It's no longer necessary to have a brick-and-mortar store to sell used books. Opening your own Web site is becoming increasingly popular with entrepreneurs.

Several vendors have pre-packaged solutions enabling booksellers to quickly open a store on their own Web site. By keeping customers at their own Web sites, seller can potentially pay commissions and lose fewer sales to competitors offering the same book for a few cents less.

To build their own store, a seller must first choose from two basic designs: a PC-administered system, or a Web-based administration. A Web-based store is usually easier to set up but it has less flexibility. By contrast, a PC-based store has a higher learning curve but can be more customized.

The danger is that if your vendor fails or goes out of business, your business can go down the tubes with it. With a Web-based store, your site will go down when your vendor