Bookscouter app made me $$$$!

[nyxst]

I got this app because of another mustacians tip. It took a bit of time and organizational skills, but ended up with just over $200 for a few boxes of books! The companies that bought them (6 different buyers in all) even paid for shipping AND paid the PayPal service charge!  While its not enough $ to retire on (hehe!) It is definitely a boost I needed to crack the whip on some payments I have to make :) thank you, mustachians! I am loving this website!!!!!     
The app is called Bookscouter .

[pcb09]

So are you just running around used bookstores, etc... scanning books?

I scanned some books around my place and saw nothing that came back with more than a dollar or so per book. Any tips on type of books to look for?

[nyxst]

I had a lot of old textbooks (5 years old or so) that got me from $10-$25 each.  I went with the highest bidder for each of the text books, then I just started scanning all of my books that were in my pile to donate to the library.  Most of them were $2.50-$8.00.  Anything under a dollar I kept in the pile to bring to the library.  A lot of the English/Comp books sold for more than I expected.  I ended up with six different grocery bags full going to different buyers.  Each had at least one text book, plus whatever $2.50-$8.00 that buyer also wanted.  It is a diamond in the rough type of thing, but when you add all the little books to the text book, each box ended up being anywhere from $25.00 to $45.00.   
Like I said, it took some work!  But, my kids and I turned it into a scavenger hunt :) and my oldest and I each have a phone, so the scanning went twice as fast and the books stacks grew pretty quickly!  I kept some of the newer text books (1-2 years old) and have them listed on Amazon, since I usually have pretty good luck selling them there.  But if no one buys them in the next 3 months or so, I will use Bookscouter for them too.
Good luck!

[crumbcatcher]

That is SO awesome.

I installed Bookscouter after reading that thread too (probably the same one), but haven't used it yet.

Did you get a handheld scanner to use with it?  Or are you manually entering in the ISBNs?

Congrats on the great haul!

[Fireman]

Just installed and scanned the upc on one of my textbooks.  Worked like a charm!  This will be great for used bookstores and thrift shops.

[nyxst]

For some of the older books I had, I needed to scan the barcode inside the front cover instead of the UPC on the back... I guess the changed over the years. And all of the different PayPal payments started coming in yesterday :) cha-ching :)

[playtah]

I just started listing some books on Amazon yesterday, and I have to say I'm a little worried...most books I'm trying to list are listed by other people for 1 cent!  How do I compete with that, and how are they making money?  Am I going to have to do the pro membership to have a chance?  Thank you for any info you might have!

[nyxst]

I only sell my textbooks on amazon. I keep them in really good shape, so I usually get a decent price for them.  I did start to list my old "Little Brown" grammar book and there were a million other listings and all for less than I wanted, so I decided to just hang on to that one.  I think the Amazon market is pretty flooded, but textbooks still do well! Good luck!

[Fireman]

I only sell my textbooks on amazon. I keep them in really good shape, so I usually get a decent price for them.  I did start to list my old "Little Brown" grammar book and there were a million other listings and all for less than I wanted, so I decided to just hang on to that one.  I think the Amazon market is pretty flooded, but textbooks still do well! Good luck!

I've found that most textbooks are worth more on buy back sites than Amazon...by a lot.

[The Money Monk]

I just started listing some books on Amazon yesterday, and I have to say I'm a little worried...most books I'm trying to list are listed by other people for 1 cent!  How do I compete with that, and how are they making money?  Am I going to have to do the pro membership to have a chance?  Thank you for any info you might have!

You can't compete when they are listed for a cent. Don't bother listing those books. Those volume sellers are making all their profits because they get volume shipping discounts that aren't even an option for you . They are making less than a dollar on each of those books and just sell thousands of them.

I use bookscouter a lot, and really like it. I have made several videos about in on my youtube channel devoted to reselling.

If you sell a LOT of books you are probably better off listing them individually on amazon once you have a good system down.

I'm not primarily a book seller, and probably only sell about 100 books a month, so for me bookscouter is way better for several reasons:

1. No time or effort to individually list books; all you have to do is scan or type in the ISBN.

2. Instant sale. No sitting around waiting for books to sell and then having to ship them out individually. Even if a book is getting a good price on amazon, it may take a while for it to sell. It's better to get the cash right away in most cases.

3. You know what the book is worth right off the bat. I get most of my books from garage and estate sales, and only buy the ones that are being bought, so it is virtually impossible to lose money.

4. You don't have to pay any shipping. The websites that are buying them back pay the shipping

5. The amount you get is usually a fairly decent percentage of what you could get selling them on amazon, and the above 4 points more than make up for the slightly lower prices.