Resellers Turn Solid Profits on Signed Lights Out Books

Time to go back to the classics. Reselling books can be pretty profitable under the right conditions, and we had a great opportunity come up earlier this week. Author Navessa Allen sold a limited number of signed copies of her popular book “Lights Out” through Barnes & Noble. Resellers were quick to seize the day, and the generous quantity limits meant they secure multiple copies in a single order. Now that the books are out of stock and reselling, the profits are rolling in.

So, what do you like to read? Historical fiction? Historical nonfiction? Or are you part of the approximately 25% of Americans that haven’t read a book in years?

It doesn’t matter to us. Even if you’re not interested in reading, there’s plenty of money to be made reselling books. We’ve covered plenty of profitable releases from multiple authors, and if there’s one factor that makes a book fly, it’s an author’s signature.

Navessa Allen release her book “Lights Out” last year, and it’s continuing to pick up steam through BookTok. She describes it as a “fast-paced dark romance with a morally gray lead”, and the long list of trigger warnings and sexually charged excerpts makes it clear what kind of book it is.

Not that we’re yucking anyone’s yum. Some like dirty movies, others like to read pornography written at 10th grade level.

In any case, Allen has capitalized on the popularity of “Lights Out” by hawking signed copies. These have been sold in limited numbers several times, with the most recent restock taking place through Barnes & Noble this week.

Signed copies “Lights Out” were sold for $35, exclusively as a premium “Collector’s Edition” hardcover copy with foil stamping, sprayed metallic page edges, and a bonus chapter.

So what does that translate to for resellers? Money, ideally, and lots of it. Since these books first started dropping, we’ve seen a steady market emerge for them on eBay.

Right now, signed copies of Navessa Allen’s book “Lights Out” are reselling for around $100. Prices have bounced around a bit, with earlier restocks selling for closer to $120 while more recent drops have struggled to rise over $60 or so.

While that’s not particularly eyepopping, it’s worth noting that Barnes & Noble limited customers to a very generous five copies per order. If a reseller bought as many books as they good and flipped them for good prices, it was possible to make up to or exceeding $200 in profit.

We’ll take that every day of the week. The good news is that this is likely not the final restock of these books, and “Lights Out” is only the first book in a trilogy Allen is working on. We’ll be sure to keep our eyes on her in the future.