beatriz]

First off, Merry Christmas everyone! I am so happy because I got my very first Kindle today (Kindle Touch)! I am rushing through the paperbook I am currently reading, so I can get to reading virtual lol! Anyway, I thought of a question today when I was exploring my new device...is there a way to sell an ebook that you don't want anymore?

You can definitely sell hardcover/paperback books you don't want anymore, can you sell ebooks also?

I think you can loan a book.  I don't think you can resell it.

[mooshie78]

Lack of ability to resale or give away is definitely one of the objective drawbacks to e-books.

Personally, I don't mind that much as I'm fine paying just to read an e-book and hated hassling with selling/donating paper books previously.  I seldom re-read, so there's not much point in keeping most books around so I always ended up donating a bunch of books every time I moved.  With e-books at least I don't have to worry about that stuff.

But it is a downside for people who liked recouping some of their costs by selling books after finishing them.  Or liked giving books to friends or family members after finishing them.  With DRM Kindle e-books the most you legally can do is loan them once, and a lot of books don't even allow that.  So it's definitely a downside for some.

However, it's also just the nature of digital goods vs. physical goods.  With a paper book if you sell it or give it away you no longer have your copy.  With digital files one could sell or give away multiple copies and still keep their own.  But I think they could tweak the lending system to allow more than one lending, permanent license transfers etc. as a way to get around that and make it work more like paper books where you can only lend to one person at a time (or sell/give it away once) and don't have access to your copy when it's gone.

[Okey Dokey]

One bright side of this issue for authors:

Amazon can not list "used" copies along side your listing of your ebook.

[mikeschr]

Note that DRM or not, possible or not, Amazon's TOS are quite clear about reselling their content. Not allowed, as has already been said...

The reason that the legality of reselling matters is because Amazon (or anyone) can't put terms into the TOS that are illegal.  Amazon can say that you can't resell e-books (and right now there's no practical way to do it), but they may not have the right to enforce that.
Amazon could create a procedure for transferring your book to another account, and they may be eventually forced to do that, regardless of the TOS.
None of that will happen anytime soon, though.

[SusanCassidy]

Pretty much all ebook retailers have something similar in their TOS that says you cannot give away or sell your copy of an ebook.

[Museman]

Don't forget to check to see if your library has ebook borrowing enabled!!    If so, you can browse and check out the ebooks online... My library allows me to have up to 10 ebooks checked out at a time with a lending period of 14 or 21 days.

My library (Berkeley, CA) has some ebooks but evidently not a lot. I browsed their entire collection, and it turned out to be around 50 books, most of which I'd never heard of, so I wasn't particularly curious. There were a handful that interested me. Every book it seemed was already out on loan, but I put a hold on 2 or 3 and they'll send me an email when they are available for checkout. I'll have 3 days time then to initiate the download, which self-expires after the term, which I presume is a couple of weeks. I figure that eventually they'll have a lot more, but right now it seems to just be a bunch of novels. I just got my first e reader a couple of days ago, and 3rd gen. Kindle Keyboard.

[Ann in Arlington]

Amazon could create a procedure for transferring your book to another account, and they may be eventually forced to do that, regardless of the TOS.

Well, if they develop such a procedure, I expect they'll modify their Terms of Service.    I'd actually like that as I'd pass some books that I've already read on to some friends who have less money to waste spend on books. Of course, I have several Kindle devices, so I can loan any of my kindle books for any amount of time, by simply loaning a device.  I would do that. . . .or allow a trusted friend to register to my account so they can share my library legitimately. 

Anyway, I, personally, don't really care about whether it's legal or not.  I agreed to the Terms of Service so I am going to abide by them.  I won't be stripping DRM, or giving away/selling Kindles with content intact or anything like that.

Maybe the ToS are non-enforceable, and if they truly created undue hardship or were the equivalent of "cruel and unusual", an argument could be made that there's no obligation to abide by them.  I don't think either thing is true and, the fact remains, I agreed to them when I bought my Kindle and agree again every time I purchase a Kindle book.  I accepted the limitations.  

Oh, and, as I've bought over 1300 kindle books, I'm pretty sure "I didn't know" wouldn't fly as an excuse, either.

[mikeschr]

I agreed to the Terms of Service so I am going to abide by them.  I won't be stripping DRM, or giving away/selling Kindles with content intact or anything like that.

Nor will I.

[mooshie78]

I don't strip DRM or sell files.

I have given my old Kindles to family members with the books on them intact though.  I'd wipe them if I was going to sell the Kindle though.  I don't view passing them onto family members as problematic, as I did that with a lot of my print books before getting into e-books, and most others got donated to the library, as I'm not a big re-reader.

And definitely not different than loaning Kindles to others, or letting them sign into your account etc.

[QuantumIguana]

I'm not interested in Amazon's terms of service. I don't pirate books, but that has nothing to do with Amazon. If I bought a paper book, I wouldn't be interested in some bookstore's terms of service, why should it matter just because it is an e-book? I've never stripped the DRM from a book, but I reserve the right to do so in order to read the books that I paid for.

[mooshie78]

I'd strip DRM if Amazon somehow went under and I needed to strip DRM and convert format to read on a surviving e-book platform for sure.

But otherwise I don't bother as I only read on my Kindle or in Kindle apps anyway, so the DRM currently doesn't affect me.

But otherwise, I agree.  I don't care about terms of service very much.  I never pirate anything (meaning I never download things illegally or give away copies--other than leaving books on Kindles I passed on to family members) as I want to support authors.  But I'm not going to let terms of service keep me from doing things I think should fall under fair use of a product I paid for.  I just haven't had any need to violate Amazon ToS yet.